Post by Wario on Mar 9, 2022 21:29:04 GMT 10
INTRO
Hi guys. I'd like to do the boring standard thing and thank everyone on the jury for playing this game, as well as Yoshi and Captain Falcon. I had a lot of fun overall and I think we can all agree that Masahiro Sakurai and his helpers did a fantastic job of putting this all together. A crazy amount of time and effort clearly went into creating this and I'm glad I've been able to not only take part but make it to the end.
With that out of the way, I should probably try and explain my game. I've worked with most of you at some point in the game, but nobody for all of it. This will probably be quite long, but if there's anything I'll regret after the game it'll be failing to mention anything here. Plus you've got days to read it.
PRE TEAMS
The start. I came in and messaged everyone who had at least two public posts after a few hours, if they hadn't messaged me yet. I wanted to be allied with people who were active. I wanted to feel everyone out as best I could, looking to make whatever connections I could to keep myself safe in the early game. When it was announced the team pick situation, I knew I wanted to try and coordinate it so I was on a team with people I got along with best. At the start King Dedede, Dark Pit and Kazuya had all started conversations with me and I felt like we got along really well. We all seemed to be on similar wave lengths. King Dedede, Kazuya and I decided that we'd all go to the same team together, but we needed a fourth. They both were keen on Dark Pit, I was a little less keen than them but ultimately agreed. I suggested we all go to the same tribe together, and pitched green because it's my favourite colour. They all agreed. That's why you saw all of us go green straight away. We all talked to other people to see who else we could get. I spoke with both King K. Rool and Link and got along with them both. I suggested to both of them to go green when the time came to pick a side. They both did. Piranha Plant picking green with us was a welcome surprise. Because this meant that there was an obvious outlier who could be targeted right off the bat.
GREEN TEAM
On green we had our group of four, being myself, Kazuya, Dark Pit and King Dedede. We had our group chat where we controlled everything. I wanted to create as 'open' of an environment as I could, and it seemed like that was what the others were happy with too. King Dedede got the clue to the first smash ball. He shared it with our group to try and work together and get the smash ball. I was at work on my phone, so I didn't even bother going through and putting all the letters together that the clue spoke about. But I believe it was King Dedede who got the actual solution and posted it in the chat. Which was that one of the things in the background didn't belong. Well I guessed that it was the dog paw which wasn't meant to be there, and guessed Nintendogs straight away. And I got it first guess. Fucked up that it had to be all caps, but got it. I decided straight away to share with the group that I'd gotten it, to maintain the environment of openness. Seemed to work a charm. The smash ball is powerful, but it's not as powerful as an idol or anything like that so I wasn't really conflicted about sharing it. And I didn't think I'd be targeted because of it.
Before the first vote I came up with the plan to create multiple group chats, to make everyone (except Piranha Plant sorry) think that they were in the majority of four. So along with the original group's blessing I created two more group chats. One with myself, Kazuya, Dark Pit and Link. Then the other with myself, Kazuya, King Dedede and King K. Rool. So even though both King K. Rool and Link were on the outs of the real majority, they both felt very secure and as if they were in the majority. So if it came to it, we get rid of one of them and the other will still feel safe before they're voted out. So with that established and everyone feeling secure, I felt like I was in the best position. Yes everyone could talk about all the moves I was making and groups I was forming, come together to boot me off but I thought that was too big of a move, and it would shatter too many groups. So I felt like even though I was extremely highly visible especially to the core four, I was in a fantastic spot.
That leads to us voting Piranha Plant off. I believe it felt resentment towards me which continued into later because I reassured it about it's safety before voting it off.
Mario then came to our team. This was another easy boot. It meant that everyone still felt completely safe and secure.
Following the Mario boot, the talk became who we should boot, King K. Rool or Link. It felt like there wasn't going to be HUGE push back either way, but it seemed like people in the four would've preferred King K. Rool to go. This didn't work for me. King K. Rool had been absent a fair bit early on, and hadn't built very solid connections as far as I could tell. I'd been keeping on top of everyone with private messaging and he'd told me that I was his number one. He told me everything he thought about the team and told me I was the one he trusted most. Could've said it to others as well, but I believed him. Well myself and King Dedede had already said that to each other as well, but it never hurts to have more than one person think of you as their number one. I got along great with Link, but I knew he wasn't relying on me as heavily as King K. Rool. And truthfully I didn't want to lose either of them. I had a team of seven that all got along, I felt like I could work with everyone and wanted us to stick together. My main focus was getting us through the swap intact and still working together. And we could accomplish that in my mind by going into the swap as a strong unit, but appearing as if we weren't.
VOLUNTEER PLAN
So I came up with the volunteering plan. Not a completely unique plan, I know other people volunteered. But I got it working with a full team. It was shaky getting off the ground because I had to make sure everyone was on board before implementing it. While I was making all these enquiries, Marth joined our team. Well we could've easily just turned the vote on him, but to every other team it would've been obvious that we were all sticking together and we'd be in trouble at the swap and the merge. I wanted other people voted out and a false narrative to spread to the other teams so they didn't think we were all working together. So very quickly I took a leap of faith and filled Marth in on the plan and he was interested. If only because he wouldn't be immediately voted out. Because in order to get people on board with my plan, I felt that I had to be the first one to volunteer. To show my commitment to the team and to show that it could be done. A huge risk, but it was calculated. I knew that this early in the game, it was much more likely that I'd be facing easier competition. Also having to beat only 1 out of 2 people made it more appealing. In the end everyone was on board except for King K. Rool who was hesitant. Then as we got closer to the deadline, the conversation briefly became whether we just vote out King K. Rool and implement the plan afterwards. As I said earlier, I didn't want that to happen and King K. Rool didn't realise that if he didn't go along with it, he was gone. He was then absent. I took another risk and created the large group chat and included him, pretending that he had agreed. I sent King K. Rool a message explaining that I did it for his own good and it was in his best interests. I believe in the end he appreciated it, but he can tell you otherwise if that's not true. It meant that he went from being the current boot to staying in.
The plan was to send the volunteer in, and let them get the shield with their lowest card. This was to explain why they didn't get voted out again straight away when they came back to green. And if someone else came first and the volunteer had to go to a different team, they were protected for the first vote. Someone else would volunteer to go high on attack, to beat the other teams with their bid and choose the challenge that best fit the volunteer. In my case, it was Link who bid high to pick the maze which I knew I'd be quick at. I also came up with the narrative that there were two sides. One with King Dedede, Dark Pit and King K. Rool. I was on the side with Kazuya and Link. Well in our story, I was sick of King Dedede and Dark Pit being 'in charge' of the tribe and running it. I saw the writing on the wall and saw that I'd be voted out sooner rather than later. So I tried to flip things, and we were looking at a 3 3 tie. Then Marth joined, tossed up which side to go with and went with the other side. This was for everybody to know and to stick with to everyone else. So I did that while I was in the ring. I believe it was Dark Pit in the stands at this stage and his job was to also spread this narrative if asked. I knew that there would be people on the team who wouldn't volunteer, and that was part of my plan as well. I knew that I could use whether people volunteered or not down the road as moral justification for actions I would take. So if somebody volunteered, I trusted them with all my heart and would stick with them. That's how I'd treat them in private messages. And if somebody didn't, I wouldn't bring it up apart from when talking about them with others and how they had been happy to send others in from their alliance to get further and stay safe, thus painting a negative picture around them. Because eventually in my ideal scenario it'd come down to the greens facing off eventually and I needed to come out on top.
It was around this time that I decided to tell King K. Rool and Link that I had the smash ball. This was a defensive move, in case any of the core green four decided to try and use one of them against me. They'd tell them about the smash ball, but they'd already know and trust me because of it.
It all went according to plan. I got voted in with my lowest bid for shield winning, and Link won the attack bid and picked the maze, which I won. I came back to green. Then the idea was floated that we force the 'volunteer' position onto Marth. As he was the last to come to the team and really had just gone along with the plan because it meant that he was safe for the first vote. So we did that in as light of a way that we could, basically making it a proving test to green that he really was with us. So we coordinated it again, with Marth going in. I believe it was Dark Pit that came up with the idea for Marth to pick a different team at this point, with the shield. Because we knew about the tribe swap rules at that point, and it would mean that we could pick Marth, who could pick us. Which meant three greens in the same tribe right off the bat. For some reason Marth didn't do that, and came back to green. I don't know why he didn't, because it was an excellent plan. So anyway Marth comes back. Also on that vote Falco went very high on attack and was able to choose the stage. We didn't expect anyone to go higher than we were going, so that was a surprise. And Falco wasn't in the ring either, it was Wii Fit Trainer so we were a bit confused and were wary of shenanigans happening on blue as well. I believe it was Kazuya who bid for attack on that one.
The last vote before the swap, Link volunteered. He wanted to prove that he was all in on green and willing to put his game on the line. This was obviously a relief because it meant there was no pushing anyone in that didn't really want to do it. So it was Dark Pit going high on attack. This one backfired obviously. I really didn't want to lose Link after he volunteered, because I believed us together would've been very strong. Even if he had previously been closer with others on the tribe, we had that connected bond about volunteering. He went in and Dark Pit was outbid on attack by Falco again. And this time Falco was in the duel, so it was extra dangerous for Link. It wasn't a great time to first discover Yoshi is a challenge beast because they both beat Link and he was out.
FINAL GREEN THOUGHTS
Before I move on to yellow (yes I know this is very long, I apologise), I want to mention the grab bag. King Dedede was first there, and I was happy to leave him there as I trusted him and believed that we were a close duo. However Dark Pit felt otherwise and wanted to be there. So we allowed him to be there multiple times in a row. While King Dedede was there, he was very open about what was happening (as far as I could tell) and didn't seem to keep many details from us. Either that or he did a good job of making us feel that way. However Dark Pit was different. It wasn't only noticed by me that he didn't share information willingly really, every time he shared information it was as a result of me directly asking him about it in the group chat. And the information was very limited. Now what he said was happening there was maybe true (a whole lot of nothing), but it was suspiciously little and it didn't sit right with me. Either Dark Pit just wasn't being open with information or he was talking shit and making future plans for himself. Either way out of all the greens, Dark Pit became my first target for the future. Even though he was in the core four with me, I trusted both Link and King K. Rool more than him. I could be completely off base and he was really straight up with everything, but my gut told me otherwise.
As an aside, the whole time on green we all talked about how we wanted Yoshi out. Very early on I made enquiries with everyone on the tribe and I was the only one to have an egg. I anticipated that at least one person was probably lying, but even if one person was it meant that the green group would never be able to control Yoshi. So despite having an egg myself I wanted Yoshi gone pre-merge. I also disliked the egg strategy that he was playing and didn't appreciate it very much. Of course it would come to benefit me later as things moved around.
YELLOW TEAM
The tribe swap. I said that I wanted the grab bag for this round and so I got it for very cheap. I think I went 3 or 4. From being in the ring, I had gotten information that made me think that whoever got it from blue would likely pick to go to the ring in order to look at the team compositions and make an educated choice later. Because blue sounded like a huge mess. That gamble paid off and it was Pyra & Mythra who got it from blue, and did just that. I think people from the other teams thought I bid very high and Pyra & Mythra just got the last preference and had to go to the ring. And I got my first preference of yellow, because Wario's yellow of course. I made my choice and picked Donkey Kong as my first preference. He was very far from my closest connection on the other teams, but I saw him as strategically active however no threat of out manouvering me, and I believe I could get him to go along with whatever plan I wanted. The way the teams ended up, he was the only former red on yellow, with all the rest over on pink. Immediately I was worried about the former reds all coming together and taking over the game. Things from the outside looked bad for King Dedede, Dark Pit and King K. Rool over on pink due to there being three of them and I believe four former reds. So it would make strategic sense for the reds to target a green so that the numbers weren't even. And it would honestly make sense for the greens to cut one of their own to appear less threatening. So when King K. Rool was the one to get voted off, I knew that it wasn't just a straight side vs side thing because of course King Dedede and Dark Pit would stick together and get rid of King K. Rool. I was the one who was closest with him, they were closer with each other. So it really seemed like a willing sacrifice of sorts. Over on our side getting rid of DK was an easy move. Easy narrative to push about red taking over the game later. He voted for me, I believe because he saw me as being in charge but I don't truly know. However even then I was planning ahead. I had cleared the plan with Kazuya and Marth and tried to implement it. I was getting Piranha Plant to go big on shield, so that he wasn't an option for the next vote. This would mean that the likely target would be Yoshi. Then once Yoshi is in the ring, I make it very clear to both people in the ring to not come to yellow. Then there's a majority with myself, Kazuya, Marth and Piranha Plant and we can take out Squirtle and Captain Falcon. Well at the first part of the plan, Piranha Plant voted for me instead of DK. So obviously then that meant that I couldn't work with Piranha Plant.
BLINDSIDED AND RECOVERY
King K. Rool then won the duel and came to green. This was the optimal outcome for me. I saw this as perfect, because now there were four former greens and there was Yoshi, Captain Falcon, Squirtle and @piranha plant as well. In reality this was the start of my first big mistake. As long as the greens all voted together, we were all good. It didn't matter who we got, it wouldn't be a green getting targeted and then we'd have ultimate control over the team. I would've been willing to go to rocks if things had turned and it was a 4 4 tie. But the grouping of myself, Marth, Kazuya, Captain Falcon and Squirtle were acting as a majority, and we were just going to target Yoshi and @piranha plant. Easy votes. At this point I admit that I became over confident in my position and thought that I was unstoppable. It was a mixture of that and a work schedule that had me busy in the hours leading up to that vote that lead to me getting voted out. I was pretty short with the voting discussion, and didn't really leave it open to a discussion. I just basically treated it like a done deal that it was Yoshi. I didn't have the time to properly discuss it with everyone, and I didn't really feel like we had to because I felt that I was completely safe and the worst that could happen is a 4 4 tie. Well Captain Falcon and Squirtle were definitely NOT feeling like they were in an optimal position, and felt that they would be going out soon if they didn't change something. Which was true, I give them kudos for recognising this and making a hell of a play. They were also feeling uneasy about me because I had given us all the complete list of the picking order for the yellow and pink tribe. I sent it to Squirtle, then to our overall group. I couldn't copy and paste it, so I typed it out myself. But I was sloppy. I accidentally got the last two people in each other's spot which meant that it was a red picking a red. Obviously this wasn't possible, and it was a genuine mistake on my part. I really meant to send the full complete list, I just messed up the last two. So they both noticed this and felt that I was less trustworthy because of it. Captain Falcon and Squirtle already had Yoshi under control through having eggs. They were obviously together. Piranha Plant was against me. So that was four of them to turn. They needed a fifth and they were able to convince Marth that he was on the bottom and would be the first to be sacrificed. Marth flipped and made it a 5 3 vote with me getting voted out and Yoshi getting the three votes from King K. Rool and Kazuya.
In the ring I got some good intel on the dynamics of pink. Obviously I had to take everything with a grain of salt, but I was straight up told not to come to pink. Even from an outsider looking in, it looked pretty obvious that if I went to pink, the green trio would get targeted and I'd probably be sent straight back out again. So I worked on Marth. Marth regretted his decision as I laid everything out, how he'd build up so much trust by volunteering to go in that I would never get rid of him first. How that gave us the strongest connection in the game, because we were both willing to put our games on the line for our alliance. Of course Marth was pushed, but it was an obvious narrative to take advantage of. It worked and Marth said he'd vote with me if I came back. I came back and used my two highest cards (that weren't the smash ball) on shield, as I was obviously paranoid about being voted out again. It became a 4 3 1 vote with Yoshi self voting, and Piranha Plant getting the other four votes. After I'd gotten through that vote and was immune, Captain Falcon and Squirtle really had no choice but to make up with me. We talked things through and came to an understanding on what had happened. At this point I told Piranha Plant not to come back, because his side would vote him in again. Well Piranha Plant came back anyway. It had taken a while, and the vote was already decided to be Yoshi for the next one. So Yoshi went in. And while he was in, we all talked to him and convinced him that he was with us and to come back if he won. Well he did win, and he did come back. And then Piranha Plant was voted in again. I didn't want Piranha Plant getting to merge as I knew he wouldn't work with me, and thankfully Robin took care of that problem for me.
FINAL YELLOW THOUGHTS
Before moving to the merge, I want to again mention the grab bag and some other things. Kazuya got it three times in a row, and after a few hours of going there and failing to get the smash ball he would share the clue with me in hopes that one of us would find it. He was there with Dark Pit and just like Dark Pit on green, Kazuya was not forthcoming about what was happening and only ever said that there was just chatting going on. Nothing strategic. I might be wrong about it, but I didn't believe that at all. I knew how strategic both Dark Pit and Kazuya were and thought there was no way they weren't strategising and coming up with future plans. And I hadn't been filled in on any future plans, so if they existed I wasn't in them. This meant that even though Dark Pit was still my first target from green, Kazuya was there too. Things became more definite for me when Kazuya got to the smash ball. Of course I know the truth now, and the truth is that Squirtle got it. I don't know if he got it with any clues from Kazuya, or was just super good at detective work. But I didn't know that until Squirtle played it. Kazuya worked out the passcode for the smash ball, and told me. He guided me through how he got the answer and I followed along. He then told me that he posted the password which was whatever it was in his confessional. Then Masahiro Sakurai came and confirmed with him that the smash ball had already been claimed. Seems believable right? Turns out it actually is believable, but anyway. So I did this, to confirm the same. Well I got no confirmation, despite myself and Kazuya being in the same position of not getting it. So I waited, and then tagged Masahiro Sakurai, who said they couldn't confirm anything. So I came to the conclusion that Kazuya did this, and got the smash ball. He then made the assumption that if the ball was taken, Masahiro Sakurai would confirm that it was gone. So he told me about how he got the confirmation. Except they didn't. I don't know if this was a mistake on Masahiro Sakurai's part because they confirmed it with Kazuya and not me, on Kazuya's part because he didn't actually get a confirmation but said he did, or my part because I may have done something wrong. Either way things didn't quite add up and I believed that Kazuya had the smash ball. Again, obviously now I know that I was wrong. But that's how I was viewing things at the time. Another thing which happened which made me distrust Kazuya was that he wanted me to use my smash ball on the first vote of yellow. This made no sense, it was theoretically to keep the shield away from Piranha Plant, but if he was immune then we could just target Yoshi. So I saw that as Kazuya trying to get rid of my smash ball and weaken me for the future. Kazuya had no competition for the grab bags. Obviously we were all talking with each other, but once we had the vote where I went out and then there was a split, there really should've been other people competing for it. And there wasn't. There was no competition for my shield when I went for it. Obviously people would think I'd go high, but the fact that NOBODY else went for it was extremely suspicious to me. I was sure that Kazuya was playing both sides, siding with Squirtle and Captain Falcon. I used this in conversations, and really spread the message of how connected Dark Pit and Kazuya were. Them being at the stands together so much really painted a target on them, and I wanted to fan the flames as much as possible so that they'd get targeted before me. It was also Kazuya that wanted to target Yoshi before the merge, instead of Squirtle and Captain Falcon. This didn't make sense to me as Squirtle and Captain Falcon were the obvious strategic threats, so obviously to me he was protecting them to keep his options as open as possible at the merge. Now this could all be a coincidence and I was jumping to conclusions. With the smash ball one, turns out I was. But with all that added together it painted a picture for me that showed that I couldn't really trust Kazuya and he was going to be a big threat to my game down the line.
Another aside about the eggs. I knew Captain Falcon and Squirtle had one each. Yoshi told me that yellow controlled him over pink. So I knew that he was a number for the yellow team going into merge, but wouldn't be when I went back to working with the greenies.
MERGE
So we get to the merge. We've got our yellow side completely intact, minus Piranha Plant who I didn't believe would stick with us anyway. I've got my green connections over on the pink side of things. There's Falco and Robin in the middle. Robin had beome a target in my mind due to her beating Piranha Plant in the duel, when it seemed almost unstoppable up to that point. Falco was immune, and he threw out Yoshi's name. So that got back to everyone, including Yoshi. To punish Falco, Yoshi wanted to target Pyra & Mythra as they were seen as Falco's closest ally. Of course they're not a green, so if the targets were those two then that was fantastic for me. Losing Pyra & Mythra did nothing to impact my game, and Yoshi was being controlled by the eggs. And even though my group was controlling him, by myself I wasn't able to control him. So out goes Pyra & Mythra.
TURNING POINT
Then the next vote comes up, and people are wanting to vote a green in. And I believe at least in part due to my pre-planning, the target was Dark Pit. I talked with Captain Falcon, Squirtle and Yoshi privately to make sure the target was Dark Pit and not King Dedede. I needed to keep it from Kazuya that the vote was Dark Pit. But everyone knew the target would be a green, either Dark Pit or King Dedede. Dark Pit going out worked great for me, even though he was in green I believed that he would get me out as soon as it convenienced him. So my plan was to have the 'sides' stick together. So us on yellow vote Dark Pit and send him in. The pink side sends in whoever they want, I can't remember who that target was but I believe it was one of the former blues or Yoshi. Of course this plan didn't make strategic sense to Dark Pit and Kazuya. I believed Kazuya was closest to Dark Pit and wanted to protect him. While obviously Dark Pit didn't want to get voted in. The story I was going with was that if one of them goes in and picks the stage, it really hides the fact that there's a green alliance and it's pretty likely that we can avoid a green going in at all in the next vote. That means that we are hiding for another two votes, lessening how many of us go out. Obviously bullshit, but I didn't care if Dark Pit and Kazuya thought I was being dumb, I just wanted my plan to go ahead. I had told everything about how I didn't trust Kazuya and Dark Pit to both King K. Rool and King Dedede previously. King K. Rool was on board with getting rid of both of them, while King Dedede was willing to when the time was right. Well as it was currently only me pushing that the vote should stay on Dark Pit in the green group, I talked to King Dedede about him either saying he agrees with my plan or coming up with a different plan which still involves putting Dark Pit in. King Dedede wasn't willing to do this, and gave a couple of reasons. I don't know which one(s) were true, but either way he wasn't willing to go along with it and get Dark Pit voted out. The reasons didn't make sense to me so I took it to mean that he cared more about Dark Pit being spared the ring than me being put in a bad position for the next couple of votes, likely costing me the game. Because Dark Pit was wanting to turn the game around and split the votes, causing both Yoshi and Falco to go into the ring. Obviously Yoshi was better for me than anyone else in the green group, so out of everyone going that was the target that least benefitted me. I also had a good relationship with Falco, and I was well aware that Robin was close to Dark Pit. So this situation had Dark Pit set up extremely well, with King Dedede hiding in there and myself and King K. Rool sticking out like a sore thumb. King K. Rool would get targeted because the others weren't close to him and would be willing to sacrifice him when the opportunity came, and I would be seen as having connections and I'm sure my reputation from the early game had spread to everyone so they'd be looking at me as a prime target. Also people knew that King K. Rool was a number for me, so if I wasn't immune they'd take me out if King K. Rool was still in. I saw myself lasting no more than three votes in that situation.
So with King Dedede unwilling to go along with the move which didn't involve outright betraying green, just looking dumb then that meant I had to go back to yellow. I saw that on yellow I had people in front of me in Captain Falcon, Squirtle and Yoshi who would likely get targeted before me. They were much more immediately threatening than me on the opposite side to green. I outed Kazuya to them as trying to get green back together to avoid Dark Pit going out. So we were going to go ahead with a vote of Dark Pit. Whereas the pink side would be all split up, with either Falco or Yoshi going in. Again though, I didn't want Yoshi going in at this point, and so I got greedy. I thought I could really flip things around by including Falco and Robin, and get Dark Pit and Kazuya in the ring against each other. That gets the two players I least trust against each other and guarantees one goes out. I came up with the idea about an hour and a half before the deadline and went to Falco and Robin with it. After a bunch of questions and clarification they both agreed to the move. Robin went back to the green group and told them the plan, which got them turned on me. The only problem for them was that I was immune due to a calculated but lucky shield play by me. So they went for my number in King K. Rool. And you all know how the vote went. Obviously at that vote I knew people were upset at me so I used my smash ball on shield to make sure I could have another round to calm things down. King K. Rool losing to Dark Pit in the duel was really shit for me initially, but I quickly realised that my perceived threat level had gone down SIGNIFICANTLY. I was now on the yellow 'side' with no number one, and looked to be on the outs of a 3 person group of Squirtle, Captain Falcon and Yoshi. Like I couldn't have been in a better position to avoid shots. I can't claim to have planned that out completely, because I wouldn't have voluntarily gotten rid of King K. Rool but for where I was it was the best thing to happen for my game. Obviously I blamed myself for King K. Rool going out, I don't know if I would've attempted that move if I hadn't had the security of the shield.
YELLOW VS PINK IN THE MERGE
From here I go low/no contact with the people from green. It was my opinion that me strategising with them straight away would paint myself as a bigger target for them. If they think I'm 'yellow strong' then I don't look as threatening as someone who's making connections everywhere. For my game, maintaining 'sides' was the absolute best thing. I don't think there was a player it benefitted more than me to keep things as side vs side, so I tried my best to keep that going. Despite any strategising between people from both sides, things stayed like that. I know people were helping each other on both sides to avoid votes for each other, but I knew that it wouldn't matter because I wasn't going to get targeted anyway. This frustrated Robin and Falco quite a bit because I believe they both wanted a much more fluid and open game, but that didn't work for me. I even kept referring to them as on the opposite side to me, as they'd voted with that side previously. They were looking for big targets, and I'd lowered my threat level. The way I envisioned things going was that each side would lose numbers pretty evenly, and I'd be left at the end. It didn't go that way though and people on the yellow side just wouldn't lose. Yoshi not losing worked great for me because right after I turned on the green group, I realised that he would be the ideal player to take to the end. All of my FTC scenarios involved sitting here with Yoshi. The third person changed a few times, but Yoshi was consistent in my ideal scenarios.
ROBIN VOTE
The Robin vote. This one was interesting because to my group I said I sincerely believed that it would be me getting voted in because the other side wanted me in. I didn't really believe that for a second. But using that story, I asked that I pick my target to face in the ring. My side was happy with that. I picked Robin, because I was honestly scared of her. She was obviously in the middle, everyone knew it. But from talking with her I knew she was extremely switched on, and even though she was targeting threats, I believed it was only a matter of time before she realised what I was doing and she'd go for me. At the time I believe she just saw me as a yellow number and someone that was unwilling to make moves. And I wanted her out. I was also happy to lose one of the three that were in my group. So I opened up a dialogue with King Dedede and we agreed to look out for each other. Did I genuinely believe he'd put his foot down and refuse to vote for me? Absolutely not. But I DID believe that it would at least offer a little bit more protection, and King Dedede wouldn't outright push to get rid of me. That's how I saw it. So for me, the vote for who went out on my side didn't make a huge difference. However my preference was to keep Squirtle. Because I knew that everyone saw him as a huge threat, as did I. And if he was still in, that was someone in front of me. I wanted either Yoshi or Captain Falcon to go in. I believed Captain Falcon had less of a chance of getting targeted over me, even though I'd still think he would. And Yoshi going in meant that either Robin would lose because Yoshi is a challenge beast, or Yoshi is gone and that's a challenge beast gone that I might've had to face at some point if the numbers get turned on me. I expressed to King Dedede that I wanted either of those two out, and I believed we came to an agreement. Although King Dedede was careful with his words and when I went back and checked following the vote, he hadn't outright said that one of them would be the target. So Squirtle goes in. Not my ideal situation, but still OK.
KING DEDEDE VOTE
To my absolute surprise Squirtle won. This changed the complexion of things obviously, as we were getting deeper into the merge and my entire group was still intact. Well I thought that this is where it'll be Kazuya taking on Captain Falcon, and at least Captain Falcon will get a blemish on his record at this point. The vote comes back and it's Kazuya vs King Dedede to my surprise. Fine with me, I'm not actually working with either of them. I hoped for a Kazuya loss because we still weren't talking. I'd sent a couple of short messages, first asking if we just weren't going to talk for the rest of the game and then another saying how I guess whichever one of us gets to the end, the other won't be voting for them on the jury. Kazuya won and came back in. I knew King Dedede was playing a strong game, but I wasn't sure if everyone else recognised that and would vote for him at the end. I knew he was intentionally playing in a way to lower his threat level, and likeability to an extent so that he would avoid votes. It had been working great right up until here. He was one of the people I was open to going to the final 3 with, as him getting votes would depend on how well he could convince everyone that what he was doing was intentional. Similar to me in that way I guess.
SQUIRTLE VOTE
We get to the next vote, and we agree to do a 2 2 2 split to send in Falco against Kazuya. I was actually looking at this vote to turn and get Captain Falcon out, but I was reminded that the only time Falco had been voted out, it was voluntarily. So his strategy of targeting players who hadn't gone in the ring yet, that he'd been pushing throughout the game, came back to bite him because then I decided to stick with the plan to get him vs Kazuya happening. Captain Falcon had other ideas obviously, and sent in Squirtle against Falco.
KAZUYA VOTE
For the next vote, I made what I believe was my biggest mistake of the game. Kazuya and I started talking again. I knew that I wasn't going to be the target because I didn’t look like a threat. I knew where everyone was voting as a result of my relationships and my management of my threat level. I could've not rocked the boat and gone with someone's plan, and then there wouldn't have been anybody looking at me really. That had been my game from the first Dark Pit vote onwards, staying out of the limelight and letting everyone take each other out because there were bigger 'threats'. But I used the opportunity offensively, as I believed the jury may not see the game I was playing and I needed to make a 'big move'. I not only knew where everyone was voting, but had the votes on everybody except for me, so I could control who went in, and then choose the other player on the revote. The big move was unnecessary to the game I was playing and I should've stuck with what had been working for me. I believe that if I hadn't made the move to get both Captain Falcon and Kazuya against each other, I wouldn't have been targeted to go in at the final four. And that was what my game was all about, I just got in my own head about the jury not rewarding my style of play and how I had to do something at the end to stand out.
FALCO VOTE
The final vote. After going over many different ways I could play it, I came up with an idea at 6am. Yoshi told me that he'd vote with me even if it meant voting against Captain Falcon, so before the duel result I requested that Yoshi target whoever won the duel, and voted Falco. I then got out of the forum and didn't return until the vote deadline. With one vote on each, and yoshi controlling a split, I only needed one of them to vote the other person to send them both in the ring. I was hoping the winner of the duel and Falco would debate what to do and be waiting for me to come back online. Then closer to the deadline, they’d realise I might not come back and debate whether I pre-voted or not, as I might be a self vote if I don’t return. Of course, they'd probably think I'm playing them, but in the back of their mind I wanted them to think that maybe I'd self-voted. I only needed to sway one of them to vote the other person. I come back online and either I send both in against each other, or if I'd copped two votes then I get to choose my opponent. Neither of those happened. Yoshi went with Captain Falcon's request and voted for Falco, while both of them voted me. In true Falco fashion he was open about voting for me, and locked his vote in way early and didn't come back, so that screwed me. My end game vision was getting through the final four vote without going in. That didn't happen, and I sincerely believed that I would lose the challenge to Falco. Somehow that didn't happen and I'm here.
OUTRO
My game is far from perfect. I had misreads and made mistakes and I'm happy to own up to all of them. I have players who straight up told me they won't vote for me, and I have players that I don't think I'll be able to convince to vote for me. I've had quite a few angry messages sent my way throughout the game. But I believe I played extremely strongly overall, in multiple different ways. I'm looking forward to answering any questions you guys may have. Thanks for reading my huge wall of text, and I hope you consider voting for me as the winner.The final vote. After going over many different ways I could play it, I came up with an idea at 6am. Yoshi told me that he'd vote with me even if it meant voting against Captain Falcon, so before the duel result I requested that Yoshi target whoever won the duel, and voted Falco. I then got out of the forum and didn't return until the vote deadline. With one vote on each, and yoshi controlling a split, I only needed one of them to vote the other person to send them both in the ring. I was hoping the winner of the duel and Falco would debate what to do and be waiting for me to come back online. Then closer to the deadline, they’d realise I might not come back and debate whether I pre-voted or not, as I might be a self vote if I don’t return. Of course, they'd probably think I'm playing them, but in the back of their mind I wanted them to think that maybe I'd self-voted. I only needed to sway one of them to vote the other person. I come back online and either I send both in against each other, or if I'd copped two votes then I get to choose my opponent. Neither of those happened. Yoshi went with Captain Falcon's request and voted for Falco, while both of them voted me. In true Falco fashion he was open about voting for me, and locked his vote in way early and didn't come back, so that screwed me. My end game vision was getting through the final four vote without going in. That didn't happen, and I sincerely believed that I would lose the challenge to Falco. Somehow that didn't happen and I'm here.
Hi guys. I'd like to do the boring standard thing and thank everyone on the jury for playing this game, as well as Yoshi and Captain Falcon. I had a lot of fun overall and I think we can all agree that Masahiro Sakurai and his helpers did a fantastic job of putting this all together. A crazy amount of time and effort clearly went into creating this and I'm glad I've been able to not only take part but make it to the end.
With that out of the way, I should probably try and explain my game. I've worked with most of you at some point in the game, but nobody for all of it. This will probably be quite long, but if there's anything I'll regret after the game it'll be failing to mention anything here. Plus you've got days to read it.
PRE TEAMS
The start. I came in and messaged everyone who had at least two public posts after a few hours, if they hadn't messaged me yet. I wanted to be allied with people who were active. I wanted to feel everyone out as best I could, looking to make whatever connections I could to keep myself safe in the early game. When it was announced the team pick situation, I knew I wanted to try and coordinate it so I was on a team with people I got along with best. At the start King Dedede, Dark Pit and Kazuya had all started conversations with me and I felt like we got along really well. We all seemed to be on similar wave lengths. King Dedede, Kazuya and I decided that we'd all go to the same team together, but we needed a fourth. They both were keen on Dark Pit, I was a little less keen than them but ultimately agreed. I suggested we all go to the same tribe together, and pitched green because it's my favourite colour. They all agreed. That's why you saw all of us go green straight away. We all talked to other people to see who else we could get. I spoke with both King K. Rool and Link and got along with them both. I suggested to both of them to go green when the time came to pick a side. They both did. Piranha Plant picking green with us was a welcome surprise. Because this meant that there was an obvious outlier who could be targeted right off the bat.
GREEN TEAM
On green we had our group of four, being myself, Kazuya, Dark Pit and King Dedede. We had our group chat where we controlled everything. I wanted to create as 'open' of an environment as I could, and it seemed like that was what the others were happy with too. King Dedede got the clue to the first smash ball. He shared it with our group to try and work together and get the smash ball. I was at work on my phone, so I didn't even bother going through and putting all the letters together that the clue spoke about. But I believe it was King Dedede who got the actual solution and posted it in the chat. Which was that one of the things in the background didn't belong. Well I guessed that it was the dog paw which wasn't meant to be there, and guessed Nintendogs straight away. And I got it first guess. Fucked up that it had to be all caps, but got it. I decided straight away to share with the group that I'd gotten it, to maintain the environment of openness. Seemed to work a charm. The smash ball is powerful, but it's not as powerful as an idol or anything like that so I wasn't really conflicted about sharing it. And I didn't think I'd be targeted because of it.
Before the first vote I came up with the plan to create multiple group chats, to make everyone (except Piranha Plant sorry) think that they were in the majority of four. So along with the original group's blessing I created two more group chats. One with myself, Kazuya, Dark Pit and Link. Then the other with myself, Kazuya, King Dedede and King K. Rool. So even though both King K. Rool and Link were on the outs of the real majority, they both felt very secure and as if they were in the majority. So if it came to it, we get rid of one of them and the other will still feel safe before they're voted out. So with that established and everyone feeling secure, I felt like I was in the best position. Yes everyone could talk about all the moves I was making and groups I was forming, come together to boot me off but I thought that was too big of a move, and it would shatter too many groups. So I felt like even though I was extremely highly visible especially to the core four, I was in a fantastic spot.
That leads to us voting Piranha Plant off. I believe it felt resentment towards me which continued into later because I reassured it about it's safety before voting it off.
Mario then came to our team. This was another easy boot. It meant that everyone still felt completely safe and secure.
Following the Mario boot, the talk became who we should boot, King K. Rool or Link. It felt like there wasn't going to be HUGE push back either way, but it seemed like people in the four would've preferred King K. Rool to go. This didn't work for me. King K. Rool had been absent a fair bit early on, and hadn't built very solid connections as far as I could tell. I'd been keeping on top of everyone with private messaging and he'd told me that I was his number one. He told me everything he thought about the team and told me I was the one he trusted most. Could've said it to others as well, but I believed him. Well myself and King Dedede had already said that to each other as well, but it never hurts to have more than one person think of you as their number one. I got along great with Link, but I knew he wasn't relying on me as heavily as King K. Rool. And truthfully I didn't want to lose either of them. I had a team of seven that all got along, I felt like I could work with everyone and wanted us to stick together. My main focus was getting us through the swap intact and still working together. And we could accomplish that in my mind by going into the swap as a strong unit, but appearing as if we weren't.
VOLUNTEER PLAN
So I came up with the volunteering plan. Not a completely unique plan, I know other people volunteered. But I got it working with a full team. It was shaky getting off the ground because I had to make sure everyone was on board before implementing it. While I was making all these enquiries, Marth joined our team. Well we could've easily just turned the vote on him, but to every other team it would've been obvious that we were all sticking together and we'd be in trouble at the swap and the merge. I wanted other people voted out and a false narrative to spread to the other teams so they didn't think we were all working together. So very quickly I took a leap of faith and filled Marth in on the plan and he was interested. If only because he wouldn't be immediately voted out. Because in order to get people on board with my plan, I felt that I had to be the first one to volunteer. To show my commitment to the team and to show that it could be done. A huge risk, but it was calculated. I knew that this early in the game, it was much more likely that I'd be facing easier competition. Also having to beat only 1 out of 2 people made it more appealing. In the end everyone was on board except for King K. Rool who was hesitant. Then as we got closer to the deadline, the conversation briefly became whether we just vote out King K. Rool and implement the plan afterwards. As I said earlier, I didn't want that to happen and King K. Rool didn't realise that if he didn't go along with it, he was gone. He was then absent. I took another risk and created the large group chat and included him, pretending that he had agreed. I sent King K. Rool a message explaining that I did it for his own good and it was in his best interests. I believe in the end he appreciated it, but he can tell you otherwise if that's not true. It meant that he went from being the current boot to staying in.
The plan was to send the volunteer in, and let them get the shield with their lowest card. This was to explain why they didn't get voted out again straight away when they came back to green. And if someone else came first and the volunteer had to go to a different team, they were protected for the first vote. Someone else would volunteer to go high on attack, to beat the other teams with their bid and choose the challenge that best fit the volunteer. In my case, it was Link who bid high to pick the maze which I knew I'd be quick at. I also came up with the narrative that there were two sides. One with King Dedede, Dark Pit and King K. Rool. I was on the side with Kazuya and Link. Well in our story, I was sick of King Dedede and Dark Pit being 'in charge' of the tribe and running it. I saw the writing on the wall and saw that I'd be voted out sooner rather than later. So I tried to flip things, and we were looking at a 3 3 tie. Then Marth joined, tossed up which side to go with and went with the other side. This was for everybody to know and to stick with to everyone else. So I did that while I was in the ring. I believe it was Dark Pit in the stands at this stage and his job was to also spread this narrative if asked. I knew that there would be people on the team who wouldn't volunteer, and that was part of my plan as well. I knew that I could use whether people volunteered or not down the road as moral justification for actions I would take. So if somebody volunteered, I trusted them with all my heart and would stick with them. That's how I'd treat them in private messages. And if somebody didn't, I wouldn't bring it up apart from when talking about them with others and how they had been happy to send others in from their alliance to get further and stay safe, thus painting a negative picture around them. Because eventually in my ideal scenario it'd come down to the greens facing off eventually and I needed to come out on top.
It was around this time that I decided to tell King K. Rool and Link that I had the smash ball. This was a defensive move, in case any of the core green four decided to try and use one of them against me. They'd tell them about the smash ball, but they'd already know and trust me because of it.
It all went according to plan. I got voted in with my lowest bid for shield winning, and Link won the attack bid and picked the maze, which I won. I came back to green. Then the idea was floated that we force the 'volunteer' position onto Marth. As he was the last to come to the team and really had just gone along with the plan because it meant that he was safe for the first vote. So we did that in as light of a way that we could, basically making it a proving test to green that he really was with us. So we coordinated it again, with Marth going in. I believe it was Dark Pit that came up with the idea for Marth to pick a different team at this point, with the shield. Because we knew about the tribe swap rules at that point, and it would mean that we could pick Marth, who could pick us. Which meant three greens in the same tribe right off the bat. For some reason Marth didn't do that, and came back to green. I don't know why he didn't, because it was an excellent plan. So anyway Marth comes back. Also on that vote Falco went very high on attack and was able to choose the stage. We didn't expect anyone to go higher than we were going, so that was a surprise. And Falco wasn't in the ring either, it was Wii Fit Trainer so we were a bit confused and were wary of shenanigans happening on blue as well. I believe it was Kazuya who bid for attack on that one.
The last vote before the swap, Link volunteered. He wanted to prove that he was all in on green and willing to put his game on the line. This was obviously a relief because it meant there was no pushing anyone in that didn't really want to do it. So it was Dark Pit going high on attack. This one backfired obviously. I really didn't want to lose Link after he volunteered, because I believed us together would've been very strong. Even if he had previously been closer with others on the tribe, we had that connected bond about volunteering. He went in and Dark Pit was outbid on attack by Falco again. And this time Falco was in the duel, so it was extra dangerous for Link. It wasn't a great time to first discover Yoshi is a challenge beast because they both beat Link and he was out.
FINAL GREEN THOUGHTS
Before I move on to yellow (yes I know this is very long, I apologise), I want to mention the grab bag. King Dedede was first there, and I was happy to leave him there as I trusted him and believed that we were a close duo. However Dark Pit felt otherwise and wanted to be there. So we allowed him to be there multiple times in a row. While King Dedede was there, he was very open about what was happening (as far as I could tell) and didn't seem to keep many details from us. Either that or he did a good job of making us feel that way. However Dark Pit was different. It wasn't only noticed by me that he didn't share information willingly really, every time he shared information it was as a result of me directly asking him about it in the group chat. And the information was very limited. Now what he said was happening there was maybe true (a whole lot of nothing), but it was suspiciously little and it didn't sit right with me. Either Dark Pit just wasn't being open with information or he was talking shit and making future plans for himself. Either way out of all the greens, Dark Pit became my first target for the future. Even though he was in the core four with me, I trusted both Link and King K. Rool more than him. I could be completely off base and he was really straight up with everything, but my gut told me otherwise.
As an aside, the whole time on green we all talked about how we wanted Yoshi out. Very early on I made enquiries with everyone on the tribe and I was the only one to have an egg. I anticipated that at least one person was probably lying, but even if one person was it meant that the green group would never be able to control Yoshi. So despite having an egg myself I wanted Yoshi gone pre-merge. I also disliked the egg strategy that he was playing and didn't appreciate it very much. Of course it would come to benefit me later as things moved around.
YELLOW TEAM
The tribe swap. I said that I wanted the grab bag for this round and so I got it for very cheap. I think I went 3 or 4. From being in the ring, I had gotten information that made me think that whoever got it from blue would likely pick to go to the ring in order to look at the team compositions and make an educated choice later. Because blue sounded like a huge mess. That gamble paid off and it was Pyra & Mythra who got it from blue, and did just that. I think people from the other teams thought I bid very high and Pyra & Mythra just got the last preference and had to go to the ring. And I got my first preference of yellow, because Wario's yellow of course. I made my choice and picked Donkey Kong as my first preference. He was very far from my closest connection on the other teams, but I saw him as strategically active however no threat of out manouvering me, and I believe I could get him to go along with whatever plan I wanted. The way the teams ended up, he was the only former red on yellow, with all the rest over on pink. Immediately I was worried about the former reds all coming together and taking over the game. Things from the outside looked bad for King Dedede, Dark Pit and King K. Rool over on pink due to there being three of them and I believe four former reds. So it would make strategic sense for the reds to target a green so that the numbers weren't even. And it would honestly make sense for the greens to cut one of their own to appear less threatening. So when King K. Rool was the one to get voted off, I knew that it wasn't just a straight side vs side thing because of course King Dedede and Dark Pit would stick together and get rid of King K. Rool. I was the one who was closest with him, they were closer with each other. So it really seemed like a willing sacrifice of sorts. Over on our side getting rid of DK was an easy move. Easy narrative to push about red taking over the game later. He voted for me, I believe because he saw me as being in charge but I don't truly know. However even then I was planning ahead. I had cleared the plan with Kazuya and Marth and tried to implement it. I was getting Piranha Plant to go big on shield, so that he wasn't an option for the next vote. This would mean that the likely target would be Yoshi. Then once Yoshi is in the ring, I make it very clear to both people in the ring to not come to yellow. Then there's a majority with myself, Kazuya, Marth and Piranha Plant and we can take out Squirtle and Captain Falcon. Well at the first part of the plan, Piranha Plant voted for me instead of DK. So obviously then that meant that I couldn't work with Piranha Plant.
BLINDSIDED AND RECOVERY
King K. Rool then won the duel and came to green. This was the optimal outcome for me. I saw this as perfect, because now there were four former greens and there was Yoshi, Captain Falcon, Squirtle and @piranha plant as well. In reality this was the start of my first big mistake. As long as the greens all voted together, we were all good. It didn't matter who we got, it wouldn't be a green getting targeted and then we'd have ultimate control over the team. I would've been willing to go to rocks if things had turned and it was a 4 4 tie. But the grouping of myself, Marth, Kazuya, Captain Falcon and Squirtle were acting as a majority, and we were just going to target Yoshi and @piranha plant. Easy votes. At this point I admit that I became over confident in my position and thought that I was unstoppable. It was a mixture of that and a work schedule that had me busy in the hours leading up to that vote that lead to me getting voted out. I was pretty short with the voting discussion, and didn't really leave it open to a discussion. I just basically treated it like a done deal that it was Yoshi. I didn't have the time to properly discuss it with everyone, and I didn't really feel like we had to because I felt that I was completely safe and the worst that could happen is a 4 4 tie. Well Captain Falcon and Squirtle were definitely NOT feeling like they were in an optimal position, and felt that they would be going out soon if they didn't change something. Which was true, I give them kudos for recognising this and making a hell of a play. They were also feeling uneasy about me because I had given us all the complete list of the picking order for the yellow and pink tribe. I sent it to Squirtle, then to our overall group. I couldn't copy and paste it, so I typed it out myself. But I was sloppy. I accidentally got the last two people in each other's spot which meant that it was a red picking a red. Obviously this wasn't possible, and it was a genuine mistake on my part. I really meant to send the full complete list, I just messed up the last two. So they both noticed this and felt that I was less trustworthy because of it. Captain Falcon and Squirtle already had Yoshi under control through having eggs. They were obviously together. Piranha Plant was against me. So that was four of them to turn. They needed a fifth and they were able to convince Marth that he was on the bottom and would be the first to be sacrificed. Marth flipped and made it a 5 3 vote with me getting voted out and Yoshi getting the three votes from King K. Rool and Kazuya.
In the ring I got some good intel on the dynamics of pink. Obviously I had to take everything with a grain of salt, but I was straight up told not to come to pink. Even from an outsider looking in, it looked pretty obvious that if I went to pink, the green trio would get targeted and I'd probably be sent straight back out again. So I worked on Marth. Marth regretted his decision as I laid everything out, how he'd build up so much trust by volunteering to go in that I would never get rid of him first. How that gave us the strongest connection in the game, because we were both willing to put our games on the line for our alliance. Of course Marth was pushed, but it was an obvious narrative to take advantage of. It worked and Marth said he'd vote with me if I came back. I came back and used my two highest cards (that weren't the smash ball) on shield, as I was obviously paranoid about being voted out again. It became a 4 3 1 vote with Yoshi self voting, and Piranha Plant getting the other four votes. After I'd gotten through that vote and was immune, Captain Falcon and Squirtle really had no choice but to make up with me. We talked things through and came to an understanding on what had happened. At this point I told Piranha Plant not to come back, because his side would vote him in again. Well Piranha Plant came back anyway. It had taken a while, and the vote was already decided to be Yoshi for the next one. So Yoshi went in. And while he was in, we all talked to him and convinced him that he was with us and to come back if he won. Well he did win, and he did come back. And then Piranha Plant was voted in again. I didn't want Piranha Plant getting to merge as I knew he wouldn't work with me, and thankfully Robin took care of that problem for me.
FINAL YELLOW THOUGHTS
Before moving to the merge, I want to again mention the grab bag and some other things. Kazuya got it three times in a row, and after a few hours of going there and failing to get the smash ball he would share the clue with me in hopes that one of us would find it. He was there with Dark Pit and just like Dark Pit on green, Kazuya was not forthcoming about what was happening and only ever said that there was just chatting going on. Nothing strategic. I might be wrong about it, but I didn't believe that at all. I knew how strategic both Dark Pit and Kazuya were and thought there was no way they weren't strategising and coming up with future plans. And I hadn't been filled in on any future plans, so if they existed I wasn't in them. This meant that even though Dark Pit was still my first target from green, Kazuya was there too. Things became more definite for me when Kazuya got to the smash ball. Of course I know the truth now, and the truth is that Squirtle got it. I don't know if he got it with any clues from Kazuya, or was just super good at detective work. But I didn't know that until Squirtle played it. Kazuya worked out the passcode for the smash ball, and told me. He guided me through how he got the answer and I followed along. He then told me that he posted the password which was whatever it was in his confessional. Then Masahiro Sakurai came and confirmed with him that the smash ball had already been claimed. Seems believable right? Turns out it actually is believable, but anyway. So I did this, to confirm the same. Well I got no confirmation, despite myself and Kazuya being in the same position of not getting it. So I waited, and then tagged Masahiro Sakurai, who said they couldn't confirm anything. So I came to the conclusion that Kazuya did this, and got the smash ball. He then made the assumption that if the ball was taken, Masahiro Sakurai would confirm that it was gone. So he told me about how he got the confirmation. Except they didn't. I don't know if this was a mistake on Masahiro Sakurai's part because they confirmed it with Kazuya and not me, on Kazuya's part because he didn't actually get a confirmation but said he did, or my part because I may have done something wrong. Either way things didn't quite add up and I believed that Kazuya had the smash ball. Again, obviously now I know that I was wrong. But that's how I was viewing things at the time. Another thing which happened which made me distrust Kazuya was that he wanted me to use my smash ball on the first vote of yellow. This made no sense, it was theoretically to keep the shield away from Piranha Plant, but if he was immune then we could just target Yoshi. So I saw that as Kazuya trying to get rid of my smash ball and weaken me for the future. Kazuya had no competition for the grab bags. Obviously we were all talking with each other, but once we had the vote where I went out and then there was a split, there really should've been other people competing for it. And there wasn't. There was no competition for my shield when I went for it. Obviously people would think I'd go high, but the fact that NOBODY else went for it was extremely suspicious to me. I was sure that Kazuya was playing both sides, siding with Squirtle and Captain Falcon. I used this in conversations, and really spread the message of how connected Dark Pit and Kazuya were. Them being at the stands together so much really painted a target on them, and I wanted to fan the flames as much as possible so that they'd get targeted before me. It was also Kazuya that wanted to target Yoshi before the merge, instead of Squirtle and Captain Falcon. This didn't make sense to me as Squirtle and Captain Falcon were the obvious strategic threats, so obviously to me he was protecting them to keep his options as open as possible at the merge. Now this could all be a coincidence and I was jumping to conclusions. With the smash ball one, turns out I was. But with all that added together it painted a picture for me that showed that I couldn't really trust Kazuya and he was going to be a big threat to my game down the line.
Another aside about the eggs. I knew Captain Falcon and Squirtle had one each. Yoshi told me that yellow controlled him over pink. So I knew that he was a number for the yellow team going into merge, but wouldn't be when I went back to working with the greenies.
MERGE
So we get to the merge. We've got our yellow side completely intact, minus Piranha Plant who I didn't believe would stick with us anyway. I've got my green connections over on the pink side of things. There's Falco and Robin in the middle. Robin had beome a target in my mind due to her beating Piranha Plant in the duel, when it seemed almost unstoppable up to that point. Falco was immune, and he threw out Yoshi's name. So that got back to everyone, including Yoshi. To punish Falco, Yoshi wanted to target Pyra & Mythra as they were seen as Falco's closest ally. Of course they're not a green, so if the targets were those two then that was fantastic for me. Losing Pyra & Mythra did nothing to impact my game, and Yoshi was being controlled by the eggs. And even though my group was controlling him, by myself I wasn't able to control him. So out goes Pyra & Mythra.
TURNING POINT
Then the next vote comes up, and people are wanting to vote a green in. And I believe at least in part due to my pre-planning, the target was Dark Pit. I talked with Captain Falcon, Squirtle and Yoshi privately to make sure the target was Dark Pit and not King Dedede. I needed to keep it from Kazuya that the vote was Dark Pit. But everyone knew the target would be a green, either Dark Pit or King Dedede. Dark Pit going out worked great for me, even though he was in green I believed that he would get me out as soon as it convenienced him. So my plan was to have the 'sides' stick together. So us on yellow vote Dark Pit and send him in. The pink side sends in whoever they want, I can't remember who that target was but I believe it was one of the former blues or Yoshi. Of course this plan didn't make strategic sense to Dark Pit and Kazuya. I believed Kazuya was closest to Dark Pit and wanted to protect him. While obviously Dark Pit didn't want to get voted in. The story I was going with was that if one of them goes in and picks the stage, it really hides the fact that there's a green alliance and it's pretty likely that we can avoid a green going in at all in the next vote. That means that we are hiding for another two votes, lessening how many of us go out. Obviously bullshit, but I didn't care if Dark Pit and Kazuya thought I was being dumb, I just wanted my plan to go ahead. I had told everything about how I didn't trust Kazuya and Dark Pit to both King K. Rool and King Dedede previously. King K. Rool was on board with getting rid of both of them, while King Dedede was willing to when the time was right. Well as it was currently only me pushing that the vote should stay on Dark Pit in the green group, I talked to King Dedede about him either saying he agrees with my plan or coming up with a different plan which still involves putting Dark Pit in. King Dedede wasn't willing to do this, and gave a couple of reasons. I don't know which one(s) were true, but either way he wasn't willing to go along with it and get Dark Pit voted out. The reasons didn't make sense to me so I took it to mean that he cared more about Dark Pit being spared the ring than me being put in a bad position for the next couple of votes, likely costing me the game. Because Dark Pit was wanting to turn the game around and split the votes, causing both Yoshi and Falco to go into the ring. Obviously Yoshi was better for me than anyone else in the green group, so out of everyone going that was the target that least benefitted me. I also had a good relationship with Falco, and I was well aware that Robin was close to Dark Pit. So this situation had Dark Pit set up extremely well, with King Dedede hiding in there and myself and King K. Rool sticking out like a sore thumb. King K. Rool would get targeted because the others weren't close to him and would be willing to sacrifice him when the opportunity came, and I would be seen as having connections and I'm sure my reputation from the early game had spread to everyone so they'd be looking at me as a prime target. Also people knew that King K. Rool was a number for me, so if I wasn't immune they'd take me out if King K. Rool was still in. I saw myself lasting no more than three votes in that situation.
So with King Dedede unwilling to go along with the move which didn't involve outright betraying green, just looking dumb then that meant I had to go back to yellow. I saw that on yellow I had people in front of me in Captain Falcon, Squirtle and Yoshi who would likely get targeted before me. They were much more immediately threatening than me on the opposite side to green. I outed Kazuya to them as trying to get green back together to avoid Dark Pit going out. So we were going to go ahead with a vote of Dark Pit. Whereas the pink side would be all split up, with either Falco or Yoshi going in. Again though, I didn't want Yoshi going in at this point, and so I got greedy. I thought I could really flip things around by including Falco and Robin, and get Dark Pit and Kazuya in the ring against each other. That gets the two players I least trust against each other and guarantees one goes out. I came up with the idea about an hour and a half before the deadline and went to Falco and Robin with it. After a bunch of questions and clarification they both agreed to the move. Robin went back to the green group and told them the plan, which got them turned on me. The only problem for them was that I was immune due to a calculated but lucky shield play by me. So they went for my number in King K. Rool. And you all know how the vote went. Obviously at that vote I knew people were upset at me so I used my smash ball on shield to make sure I could have another round to calm things down. King K. Rool losing to Dark Pit in the duel was really shit for me initially, but I quickly realised that my perceived threat level had gone down SIGNIFICANTLY. I was now on the yellow 'side' with no number one, and looked to be on the outs of a 3 person group of Squirtle, Captain Falcon and Yoshi. Like I couldn't have been in a better position to avoid shots. I can't claim to have planned that out completely, because I wouldn't have voluntarily gotten rid of King K. Rool but for where I was it was the best thing to happen for my game. Obviously I blamed myself for King K. Rool going out, I don't know if I would've attempted that move if I hadn't had the security of the shield.
YELLOW VS PINK IN THE MERGE
From here I go low/no contact with the people from green. It was my opinion that me strategising with them straight away would paint myself as a bigger target for them. If they think I'm 'yellow strong' then I don't look as threatening as someone who's making connections everywhere. For my game, maintaining 'sides' was the absolute best thing. I don't think there was a player it benefitted more than me to keep things as side vs side, so I tried my best to keep that going. Despite any strategising between people from both sides, things stayed like that. I know people were helping each other on both sides to avoid votes for each other, but I knew that it wouldn't matter because I wasn't going to get targeted anyway. This frustrated Robin and Falco quite a bit because I believe they both wanted a much more fluid and open game, but that didn't work for me. I even kept referring to them as on the opposite side to me, as they'd voted with that side previously. They were looking for big targets, and I'd lowered my threat level. The way I envisioned things going was that each side would lose numbers pretty evenly, and I'd be left at the end. It didn't go that way though and people on the yellow side just wouldn't lose. Yoshi not losing worked great for me because right after I turned on the green group, I realised that he would be the ideal player to take to the end. All of my FTC scenarios involved sitting here with Yoshi. The third person changed a few times, but Yoshi was consistent in my ideal scenarios.
ROBIN VOTE
The Robin vote. This one was interesting because to my group I said I sincerely believed that it would be me getting voted in because the other side wanted me in. I didn't really believe that for a second. But using that story, I asked that I pick my target to face in the ring. My side was happy with that. I picked Robin, because I was honestly scared of her. She was obviously in the middle, everyone knew it. But from talking with her I knew she was extremely switched on, and even though she was targeting threats, I believed it was only a matter of time before she realised what I was doing and she'd go for me. At the time I believe she just saw me as a yellow number and someone that was unwilling to make moves. And I wanted her out. I was also happy to lose one of the three that were in my group. So I opened up a dialogue with King Dedede and we agreed to look out for each other. Did I genuinely believe he'd put his foot down and refuse to vote for me? Absolutely not. But I DID believe that it would at least offer a little bit more protection, and King Dedede wouldn't outright push to get rid of me. That's how I saw it. So for me, the vote for who went out on my side didn't make a huge difference. However my preference was to keep Squirtle. Because I knew that everyone saw him as a huge threat, as did I. And if he was still in, that was someone in front of me. I wanted either Yoshi or Captain Falcon to go in. I believed Captain Falcon had less of a chance of getting targeted over me, even though I'd still think he would. And Yoshi going in meant that either Robin would lose because Yoshi is a challenge beast, or Yoshi is gone and that's a challenge beast gone that I might've had to face at some point if the numbers get turned on me. I expressed to King Dedede that I wanted either of those two out, and I believed we came to an agreement. Although King Dedede was careful with his words and when I went back and checked following the vote, he hadn't outright said that one of them would be the target. So Squirtle goes in. Not my ideal situation, but still OK.
KING DEDEDE VOTE
To my absolute surprise Squirtle won. This changed the complexion of things obviously, as we were getting deeper into the merge and my entire group was still intact. Well I thought that this is where it'll be Kazuya taking on Captain Falcon, and at least Captain Falcon will get a blemish on his record at this point. The vote comes back and it's Kazuya vs King Dedede to my surprise. Fine with me, I'm not actually working with either of them. I hoped for a Kazuya loss because we still weren't talking. I'd sent a couple of short messages, first asking if we just weren't going to talk for the rest of the game and then another saying how I guess whichever one of us gets to the end, the other won't be voting for them on the jury. Kazuya won and came back in. I knew King Dedede was playing a strong game, but I wasn't sure if everyone else recognised that and would vote for him at the end. I knew he was intentionally playing in a way to lower his threat level, and likeability to an extent so that he would avoid votes. It had been working great right up until here. He was one of the people I was open to going to the final 3 with, as him getting votes would depend on how well he could convince everyone that what he was doing was intentional. Similar to me in that way I guess.
SQUIRTLE VOTE
We get to the next vote, and we agree to do a 2 2 2 split to send in Falco against Kazuya. I was actually looking at this vote to turn and get Captain Falcon out, but I was reminded that the only time Falco had been voted out, it was voluntarily. So his strategy of targeting players who hadn't gone in the ring yet, that he'd been pushing throughout the game, came back to bite him because then I decided to stick with the plan to get him vs Kazuya happening. Captain Falcon had other ideas obviously, and sent in Squirtle against Falco.
KAZUYA VOTE
For the next vote, I made what I believe was my biggest mistake of the game. Kazuya and I started talking again. I knew that I wasn't going to be the target because I didn’t look like a threat. I knew where everyone was voting as a result of my relationships and my management of my threat level. I could've not rocked the boat and gone with someone's plan, and then there wouldn't have been anybody looking at me really. That had been my game from the first Dark Pit vote onwards, staying out of the limelight and letting everyone take each other out because there were bigger 'threats'. But I used the opportunity offensively, as I believed the jury may not see the game I was playing and I needed to make a 'big move'. I not only knew where everyone was voting, but had the votes on everybody except for me, so I could control who went in, and then choose the other player on the revote. The big move was unnecessary to the game I was playing and I should've stuck with what had been working for me. I believe that if I hadn't made the move to get both Captain Falcon and Kazuya against each other, I wouldn't have been targeted to go in at the final four. And that was what my game was all about, I just got in my own head about the jury not rewarding my style of play and how I had to do something at the end to stand out.
FALCO VOTE
The final vote. After going over many different ways I could play it, I came up with an idea at 6am. Yoshi told me that he'd vote with me even if it meant voting against Captain Falcon, so before the duel result I requested that Yoshi target whoever won the duel, and voted Falco. I then got out of the forum and didn't return until the vote deadline. With one vote on each, and yoshi controlling a split, I only needed one of them to vote the other person to send them both in the ring. I was hoping the winner of the duel and Falco would debate what to do and be waiting for me to come back online. Then closer to the deadline, they’d realise I might not come back and debate whether I pre-voted or not, as I might be a self vote if I don’t return. Of course, they'd probably think I'm playing them, but in the back of their mind I wanted them to think that maybe I'd self-voted. I only needed to sway one of them to vote the other person. I come back online and either I send both in against each other, or if I'd copped two votes then I get to choose my opponent. Neither of those happened. Yoshi went with Captain Falcon's request and voted for Falco, while both of them voted me. In true Falco fashion he was open about voting for me, and locked his vote in way early and didn't come back, so that screwed me. My end game vision was getting through the final four vote without going in. That didn't happen, and I sincerely believed that I would lose the challenge to Falco. Somehow that didn't happen and I'm here.
OUTRO
My game is far from perfect. I had misreads and made mistakes and I'm happy to own up to all of them. I have players who straight up told me they won't vote for me, and I have players that I don't think I'll be able to convince to vote for me. I've had quite a few angry messages sent my way throughout the game. But I believe I played extremely strongly overall, in multiple different ways. I'm looking forward to answering any questions you guys may have. Thanks for reading my huge wall of text, and I hope you consider voting for me as the winner.The final vote. After going over many different ways I could play it, I came up with an idea at 6am. Yoshi told me that he'd vote with me even if it meant voting against Captain Falcon, so before the duel result I requested that Yoshi target whoever won the duel, and voted Falco. I then got out of the forum and didn't return until the vote deadline. With one vote on each, and yoshi controlling a split, I only needed one of them to vote the other person to send them both in the ring. I was hoping the winner of the duel and Falco would debate what to do and be waiting for me to come back online. Then closer to the deadline, they’d realise I might not come back and debate whether I pre-voted or not, as I might be a self vote if I don’t return. Of course, they'd probably think I'm playing them, but in the back of their mind I wanted them to think that maybe I'd self-voted. I only needed to sway one of them to vote the other person. I come back online and either I send both in against each other, or if I'd copped two votes then I get to choose my opponent. Neither of those happened. Yoshi went with Captain Falcon's request and voted for Falco, while both of them voted me. In true Falco fashion he was open about voting for me, and locked his vote in way early and didn't come back, so that screwed me. My end game vision was getting through the final four vote without going in. That didn't happen, and I sincerely believed that I would lose the challenge to Falco. Somehow that didn't happen and I'm here.
