I Can Taste Victory and It Is Bitter Sweet

**I Can Taste Victory and It is Bitter Sweet** is the season finale of *Rivals*.

## Description

A finale twist pits partners against each other.

## Final Challenge

For the final challenge players will compete in duos. Issy introduced a twist in which the players would be competing within their own teams for the money. At each checkpoint the player from each team to complete the task before their partner will earn a point. The player from each team, with the most points will be given the opportunity to share the final prize money with their partner or keep it all for themselves.

### Stage 1

For this stage, when you're ready to begin, in your duo chat use the command `!stage1`. You will be playing the browser game Loopover, and you will have 1 hour to get the best score possible. Stopwatch is not required for this stage, however you must keep track of your time yourself, and any submissions past the 1 hour mark of you doing the starting command will not be valid. Your duo channel MUST be in the screenshot to prove that it's you getting the score or it will not be counted. Your score will be taken as the score you most recently got in the event you've played the game prior. You can submit as many times as you like. You have until 4 PM EST on Saturday (48 hours) to finish this stage.

**Results:**

### Stage 2

For this stage, when you're ready to begin, in your duo chat start your stopwatch with `a.stopwatch`, then the command `!stage2`. You will receive a grid of squares with some squares filled in black. You will also see a shape off to the side, and you must figure out where the shape fits into the grid. The shape cannot go anywhere there are black squares. It can be reflected or rotated in any way. There will be 11 shapes in total you must identify. Answer in command form with the image number followed by coordinates from left to right as if you were reading a book, each separated by a dash. For example, if you were on image number 2 and the coordinates are A2, A3, and B2, your guess would be `!2-a2-a3-b2`. Once you have solved all 11 shapes, stop your stopwatch again with `a.stopwatch`. Any incorrect guesses will result in a 1 minute penalty. You have until 4 PM EST on Saturday (48 hours) to finish this stage.

**Results:**

### Stage 3

For this stage, you will be competing in an endurance challenge. The goal for this challenge is to post every 30 minutes for a consecutive 24 hours. You will receive a channel specifically for this stage. You can choose when you'd like to start, but just know that when you start you are locked in and must continue for the remaining 24 hours. So if your first post is at :03, your next one should be at :33, then the next at :03 again, etc. If you mess up at all you ARE allowed to delete messages, although there is no penalty for any messages not posted at the 30 minute mark. Each chat will additionally have a 15 minute slowmode so you cannot spam messages. Only ONE partner is required to post every 30 minutes, so you can alternate who will be posting at any given time. One partner can do the entire endurance, you can split it 50/50, or however you like. There is a total of 49 check-ins. The team with the most check-ins in 24 hours will win this stage. In the event of a tie, whoever has the least time between their starting message and final message will win. You have until 4 PM EST on Sunday (48 hours) to BEGIN this stage.

**Results:**

### Stage 4

For this stage, when you're ready to begin, in your duo chat use the command `!stage4`. You will be given a list of 10 words that you must link together in a word ladder. You can make exactly one of the following changes between word in the ladder: add a letter, take away a letter, or change a letter. Your goal is to create a ladder with the least amount of words possible. Each word must be in individual messages, and you and your partner must alternate saying words. Stopwatch is not required for this stage; once you do the starting command, you will only have 30 minutes to create your ladder, and any words after 30 minutes will be invalid. You cannot repeat any words in the ladder. All words must be valid words according to the Scrabble dictionary. You can use the given words in any order you like. If there is a mistake in the ladder, for example you use an invalid word or you make an invalid change, we will only grade the ladder up to that point. When starting your official ladder, you must say "START" and when you end you must say "END". You may edit or delete messages only if your 30 minutes have not yet finished. Placement will be determined in order of most key words used, then least amount of total words used, then how early you ended your ladder. You have until 4PM EST on Sunday (48 hours) to complete this stage.

**Results:**

### Stage 5

For this stage, when you're ready to begin, in your duo chat start your stopwatch with `a.stopwatch`, then the command `!stage5`. You will be given 10 images of word clouds made from various eliminated players' confessionals, and you must figure out which word cloud came from which confessionals. A word cloud is comprised of the most common words said by the player in that channel, with the size indicating the frequency of the word. The images will be given in an Imgur album, and the first image in the album is #1, the second is #2, etc. Any eliminated player this season is a possible answer, but not all of them will be used. Once you have finished, lock in your list with `a.stopwatch` You have until 4 PM EST on Monday to complete this stage (48 hours).

**Results:**

Upon completion of the final stage, Issy totaled the points and announced the final results.

## Trivia

* The episode title is a quote from Pino.