Post by devonsampson on Nov 19, 2019 3:42:54 GMT -6
Charity said that viewers can start new-round-threads, so I'm going to take her up on that for the first time so that I can eulogize a player-of-the-season candidate: Jordan McKnight.
I think the tone of my commentary on him has been kind of negative so I want to make it clear that I think Knight CRUSHED this game. There were serious reasons to doubt Knight's competency going into this game; his appeal from a casting perspective was the conflict it seemed like he would inevitably have with people like Rachel and TSL. But instead of that, we saw Knight establish an impressive amount of solid relationships, which allowed him to basically run Numinu and NuLakota. The only people that could challenge him for such tribal dominance were big players like Ricky - that were set up nicely to be shields for Knight.
Through it all, Knight was always one of our top contenders. He went from someone with questionable abilities across the board to an undeniable force in this game, and just a super-respectable player. I think Knight completely redeemed himself in All Out.
- - - - -
I could/should just end this post here, but I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about the other side of the coin: how Knight's mid-to-endgame was, unfortunately, a cautionary tale of what happens when you voluntarily surrender power and agency.
Political power is about reducing your dependency on other people, while increasing their dependence on you. Knight did the opposite of this when he cut Nolan, who had committed himself to Knight by burning his bridges with TSL. No matter how strong a bond you make with someone, in these games you still need to be in touch with your dark side, so that you can take advantage of every opportunity that comes along to push your own agenda. Nothing short of this is acceptable if you're trying to win the game as a high-agency player. TSL is a shining example of this: she usually has an excellent working relationship with her dark side, and doesn't let personal feelings distort her vision of what needs to happen in order to benefit her game, as we saw during the Mojo round (although, to be fair, this got broken down a bit during the Bailey round due to her valuing her friendship with Knight over the game.)
In the end, Knight's loyalty to TSL ultimately alienates DannyK - someone who is fully committed to winning - and he ends up being the one to put Knight down.
But while Knight failed to clench onto power tight enough, the fact that he still made it to the endgame is a testament to how expertly he accrued power in the first half of the game. Knight left an indelible mark on All Out's inaugural season.
I think the tone of my commentary on him has been kind of negative so I want to make it clear that I think Knight CRUSHED this game. There were serious reasons to doubt Knight's competency going into this game; his appeal from a casting perspective was the conflict it seemed like he would inevitably have with people like Rachel and TSL. But instead of that, we saw Knight establish an impressive amount of solid relationships, which allowed him to basically run Numinu and NuLakota. The only people that could challenge him for such tribal dominance were big players like Ricky - that were set up nicely to be shields for Knight.
Through it all, Knight was always one of our top contenders. He went from someone with questionable abilities across the board to an undeniable force in this game, and just a super-respectable player. I think Knight completely redeemed himself in All Out.
- - - - -
I could/should just end this post here, but I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about the other side of the coin: how Knight's mid-to-endgame was, unfortunately, a cautionary tale of what happens when you voluntarily surrender power and agency.
Political power is about reducing your dependency on other people, while increasing their dependence on you. Knight did the opposite of this when he cut Nolan, who had committed himself to Knight by burning his bridges with TSL. No matter how strong a bond you make with someone, in these games you still need to be in touch with your dark side, so that you can take advantage of every opportunity that comes along to push your own agenda. Nothing short of this is acceptable if you're trying to win the game as a high-agency player. TSL is a shining example of this: she usually has an excellent working relationship with her dark side, and doesn't let personal feelings distort her vision of what needs to happen in order to benefit her game, as we saw during the Mojo round (although, to be fair, this got broken down a bit during the Bailey round due to her valuing her friendship with Knight over the game.)
In the end, Knight's loyalty to TSL ultimately alienates DannyK - someone who is fully committed to winning - and he ends up being the one to put Knight down.
But while Knight failed to clench onto power tight enough, the fact that he still made it to the endgame is a testament to how expertly he accrued power in the first half of the game. Knight left an indelible mark on All Out's inaugural season.
