Chris' Opening Statement

[Chris Evans]

Allrighty, hey everyone. I had a great time playing this game, regardless of its outcome. I'm happy to have made it as far as I did. So thank you for hosting Penn!
Looking at the Jury, I can tell it's definitely going to be a battle for me to attempt to win. Especially since General Hospital's Franco replaced Obama. But I've fought to get here so I won't stop now.

This is somewhat long, so either bear with me or control find your name. I'm one of those people who likes to go over the game and explain why I did what I did to help answer or provoke Jury questions. An over-view of my strategy that was effective to getting where I am now:

I was placed in the Sassy faction, despite playing more of a sweet game in Starz 3. When looking at the group of the entire Allstars cast I was pretty intimidated. I noticed two friendly faces from past experiences (Sandra & Lolly) as well as two people who I was very uncomfortable playing with. (Barack & James) Naturally, people are inclined to pair up with those they think will have their backs, so I knew I would be able to trust Sandra and Lolly for a good while. My next step was getting closer to my enemies. Aside from Sandra, Barack & James soon became the two players I felt best about in the Sassy faction. It's pretty bewildering what a few conversations will do to rid of any pre-game jitters.

Despite buddy-ing up to the two players I feared most...I looked at the rest of the cast and I was still concerned. There must of been a lot of relationships, and I had heard of people knowing eachother in real life. After the first eviction where I kept both Adam and Lindsay, and each of them went, I knew I needed to change my situation. The sweets faction at this time had 3 people I felt I could work with: Christina, Sausage, and Holly-Marie. I made the decision to swap to the Sweets because I liked my odds better since I was worried about a season 2 alliance forming in my faction. I got the impression everyone but Sandra, Lindsay, and myself were relatively close.

After a little investigation I found out that Holly-Marie was one of the first people I met in ORGs from years ago. What even was more shocking was that I also found out she was Melanie from season 3. She was just as surprised to find out my identity as well. Once we realized we just played starz 3 together, there was definitely a lot of comfort in our game talks. Holly-Marie felt like an "unspoken" final 2. I began to talk with Eve more in depth - just around the time of my first HoH. Sometime between that HoH and her HoH we agreed to work with one another.

A big tip off about the alliances and friendships I was suspicious of came from James the round I was nominated.

dpd2108: I know right away you've got me, Sausage, barack, kathy, sean, deb, adam

Whether or not all these people were actually together or not wasn't clear..but these people were the ones I was keeping my eyes on. I knew I wanted those people out (sans James/Sausage) so I spent my time securing alliances/deals with those I did not speculate to be involved in that group.

So at the point of the second factions stage, the alliances/deals I formed look something like this.

Chris-Sandra
Chris-Lolly
Chris-Holly-Marie
Chris-Eve
Chris-James-Sausage

I believed I had decent relationships with Debra and Barack. That left Orlando, Kathy, and Sean as the people who I wanted to target.

Things were going much better for me than in the first phase. I was helping to get rid of players I had no trust with: Sean and Orlando. Then Debra started giving me some serious season 3 vibes, so I went against Lolly's wishes and evicted her from this game along with Eve.

So here comes my big stand out, center stage, make a name for myself HoH. I feel like if you want to try and win a game, you need to make some power moves, regardless of the repercussions. James had been trying to incorporate me in an alliance with him-Sausage-Kathy-Barack. This alliance only had two people I wanted to work with and I was in a very bad position if the game was to wind down with these people.

The James-Sausage alliance was something I trusted, but never expected to last the whole game. A 3 person alliance does NOT make sense for end game because someone gets left out. I knew for certain James would keep Sausage over me, and I felt Sausage would do the same. I never expected to be the one to break from this group, I was just hoping that someone else could do the damage needed. (So that I could work with Sausage and not get blamed for going against James) But after James reacted the way he did...there was no possible way to continue the game with him.
My plans were to keep this alliance, but James was to furious about my decision to nominate Barack/Kathy that it had to turn into a war. I really needed Barack or James out...so when Barack did his dirty deed in order to win POV ~_~ .... I had to get rid of James who was publicly cussing me out.

Lindsay had come back into the game, and I was okay with it. I had been one of the few people who kept her in. I also knew Sandra was close to her. Since I was close to Sandra I was hoping she could bring Lindsay to our side - or help convince her to eliminate any threats to us. My HoH basically divided the house and helped people like Lolly/Sandra (who disliked eachother) stick together for a common goal.

These next few rounds were a bit hectic. Barack was a huge force in this game and I had done my best to keep a "olive branch" with him because there could of come a time where we needed eachother. I was the biggest threat in competitions and already showed myself to be a bold decision maker. I was in need of safety, much like Barack. I figured Barack and myself were in the same boat..so I kept that card to myself. Because I knew Sandra & co were double dealing and trying to position themselves in the middle so they could play both sides and be safe all around. (Where I had been)
Lolly came though in the clutch and we were able to take out Kathy, who was my biggest threat in the game. (Even over Barack) She was a huge threat to my alliance with Holly-Marie and unlike Barack, she had every reason to target me.

So then the drama and the expulsion of Barack happened. This all went down during my vacation from the game. I ended up losing an ally in Lolly - but it turns out she didn't want to take me to the end. This was a bit of a reality check. Basically I felt like my final 2 in the first phase of the game would of been Sandra. Then at the second factions it was Holly-Marie. When we hit the merge and the sparks happened, I felt it was Lolly. So once I realized she would of cut me loose...I started to feel a lot of people felt the same way.

I was already the biggest threat in challenges and people kept saying I would "win the game." Holly-Marie told me to my face she would have a hard time deciding to keep me at 4 and 3..but I decided to trust her over the others who said they would keep me. I felt I could convince her to do so. So I was left with eliminating Lindsay, Sausage, Eve, or Sandra. Of my potential targets, Lindsay and I had the least communication. From basic perspective, targeting her made the most sense. On the other hand, there was Sausage. We had been allied most of the game but the recent drama with James/Barack made me weary of him. He said he wanted to go to finals with me, but I wasn't sure I bought it. I believed he lied to me about Barack helping him get the HoH advantage - and I just watched him go against his alliance with Lolly. So I was skeptical. I wasn't sure which would be best to go - but after Lindsay won the veto it made the decision more easy. The decision was then between Sausage or Eve. Eve was out the door if put up - and she was the next biggest threat aside from myself. Sausage, in addition, was a Jury threat with his allies making up the current majority. This round was ALL about deciding who I should trust and making the target on my back as small as possible for the upcoming weeks. I had much better odds of staying against Eve than I did Sausage. Keeping Lindsay/Sandra in was a pair that was easily targeted over myself. I knew Sandra/Eve had beef..so the more beef the better for me. I went with my instincts and formed a final two with Eve - and unfortunately let go of Sausage.

We all signed up for the game knowing that betrayals happen. There is different sides to betrayals that can be seen as a fair move (based on a person's actions) or simply a backstab. Sausage and James were the people I went against. James (based on his actions) - I feel - was deserved. Sausage...while I had suspicion..I didn't have evidence. So that was the only true betrayal I feel I was responsible for. But I also feel it was the right thing for my game. The rest of the people I had a hand of voting out, would of probably done the same to me sooner than later.

Overall, I feel I played a very strong game. I had alliances all across the board that kept me safe. After my nomination week 2..the only other time I was on the block was in the final 3. I think that speaks volumes for my social game as far as staying off the block went. Especially considering the enormous target I had on my back. Those who left the game angry with me predicted I'd follow them out soon. But I think I showed that I made the right decisions with the allies I kept. I also showed I could survive without winning my way to the end. I won the most competitions of anyone, but it was important to show I could make it being vulnerable. After being labeled the "biggest threat" by several people, I was kept safe at F5 and F3 due to the relationships I had formed.


Ty4Yt