Riley

**Riley** was a contestant of SurviVARs: Wildemount.

## **Profile**

**Discord:** helloriley

**Gender:** she/they

**Timezone:** PST

Riley was off to a bit of a rocky start with this game. She was on a tribe with Flower, Orange, and Sparky, all of whom were big personalities with great social games, and Riley wasn’t the most active. When Clay lost the first immunity challenge, Riley could have been one of the names on the chopping block, if not for a good relationship with Orange that caused him to vouch for her. She was also able to overcome her prior inactivity and jump up the trust rankings a bit, leaving Akicita on the bottom as an easy first boot. The next round saw her climb the ladder even more, eclipsing Sparky as a core third to Orange and Flower.

When the tribes swapped, Riley ended up in a really good place. She was still Flower, but was also with Orange, and together they were able to solve the idol hunt despite Sparky having already claimed it. This trio had a lot of power on this tribe, especially as OG Brenatto and Lionette seemed opposed to each other and both were fighting over the Clay votes. When Nydoorin lost the second challenge of the swap, Riley had a lot of power. She had no interest in Danger’s plan of splitting 3-3 between Dongoosh and Jake, in part because she was really getting close with Jake but also because she had no trust in Danger. Danger had barely spoken to her, so she went on the offensive and started throwing his name out. Riley and Orange made the call to side with Brenatto, and Danger was blindsided with an idol in his pocket.

They swapped again, and Riley lost two of her closest allies in Orange and Jake, replacing them with Lars and Shaun, which she had no connection to. Thankfully, she was still in a great spot, and she remained at the social center of her tribe along with Flower and Dongoosh. She laid low here, and allowed Dongoosh to push most of the narrative against Lavinia and she was sent home in a fairly consensus boot. In the double tribal, Riley wanted to play a bit more aggressively and started toying with a Dongoosh vote. This was where we really started to see how ambitious Riley could be. She tested the waters with Flower, but neither were willing to commit to a big move here. They were also shit talking each other in the confessionals while they chatted, which was pretty damn funny. The group landed on a Lars vote, and Riley went along with it. In a shocking turn, Bella chose to leave her Legacy Advantage to Riley, and she began plotting the best time to use it.

As the tribes merged, Riley was sitting pretty. Some people recognized that she was an UTR threat with a lot of influence, but names like Roman and Dongoosh were catching a lot more traction. Riley won the first individual immunity challenge alongside Ano, and Riley used this safety to start spreading word of a Shaun blindside. This didn’t take off this round and Sindira went home instead, but this momentum carried into the next round and made it easy to unite the numbers against Shaun. Riley earned an extra vote in the auction, and kept this secret alongside her Legacy advantage as they sent Shaun home.

The Orange vote was a landmark vote for Riley, even though she didn’t cast one of the votes that wound up eliminating him. She started the round wanting to target Orange, but this didn’t get much traction. Riley was one of the names that came and went too, but it didn’t land on her at first. However, when Riley started talking about the legacy advantage in a way that seemed a bit too sketchy to Roman, the target for Roman’s alliance landed on her. Riley was really in trouble for a second here. Riley was only saved when Orange started pushing Roman more, and the target flipped onto him. Riley teamed up with Orange, Jake, and Flower, and she even used an extra vote to seal the deal. Unfortunately for her, Roman played an idol and negated these votes, but Orange went home and Riley sort of got her way in the end anyways.

Riley owned up to her extra vote, and found out through Jake that there had been a plot against her. Touchy Subjects then revealed that Riley was playing a better game than people thought, and her threat level was starting to rise. She still had a lot of valuable allies in players like Flower, who worked with her here to find the Mimic Idol that Orange planted for him. When Jake and Ano dipped down in the crab tank, Riley decided that it was finally time to roll the Dodecahedron of Doom. Against the odds, she ended up with a fully powered idol, which she chose to keep to herself and Flower for the time being. The pair decided to try to blindside Roman, and pulled in Aowyn to cast some fake Dongoosh votes to counteract Roman’s Throne card. They didn’t realize that her card also showed if the votes changed, so when they flipped to Roman this gave Sparky the chance to play his idol for her. Flower played his Mimic Idol for Riley in order to get his vote back, which negated Roman’s vote against her. This meant only 1 vote counted for Sparky, and 1 vote counted for Dongoosh. Riley, Roman, and Aowyn had the power to control the revote, but Riley couldn’t come out on top since Aowyn flipped to vote out Dongoosh in order to keep her word to Sparky.

At the final seven, Riley’s idol was the only advantage left in the game. Flower was the only one who definitively knew about it, but the rumor was spreading like wildflower. When Sparky won immunity, Roman ended up as the clear target. Riley, Flower, and Jake immediately decided to target her, and they were able to pull in Aowyn and Ano to help seal her fate. Riley entered the F6 with several paths to the end, and an idol to help her secure it.

Everyone was playing hard here. Riley was gunning for Aowyn, recognizing the strength of her game as well as the unbreaking strength of her alliances to Jake and Ano. When Riley won immunity, she came up with a plan to use her idol in order to save Flower and send Aowyn home with a minority of the votes, but Flower had a plan of his own. She transferred the idol to Flower, so that it didn’t look like her move, but this gave Flower the chance to target Jake instead. It looked to Riley that Jake, Aowyn, and Ano were on Flower, so she voted for him as well in order to stick with the majority. She was shocked when the votes wound up being 2-2-2 with Flower, Jake, and Sparky all receiving votes. Flower played the idol for himself, and his treachery against Jake was revealed. Things blew up between Riley and Flower in the Tribal Council chat, and it looked like their alliance was dead. Sparky was sent home on the revote, which was good for Riley but she still didn’t get her way in blindsiding Aowyn.

Riley was now in a really rough spot. She plummeted in trust rankings, but did everything she could to scramble back up. She doubled down on her lies, but it seemed to work. She came up with complicated stories to explain her advantages, but key players like Jake were believing it. When Ano won immunity at the F5, it was between Flower and Jake and so it looked like Riley wasn’t in danger after all, even without an idol to save her. Riley and Flower had just burned each other, so he seemed doomed. However, when Flower went to Ano and Riley with a pitch against Jake (saying that he would never flip on Aowyn at F4) it was hard to turn down. Riley had to make the hardest decision of the game, between a better shot at winning (sending Jake home) or a better shot at just getting to FTC (sending Flower home). She made her choice, and sent Jake home instead of Flower. This meant the endgame was anyone’s to win, and Riley was ready to do what it took.

At F4, it was do or die for Riley. Flower, Aowyn, and Ano had a F3 deal, so she needed to win immunity or she was doomed. In what might be the most clutch victory in SurviVARS, Riley earned a perfect score in season trivia, winning immunity and guaranteeing herself a spot at the Final Tribal Council. Riley was also able to smooth things over with Flower when it mattered most, because he gave her the advice she needed in order to write a killer FTC speech and win over a conflicted jury. Flower was sent home, and Riley entered FTC with Ano and Aowyn. She gave the speech that Flower prepared her for, and won an incredibly competitive final battle in a 6-2-0 vote.

Riley was pretty incredible to watch. She’s the best type of newbie: someone who has all the savvy they need to succeed, but has the drive and passion to make it happen. I’m so happy that she continued the trend of SurviVARS winners earning their first win in my ORG, and she was more than deserving in the end. She fought hard, played well, and did so with a lot of heart and personality. She was fiery when she needed to be, and able to play a killer social game when it benefited her to do so. Her game wasn’t without flaws, and she definitely made mistakes, but watching her overcome her low moments was just as entertaining as watching her dominate in her high moments. She walked away with nominations for POTG, Fan Fav, Best Move, and Best Duo with both Flower and Jake. She won Villain of the Season for how cutthroat she was able to play, joining the ranks of great SurviVARS villains. She’s one of the most compelling winners we’ve had, and definitely left her mark in SurviVARS history. I’m so glad that she decided to give our ORG a shot, and I hope that she sticks around the community! She’s an absolute legend, and she played one of my favorite winning games I’ve seen on Discord. I’m honored that it happened in my game. Thank you for playing, Riley!

### **Nominations**

**Underdog**

Riley was an underdog from the start solely for being a first time player in a cast of ORG veterans, so to watch her outmaneuver so many legends was mad impressive. She wasn’t really in any danger until the merge, and even then it wasn’t until right around Touchy Subjects that people started seeing her for the UTR threat that she was. Roman saw this and tried to gun for her, and it very nearly could have worked if Flower hadn’t have played his idol for her (even though she had an idol of her own thanks to her Legacy Advantage, so she would have been able to save herself even if Flower didn’t). This one vote wound up being the only vote against her for the entire season, which shows how good she was at slipping around being targeted. Then, at the very last minute, it looked like the writing was on the wall for her at Final Four. Everyone was locked against her, and her fate was sealed. At least, it was, before Riley pulled out what may be the single most clutch win in SurviVARS history, earning a place at FTC and sending Flower packing. She’s not an underdog that always had the odds stacked against her, because honestly she was always sitting fairly solidly thanks to her social maneuvering. She’s an underdog because she defied all expectations and blew this game out of the water when nobody saw it coming.

**Best Duo (With Flower)**

This duo certainly had its ups and downs. They started on OG tribes together, and quickly hit off. They swapped together every time, meaning they never spent a day apart in this game. In the merge, they voted together at every tribal council, except for when Flower lost his vote and forced him to play his idol (which he played on Riley) in order to get it back. Riley then returned the favor by transferring her own idol over to him, which led to the biggest bump in their journey as Flower tried to flip on Riley and eliminate Jake. That round went poorly for both of them, and for a second it looked like their relationship might not recover. Then, they got back together at F5, before Riley was forced to vote Flower out at F4 if she wanted any shot at winning the game. Flower proved how much he cared for Riley by giving her all the FTC advice he could on his way out, helping her to prepare her stunning FTC speech that ultimately won her the game. These two played by each other, for each other, and occasionally against each other, and their journey was one that really defined the season.

**Best Duo (With Jake)**

From the moment these two met, they were a duo. They clicked on a very personal level that’s always really special to see in an ORG, and when they were separated by a swap it was really sweet to watch them both lament the loss. In the merge, they were careful not to seem too close while actively leaking everything they could back and forth b between each other. This single conduit of information may be the most important relationship to Riley’s winning game, and allowed her to stay on top of all sides of the game even when her social game was waning with certain players. Jake and Riley made up for each other’s shortcomings, and they had a secret death grip on this game that was only obvious to the spectators. Top this off with an epic blindside at the relationship’s conclusion (adding in that this was the move that ultimately freed Riley up to win the game) and they’re cemented as a duo that will go down in SurviVARS history.

**Best Move (The Jake Betrayal)**

This is a classic Survivor moment, and despite its simplicity it really stood out as a defining moment of the season. Ano and Riley had both been loyal to Jake for pretty much the entire game, and Jake was a beloved player who seemed poised to make it to the end and very possibly win it all. When people finally recognized this, it left Aowyn, Ano, and Riley with a heartbreaking choice. They could either keep Jake (who they all loved) but essentially hand him the win, or cut the biggest threat and sever that relationship in order to give themselves a better shot at the end. Aowyn made her choice to stand by Jake, while Ano decided to vote against him. Riley’s choice was the hardest of all, though. When she voted out Jake, she voted out her best friend in the game. This hurt her almost as much as it hurt him. For days, she wondered whether this was the right move, but I think we can definitively say that it was based on how the season ended. Jake’s sacrifice was the move that allowed Riley to win it all, and it proved how badly she wanted to go all the way. It was a hard move, but it was the right one.

**Player of the Game**

If you were looking at Riley’s game, and at all of the things she has accomplished, you would probably never guess that this was her first ORG. She has a grip on Survivor strategy that very few players can walk into their first game with. She was able to build key relationships with power players like Jake and Flower pretty much right off the get-go, and these carried her far. But she wouldn’t be getting a POTG nomination just for a good social game. Strategically, she was able to leverage herself very well throughout the merge. She was able to fluidly shift between power positions from round to round, and the only rounds where her target didn’t go home were the rounds when advantages were played to negate her move. She had moments where her plans didn’t work, but you can’t fault her for playing with ambition. I’ve seen far more first timers crash and burn by playing too hard then I’ve seen play as hard as she did and end up making such a deep run. Did all of her plans work? No. But in a game full of UTR threats and lowkey players, Riley managed to play the best UTR game of them all. She made it to the end with only a single vote against her the entire game, which had been negated by an idol that Flower played for her, and then won one of the most competitive Final Tribal Councils we’ve had. She should be so proud of the game she played, and how hard she worked to get to the end.

**Fan Favorite**

Riley was probably the least known member of the cast at the start of the season, and nobody really knew what to make of her. We knew from her application that she would be a player to watch, but even the hosts weren’t ready for what Riley would bring to the table. She was a captivating player from the start, and captured the attention of the spec lounge early on with her UTR gameplay and clear positions of power thanks to her social maneuvering. She went from a entirely unknown newbie to arguably the biggest presence on the season, and spec lounge was eating up every second of her journey. Even when she got messy, she had spec lounge hyping her up. I can’t count how many times Riley was being hard on herself in her confessional only for spec lounge to be flooded with messages of support and love so that she could see them after the season. I’m excited for Riley to look back at spec lounge and realize just how beloved she was to this community.

### **Awarded**

**Villain**

Being a villain in Survivor is all about the flow of power. Riley was a player that a lot of people loved, and she had a lot of power at key points in the season. Everyone seemed to trust her, even when they had many reasons not to. She was a big part of the clusterfuck that wound up sending Dongoosh home, she very nearly dethroned Roman with her extra vote (if not for Roman’s idol), and she was largely responsible for flipping on Jake… her number one since the moment they met. It takes a lot of guts to do that, and I know how much the decision ate her up. This doesn’t make you a bad person or a bad friend, it makes you a player who is willing to make hard choices to get to the end, and that’s certainly the most fun type of villain to watch. Riley was also capable of selling lies left and right, doubling down when she got caught, and pulling it off! She told so many lies about her Legacy Advantage that I couldn’t even keep track, and I literally was the one writing the recaps and paying more attention than anyone. Yet, despite all of this lying, SO many people believed her! It was cool watching Riley save her skin after things crumbled around her, and rebuild trust with people that she would inevitably backstab. Riley was willing to do whatever it took to get to the end, and that deserves some recognition.

**Best Move (The Dongoosh Clusterfuck)**

This move was chaos incarnate, and there was certainly a lot of BS involved here. Yet, looking at it closely, a lot of people played this round really well. Jake played his advantage at the perfect time, and wound up winning immunity because of it. Ano was very smart to use their SWOP and remove Jake from the game, leaving their alliance with a lot of control. Riley was able to save her idol thanks to her relationship with Flower, who was able to use his mimic idol thanks to his relationship with Orange. Flower and Riley expertly navigated Roman’s Throne card that allowed her see parchments, changing Riley’s vote (and Aowyn’s, since Flower had lost his vote to the mimic idol) at the last second to prevent Roman from knowing they were trying to blindside her and Sparky. Roman easily got Sparky to play his idol after seeing them change their votes, a testament to her social game with Sparky. Roman threw a rogue vote onto Riley in order to cover for an idol play (which was a good read even if she threw it into the wrong direction). Only two votes counted in this Tribal Council despite 8 players being in the game, and this was a testament to everyone having good reads, playing advantages at the perfect time, and all moving optimally to try to outplay each other. Dongoosh was the ultimate casualty, and it was heartbreaking to see, but this was still top notch gameplay across the board.