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The Anonymous' Gameplay Master Jack Reveals the Players He Think Can Win
One of the season's best players got taken out. Does Jack have any regrets?
From the very first episode of USA Network's The Anonymous, competitive board game champion Jack Usher made dominating both the real-world interpersonal play and Anonymous Mode look easy.
Despite it being the first season of this strategic competition series — meaning everyone was flying blind — Jack worked his fellow players with unassuming charm and then backstabbed many of them (especially Andy King) with ease in Anonymous Mode. As the winner of Anonymous Mode three times, he literally changed the direction of the game more than any other player. The potential prize pot of $100,000 looked within his grasp ... until new(ish) player Victoria Vesce took him out the first chance she got.
RELATED: Meet the Cast of USA Network's The Anonymous: Liars, Deceivers & Reality Vets
In a stunning twist, the player who had played so many of his fellow contestants so well got stopped in his tracks. Despite his skills at operating under the radar, Jack explained to USA Insider upon his exit the moment he really felt vulnerable in the game, how his board game skills translated to real-world strategy, and the players he thinks could win the whole thing.
Jack reveals his turning point in the game
Jack admitted that he was pleased that he came into the game hot, winning two consecutive Anonymous Mode votes, with which he took out first Sydney Dorsey and then Kacie B. Mize. However, Jack said he was wrong about guessing Mize's Shark handle in the game, and that was his epiphany moment regarding just how much he didn't know about the other players.
"I think that's the moment where I really was like, 'I don't know everything and I have to check myself because I probably have a lot wrong,'" Jack said of his strategy realignment. "After the first elimination, I don't think I changed any of my handle guesses. And then after that, I had a very healthy dose of skepticism going forward. But then I proceeded to get the next four handle [eliminations] all wrong. So I went from being like, 'I know everything that's going on' to 'I have no idea what's happening.'"
Jack's preferred "ride or dies" to the finale
Despite the elements of play Jack was uncertain about, he did know how to forge strong alliances, particularly with Andy and Nina Twine.
"I came into the house and Andy was my good bud right out the gate and Andy was at risk every time ... because of me," Jack admitted with a smirk. "And so I wonder if there was an element of people associating Andy and I together and being like, 'These goofballs have no idea what's going on.' That probably existed for a minute, which helped."
RELATED: The Anonymous' Andy Admits Jack Was A "Mastermind"
Jack also planned to end the game with Andy and Nina at his side if he could.
"I wanted to bring Andy to the end because he was my guy," he explained. "I was theorizing how the game was gonna go and so my strategy was about bringing Andy as far as possible because I thought that at the end of the game, there was gonna be a face-off to either win, or a face-off to get into the final challenge, and one box said, 'Eliminated.' I theorized that I could ask Andy to help me in that moment, and I couldn't ask anyone else. My whole strategy was that I wanted to try and get to that point with Andy.
"And I also wanted to bring Nina because I thought there was nothing cooler than getting to the end of the game with Sandra's daughter and winning," he added. "Didn't quite happen. Maybe should have taken her out of the game when I had the chance, but I really thought it was too fun not to work with her."
Jack's picks for who could win it all
Since his finale plans were busted by Victoria, we asked Jack who he thinks might have the smarts to be the last person standing in The Anonymous.
"I have so much respect for Nina's game, and I think she's an incredible player so, I think she has a great shot," Jack said. "And I think Lilly [Jenkins is] playing an amazing game, especially starting from such a low and really turning it around and doing things that, upon watching, you're like, 'I had no idea she was doing all that!' In a way, I think everybody's sort of developing as a player, and figuring out what it takes. I think I just picked up on it, or tried something that worked really quickly. But they're all brilliant and are figuring it out. Even Andy's playing, and I love that!"
RELATED: When The Anonymous Was Only Voting Out Women, Nina Twine Looked to Take Charge
Even with the loss, Jack said The Anonymous wasn't really that far from his skills when playing the board game Settlers of Catan.
"The Venn diagram of skills between a reality competition show like The Anonymous and [Catan] are pretty similar," he assessed. "There's some amount of luck in there for both. But this was so fun, and I would absolutely play another game if I were invited. I feel super lucky that I even got the chance to play this."
Watch all-new episodes of The Anonymous on Mondays at the new time, 10 p.m. ET/PT on USA Network.
