Yoshi's Final Destination Opening Message:
Yoshi is excited to be here and if you will listen, Yoshi will tell you why Yoshi thinks they deserve to be the winner of this game. In the following paragraphs Yoshi will dictate what they did during this game, the reasoning behind it, and what Yoshi would change if they could, because Yoshi didn't play this perfect, but then again nobody does. Yoshi is proud of how well they did and the few aspects Yoshi would change are a lot more easy to see in hindsight and much harder to predict. Yoshi's situation is a lot more interesting than most, as a lot of what Yoshi did this game reacted to the rules they set out at the start of the game. This was both helpful and unhelpful at various points throughout the game, but Yoshi would definitely not have changed the rules they played with, as it certainly seemed to work for Yoshi. As the game (in its most part) is completed, Yoshi will now reveal the full extent of Yoshi's eggs to the cast (and their teams) for reference as Yoshi will refer to them later.
Mario: 1🥚 Red/Pink
DK: 4 🥚 Red/Gold
Link: Green
Samus: 10 🥚 Red/Pink
Yoshi: Ring(Red)/Ring(Gold)
C. Falcon: 5 🥚 Blue/Gold
Falco: Blue/Ring(Pink)
Marth: 6 🥚 Blue/Gold
Dark Pit: Green/Pink
Wario: 2 🥚 Green/Gold
Ike: Blue
Squirtle: 8 🥚 Blue/Gold
K. Dedede: Green/Pink
Wii FT: Red
Robin: 9 🥚 Red/Pink
Duck Hunt: 3 🥚 Red/Pink
Richter: Blue
K. K Rool: Green/Pink
Isabelle: 7 🥚 Red
Piranha Plant: Green/Gold
Pyra & Myth: Blue/Ring(Pink)
Kazuya: Green/Gold
The Challengers ArriveYoshi was excited to try something new this game. There is thought to be said that the first few days of a game like this can be vitally important, but for Yoshi this game, the first few days were the crux of Yoshi's entire plan. There was of course the entire system about Yoshi's eggs, and the details Yoshi had to sort out with that, but that was all largely thought of before Yoshi even joined this board. Most important in the first few days were the conversations Yoshi had and lay of the land Yoshi got. Yoshi went for the Ring first round for a very important reason, and while it was also important because Yoshi hadn't finished sending everyone details about whether they got an egg or not, it was also very important for Yoshi to be able to talk to everyone in those first few rounds. You see, forming alliances is crucial, but with the format of Arena, even if you have a solid alliance, by the time you get to merge, a minority can still dominate through the 2-highest votes go into the Ring system. So Yoshi made it their plan to talk to as many people as possible and try and see who would be people to get on the good side on. This was made very easy because Yoshi had this nice welcome message that could be copy pasted (and required only a little thought, Yoshi is still sorry for messing up Mythra's name but it was actually the only mistake so Yoshi is thankful it wasn't more) but the responses to which would determine who were active talking players Yoshi would want to get on the good side of for later in the game. As the time before the first Ring duel drew to a close, there were several people who had been talking actively with Yoshi, mainly:
Falco, Squirtle, Captain Falcon and Richter from Blue
Wario and Dark Pit from Green
Robin from Red
Given that all of them (except Richter, RIP rocks) made it to merge, Yoshi's intuition that those more willing to respond to Yoshi were going to be the influential players in the game seems to have been correct. Of course not all of them were willing to work with Yoshi, Falco being the most notable example, Yoshi is appreciative of how open Falco was about not being able to work with Yoshi, but at least communication were kept open and Yoshi did end up being able to work with Falco for the period of like... 1 round... so it might have paid off, Yoshi appreciated the chats in any case.
Of these 7 challengers, only 4 of them had eggs, which was surprising as Yoshi thought those with eggs would be more likely to continue a conversation with Yoshi. Co-incidentally, should Yoshi have chosen their eggs rather than selecting them via RNG, these would have been the first 7 people to get eggs based on how much willing they were to actually talk about the game. There were rather a lot of Reds who got eggs who... well lets just say Yoshi could think of people who would've been able to do more with them.
There was also 1 final reason for Yoshi wanting to be in the Ring in the first round, but Yoshi will cover that later.
The First TribeWhen Yoshi did the first challenge, their preference list was:
Blue -> Yoshi had good conversations with most of that group and wanted to try and build up those relationships as much as possible.
Red -> Red was relatively safe for Yoshi, very low activity and Red had 6 of Yoshi's eggs!
Green -> Green has the most information Yoshi thought, but Yoshi didn't fancy their chances of surviving there long.
After coming second in the first challenge (Yoshi was happy to get one they weren't very comfortable with out of the way early), Yoshi ended up on Red, which wasn't the worst scenario. It was indeed very easy to navigate due to most people there just being very inactive and allowing Yoshi to cruise through a lot of early votes. The most split vote there was was in Duel 3, where there was a push to not just put Mario back in, but that didn't take hold, mainly because the the Duck Hunt/Robin/Samus/WFT Quad was trying to protect themselves but was dealing with some of their own members not being very active (shocker).
In those early votes, Yoshi did make those early pushes for the attack bag and managed to get rid of a few of the duels Yoshi didn't want. Yoshi knew that early game was going to be where they were most threatened and Yoshi fully expected to be in the Ring during F4 if they made it that far, so Yoshi wanted to eliminate as many challenges as possible from their list of 7 "bad" challenges as possible. When Yoshi went into the ring during Duel 5 (just before the merge to 2 teams), Yoshi was told in advance (by both Robin and Samus) that Yoshi was going to end up in the ring. This didn't concern Yoshi that much, it was still going to be an early duel, which was very hard to lose as you had to lose to 2 people, and the reasoning for it was because the Reds were very certain about keeping Yoshi's vote because they had such a large quantity of eggs (something Yoshi didn't predict), but Yoshi expected to go into the ring during first tribe anyway and this was a good time to go in. Yoshi knew that a badge would probably be helpful later as well, so Yoshi didn't mind getting one during easy mode. Good thing it was easy mode as well because Yoshi lost that challenge to Falco and it was a challenge Yoshi was confident in too.
Gold TribeThe merge to 2 teams was interesting. Yoshi was in the ring (again) which meant Yoshi had a chance (they didn't) of getting a choice. Yoshi's preference for that round was:
Pink -> With 4 reds already, Yoshi was pretty confident they could at least last most of the way till merge (which was a priority for Yoshi).
Yellow -> Yoshi was on good terms with several of the members there, but Yoshi couldn't be sure of a way to keep themselves alive there.
Yoshi didn't get a choice and ended up on Yellow. Should Yoshi have gone to Pink, Yoshi wonders whether or not the Reds would've actually broken apart? Yoshi thinks that it would've been a good option for Samus and Robin to stick with Yoshi there, but we'll never really know now. Yoshi made the same offer they did later to members of Yellow, which was form a group of 5, and should we need to vote out one of our own (if nobody joined our group) then Yoshi would volunteer to be the first one to go. In Yoshi's opinion, being almost guaranteed a spot in Merge with only having to face 1 duel should it fail would be a great option for Yoshi, and of course it would be better for the other members of Red.
But Yoshi went to Gold team, and things were very interesting there. Nobody seemed to want to be the first to make a play, so Yoshi took the initiative and found 4 other people Yoshi thought would be willing to vote together and made them the same offer Yoshi would've made Red. This was Yoshi/DK/CF/Squirt/Marth. Yoshi was wanting to include Wario but then Wario kept talking about making deals with Kazuya who was trying to convince Yoshi to abandon their egg plans and Yoshi wasn't willing to do that. Too many of Yoshi's acquaintances at that point were only with Yoshi because of their eggs, and should Red stay alive till merge, Yoshi knew that their eggs would hopefully keep them alive.
The deal looked excellent on paper. However the rumor spread that DK needed to go because the reds on the other tribe were going to all get to merge and that would be a travesty... DK actually wasn't in the original core Red anyway, that was Samus/Robin/DH (and WFT), and we all saw what happened to Red later on anyway... So despite Yoshi's urging, DK became the one to be voted out and Yoshi knew they were in a bad position.
That was mainly why Yoshi tried to get Wario/Kazuya out next on Gold. They were the ones not part of the original group and with the addition of KKR, the original Green strength was quite strong, even if Piranha Plant wasn't exactly on great terms with the original Greens. Yoshi liked having Piranha Plant around, they were actually really reliable with how they would vote and they were trying something interesting, just like Yoshi. With Piranha Plant's help, Wario was voted out next.
Then came the next round. Despite Wario coming back, and the green majority still looking scary, Piranha Plant was the next one to be voted out. Yoshi didn't agree on this vote, it would've suited Yoshi much more should Wario or Kazuya have been voted out, which is funny because Yoshi became quite close with both of them later on and Yoshi always assumed the two of them were quite close, but come merge that didn't really seem to be the case. Funny how your thoughts at the time can be so confused. Regardless, Piranha was the next to be in the ring and with Yoshi as the other one the votes were going to, Yoshi could read the writing on the wall.
The next round was probably the most risky round in Yoshi's opinion. Yoshi didn't manage to get the Attack Sandbag, having gone for the shield and failing to get it after Squirtle spent 2 more points on it than Yoshi
That should've been something that we could've communicated better on but that was Yoshi's fault and Yoshi would change that if they could. Luckily for Yoshi, Piranha Plant won the attack sandbag and was open to Yoshi trading information for choice of stage. This was helpful, Yoshi didn't know if they would lose to Samus on a bad stage, but Yoshi did Big Blue nice and quick and was pretty confident they couldn't lose that one. Especially with Captain Falcon giving Yoshi his blessing.
Unfortunately the information Yoshi could give Piranha Plant wasn't very useful, it was highly likely that Piranha Plant would go in the ring again as if they made it to merge, they would be in a pretty good position until it became time that a supermajority formed as Piranha Plant wasn't really in any major alliances. Yoshi would've actually been happy to see Piranha Plant win if they made it that far.
Then came time for Yoshi to choose a team. Yoshi was understandably concerned they would be voted right back into the ring should they return to Yellow and Pink was obviously the same issue, perhaps even more. So Yoshi blackmailed the members of Gold. Everyone on Gold was scared about how close everyone in Pink was and Yoshi did their best to increase their fear. Yoshi's demands were simple. Gold would need to agree to not vote Yoshi should Yoshi return to gold... Otherwise Yoshi would go to Pink and stop Pink from having to vote out one of their own. Gold team agreed that voting out a member of Pink was more important than voting out Yoshi and Yoshi made it alive only for Piranha Plant to go into the Ring for a final time. Yoshi isn't very happy that Piranha went back into the ring after helping Yoshi out with the stage select, so Yoshi put in the same bid as Piranha Plant did, and if Yoshi won, they would let Piranha Plant choose.
Yoshi didn't win it... Sad to see you go Piranha Plant, if you made it through to merge you might have just won, but then again Yoshi might not be here if you didn't so there is that.
The MergeWhen Yoshi got to Merge, Yoshi was very confident. Yoshi had been hoping to get here and now that the format had changed so drastically, Yoshi was confident they would be in a much better position. With 3 badges (only 1 of which was a real win, but it was the numbers that counted) Yoshi thought that they would be a weak pick for a side to choose in a side V side situation as the way to keep your side strong is to have your side win, so you would want to eliminate the easy targets on the other side first. At least that was Yoshi's logic, and the logic of the Gold team that originally got created.
Unfortunately for Yoshi (in terms of probability) and in reality the Pink alliance, Yoshi was voted into the ring to face Pyra and Mythra. Captain Falcon agreed to use the Smash ball they got from Merge (which everyone knew about) for the Attack Sandbag to help whoever got voted in (which was going to be Yoshi at the time of choice). This helped Yoshi get a good challenge and win, which was good for the Gold alliance at that point, especially having lost Marth unexpectedly. Yoshi still doesn't know why Yoshi was the target from Pink, Yoshi thinks literally anyone else on Gold would've made it easier for Pyra and Mythra to win but it helped Yoshi in the end and at that point Yoshi expected that 4 badges would really convince people that Yoshi wasn't someone easily beaten...
The next round the target was Dark Pit, both to try and break up the Dedede/Dark Pit duo and to also try and reduce the influence Green had on the field (which at the point was trying to be wielded, but neither Dedede not Wario were interested in joining forces at that point, at least that is what they told the rest of Gold. Wario's plan was to do a split vote, but when Robin didn't vote accordingly it didn't eventuate and King K Rool got sent in instead. Yoshi was happy at this point that it seemed to be the case they had finally stopped voting for strong targets and went for the relatively untested.
Next round when Yoshi went in, Yoshi was a little bit annoyed. Yoshi though they knew how the game was going and Yoshi kept being voted in. This was mostly due to the efforts of Falco, and Yoshi must admit it was a smart play from Falco's view. Yoshi wasn't exactly an asset for Falco and if Yoshi knocked out a few important Greens in the process, all the better. So Yoshi went into the ring again against Dark Pit. Wario was pushing to vote Robin for the betrayal, but Yoshi pushed against it, 1) because Dark Pit was a big threat, and 2) Robin was Yoshi's main source of information from the other side and Yoshi didn't want to waste a potential ally for Dark Pit which Yoshi had kind of stopped communicating regularly with which was both of our faults but there just really wasn't that much to discuss at that point. And so Yoshi collected their 5th and final badge.
At this point Kazuya was kind of cast out from Yellow after he sided with Dark Pit and Dedede over the rest of Gold. Yoshi imagines in hind site that Kazuya was very close with Dark Pit and once they were gone, it kind of put Kazuya in a spot where nobody was really their big ally. Yoshi imagines that is how the following few rounds happened the way they did. At this point Wario was all for Robin, and Yoshi couldn't think of a way to change the vote without making Wario an enemy and Yoshi needed their egg partners as allies at this point. So Yoshi voted for Robin (but let Robin know well in advance, both for having being told themselves in return, but also because it would help Yoshi's relationship with Robin should they win). Yoshi wasn't told of who "Pink" was voting, mainly due to Robin being Yoshi's source of information and Robin wouldn't really want to share at this point, so it was a complete surprise when Yoshi saw that Squirtle went into the ring. Yoshi expected Wario to be the vote of choice, but Squirtle was a smart option as it was getting into the point of the game where having no badges was considered a big deal of a threat. Squirtle won however, surprising most people, don't underestimate us non-humanoids.
This event made it very interesting. It was 4v3 and a single vote from the other side going astray could tip that entire round. Right now Captain Falcon was the target as they didn't have a badge as well as Dedede and Kazuya. Obviously from a team perspective it would've been a great win if we could put both Dedede and Kazuya in the Ring. Yoshi didn't consider the options for Yoshi personally at the time, this round was very short decision making, but Captain Falcon begged Yoshi to try and save them 1 more round, so Yoshi sent messages to Falco and Kazuya trying to get them to sway onto Dedede or Kazuya... Yoshi's attempts were a bit half hearted. Should Captain Falcon go into the ring, it would open up a lot more options to them in terms of switching sides, Yoshi really didn't expect their attempt to work. But Kazuya did vote for Dedede, and Yoshi can only attribute that to the fact that Kazuya and Dedede weren't close without the shared bond of Dark Pit. Either way, it had the effect of putting Dedede and Kazuya into the ring and that marked a tipping point in the game.
EndgameAt final 6 with a 4,2 split it became apparent that endgame was creeping up. Yoshi had used their 41 last round to secure the shield (Yoshi used 41 on purpose so it wouldn't be as obvious they still had a 41 left). The plan was to split vote on Falco and Kazuya, but Yoshi expected someone in the group to betray. It was clear that after this round the original group could no longer hold together and Yoshi couldn't exactly betray themselves without two of the three egg holders left choosing to betray and at that point it wasn't really a betray. So Yoshi sat and waited to see what inevitable result would happen. It would share a lot about what the future would look like and who Yoshi could trust most. Captain Falcon decided to betray the group with Kazuya. The reasoning for this was the true fact that if Squirtle survived that round, they would get through to Final 3. It was this fact that made Yoshi realise that they couldn't trust Captain Falcon. Was Squirtle getting to Final 3 really that bad a position? Yoshi would've been happy to see that, Yoshi would've gladly sat alongside Squirtle and argue their case. And most importantly, Yoshi would've been fine to see Squirtle win. They pulled off a duel win that shouldn't have happened and was very nice to Yoshi. Perhaps this was why Captain Falcon was so adamant to see Squirtle gone.
This revelation was why Yoshi was very much happy to betray Captain Falcon the next round. Captain Falcon had already Yoshi's trust by stabbing Squirtle in the back and Yoshi was happy to see Wario do the same to Captain Falcon. So Yoshi, Wario and Falco met up to make sure that Kazuya and Captain Falcon went into the duel together. At this point Yoshi was happy to argue their case with anyone remaining. The number of duels people had done wasn't as much as a concern for Yoshi as Yoshi wasn't going to win that argument anyway. Yoshi wanted to eliminate people who had a good social game with a high number of the Jury and Kazuya was up there as a threat.
The final round was interesting for Yoshi. After snagging the shield, Yoshi knew that their vote was going to hold duel status for whoever they chose. After first extracting an order from Captain Falcon to tell Yoshi to vote for a member of their choice should Captain Falcon lose, Yoshi then had the options between Falco and Captain Falcon as their vote when Captain Falcon survived. As all three remaining members rushed to tell Yoshi about how the other two were the largest threats, Yoshi made a list of who had the best social game with who and then tried to simulate votes accordingly. Of course Final Destination counts for a lot and Yoshi couldn't exactly simulate that, but social game was a good indication and Yoshi found that Yoshi would actually have the highest chance of winning should Wario be the one voted out. And Falco was the most likely person to be able to fulfil that criteria. Thus Yoshi accepted Captain Falcon's proposal to get Wario and Falco into the ring. Yoshi knew that since Falco and Wario assumed Yoshi would be voting Captain Falcon, they would vote each other to try and get the other one in the ring with Captain Falcon. This just made it all to easy for Yoshi to get the final duel with contestents of Yoshi's choosing. And even with Falco losing the duel, Yoshi is still happy at the way things turned out.
So there you have it. Yoshi entered this game with an unusual tactic, both half expecting to be out of the game early and half expecting to make it to merge and power through. Yoshi expected their strategy to be a lot more effective than it was in merge, Yoshi expected their eggs to make them some sort of guaranteed middle person, but with the eggs aligning how they did and Falco's masterful pushes against Yoshi, things didn't go optimally. But Yoshi made it here and Yoshi thinks that counts for a lot. Yoshi had a lot of influence on the votes despite their lack of influence over their own, and the ability to break ties really stopped most egg bearers from wanting to alienate Yoshi. At the start of the game, Yoshi suspects many of you would've thought that there is no way Yoshi could've made it here following the conditions they gave, and Yoshi hopes that the fact they did is enough reason to convince you to vote for Yoshi.
