by Lex » Fri Jul 12, 2013 6:40:21 am
I think we can come to a general agreement that Linda is pretty much the goat of the 3, I don't think it needs explaining and I'd rather focus on the main vote, Gabriel or Lindsey. This post WILL be biased so explain why you disagree with my points, or if you agree, explain why.
Gabriel
I think he has played by far the most superior game out of everybody in this season. Although I didn't know him before the merge, after the merge, he put himself in the power position - to be the swing vote between both alliances (along with Patricia). While doing this, he set up Patricia and me as larger targets and he received 0 votes iirc the entire merge and possibly the entire game. He successfully dominated the strategic game, and while arguably his social game was a bit short especially for some people (Kim P in particular) I think it was more because he didn't need/want to talk to you guys rather than lacking a social game, because he talked a lot with me, Patricia, Sean, Linda and Vecepia (me and Patricia in particular) and I'm sure he also talked with Lindsey and Gina.
He gave the impression he was a lesser threat than he actually was to avoid becoming a target and successfully pulled that off as well, he fooled many people here and he even fooled me into thinking he was not a threat when he dominated nearly every vote. The Rob Cesternino of the game, except he made it to the finals, his adaptability and highly noticeable decision-making in deciding who to vote clearly demonstrates his master control over the game, and his ability to bond with others via social game was very strong as well.
In summary, I believe he had by far the best strategic game this season, not only being a key factor in nearly every vote (the only time I can remember where the person he voted for wasn't eliminated was when he voted for Gina the night I got eliminated) but tactfully using shields (Patricia, me) to deflect attention off of him and take the fall, proven by receiving 0 votes the entire merge and I'm pretty sure 0 votes the entire game, correct me if I'm wrong.
Lindsey
Lindsey, Lindsey... ok. His strategic game was okay, he bonded with people well and had a good social game IMO, but strategically I think he was lucky. He didn't really show adaptability other than the swap (which by the way the original Tamanaco tribe decided to throw so we could vote out the 3 Mariche members who came over, which didn't work because Sean is a damn smart guy and we decided to blindside Frank instead) being able to bond with Gina in particular. After the swap, he stayed with Gina, Sarah and Kim P and didn't really do anything in terms of strategy other than vote with them nearly every tribal, other than successfully making Linda break down after lying to her about the vote. I feel like he got lucky in terms of the vote because while he was never really targeted like Gabe was, Gabe clearly knew how to use Patricia and me as shields for himself, whereas I only saved Lindsey from the vote by being a dumbass and trying to keep her in even though I knew in the back of my head what he was willing to do (backstabbed Linda). While I did have good conversations and respect him as a person, I feel like he indirectly manipulated me and was very quick to throw me under the bus (which he was mad about when Tom did pre-merge).
In summary, I think Lindsey's social game was good and he was surely good at challenges (although Gabe made a simple mistake in the final one), his strategic game was one-dimensional and mostly heinous, and although he did show some ability to bond with others when needed, Gabe did it better.
In summary, I think while Lindsey can be argued to have a good game, Gabe's strategic game and social game were both far superior to Lindsey's game, his adaptability to new alliances, his power position in the votes and his overall mastery of this season far outweigh what Lindsey has done in the game. While Lindsey's social game was strong, Gabe's was just as strong if not stronger than Lindsey's, and I feel Lindsey got lucky in dodging the vote many times while Gabe expertly maneuvered others to take the vote and fooled everyone into thinking he was a non-threat. My vote is surely going to Gabe unless he has an astoundingly bad FTC performance.
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