Stranded in Rhodes

Hopefully we make it longer this time. Super hyped for some stranded in my life. At the very least they'll get some openers to read in post 

Just for some pregame junk- My list for the winner pick was:

Genie
Dominick
Rachel
Vince
Chris
Ricard

Genie was taken before I had the chance, but they are the only person whose ID I recognize. They are a killer and will likely hold that tribe by the nuts pretty early. Dominick was still available, and I last minute changed my mind on him because while I think that they will definitely dominate early on, they have the propensity to get caught up in being a character which could take away from a potential win. Rachel is my actual winner pick and I am happy with her. They have the ORG experience and I got big Alexis vibes from Tuamotus. Also, love the confidence but now she better show up. Vince is dedicated already and has his eyes on the prize. I put him under the others because I think he knows that he can be a bit of a wreck and even intends to go a little crazy come later on in the game. I think he runs purple almost definitely. I liked Chris's bio, he has a good head on his shoulders and could be a sleeper threat. Thinking something like Jeff Varner for this guy. Bummed at the switch of reps but this can fit that vibe too. Lastly, Ricard. I love the idea of old school ORGers coming back for stranded and I can see big things happen from him. I feel like last time I watched, Matt and Mike both were old school aim orgers who were incredibly successful. The general ORG knowhow doesn't really change over time so he should be fine getting out of the gate.

There are a couple others I could add but I'll wait until I have more info to really get into everyone. Purple has a lot of people I feel like I'm going to be invested in. Obviously we won't know who is going to show etc etc but people usually show up big for Stranded so I expect big things despite the cast size.

I love Jessica's greenness and hope someone scoops her up. That tribe looks like it might get pretty tense, I hope it isn't too much for her

I was starting to do a big blog post including every person in the game but I'm going to hold off until Monday so that we can see how everything looks when the dust settles. Just a few things:

Mausolus- Rodney is so fucked. There's a line between crazy and playing the game that you need to walk to be able to pull what he's doing off. Brandon ran in to the same problem in Tua. It's a bummer since kids funny but yeah any time you're sure that your tribe is going to vote first it's so easy to point at the oddball. I did not like cars 2 for psp. Vince is cocky for someone who isn't involved in all of the alliances on the team lol. He will be fine, but the needless lying is kinda funny? His reads are good. Mike is already too close to the sun; everyone sees how strong he wants to be. I like the tyler nina alliance since they're sort of on their own island, and big ups on Shirin for seeming to place herself pretty nice. Predicted Rodney boot with some Carolyn on the outskirts for the tribal afterwards. Going back to this since idfk how I didn't mention Will but he's running amuck over here and it's hella entertaining. He may get trigger happy and try and go for a bigger player but right now he seems to have everyone thinking he's the nice less threatening one between him and mike when that's almost definitely not the case.

Kameiros- This team is pretty messy. Def surprised that it's been the brad show, also not surprised that the guy you got to play voce is cocky and has also fucked up multiple times. I guess hard to call teaming up with brad messing up but ya posting in the idol chat, not great. Love the Ricard/Genie duo and think they will be fine here because a couple people are being cropped up as fodder (tiff/erika) But they aren't necessarily in the "majority" of Voce, Brad, Sydney, Liana and then maybe their duo is 5 and 6 but I don't even think that is going to hold. Sydney and Liana are both doing their thing though, gonna be on top of it, naseer/tiff/erika/jd not really vibing with people so I guess maybe that group of 6 does make sense.

Zakros- Light start, Rachel is winning and will run the team by the end of the weekend. Though she didn't mention like half the team in people that she's talking to so maybe not idk. These guys are refreshing after watching every other team have a bunch of gamers insta-aligning. Just goes to show that the situation you end up in dictates how you need to act. Imagine like a mike on this team or something, these guys wouldn't know what to do with themselves. Still think jessica is out of her league but want her to succeed, though honestly she could end up first gone. There is no structure here so far lol.

Lato- This team is by far my favorite crop off first impressions. Bradley seems a bit nutty to me, perfect casting and I hope that he really falls in to the being a cutter and isn't just like that in confesh. Jacob has some manic energy and I really like him after the vids. He's really enjoying himself right now and I am feeling it through him. James also is on top of the world here, obv he was an isolated kid so he has the exp with stranded but they all seem to be liking him a ton. Wendall getting the idol is huge, not everyone seems to be in on him outside of jew crew and a few others but ya. Laurel had a late show which could be a killer, but I'm hearing some libby being thrown around as someone who needs to be kicked? Everyone is here on this team now so I'm going to let laurel do her thing now that she's shown up. I think this group is going to be the hardest to navigate in the premerge, esp if we keep seeing more of these double boots. 

--

I think that Crete is more interesting overall right now but honestly I'm amazed at how invested the entirety of this group is so far. I'm sure a few people will fizzle, but this cast is already looking like it's going to deliver. V excited for things to get moving. 
 

Mike's walls of texts are amazing. We'd be best buds. 

the misinformation spread by JACOB on the other fucking tribe making a group chat has gotten the entirety of zakros thinking there is a final three alliance that doesn't exist. Rachel/Paul/Michelle are now multiple people's primary targets. I am dumbfounded.

Very surprised by how much everyone doesn't like vince when he claims he's trying his best to be pleasant/likable. 

Lindsay Mike Will are all awesome over there though.

Green team is insane but I LOVE Naseer paving his own path here, trying to get his way and fuck man it's working. Very happy the early days alliances are falling apart because that's how it should be. Showing up on time doesn't mean shit. Also big ups for Tiffany finding her way since she's a sweetheart looks like.

Also Ricard is so fucking good lol

For Crete, the man of the hour on Blue is without a doubt Wendall. Running that shit heavy, pushing for the inactive boot to keep the craziness moving, he's on it and on it good while everyone else is sort of losing their collective shit. Would love a libby boot cause lbr she's not showing up.

Other big winner on blue is jacob because he's single handedly booted Michelle from the game lmfao with jay already locking her in for his boot. Very happy rachel won immunity because she has the power to work back in to the fold there and could have easily been boned if it didn't end that way.

I was very wrong on all four of my analysis on the first night but lbr I had nothing to go off of. Outside of Blue, still no libby but they've taken a long time getting to where they are. Bummed I'm missing tonight because Purple is absolutely losing their fucking minds right now lol and Rodney is somehow going to go through unscathed. Unless of course he shows up and tanks himself. But lets talk through it. Vince tells mike about his idol. Mike is insanely power hungry so that was a bad idea. Mike pitches to get rid of Vince, and gets everyone on with the idea that the idol could be there. They get EVERYTHING to work out with the plan besides Shirin, who likes vince. Now Shirin has pitched a Mike boot to will which could be a possibility. More, Shirin has all the right to tell Vince about this which should kick a fire up under Vince's ass so he can stop like half trying. I guess I'm a little pissy about it but honestly Vince has not shown up like I thought he would.

He's probably doing the thing where you get yourself underestimated early and then try and pick up with people later. It's honestly a pretty good strat to win games with cause you don't go in to swaps and merges like a mike who everyone knows is a threat. But I don't want a good player who is taking a back seat man I want the cocky asshole who is in the videos telling me that I know him for his A. sick gameplay and B. good reads. So far neither have been true homie. But I do believe he has shit. He just has to show it. To talk about Mike, I mean he's textbook overplayer. Too cocky for his own good and thinks he has complete control. If he was on like brown, then maybe? but not with these crazies who all want to be blindside happy. I love him though; I love that archetype because they always get got good eventually. It's just not the time yet imo, and I think that if you're trying to play totalitarian like that you should try and push people to go for some EASY boots first to try and gain some loyalty. I think that people become more comfortable to go with you/do what you say after you've been together for a bit and dealt with the "fodder". Their team, unfortunately, doesn't have fodder but they do have Rodney.

So, ideally for me Vince goes here with the idol because he hasn't shown up yet. Rodney is funny as hell and would live for a bit longer even after that if he could stay. Second best would be for Vince to sniff out the idol play and Rodney to go home because I think that would make Vince lose his ever-living shit and I am SO SO sure that he can be a menace if you give him the right amount of push to be so. But honestly, getting out Mike might isn't the worst thing for Shirin. All of the space that mike takes up gets sent somewhere and she would grab a lot of it. The big losers there would be Lindsay and....

Lol looks like they backed off. I'm still going to post this so mike knows post game that he was flying close to the sun but yeah just goes to show how all over the place

Alrighty lets run it.

POST ROUND 1Carolyn- She is the newest target in Mike's warpath to get rid of everyone who could even have a slight semblance of blemishing his game. This is due to her telling Nina about the Vince vote, which I'm pretty sure that NO ONE told her not to do. So, not that smart because now Mike is out for her but pretty smart in building some slight allegiance from Nina? I don't know if that actually bore any fruit yet. She is just sort of here though, I feel like. Pretty tame player in a sea of crazies which is why I wouldn't mind if she was pushed out by them. I do like her though, she's been fine and is obviously here and playing her game, but she is just not as in your face as the rest of the team.

Hali- I like Hali a lot here. She's been pretty in the know the whole time and was a big part of the majority groupings in the beginning. Her problem here is that she's close to Mike. She will probably be thrown to the bottom if the others go for him, really through no fault of her own. She even acknowledges that he is being over the top about the whole Carolyn and is kind of like the logical/good player side of that duo. She is really loyal to her four without any signs of wanting to flip and is one of the only people to have made any sort of indication that they are on to Will being a fucking schemer. I think that Hali is a good gamer socially and will be best served distancing herself from Mike. Maybe him leaving would be good for her? But yeah, no one wants her gone.

Lindsey- Love her updates, the formatting and everything. Seriously I feel her heat at mike big in every post though I think that she's still heavily considering keeping him around here. In a world where Carolyn and maybe Rodney go next as easy votes that the majority wants, I think she's probably the best positioned. She is in the know with multiple groups and the only slight that anyone has on her right now is thinking she's close to Mike. We know that isn't true, necessarily, so she just needs to put some distance there and she won't be hit from any of that fallout. Or she could just tighten up with him and walk that path though that probably won't be the smartest thing since he's so trigger happy. She's called Will loyal (lol) which is not the best read but I think that he isn't seeing her as a potential threat anytime soon so that's fine too. More than anything I feel like she has options which Hali doesn't have.

Mike- The self-proclaimed GOAT is possibly the messiest person playing out of all of the tribes. His head is fucking gigantic, but he is definitely playing emotionally a lot of the time. He is probably my favorite to watch right now because he is just screaming for the rest of the game to blindside him. I hope it doesn't happen soon because I think the more of him, we get, the more satisfying it will be to watch him fall. But it might, honestly. He's made enemies out of a lot of the cast for strong arming a Vince boot the most. He does keep claiming it to be "his plan." I mean, yeah, he's right but I don't know if you really want that much heat on you round one. People already knew he was a threat BEFORE that too. But Shirin wants blood, Tyler and Nina know they are on the outs, and he's going gung-ho after Carolyn. Will, who is supposed to be a close ally, is also trigger happy and likely would want him gone. So, all they need is to see the opportunity and not care about isolating Hali and Lindsay and he's out. I want him to stay though, because his confessionals are great reads. He's my kind of crazy. I don't know what he needs to do though. Calming down probably won't help? But I don't think that strongarming more helps either. Though lbr we all know that's what he's going to do. I'm here for it, really pulling for him to keep moving through.

Nina- I like Nina! I think she needs to be a little bit more forward but she's aware of her spot. I'm just not sure if she is going to try and do something about it. I think her biggest saving grace here is Tyler, who has been close to her the whole time. Hopefully he brings her in to whatever new alliances are forming now that everyone has a new person to hate on in Mike. But yeah, she was left out of things here for what reason? Not entirely sure but she needs to show up a little bit more and make some moves because she could really have some space to work with here, but once the dust settles, she could also just fall by the wayside. People do seem to like her so, who knows.

Rodney- Rodney is funny as hell. I think having him on a team with Mike was a great idea because he's essentially not even being talked about as a target now despite not showing up for days, getting on and targeting Nina and not voting. My only issue is the lack of activity but lbr if he just shows up every now and again and does some Rodney shit then I'm still here for him staying around lol. Which I mean there's a good chance he sticks around if everyone's confessionals from last night are to be believed. Apparently he threw out Shirins name despite her being immune though which could be a problem lol cause that girl is kinda pissed.

Shirin- I think that Shirin is the best ~player~ on this team. I don't think she's in the best spot, but I think that she's identified where she stands, doesn't really want to be bossed around, and has enough savvy to know how to do something about it. Lol at her having Will at number one though. She is starting her little counter alliance with Tyler and I guess Lindsay now too. She has Nina ranked pretty high too and will probably scoop her up. I think that if anyone gets the most from a Mike blindside, it's Shirin. Which is funny because he actually wants to lean in to working with her more, if his last confessional update indicates anything. But she will be the one in the drivers seat without it being super obvious that she is that person. I like watching her play and her confessional is a nice, easy and informative read. I don't see her going anywhere and she's going to do some big things in these games.

Tyler- I have a soft spot for Tyler and was really surprised when he was out of the fold in the beginning. He seems in it to win and also pretty well spoken/someone I would get along with. I'm happy that him being left out of the vote has prompted him to start reaching out more to people. I think he fits in well with Shirin, I like his relationship with Nina too, and lol Will is also who he sites to be his number one. So maybe not the best reads but he's about to go from the bottom of the game to in a tight alliance of people that actually sound like they want to work with him. So good for him. I think that even if he wasn't actually covered, he would probably be saved to get out after Rodney/Nina/ maybe even Carolyn. So it's not like he's too in trouble, but while Nina didn't really indicate a need to change her status after last nights vote, he did and is doing just that.

Will- I love watching Will play. He so effortlessly is almost every person's #1 ally. Shirin, Lindsay, Tyler, Mike all site him as their most trusted ally. All the while he's screaming in his confessional about how he's here to make moves. He's built so many alliances and for some reason no one seems to try and trace it back to him, outside of ONE comment that Hali made in round 1. He's really running circles around this tribe, I fucking love it. The problem comes when you look at the fact that these tribes WILL get smaller. He is going to need to keep burning people. I guess right now if he burns Mike, no one will be that pissed but eventually he's going to need to stab someone and that could open up the fact that everyone is so deep in trusting him. Plus, he's trigger happy too which makes him that much more entertaining. Everything is Will's blindside and I'm here for it.
Brad- This tribe has been the Brad show mostly. I don't know why that's so surprising to me, but this guy is in talks for almost all alliances. He's been spreading rumors and misinformation just because he can and I'm about it. He's trying to cause a little mayhem, but it's been working for him so far? People are on to Naseer being all over the place but Brad is really the one pushing his agenda and getting away with it. His confessional right before the round shows you just how much he's overthinking, though. He was a part of this huge plan, pretty sure he helped spearhead, to get rid of Voce and his idol, and then last minute he considers telling him? I think that he's going to keep doing his thing and eventually it's going to catch up to him/people are going to realize that it's been big brad. I'm here for him doing it though, and even more for him eventually getting caught up in something. Oh, he wants Naseer out now and people are calling him neurotic so... sooner than I thought :)

Erika- Erika was pretty absent for the first bit but seems to be here kicking now. This tribe is a little bit less active than most so she's not really getting any flack for it. She has some options and recognizes that she could do something like make a move on Naseer with Brad but is also kinda like... why should she? I think she's probably right. She could fit in to the fold here and make some friends just by being and waiting for the people on the fringe to get picked. Part of her strategy was to lay back in the beginning and hook up to an "alpha" so she's doing what she set out to do, mostly.

Genie- Genie said day 1 she wanted to be UTR in the beginning as to not cause a splash and I think that she's very well placed in this team. She's been identified as being well insulated, but no one seems to actually care. I love her chats with Ricard, they're a good duo who is going to do some real damage if they keep trucking together. Not too sure what's going on in her head, but this team has a little bit of fodder to walk through so I expect her to be able to quietly push this tribe forward. Also, she probably gets no flack from Voce since she was in the majority for Liana so, yeah. I'm excited to see her blow up a bit come merge/swap since I know she's capable of huge things.

JD- Doesn't confess, and I don't read PM's of people I'm not interested in so I really don't care/hope he gets axed. I think erika noted he was less active so? Get rid of him.

Naseer- This kid had all the power in his hands and then didn't take the shot lol. I think that people are rightfully going to be pissed at him/will probably throw him under the bus but Voce did say that Naseer was his number one so... it actually makes sense. Sort of. I think that he's a loose cannon and will probably continue to be wishy washy. Brad wants him gone but I'm not sure how much of a pull he has? Ricard will want him gone too so, hopefully Voce was worth the keep man lol. This team is a bit quieter and if he can just keep his wits about him and keep the angle on to people talking a bit less then maybe things will shake out fine. The only people REALLY pissed about the flip flop are Brad and Ricard so I hope he can keep grooving because he's definitely entertaining.

Sydney- She came out of the gate big! Was in the big opening day alliance etc etc but then she sort of just didn't show for a bit and really fell off. She's pushing a girls thing with Tiffany so that they don't all get picked off which is smart on her end but like.. it doesn't really feel like she's in anyone's good graces. She has the benefit of Brad and Tiff wanting to go for Naseer/Voce so she has the opportunity to keep showing up and making something happen but I'm not sold on her yet.

Ricard- Ricard is my favorite person on this tribe by a longshot. Picture perfect casting and he's definitely in this game playing hard. Unfortunate that he's going to have a gassed Voce knowing he just tried to blindside him probably, but I think that he has enough agency here to pull things back together. He will likely angle out Voce or Naseer here like Brad and Tiffany are trying to do, he's obviously tight in with genie too so I think he'll be fine to keep coasting through this tribe. It's not like anyone is on to the fact he's playing hard or anything, he should be fine. His confessional is one of my favorites out of all of the games to go back to and I really think that he's going to be a long-term threat for the games as a whole. I really do love watching him lose his mind at how "insane" all of his tribemates are since the gameplay hasn't really been that kosher but yeah, he drops good quotes/is the full package imo.

Voce- Overplaying his ass to almost getting blindside, but being saved for no reason besides that Naseer wanted to lol. I hope that kicks him in the pants a little bit because I liked his crazy antics at the start and think that he has a lot more of that bottled up. He's probably a perpetual target for Brad because of the blindside now but he's been here and playing hard the whole time so I kind of don't want him to go. I would rather see him than Naseer leave I guess but what I want MORE is for the overplayer to show back up and bust his ass to try and get to a good spot. Because there is room on this tribe, and while he hasn't made the best decisions *caugh posting in the idol forum cough* I think that he has the chops to at least make something happen. Naseer likes him, so he has that going on. 

Tiffany- Tiffany has been doing well for herself! She was an early target but kind of found her way in with Brad a bit. People seem to like her but she's been pretty tame in confesh. Not sure where she fits in grand scheme but she doesn't really seem like she's going to be in trouble anytime soon here so, good for her. Keep riding that middle line.

God damn I lost steam by the end lol and I have a whole other game to do. Gonna take a break for now.

Bret- Bret has been fine. He's fringe in his six alliance, ken calls him his "plus 1" but I think that he is relatively inoffensive and has just sort of been going with the flow, as much of this tribe has been. He didn't start any of the rachel/paul/michelle alliance rumors and has just benefited from them so I can't be too pressed at him for believing whatever it is that's getting him on the ins of the tribe. He has stated that he is trying to have all options (getting close to rachel a bit) so he's at least self serving and not just blindly following. He also noted that Jay was a threat so, I'd say his pulse is pretty good honestly. Definitely one of the more rootable people in his alliance. 

Cece- I think it's a mix of not really confessing much + creating the drama that got michelle booted that makes me not like Cece that much. She kind of just seems not really here, but put herself in to a good spot by pushing some bullshit. At least she believes her own bullshit so that makes it better, kind of. She is smack dab in the 6, I'm unsure who her plus one is? Probably Jessica? I don't know, I don't care for her too much but she is in the majority within the majority with Ken and Jay so she's definitely doing something right.

Jessica- I'm actually going to PM her whenever she comes on to answer her confessional questions lmfao. I honestly think she's so lost here and is probably just happy to be inside of an alliance. I heard that this was supposed to be will, lmfao imagine. But yeah, she seems sweet but definitely is unbelievably clueless and I think that if we could get her to confess and speak her mind then she would be more compelling. I just have no idea what's going on with her and she really lucked her way in to a majority alliance that was built off of misinformation. Good for her for finding a good spot. I know her and Rachel talk a lot so I'm hoping this is an avenue Rachel can use to dig herself out of the hole that she's in.

Jay- You'd think that I'd be more pissed about Jay for essentially being the figurehead of the whole thing but I'm actually not. He's playing the game, playing pretty hard, and to be fair he is on top of this tribe without a doubt. I think that Bret noted he was threatening but there's no world where anyone goes for him here and he's going to move in to the next phase with some people who are likely going to be A. loyal to him and B. wanting to listen for him to come up with some plans. I just don't know how far his strategic chops go? He hasn't really had to do too much to run this show and he actually benefits a lot from the game staying the way that it is. Unfortunate for Paul/Rachel but he's got this team locked down. Taylor calls him #1, Cece and Ken both have him in tight, I mean it makes sense for him to play this way, so. Good for him, I'm sure he'll be a character as the game moves.

Ken- Ken is like middle ground for me. I see he's playing his game, and he is in a similar spot to Cece so he must be doing something right. I think that the further he gets removed from this tribe/situation, the more I'll like him. I enjoy his little duo with Bret and think that he's pretty well insulated. He definitely benefits from the team moving forward the way it has been and I don't think he's going to be a good person to try and get to shake things up. He's playing fine.

Rachel- Of course my winner pick gets actually boned at the first possible opportunity. Lucky for me, she's put herself in a situation that's actually playable here for a couple of reasons. Firstly thank god she won immunity so there was no option for her boot here. Secondly, she's also lucky that Paul had a blowup last night which has all of the heat on him. Thirdly, she has people who like her. Bret noted he wants her to trust him and sees her as an option, she has a good rapport with Jessica if DM's are any indication. If there's anyone who can make it out of this mess I truly believe it's her. But it's going to require some work. I think that she is going to need to be forward about her intentions with all of the potential fringe people (Bret/Jessica/Michaela) while also trying to show to Jay why it would be a good reason to keep her. Truthfully, you get him on your side and then I think the rest of the peons fall in place to keep her around. More than that, she could use an immunity win here and a swap but I don't think you can bank on that. Regardless, she's by far my favorite person on the team, entertaining confessionals and overall personality she just needs to DIG UP.

Paul- I feel for Paul, I really do. He didn't even do anything wrong and his blowup was warranted. Apparently he drilled people in DM's too which is always rough on the game. He is likely gone tonight with an immunity loss, which has to be demotivating. I don't know if he will even show to try and fight it but I hope he does. I like him a lot, and while I wouldn't want Rachel to go to save him I can tell that he wants to be here and wants to play hard. And, honestly, he has the potential to make something happen if he starts throwing some stuff to the wall to see if it sticks. This team is pretty hive-minded right now but everyone gets antsy so maybe throw a target at jay for being a threat? Make a fake alliance up to shade around just like they did to you? I don't know, it probably won't amount to anything but I want him to fight here.

Michaela- She's definitely entertaining but she's not in it with the rest of the team. Kind of a bummer because Rachel needs her and just voted for her so she's probably not going to be in to working things out. I doubt she even really knows she's at the bottom of it all which is such a bummer. But I guess that's a big up for the rest of the tribe who have her a bit snowed. No one really talks about her? At least not in confesh so she's just sort of coasting here. I think that she will probably grab a target from them eventually, maybe even before Rachel, I don't know. She's going to be pushing Paul which seals his fate even more. She's rootable though and if her and rach can somehow get together I'd be so hyped. Just reread Bret who says she's his number one so fuck yes Michaela making waves.

Taylor- Man, Taylor is the biggest bummer here because I LIKE Taylor and I just don't think that his play is really making sense. Or he's even really thinking clearly. Like, his trust ranking is completely flipped from the previous day outside of Jay. Which is great because he and Jay are tight but Taylor is not Jay's only option and it sort of sounds like Jay is all that Taylor TRULY has. Which stinks, because the kid is here and playing but he just seems a little snowed. I hope that Paul's speech and freak out might open his eyes a little bit but I think that he's going to be complacent and stick with his guns. It wouldn't be the worst thing for him personally, but I think that he can put himself in a better spot by trying to break up some of the clutter that is that team. Like if he somehow got Michaela or Bret out (who went from 9th and 8th most trusted to above the three in the alliance that didn't exist) then he would actually have some power and not just be tacked on to a majority alliance through Jay.  

Bradley- Super villain in his own mind, member of pretty standard alliance in reality. I love the confessionals though; I hope that he starts letting that seep a little bit in to his actual chat with people. I think that if he's more secure in having power then he totally could. Very good casting here and if he keeps it up then I'll keep coming back to his confesh for sure. He started a whole bunch of shit this weekend and then didn't hit any of the flak for it? Good for him. Domenick says he's not too active but I think that might just be because they aren't in the same alliance. He's in tight with James/Morgan but moreso Steph it looks like, though he doesn't trust the first two now? Doesn't matter because he is so anti-Laurel that he couldn't possibly focus anywhere else. 

Chris- Chris's confessional is tough to read. He's so very out of the loop that he's convinced his tribe is just boring. No one has seemed to want to bring him in to the fold sans Dom who is thinking that he needs to drop him tonight anyways. I don't know why he's so out of the loop but he is grouped with the Bradley/James/Morgan/Steph group in my mind because the other group is targeting him. Really for no other reason. So, yeah. Bummer because he's here and trying to push, but whatever he's doing isn't working. I think that if Laurel does go tonight that he will become a popular person very quickly, but if not he's probably gone.

Domenick- Very well put together Confessional, he's definitely one of my favorites on this tribe. He has a pretty good read on things but is starting to get antsy. He reminds me of Mike, but like if Mike didn't do the crazy things that he thought about doing. I think that leaves Domenick a bit more out of the spotlight, still having an alliance with some tight people around him. He's in a group with Wendall/Jacob and has a good connection with Morgan/Laurel so he could take control tonight. He's on to James playing the game hard, which James is, and wants to strike but know you can't overextend for something like that this early. So he'll probably go for Chris, which is good for him if it does happen. He still has his group around him and Laurel for the opposition to target. He's well rounded, pretty level headed, and will be a problem for the opposition if he makes it to the merger.

Jacob- I miss the manic energy now that the opener is gone. He just seems solid with his grouping right now but you can see the crazy looming in his eyes. The video confessionals are gold and I like that he's being real about the making connections peace etc etc. That feels like real survivor almost. I guess I should talk about the making the fake alliance chats here since he caused so many problems on Zakros. I don't blame him for doing it, or the reaction, because conceptually what he did was funny as hell. Not his fault they all ate it up. I can't wait to see him react to that in post. For his game, he's fine here. In tight with Domenick and not a target for any of the sides. He has the right idea, pulling in laurel, wendall, morgan to try and make something happen and I honestly hope his side wins out for this vote. I don't really want him to be under flak because I want more of that mania let loose on the game, man. 

James- This kid has some fucking game. Unlucky for him Domenick has sniffed it out but he's definitely the figurehead of his alliance with steph/bradley/Morgan and he's got a tight duo with Morgan (who he's not claimed is running the game alongside him). I would prefer for him to not get his way a little bit since he's identified both Dom and Jacob as people he isn't in with, but I sort of expect him to. Identifying that someone is a threat doesn't really do much if that guy has the entire tribe covered. And he pretty much does if he can get through this tribal with a Laurel boot. Not even sure if that's what he wants, maybe he'll go for Chris? But yeah, he's on it right now and is definitely going to be a problem late game. 

Laurel- Laurel's last confessional post is a pretty cut and dry view of the tribe, but is semi accurate. She is a potential target, and really has to try and hustle to bring together the rest of the group (dom,jacob,wendall) to go for Chris. She identified Morgan as the middle vote but I am not sure how much truth there is to that. I'll get to that on Morgan's. Laurel got put in a shitty spot because of Bradley and Chris, but she's also been a little less here than some so she could have gotten some flak anyways. I think that if she does get out of this vote alive, much like chris, people are going to be trying to keep her around as a vote for them, so.

Morgan- I wish she confessed a little bit more but she seems to be incredibly well insulated. Both sides seem to think they have her to do what they want which is great for her. Until she has to make a decision, anyways. Which may happen tonight. So the question is, what's the best move for her that will keep her in the spot she's in? Laurel seems to think she has an in with her so maybe she does just angle Chris as someone who is less liked overall. I don't know, but she is definitely playing this game pretty solidly in a tribe where there are a lot of people playing the game pretty well. She's going to continue to be someone to watch but please come tell me what's on your mind b.

Stephanie- Steph is great! Her confessional is a nice read, she's playing the game fine in a solid alliance. No real complaints here. She seems more liked as a whole by the team than Bradley, she isn't as big of a threat as James so she's probably in the best spot in her little grouping if it gets dismantled. She isn't as well connected with both sides the way a Wendall or a Morgan is, but she's doing her thing and is definitely not in the bottom group of the tribe that's probably going to keep winning challenges (lbr). 

Wendall- Wendall is the big winner here, only kid with an idol left in the game, definitely the greatest positioning and overall gameplayer, great confessional, I'm on the Wendell train for sure. I think that it's the same as Morgan, he needs to try and make the least amount of dirt as possible to keep himself right smack in the middle. This all blows up when he picks a side. It sounds like he wants Chris gone and I honestly think that's the best play for him? He wanted Chris out last round so he might as well keep it moving, keep himself in the middle on both alliances and just running shit. This guy will do big things in this game. 

I think this round has the potential the be a cooldown round for every team besides Purple who will probably have an exciting round always because the top dogs will keep biting at each other. Blue is pretty interesting and probably has the most decent players.  

Overall, not a great round for the game as a whole. Everyone is still hustling though, and I think some people have definitely shown up a bit more which is good because even if we lose some more killers going forward, we still have a huge game.Losing Mike is a huge hit to the game as a whole. I mean, we all knew it was going to happen eventually, but I think that watching him plow through more of the game would have been great. He took up a lot of space on an already stacked tribe, so now that space needs to be filled in. 

Mausolus' biggest winner this round was Nina. I know you might be thinking Carolyn because she didn't get booted but honestly Nina has stepped it up here and in a pretty big way. Sure, Shirin just sucked in some more power, but she was actually on top of everything anyways. Nina went from being a person who some didn't even care about her vote and being left out of Vince's boot mostly to a person who is valued by many in the majority alliance. She's in tight with Carolyn/Tyler and has a good connection with Shirin and honestly, I don't really see a way that she's someone this team gets rid of. Good for her, she's very rootable and did a lot to change her spot here.

There are a lot of losers this round. Biggest being Lindsay. I say that because Lindsay had the opportunity to go with the blindside and be on the other side of the numbers but didn't and isn't. I don't even really think that was her fault or a bad move, it's just the biggest fall from grace on this team. I think that she still has some inroads that she can make with the likes of Shirin/some others that Hali might not, so there's that. I think that really what those two girls need is a challenge win to give them some more time to play around. I would also consider Will to be a big loser here also. Will is now exposed being a snake and even though he got rid of Mike, he absolutely did not need to do that and is just the most trigger-happy person here. If they lose, it will likely be fine and he'll be able to axe out the girls and move on with his life. If they don't lose then he's going to have to deal with two scorned girls who are both forces to be reckoned with. The only reason he isn't the biggest loser of the round is because we haven't seen the ramifications for his actions. I would very much like for this tribe to lose and eliminate JD. He is not active and is actually one of the last people to be so and Genie is just so so so right that they need to stop being crazy and get rid of the fodder. I think I will continue to hope for this team to have to go to tribal so that they can start to make some stuff happen. This team is kind of boring overall because of the lack of tension that an elimination would bring. So, in a perfect world they lose and get rid of JD.

Erika has shown the hell up though. I'm into it. Not in to her coming for Ricard but she is definitely here and she's playing the game hard. I think that she's arguable the best person positioned here? Ricard and Genie both are being identified as people who have a lot going on, Naseer everyone knows is a waffler, and Brad also has a rap for being a little bit untrustworthy now too. But yeah, Erika is definitely taking this tribe by the horns. Besides her, I'm getting ever more invested in Tiffany who really sounds like a sweetheart and is similarly well positioned. She was a potential first target too I'm pretty sure so good for her. I don't really want them to get what they want, if that's to get rid of Ricard who I still love, but I am fine with them staying around and running shit if they can push out JD.

Voce had a cooldown round here which is probably what he needed considering he overshot the first day. I wish he kept trucking though, maybe today will be different. Definitely the most interesting tribe right now. I thought that the dust would have settled a little bit more with their last tribal but it's definitely still up in the air. A few things surprised me, Stephanie admitting that she is more "in the middle" than I thought she would be. I thought this was a sure-fire slam dunk for Chris to go home which I think is totally fine for the Dom and co alliance, but I guess there's a chance that a James boot could be real.

Biggest winner from the Lato TC is without a doubt Wendell. The rich just keep getting richer with him. Kid is still in the best spot, managed to get the entirety of the blame on to Morgan and still keep everyone thinking he's on board. His confessional sounds like a perfect plan that does not sound out of the realm of possibility for being able to happen (go for chris, then stab at the majority group). He's the reason I don't think that this could shake out to be a four four split (chris jacob Dom Wendell vs Morgan, bradley, Stephanie, James) because it doesn't make sense for him to make enemies like that. Honestly, he would do best with a win before he has to shake things out but I want to see him act out his plan.

Biggest loser from that TC is hard to call. I want to say Chris because he absolutely made a fool of himself out there. Looking at his confessional and seeing how he decided to call out James last second after originally it being dom just says what his pulse on the game really is. He had support from the people on his side and really just looked like a fucking dunce. At least it wasn't boring! But I actually am going to cite Morgan as the biggest loser. She was in the same middling spot as Wendell, but while he is still on top of the world, she made enemies out of Dom and Jacob who are both pretty strong personalities and players. I wish I knew what was on her mind, but she hasn't confessed the last two days so I really don't know. But yeah, she will likely have an angry Dom coming for her which is completely warranted.  Thank the fucking lord for the Zakros win last night. I need them to keep winning. Not just for themselves but also to make Blue get increasingly crazy. I think that the time that Rachel and Paul are buying is already paying off. Especially for Rachel. I think Paul might be too far gone but I would love for him to come out with some wins and make whatever the next phase is too. If not, as long as it's Rachel alive that's all I care about. I was still pretty pissed about the Michelle boot and the whole feel of that team, but I have a much bigger appreciation for them today. They're just playing the game at their own pace and enjoying themselves. I'll probably be bitter if Rachel goes but eh, until then.

Going to give some big props to Jay for being the most dynamic on that team. He is acknowledging that he doesn't need to hive-mind necessarily and can carve out his own path. And honestly, he's right. He has the most agency on the team and I think that if anyone is going to make something happen/change a day 1 grouping, it's going to be him. Also, like his relationship with Jess and how open and honest he's being in confessional. He's a pleasant person to watch and even though he is doing things that I don't love, I can still appreciate what he's bringing to the table/will bring in the future. Interesting that he doesn't love Bret and is even wary about Ken. If you don't really like them then hey man maybe you should do something about it.

Taylor, also great confessional and personality. Really love Jess too if we can just get her to figure out how to get to her confessional more often. This is definitely a different group than your usual stranded tribe and I wonder how many of them are going to fare in the game at large. No shot Cece/jess don't get lost in all the craziness. 

Man the formatting really gets fucked up on here for some reason. 

 

Absolutely love Jessica now that she's confessing. She feels like a legitimate survivor character, just out here getting to know people and doing her thing. 

I am really starting to feel that all of the power players are going to axe each other premerge. There is a lot of time left but I don't see a really great tribal council shaping up on any team outside of Blue. The rest of this week is going to be very hard to watch, especially if Brad gets his way over on Green getting rid of Naseer. I still want Green and Blue to lose but we are seriously only delaying the inevitable another day or two here. 

Love Lindsay, her confessional definitely makes you feel something. I actually think Hali probably goes first though? It's definitely been a cooldown day for brown.

Been pretty dead today around here.

Round 4

Mausolous -

Lindsay/Hali boot if they lose. I want them to win but honestly Kamieros losing is not really going to be that great of a time either. I love that the girls have resorted to working with Rodney. And they're angling for a Will boot which is what Rod wants for god knows why. It's really like pulling teeth with him strategy wise which is part of what makes him compelling. This team has a lot of great players game wide but the dust has settled and it's not going to shake up so I am hoping for a win or swap up or something so they can all survive. Seriously though sans Rodney I don't really want anyone to go home here.

Kamieros- 

Looks like Brad and Tiffany want Ricard to go home which is such a fucking bummer. The thing is that JD will do whatever they say because he's inactive and Voce is also the kind of let's make moves guy to make that happen. So I honestly don't know if they have a shot at stopping it? Erika said she didn't trust Ricard anyways but yeah Genie and Ricard would have to convince Sydney and another that it should be JD which it ABSOLUTELY should. But you can't stop crazy. I do love Brad and think he will be a force in a swap but right now man you just need to cool your jets and build your army. Being crazy doesn't work like it does here if you have people against you. These guys are the least confessors, makes it kinda hard to root for them and would make it suck even more if Ricard goes. 

Lato-

At the risk of getting rid of a power player, I think that this would be the only interesting Tribal council, so I hope to god that they keep losing. Good chance they do, too. Wendell lost a bit of agency with the tie vote bit but not enough to really do any damage, and he's planning on saving Dom and Jacob tonight which was always his plan. He sort of has complete control here, which good for him. Whether they split to vote on Dom Jacob or not, Wendell has an idol and can make his plan happen. I don't love the idea of James leaving but I think that this team is already so fractured that another crazy vote will send them spiraling against each other. The juxtaposition between these guys and Zakros is insane. This is also the first blog post after Dom has lost his fucking mind lol which I am completely here for. I wonder how that will change when he gets in to power here in a vote or two.

Zakros- 

Paul and Rachel are still on borrowed time here. I want them to win out, truthfully. I think that Paul will have a lot more energy if he gets to a swap, and obviously I don't want anything to happen to Rachel. She's integrating though. Jay is showing interest in having her tight. But yeah, it's all the same stuff over here. Snails pace. Love Jessica as I've said a million times in the lurkers chat. I can't believe she doesn't know she's in the majority alliance but yeah, everyone has identified her as the sweetest person they know and I think that will do her favors. I worry for this team as a whole though, having to deal with Lato (so much strategy and many intense personalities over there) and then eventually the rest of the game. I feel like some of them will be thrown out of the way. 

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I guess Crete as a whole is going to have a very interesting swap/merger whenever we get there. Rachel/Paul are looking to the other side while Dom/Jacob are currently obviously on the bottom, but Wendell is probably going to be going for greener pastures as well. I was expecting some of the less engaged Zakros (cece, maybe even Ken) might be easy targets, but I sort of fear that people like Dom or Bradley are going to try and strongarm against the opposition, depending on how they all shake out in tribal divides. 

In Rhodes, Green is a lot more ambiguous as to who has power there? And the 6 in control on purple are a pretty solid six if you don't count in the fact that Will wants to blindside everyone possible. I expect the greens that are less connected activity wise (JD, Sydney) will probably get pushed out just to keep numbers up. I also think that if Ricard does get bit here that Genie would roll with the people on top at Purple? Hard to tell since she hasn't confessed the last few days but I doubt she's super happy with the inactivity enabling.

I made a mistake; green is not going after Ricard so now I definitely want them to lose.

Round 5

Been had been dead here today. I think that these guys need a shakeup for some motivation. 

Purple is just inching forward. Halsey's only hope is that they end up pushing out Rodney here. If that ends up being a 100% chance, then I hope they lose cause kids funny but doesn't really play the game. Erika didn't like being strongarmed in to a vote and voted out Sidney. Now Brad is in trouble. Seems like a common theme this season that some people bite off more than they can chew. I just hope that brads groveling to Ricard will be helpful maybe to get JD off the island. I'm game for Erika/Genie/Ricard/Voce alliance though, big ups to Voce for going from first boot to in the majority just by taking a step back and remaining calm. 

Other game, brown is still the same. Rachel NEEDS to get a win here and it is doable if they have the right challenge. Blue is still a mess and Dom is losing his ever loving mind, saying that he's so tired and worn grinding while the rest of the game hasn't really moved at all. He's very compelling to watch because he's getting so worked up and I guess I would be too in a spot where I feel like I'm screwed. Gotta remember that he doesn't know how completely fine he is here lol. I don't know, he's not really playing great and is definitely making people a bit upset with him so.. yeah. I think that Wendell blowing up his spot before a swap would be interesting anyways so lets see a Blue loss with a  non  Dom/Jacob boot and I'll be happy as hell. 

This is assuming that we swap tonight lol. 28 Just kind of seems like the right time for me? I don't know if you'll two early merges at 14 or something but I feel like the teams need to have something happen here and the weekend sounds like the perfect time. 

Cochran's round 5 tribe POWER ranking-

Mousolus- 
1 Shirin
2 Tyler
3 Nina
4 Carolyn
5 Will
6 Hali
7 Lindsay
8 Rodney

Kameiros-
1. Erika
2. Genie
3. Voce
4. Ricard
5. Tiffany
6. JD
7. Brad

Lato-
1. Wendell
2. Stephanie
3. Bradley
4. James
5. Morgan
6. Jacob
7. Domenick

Zakros-
1. Jay
2. Taylor
3. Bret
4. Ken
5. Cece
6. Jessica
7. Michaela
8. Rachel