There are three amazing stories present at this FTC. I truly think this is a competitive vote.
Dorothea, the lovable queen who thwarted the mastermind duo and against all odds won a challenge when she needed to most to secure her place in the final tribal council.
Shamir, the calculating strategic mastermind who orchestrated many of the moves that made merge what it was, always doing exact threat calculus to ensure this result would be as favorable for her as possible.
Edelgard, the influential empress of merge, somehow one of the most loved people in the game while recognized as one of the biggest threats.
I think the stories you have all presented here are worth a vote. I appreciate the effort you all have put in and how much each of you wants this victory. Ultimately, there can only be one sole survivor, however. And my vote can only go towards one person. I've spent a long time thinking about this and changed my mind once or twice. But, now, I think I finally have enough clarity to know my vote can only really go one place.
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Dorothea, thank you for your friendship this game. I remain apologetic that I didn't choose you for the support link early on in the game. I recognized how much everyone loved you and I was sad come merge to not have a leg up on everyone else as far as our relationship went. That's not to mention that you're simply a joy to talk to.
I recognize the excellence in your social game, as well as the intense effort that goes into producing such a game. I know managing to stay that well liked and have so many friends among the jury is not an easy task. But, you are standing up against two titans. And, unfortunately, I think they just edge you out from a strategic standpoint. I know you tried to make things happen to wrestle the grip Edelgard and Shamir had on merge away from them, but ultimately these moves came just a fraction too late or without the required relationship behind them. I see your relationship with Raphael in the F7 and now as one of those weaknesses despite your dazzling social game.
I was a part of some of these failed plans too, of course. And now I wish again we could've been a stronger duo from earlier in the game, but alas. The mere fact you made it to the end despite everything looking like it should have been against you going into F5 and F4 is a feat, and very nearly turned my vote.
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Shamir, you kept me guessing and on my toes throughout the game. Thanks for giving me a chance even though we met so late in merge. You were an intensely chill force when I talked to you and actually helped mellow me out even when the game was stressful. People have been subtly dissing your social game compared to the other two individuals at this FTC, but I think you're being severely underrated in this area. There was a reason I reached out to you as an endgame ally over Edelgard, and a large part of that was due to what an amazing person you were to talk to, something I'd heard from Dorothea and many others over the course of the game.
However, the other reason I reached out to you over Edelgard was because I ultimately saw you as a lesser threat to her. These FTC performances have not really changed my mind in that regard. I am sure you believed it was the best strategy to go to the end with her, but I also think that's exactly what Edelgard wanted you to believe. I think going to the end with people of similar stories ended up being a trap for you. When the stories are too similar, you need to be absolutely certain of your game's supremacy over the others. In this case, it felt like you had to start arguing why your stories were different half way through FTC, which I don't believe was an intended part of your strategy.
I don't know for sure what happens in a world where you cut Edelgard, in F4, or even if that was the only route available to you. But when I went out I had initially thought my vote was likely going to you. The competition against Edelgard was close, but just too close in my eyes.
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My vote will go to Edelgard.
Edelgard, you had an iron grip on merge from its beginnings. Despite the threat level you had, you somehow managed to always be in the majority. You were unduly prepared for when things would get hard with your idols. Your partnership with Shamir was key to getting you to where you are, but not the only reason. You had a social game to rival Dorothea's, and while I never got the reputation of game bot that you had (especially considering your first message to me was that you'd prefer not to talk game), I could instantly tell how socially powerful and strategic you'd be throughout merge.
I was being a little dramatic when I said bringing Dorothea might be a game losing mistake. It wasn't what I would have done. But when I look at your game in comparison to Dorothea's and even Shamir's, I look at how in control you were. It seemed throughout merge that you had the most power to choose who exactly you went to the final tribal council with. Even when power seemed to have slightly been wrested away from you by Shamir winning immunity twice in a row, you were fully confident that she would bring you to the FTC all the game. This is really what clinches the game for in my mind. By all respects, when I went out, I thought you had an uphill battle to make it to the end unless you went on an immunity run. You proved me very wrong.
Ultimately, I think you have the most well rounded game, occupying a level of self-awareness and management of your own position and threat level that no one else had. You fully deserve the title of sole survivor.
