Dex

**Dex** (Dexios#9243) is the Second Runner-Up of Season 4 & placed 13th in Season 5.

Starting off relatively strong on the Apolo Tribe, Dex found himself well integrated in the majority. Despite his name being thrown out at each Tribal Council, Dex was able to survive thanks to his strong duo with Dexter as well as a budding relationship with Dangan, the three of which formed the Apolo majority alliance “3Ds.” At Apolo’s second Tribal Council, things got particularly heated when Ace thought Dex was going home and mocked him publicly, creating bad blood between the two. It was to his displeasure, then, when the tribe swap saw these two Apolo swapped into a 2-2-1 split. Despite knowing he should, Dex decided not to initially sway the swing vote Mug and instead throw Ace directly under the bus immediately, a decision that Ace reciprocated. This clash would prove costly to the two, as when they decided to put the game before feelings and sway Mug, it was already too late, and Ace was blindsided out of the game. From this point forward, Dex saw any semblance of control ripped from him and was solely a passenger throughout the game to his frustration. A huge amount of votes came his way at the first Tribal Council of the merge due to seeing his paranoia as a liability, but he was miraculously saved when Jackson decided to play an idol on him solely to get Tayy out knowing how many votes were on Dex. This made players view him as a goat, due to knowing him being saved was not to do with his social game but solely because Jackson was power-hungry for a move. Round by round the target shifted away from him, but he remained an easy backup vote. He was kept alive often due to Dangan, who he had a very tumultuous relationship with due to Dangan lying to him almost every single round. Any time he may have found his footing, his tunnel vision on voting Giuli out (and his mistake of trying to recruit Ben in this endeavor) saw him relegated firmly back to the minority as many players felt there was no point in discussing the game. This got so bad that many in the majority outright ignored him for rounds, a rather distasteful move. Due to lack of information from most of the players, Dex’s reads on the game were often immensely incorrect with varying bouts of clarity.  Despite all this, Dex began to gain an underdog status to the players remaining and some in the jury due to how they respected his refusal to give up despite all of these many setbacks. He became a genuine name thrown out with weight to it in the final leg, but Dangan was still able to keep him in due to his belief that he never made a move for himself, going so far to even play his idol on him just to blindside Giuli. At the Final 3, the jury panned Dex for being dragged to the end and his lack of game awareness, while respecting his underdog status. Many in the jury found his speech lacking and disjointed, though some found his honesty and passion for the game refreshing. In the end and after much debate in the jury, Dex was the Second Runner-Up in a 5-2-1 vote when many jurors that respected his honesty just felt he did not have any game moves or control to back a win. He is remembered for his many one on one confessionals that made some in the game think he was making a ton of alliances, as well as his many short videos posted for confessionals and answers.

In Season 5, Dex was determined to play a better social game as well as make moves on the Kisiti Tribe. This quickly led to Anthony, Dex, and Azzy forming “the 3 Icons” alliance which would stay together throughout all of the tribe swaps and puppeteer the votes on each tribe. On OG Kisiti, Dex had a middling game being not a full on target but not the most social out of his trio, with the other two feeling as though he may drag them down socially. However, on the Sipi Tribe Dex found solid footing when reunited with Season 4 nemesis Suari. The two reconciled and formed a tight duo, leading previous kingpin Anthony to be frustrated that Dex and particularly Suari were set to run the tribe fully. Following another swap, Anthony and Dex saw themselves better aligned than Azzy due to their “fake” alliance with Lucas, which allowed them to survive unscathed and send off Catlover. All the while, Dex was able to hold onto the Sipi Idol, never being in danger. At the merge, Dex was feeling his oats from being well positioned as opposed to having to scramble constantly in Season 4. With a Kisiti majority, Dex was okay with pushing The 3 Icons’ target of Alec and felt like not much could go wrong despite hearing his name thrown around. However, his sense of comfort quickly translated to cockiness to a majority of the tribe, such as when he ranted “how DARE he” about Suari wanting to not vote a Gata out first as well as seemingly talking to and not with alliance members. With Anthony, Tayy, and Plaus all voicing that they are willing to flip, the Gata (particularly Bel) took the opportunity to push Dex forth as a big move due to this demeanor. At Tribal Council, Dex was completely blindsided when he was sent to the Jury in a 9-5 vote with his idol in his pocket. He is remembered for his post-vote speech about being wary of who lied that round, despite many of the people he said this to lying to him & him lying to them as well.