Mingle Mixx/Pickle Head/Apple/Pickle Head/Snooki/whatevayawannacallme's Opening Statement!
What up everyone!? I apologize for this Opening Statement being a bit later than I think any of us wanted. Due to lack of sleep and five tests this week in college life, I made myself extremely sick yet again, and passed out last night at 11:30 and didn't wake up until 1:00 today and got the much needed sleep Pickle Head needed.
Now on to the important stuff.
I sit here before you after what I think we can all attest to what was a very long game. And there is nothing that could have made me happier than sitting here right now!
I'm going to give ya'll a basic run-down of my game and the "basics" at each stage that I did to get here.
For the first five rounds of the game, my strategy was... well, "just be me". I just wanted to be the one people enjoyed talking to socially, the one that made people laugh. Don't be a threat but don't be inactive, basically. I wanted to do just enough to get by but not too much to be an early target for being a big player. In the event I did find myself on the block, I wanted to be liked so that if I found myself against a bigger player, I would be deemed weaker and better to keep around, but also someone people wanted around. I also had an alliance with Kevin, Michelle, and Angie that got me through this stage of the game, in addition to "playing both sides" if you will of Dan and Bacon's sides in this game. (As you can see, me and Angie were actually allies since a very long time ago in this thing.) I was never part of either side, but people from Dan's side seemed to think I was / assume I was part of Bacon's because he wanted me to be, particularly when going into/through the next stage of the game, so I stayed in good with Bacon and his allies while trash-talking him and his allies to those on the opposite side of the fence.
As we moved into the "divided house" stage, I began to up my game. I started to get a feel for who I wanted around in the long haul and who I wanted out now while I can. I proved to people I could be a trustworthy ally by sticking to my guns and voting to keep Michelle when everyone else voted to evict her, something that would prove to be effective for the rest of the game, when people realized they wanted lil' ol Pickle Head around for the long haul.
When Russ switched into our house and Dan switched out, it was a turning point in my game. I learned how valuable Russ was to me and my game, how valuable I could be to his, and that if we worked together, we could do some damage. It was around this point that myself, Russ, and Brian teamed up. However, I was also working with Jordan and Angie on the side.
Coming into the merge, I was in an awkward position. Sandwiched between two alliances that were... well, enemies.
When Dan & Jordan were on the block at final 10, I somehow manged to switch the vote. Presumably, Jordan was going to be evicted. However, I manged to convince enough people to switch to evicting Dan - someone I had wanted to be out of the game for quite a long time - and finally get him out just before the Jury and before he could go on a challenge run to the end of the game and an eventual win. I told Russ that if we evicted Dan, Angie was willing to join with and work with out alliance and he might regain Jordan's trust. Thus, I allowed Angie to join my alliance with the other guys and mitigate the negative effects of having both alliances constantly against each other for the whole merge, got Jordan to stay, and got one of my biggest threats out.
At the next vote, I once again managed to convince enough people to switch and take out Jeff (a very good friend of mine) to keep loyal ally Russ. While I did not want to take Jeff out per say because we were such good friends and he was a decent ally, I knew he had bigger connections to others than me in this game.
I ran through the rest of the merge and made three final 2 alliances as well.
One to Angie, one to Jordan, and one to Russ.
My ideal Final 5 WAS the ideal Final 5 of the game. I wanted this to be the Final 5 because I knew they would all be against each other, and it was pretty much the guys vs. the girls (besides Angie and Brian, who it was clear had a side deal). This is why it was necessary to take out Michele at the Final 6 despite the fact that she was offering me the world.
Now, remember all of those competitions I sucked so, so much at over the course of this game? Including at the beginning of the merge and on? Well, let me tell you, I didn't suck for nothing. I was doing a little something called throwing them. While some people not like that, it was smartest for me. It allowed me to advance through the game without having to "choose a side", and at the same time, it made me look weak in comparison to all of these threatening houseguests.
As the game advanced, I actually started picking up my game and really trying to win the competitions around the Final 7. At this point, I won a Veto, and I won the HoH at Final 4, as well as doing way better that I expected in the first part of the final HoH (endurance). I did not throw any competitions from final 7 on. As you can tell, I was extremely close to winning two Vetos during this time, but the cyborg Jordan got ridiculously amazing times and just beat me out in two of them.
At this point, my goal was to continue to keep in good terms with my final 2 alliances, and to make sure they all really wanted to take me. As evidenced, I was in a good position. Both Russ and Jordan said they would genuinely have taken me to the end, and Angie obviously did take me, so I guess it all worked out for me.
So, a lot of people seem to think I ~floated~ my way through the game. But I assure you, despite the fact that I may be a
banana apple
I did not simply ride the banana boat
to get here. I had a clear and thought-out strategy and implemented it to its fullest to get where I am.
I would like to wish Angie good luck, and thank KC "THE HOST" for yet another amazing ORG!
I want to say to end this all I had a great (and stressful, at points) time playing this game with all of you, and it's been a fun one. I would love to have your vote to win it!
May the best
pickle person win.
