Board Thread:Survivor 41: Phi Pan Nam/@comment-35715024-20191012134650/@comment-43601271-20191012183052

Hey Evan!

I’ll be honest man I thought you were about to roast me on an open fire, I’m happy you thought so highly of my game and it’s really flattering, so thank you! At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I would say my social game was the strongest and most important part of my game. It’s what got me through the pre-merge without ever worrying that I was in trouble, because everybody on both iterations of my tribe were always coming to me and really wanted my vote. I remember thinking very early on in the game that sometimes it feels amazing what just being nice to someone can do, as I think just me being myself to people and trying to make a genuine bond before diving headfirst into all the game nonsense led to me being so sought after and spending all of the game in a position of power. It also allowed me to do what I think was the single most important decision I made in this game, which was helping out Shane and Kyle at the swap. It was risky to not vote them out, I knew that. But I trusted the bonds I made with them and truly thought they wanted to work with me and take me deep into this game. This turned out to be true. So taking a risk with Jason to bring along Kyle and Shane over Fathan and Chris is probably the biggest proponent to me not being voted out. I don’t know how long until people outside from NuPhraNang worked out how close Shane and I really were, maybe it was right away, but from my perspective we seemed to hide it really well. This allowed me to get the most sought-after strength in the game, information I otherwise had no right having. Information that, I assume, most people would think I couldn’t possibly know because nobody would tell me. Information from Shane and Kyle got me to learn about the potential alliance between Kyle, Shane, Chloe, and yourself, which didn’t include me and allowed me to come to peace with voting you and Chloe out. I was able to learn about Anthony throwing my name out there in the Final 6, and learn about the perception of my potential bond with Alex. I was able to learn about the plan to deal with me and the idol at Final 5, where if Shane and I didn’t talk closely and if Shane didn’t vote with me in the round, he would have been eliminated, and I’m sure I would have been close behind. My bond with Shane is what got Shane to choose me to go into the Final 2, even though I didn’t pull out the win at the end. Shane did mention that I didn’t talk to him about the vote after he won, and he’s right. I trusted everything we had done together in this game and also trusted that Shane would tell me if he was going to vote me out, and there was no need to bother him, as he knew exactly where I stood. Getting Shane to pick me over Kyle, who he had worked with since Day 1, I think really shows how a strong social game can take you far in this game. It gave me unbreakable allies and loads of information where I was able to take a step back and think, and try my best to make moves that would ensure I’d be safe heading into round after round. I hope that answers your question Evan! Thanks again for the kind words, I wasn’t expecting it but I do really appreciate it. Even though we were never working together in this game I had a blast getting to know you! Stay in touch!