[Cochran]

Once More. Big game merge post inbound tomorrow

[Cochran]

For the rounds before the game merge, Follow this Link

https://rhodes.strandedgaming.com/viewt ... 269&t=3249

Stranded in the Aegean Sea 
Final 24
God damn it feels good to be here.

The fact that we have already seen some absolutely insane gameplay, lost some absolute killers and STILL have a cast filled with incredible characters is honestly foreign to me. I figured that a 40+ person cast always had to have a crop of people who just were spot fillers. I guess we did have ONE ROUND of inactive eliminating at the start but the rest of the game having everyone with their hearts in it, playing hard in their own way is amazing. I am unbelievably hyped for the rest of this season and I know that the people who are lurking alongside me feel exactly the same way. 

Lets run it.

GYAROS
Starting with these guys because they are my favorite group. I think that these players getting together and building bonds is going to be a problem for the rest of the cast. There is a lot of power being the first group to bridge games, and the only person in that group that isn't someone I would consider a power player in the pre-merge is Carolyn. And she's still good, just not as active. I think this tribe, if they stay together for a few rounds, wins every challenge without a problem. Which is good, I want these people to survive. 

BRAD
Brad has been very fun to watch the whole time through. He's survived by the skin of his teeth multiple times now and honestly was one of the big winners of their being a merge. I love seeing how his mind works, he is always grinding out something and you can tell based off his interactions that he is trying to wheel and deal. I think that he got a wrap for being erratic but is one of the people who has the opportunity (now that there is a bunch of fresh new faces) to rebrand himself. He has Genie on his team here who might make that harder because she knows his past, but lucky for him she is also new to these people. 

I think that Brad could stand to be in trouble if this team went to tribal. He doesn't really have the connections here to go to bat for him and I think that if there wasn't any talk of Carolyn being inactive, it would get around that he is the least connected and he would probably be lopped off. Lucky for him, this team has a lot of challenge strength, and he will likely be able to avoid tribal multiple times. I don't see these guys throwing either due to the other tribe makeups. So, if he can make it through this team I think that this is a perfect networking opportunity for Brad. He is getting face time with a lot of strong people and that will help get him in to some better standings long term. Whatever happens, I'm supportive of Brad surviving because he is a little bit insane and was such an entertaining part of Rhodes.

Carolyn
I know Carolyn said that they would start having more time around the board but we haven't seen it. More players are starting to say how infrequent she's around, and I know that wasn't much of a problem for us in the past but it's starting to be more of a problem. She has the time, especially with the added players, to change this perception and she also does enough to be in with the people on her team, but it's not enough from a viewers standpoint. Which stinks because I actually liked Carolyn paving her on way early on in Rhodes. I hope that she does end up showing up more because she has the potential to be great, obviously knows a bit about what she's doing, but I doubt it.

Now, as for this team, she has Tyler who could be directing the pace of this team if she was around. That would put her in a better spot than Brad who is sort of on his own island. I think that there is a good chance she gets dropped off if they do lose, though. It's going to be hard to vouch when the stigma is already out there about her. If they DON'T lose, however, she has the opportunity to keep improving her game and time commitment. Maybe she needs a kick in the pants like some of the others, I dunno. Right now I'm not here for it.

Domenick
One of the biggest winners of this split has got to be Dom. He's back with the entirety of his alliance, has Rachel who he was especially tight with on the swap, and gets to get in the ear of the new people on his team about the threat that is James and his "cronies." That packed with the fact that this team will win a time or two gives him a lot of room to play here. He's always been a in your face kind of person gamewise and I think that is the personality that will mesh with the Genie's and Tyler's of the world here too. So, I expect them to form something good here. Dom doesn't strike me as the kind of person to target someone for being a threat this early, so every relationship he makes here will probably just be money for him later.

I love Dom in this, he is obsessed and shows it in his constant confessional updating. I love me some commitment. The problem is that he does come off a little bit aggressive to some of his teammates (especially when he's on the bottom) and that could touch some of these people the wrong way Jacob even confessed saying that Dom was over the top, hitting him constantly when there was nothing to say. That's amazing from a viewer's perspective but is definitely not the best gameplay and could cause problems later. Lucky for him, this team has everything he could ever want in it. I am all about Dom surviving long term and would love for he and James to go head to head eventually.

Genie
I love Genie, I also know that she is no longer a part of other ORG's which means I think that we can expect her full attention here which is huge. I am very impressed with her gameplay so far. She was able to stay out of the line of fire on green, a tribe where everyone besides her essentially had their name thrown out, and also with how she worked her way from being swap fucked on her second team to having a core alliance that was in control of the tribe. Honestly, she's a gamer, we all knew this going in and it really has shown thus far. She is still one of my top contenders to win and I'm sure the gameplay will continue to be golden.

This tribe could have been better for her. I don't think that her and Brad necessarily see eye to eye. There wasn't much ill will there it seems, but she knows he's erratic and he knows that she knows that. She does have Tyler, who is screaming her praises up and down the game nowadays and I think that will help get her in a good spot with the blues, but if this team were to go to tribal again and again she would likely be looked at. But, due to her being an absolute unit in challenges, I think that she can look at this as a networking opportunity. Get in good with the Blues/Rachel which just makes her more of a threat come the actual merger, however many weeks down the road that is.

Jacob
Jacob calling the game he's played one of his best ever was a choice. I don't think he's played bad, per say, but I always sort of viewed him as someone who was in it to cause a little bit of mischief. May it was because of the fake alliance chat names, or because people shit on him a bit for all the winky faces in confessional early. But Jacob has always been entertaining, likely has the best video confessionals in the biz and I'm all about him succeeding here too. He definitely has the chops to make a run deep if he can hold in getting frustrated at people and hosts along the way. I like a little bit of controversy though so I hope he keeps getting pissed and it fucks things up a bit. Makes it more entertaining.

I think that he is the Blue that got the worst deal here. He is with his alliance in a safe spot (like every other member of blue) but the people he spent the last tribe bonding with are pretty fucked on the original Crete tribe. So while Dom has some ammo to bring to the table with Rachel, he sort of just is back to square one. This is still a good team, he can make some inroads with these people and they likely will win etc etc but it does kind of pause his growth a little bit which will make the rest of the game harder. He's been adaptable though so I think he'll find his path.

Rachel
She made it out alive. Honestly incredible that she's still here in the first place after the witch hunt on Zakros. I'm ever impressed by her gameplay and I know she's said her life is busy and she can't drown herself in this game but she is still giving so much and I'm here for it. That could honestly be a good thing, she'll come off as slightly less threatening. But this group is exactly what she needed. Bonding with the Rhodes folks is her best bet at success because even swapping with blues, the only person who really gave her a shot was Dom. Now she's here, with his alliance (who will soon be hers, likely) and with some other strong personalities that she can make actual bonds with moving forward. 

She was my winner pick so I am still pushing for her but honestly I think that she's had some of the most impressive gameplay here. A lot of it seems to be making herself available to the right people, because getting out of the jam on Zakros was as much a misstep on her team as it was a play for her, but it's working. I am excited to see her keep pushing AND to see how she operates now that she likely will have a little bit of agency in the future. I know I'm biased but the whole beginning of the game was just character building for her absolutely incredible character arc where she comes out the winner. I've been screaming it all game and it's materializing. 

Tyler
Tyler might be my favorite person to watch right now. It took him a small bit to get in to the fold but now that he's in, he's been absolutely dominant. I know that he's been placed in the majority alliance for the entirety of his game outside of R1 so it's hard to say how he would do under pressure, but I think that this team is just going to continue to build the Tyler empire. I love his confessionals, his thoughts are super thought out and honestly his story is very rootable. I almost want him to win, for him, you know? He was one of the people I was most surprised with once things were rocking but he's been killing it, despite taking some hits like losing Nina, and I expect him to keep getting stronger.

I do worry that he gets identified as a threat eventually. Most of the people he's surrounding himself with, however, are also threats. I think that's part of the reason why he has done a good job of staying off of the threat radar so far, because if you're in a sea of strong players then you're just a regular old player. He is definitely another potential winner on my list (my top three people all on this tribe lol) and is just going to get stronger linking up with heads like Wendell, Dom, Rachel. I am very excited for the real merge of these games so we can see how much of a force he's going to be. I worry that he could be in trouble with some losses on this team, but I think between him,Genie,Carolyn there isn't too much of a fear for losing multiple times.

Wendell
I was screaming praises for Wendell on original Lato. He was in the power spot, still managed to keep everyone thinking he was a part of their side, and really dominated that part of the game. I think that he played the last round of the game perfectly too, got Steph to play her idol, didn't end up causing any waves with anyone who mattered and is still in the in with the people here. This team is great for him, back with Dom and Jacob, has a new friend to make in Rachel, and has a lot more relationships to start forming too. I heard from someone that his activity may drop here shortly. That would suck because he was definitely one of the most interesting character to watch pre game merge.

If he doesn't end up falling off too hard then he's definitely a win contender. He has friends all over the Crete side of the game. I don't think anyone dislikes him. I think that he's also not looked at as being an in control kind of guy. That's exactly where you want to be right now. He also has an unplayable idol that he can mess around with (since no one who found it is still in the game). It's hard to sustain a game where you don't end up burning anyone while you're still on everyone's side and I think that eventually he's going to have to pick a side, but right now he definitely doesn't have to ESPECIALLY if this team keeps winning. The rich get richer once again with this guy. 

 

[Cochran]

Lol Rachel already shitting on Dom/Jacob <3 what do I know

[Cochran]

RHODES
I feel like while Crete is a little bit more cut and dry, this tribe has the potential the be a little wacky. There are a lot of relationships that have been fractured (will and Halsey, Erika/JD) and then some new personalities that are together in Ricard/Shirin and Will/JD so, it could end up getting messy. One thing is for sure though, Rodney is still here in the game at final 24. Still kicking, still asking about cars 2. I don't know how long that will last.

Erika
Erika has been erratic the whole pre-merge. I mean that in the nicest way possible, it's been amazing to watch but she seems to flip herself all over the place and then justify her actions in any way she can. I'm all about it, honestly, it has led to some good tribal councils. She's not afraid to go in on a whisper and I respect that. Always down for people to pull audibles at tribal council and she excels in that. I don't think this tribe is good for her. Honestly, I don't really know if any setup in the game is that great for her. She has made people mad, and it's going to bite her likely. She said she's busy now too which is going to be a problem, especially getting to know people now.

Honestly, I would love to see more of Erika. She's all over the place and I don't see her stopping in doing whatever she feels like day to day. I just don't know how feasible her getting off this tribe is. She does have Rodney as a potential boot out buffer, but she has already locked in a JD vote, and I seriously doubt that's going to happen on this team. So, I hope she can make something happen, but without some challenge wins and a quick swap I don't really know what she'll be able to make happen.

Hali
Halsey back together once more. Hali, even back when she was on the outs of the original Mauso tribe, did a good job of making herself available to the people that were on her team. It put her up in the know in a way that Lindsey was never able to make happen. I think that shows the difference in how those two play. Hali is a little bit less aggressive while still killing the social game, and it shows. I think she's a sleeper threat to cause problems later on. This team is a pretty good makeup for her, too. She is with Lindsey who has a link to JD, Ricard who was trying to keep her in his back pocket, and Will who I can only assume is going to be after Erika after the last vote. 

I think that Hali comes off as a little bit less dangerous which is going to be a good thing long term. She is in a good spot to survive this team and make it to the point where that will matter, too. Eventually, the "big dogs" are going to come for each other and if she sets herself up to survive that while coming out as the big dog left on the other side, she'll be in a good spot. The issue with her is that she has Tyler but isn't super connected to anyone who isn't on this tribe. So she won't have the tools to really carve her own path later on. Still rooting for her, she's been great.

JD
Biggest winner of this merge is JD. First off, more time is added to the game as a whole. He was inactive in the beginning but now has a lot of time and is HERE. He has the rest of the game to change that perception of him and if he keeps playing how he has been, he definitely could do that. Plus, he got swapped away from Brad who he just fucked over and only has to deal with Erika, who essentially has nobody. All of the other relationships he makes along the way are golden for him. The problem is that we don't have a good read on who he is as a player. I don't think anyone does. 

So, he's linked with Lindsey and Will now. He will probably get scooped up by the remaining Mousa people on this team too which is good for his connections overall. He has the opportunity to heal up whatever he had with Ricard as well. I think that he's going to be doing a bit of shot calling on this team (or at least he'll help direct) and I'm interested to see how he handles that as opposed to just doing what he's told to do. I dig the video confessionals, it's good to get in his head. I have faith that he is going to cause some problems for some people come late game. Which is sick, he was the last real person to be worried about activity wise and I'm already behind him succeeding.

Lindsey 
Lindsey has been a lurker favorite since day one. She has been hanging on by the skin of her teeth this whole time too and what a fucking THRILL seeing her grab the immunity and forcing their team to fall apart. I will continue to root for her and Halsey in general, she's finally in a tribe where she has some agency, and I can't wait to see what she does with it. The rough part for her is that she doesn't really have any relationships outside of this team. I think that she has the tools to make new ones, especially with the people she hasn't met yet, but people like Tyler are already in their ear, and he's never been a huge Lindsey fan. 

She wasn't able to reintegrate her way in the way that Hali did and I worry that continues to be a problem later. She's going to have to work in to some spots where she's not a majority after this team. I hope she can figure it out because her updates are solid and I really do feel like I'm inside her head. She's very rootable here and has had a hell of a journey to get to this point. Which is insane, because it's such an uphill battle left lol. But yeah, she's playing hard as hell and you can FEEL it which is why I think I like her so much. I'm always about people who give a shit.

Ricard
Love Ricard. He was in a sticky spot for a round last round but worked his way out of it, getting himself a majority alliance on a tribe where he was on paper screwed. Maus was never cohesive so he always had a little room to breathe, but still big ups on him for making it happen. He has some tools on this team but isn't surrounded by people who want him to succeed which has pretty much been his whole game?? I'm here for his confessionals though, he's been the voice of reason in a sea of crazies up to this point and I completely expect that to keep being the case here. Very rootable guy, love his grouping with Shirin/Tyler/Genie

Speaking of, he has a good relationship with Shirin, he was talking about keeping Hali close too. If he can link up with them and then eventually Lindsey then he's in a good spot. Also Will on Shirins side, he has the potential to be back on top of things. I can see a world where they come for him too, but I think that's a couple of losses down the road and I am much more sure that we'll see Rodney/Erika boots before that happens. It doesn't  have to be that cut and dry though, Ricard does have relationships with Erika AND JD to fall back on, albeit not incredibly strong ones. He took a bit of a backseat the last few rounds but that's fine, and I still think he can potentially eek out a win, especially because his BFF Genie will probably bring him in to whatever the fuck she gets herself in to. 

Rodney
I think it's time for Rodney to go lol. I can't believe he's outlasted 16 people. I think that he doesn't really understand conceptually how active you have to be to succeed in these games and that will forever keep him from being a huge player. He could make it past this vote with an Erika boot or something but I think this tribe is a little bit challenge impaired and will see multiple votes, one of them being him.

Now for the good, Rodney is still funny as fuck whenever he shows up. So, it's not like he's taking up THAT much space or at least he's filling the space with some funny shit every now and again. So if he does stay, and we keep getting what we've expected from Rodney then fuck that's also great because there have been plenty of Rodney quotes pinned in the lurkers discord. Down to get some more.

Shirin
Bummed that Shirin hasn't confessed in days. We know that Shirin is a good player, we can see it through her actions and the actions of the people around her, but she's just not letting us in to her mind. Makes it hard to root for her which sucks because I remember loving her in the beginning. There's just so much more game to be played and she's not really been HERE for it. Someone said something about her playing elsewhere and I think that has had an effect on this. It's very hard to double dip with Stranded.

For her placement, this is not the best group for her BUT she has the tools to survive. New alliance mate Ricard, old alliance buddy in Will too so I don't think that anyone goes for her directly here. She's sort of too good for that. I can see her causing a lot of problems down the stretch here too if she can show up and actually push for it. I WANT to root for her, but until she shows up in her confesh again I really can't.

Will
Will's updates are ridiculous but that paired with his gameplay has definitely made him amazing to watch. He really had himself perfectly placed on Purple and then fucked it all up in the beginning just to make a big play. The thing is, he sort of has everything patched up now? I doubt that he and Hali are close but he did work things out with Lindsey this last round, and I think that's probably the best case for him. He has Tyler watching out for him too and gets to potentially make an in with Ricard, so he has a bit of wiggle room here. This Will is different though. The Will who was everyones number one ally is no more (he can't be anymore lol, he's been ratted out). 

Instead we get to see a Will who has to scramble. I'm not sure how good he's been at it yet. He did a good job making JD confident in him so it looks like this Will is just as much of a problem as the old Will. I hope so, because watching him run havoc on the game here while dumping an ungodly amount of emoji's in his confessional is what I want to see. This team, I see a pretty clear path for him to get back with old allies but I am interested to see what Will does with some of the new faces. I think that, despite being trigger happy, he obviously has a lot of game and if you let him loose in a merge he will make the other castaways lives a lot harder, which is what I'm here for. 
 

[Cochran]

CRETE
This team is the most cut and dry it seems. Lato got swapped with their entire majority alliance and Bret who is an honorary member of their majority alliance. That leaves Jay/Taylor/Jess on the outside looking in, with a likelihood of them losing their fair share of challenges. Which is rough. Jay and Taylor have the social chops to make friends, but it might matter not because out of all of the units in the game, that group on Blue was always tight.

Bradley
Bradley's confessionals are top notch. He's a perfectly casted Bradley and I know that everyone on our side of things knows that. Always good to hear what he has to say and I'm hopeful that he keeps giving us that because that's what we want from him. His game has been solid, he's been in the majority the entire time (this is no different) and even in the first round where he ratted out some alliances, he never got any of the flak. Like I said before, this group is great for him because he has everyone around him he could possibly want. The problem for him and the rest of his team are the lack of connections in the later phases. No body outside of this team is vouching for Bradley.

He also noted he's going to end up being a lot less active. That's rough and I hope he can pull through but there's already been instances where people have cited that. It's hard to dig up when you're only able to be here sometimes. Especially in stranded, especially with the crazies that are in this cast and their commitment level. I think that comes back to bite him whenever he does finally get in the bottom of a tribe. Might not happen until merge, and if that's the case then I'm here for our daily confessional where he just shits on everyone in his way and explains how he ran every last second of the game lol. 

Bret
Bret did a really good job at integrating himself in with the blues on the last tribe. Well, these blues, which are the ones that matter. Bret was the person who gave Rachel life and I will be forever thankful to him for that. He's here and playing but he gets overshadowed by the larger personalities most of the time in my viewing. I think this team is pretty solid for him, he has the ability to kind of pick his path and I don't think that the Lato here would want to get rid of him? He's going to need to pave a deeper path to win the game though. Like, he is going to need to make something happen because he isn't seen as the head honcho.

I think that he has the ability to do it though. He's played games, he's smart and honestly is willing to make moves like he did to save Michaela. It didn't work but that just shows that he's absolutely not a sheep. So I am hopeful we get to see what Bret is full of here. I said forever ago that he was one of the least offensive of the Zakros original 6 and he's shown that here too. I think that he has the potential to jump high up my favos list if he just starts being a little bit more out in the open. Show me what you got, Bret.

James
James has the right idea, trying to use this time to lower his threat status but I think he's going about it the wrong way. I think that he needs to surround himself with people who are going to reduce that target. He hasn't neccesarily been getting rid of threats, but he has surrounded himself by people who would be considered less threatening. He is trying to build a little empire, and I think that it's working, but just not as well as Tyler. I think that the two big factions forming are the James Crete group and then the Rhodes group. This could be a problem if Rhodes sticks together more cohesively and Crete is as divided as they can be.

That's not as about James though so back to him. I think he's been playing a very dominating game. He's been on top the whole time, has formed good relationships with the people that it matters and honestly is just an overall good player. I ALSO think that he's flying way too close to the sun and is going to eventually get got for it. I don't see him ever shirking the threat of being on top of his team and I don't know if he will make merge, but if he does then people are going to be looking at him. There is essentially a whole game left and everyone already has heard about James, so. I do hope he can weasel through though, he's definitely an entertaining player to watch. 

Jay
I feel for Jay. We just had a long conversation about whether he was swap fucked or not in the discord and I am now agreeing that he's not. But where did it go wrong for Jay? Sort of in the same vein as James, he was flying way too close to the sun, overplaying his hand in the beginning and EVERYONE knew it was Jay on top of Zakros. And Jay did that, he played a dominating game and was very impressive to watch. But now, he's stuck with limited allies, everyone knows his name, and he's in trouble here. So what does he need to do? He needs to go to James and sell himself as a shield (check, already doing it). He needs to suss out Bret to see if he can grab him over (check) and if that doesn't work then he just hopes and prays that his team doesn't lose.

Which is rough because Jay is definitely an all star/has been so far. Very invested and fun to watch, not someone who's afraid of putting himself out there. So I want him to live, somehow. And he could tonight because Jessica is making enemies, but after that I don't really see an out for him to take. So I'm praying for some Jay magic from the sidelines and hoping that he can keep being his OTT self in another swap and merger. This kind of tribe puts some hair on your nuts and I think that we'll see an aggressive Jay come out of this team if he does make it. I'm here for it.

Jessica
We have talked about Jessica in the lurkers lounge ad nauseum. A lot of people dislike Jessica's emotional response to the gameplay in this game. I know I've said it a million times and I'm going to use this space to say it again: I love Jessica. She is phenomenal from a character standpoint. Most of these kids are out here trying to play an aggressive, big move centric kind of insane game. That's the ORG standard. Jessica is out here making friends, making emotional connections, and getting overly invested. It's worked for her so far, she's maintained a majority alliance with people who actually LIKE her. I think that has been awesome to watch despite her hiccups.

Which, of course, need to be mentioned as well. You can't take everything so personal in a game like this. Even if you do, you can't let it bleed in to the game. And that's where Jessica is getting caught up. Blocking Stephanie is just a bad look and I GET that she thinks she's being mean to her but at the end of the day, this is a game and you signed up to play it. I don't think she lives off this tribe. If she does, I would love to see her make it longer because her play is different and because of that entertaining. If not, then she gave us a good show and I hope that she, looking back, enjoyed herself.

Morgan
Morgan literally never confesses, and I hate that. Especially because I want to hate HER for it, but I can't because she actually has an insane amount of game. She blew it early by showing her cards, but it doesn't even matter because Dom is already back to loving her from afar. She is one of two people who still has connections ranging the entirety of the blue team and is going to be a threat because of that. She is right behind James too. Like, James is the shield for her gameplay. And that's where you want to be when you're playing like her. Eventually it'll catch up to James, but she has set herself up to where she can wriggle it out.

So what's her best move here? Probably to get rid of Jess but after that I think she could stand to keep Jay around. I think that she's in the layer of threats right under the big faces and I think that she needs a few of them to stick long term or she's going to end up being shown as the power player she is. I don't think that it's as pressing for her to worry about that like it is James, but it should still be a thought. I honestly don't want her to keep being as good as she is because she doesn't confess but it is what it is.

Stephanie
Stephanie is great. I loved her getting the idol and then also successfully using that shit yesterday. She got herself out of an absolutely fucked spot and she deserves to be here. She's pretty well placed in her Blue team too, though she is on part of the divide which limits who she actually has for allies. That will be a problem later. For now though, she rootable, and is in a cute little duo with Bradley where they are like this little core with all the blue crazies around them. They have been fun to watch together. I think that everyone on viewing side is a Steph fan.

Lucky for her, she has a very solid shot at running this tribe with her alliance. She deserves a break after the shit show that was the last tribe. I think that she's better positioned than say James who is the obvious front runner, and also is more active than Bradley. There is the beef with Jessica, which is obviously completely one sided on Jess but I think that Steph gets what she wants tonight, and for the rest of her time on this tribe. Rooting for you, Steph.

Taylor
Taylor has always been like the Jay light. Let Jay take all the spot light, still be on the back end making relationships and playing. He definitely is in the top 3 OG Zakros gameplay wise and has already shown that he's going to keep shining here. He's the most likely person to make it out of this team alive, but even if he does manage he will enter the rest of the game with a whopping almost ZERO allies game wide. Fucking rough, I mean who does he have left? Jacob? Wendel? that's it besides the browns around him. This could be good, he can angle himself as a free agent and work it that way. Or he can be the easy vote. But he plays hard, so I think that if he does make it out it's not likely people try and turn it on him.

Taylor is a solid confessionalist and player and I'm excited to see him keep working here. He's another sleeper pick, where he's like Morgan. Slightly below the threat level of the big names and I think that if he can sneak to a merger, he can be very very open and also not make a ton of enemies because he doesn't have that many close connections. Provided that Jay leaves, ofc. I do like them as a duo but I also feel like Taylor needs to spread his wings a bit and fly to raise in my favo ranking and a Jay boot would give him the space he needs to do so. 

[Cochran]

I can't believe that all of a sudden Will and Lindsey are losing their fucking minds and targeting JD when RODNEY is the one trying to target them. I don't know if Lindsey is feeding off of Will or vice versa but this is exactly what JUST happened to Lindsey with no one believing her and it's going to get JD fucked when he finally decided to show his face. Damn. Rodney actually saves his own ass by targeting the wrong person.

[Cochran]

Round 8

I am dumbfounded once again at how wrong my read on the game was. Both of those boots were ridiculous and definitely not smart for multiple people on both teams. I am VERY happy for Jay. Gonna do a quick biggest winner and loser for each team since I'm burnt from that behemoth yesterday.

Crete- First off what the fuck happened here. Misplay by James and Morgan without a fucking doubt. BIGGEST WINNER here has got to be Jay. Jay got his old allies to toss him an idol somehow, he also somehow managed to mend a broken alliance with someone he just tried to blindside, and outside of a scorned Jessica he is now in a position of power once more. Which is why you never give up man. Shits crazy. 

Biggest loser here? Idfk Morgan? She was on the outside of the vote and made a stupid decision imo. She has people claiming they want to work things out with her though, maybe she can actually push Jess's plan to boot Bret in to action. There was a lot of losers on this team last round though, honestly everyone on Blue was without a doubt a loser.

Rhodes- Also what the fuck. Biggest winner on this team is... No one? Rodney? I mean I guess I have to default to Erika because she didn't get voted out here and got her target booted but she didn't really make it happen. I honestly am not sure what crack this team smoked to make it so that was the case but now that JD is gone, Ricard is willing to stick his neck out for Erika and I think that can give her some life, maybe over Rodney who people are still dragging through like it's none of his business. 

Biggest loser here, and I say this VERY affectionately, is Lindsey. What the actual fuck girl? You just booted someone who was on your side!! She's losing her mind with paranoia. I get it, a lot has happened to her in this game and it's hard to remain confident, but she doesn't have the links to people the way that Will does, she really could have used that JD link. 

Gyaros- Harder to say here but I'll give Cochran's Player of the Tribe of the Round(tm) to Brad. He is starting to make some inroads with Tyler, he has some wonky relationships with Genie but I think that he's showing that when he can keep his head on his shoulders he has the social chops to make some shit happen. I hope he can keep up the pace here and really get engrained in this team.

I would give biggest loser to Carolyn because she's less active but there's not that much to talk about so I'll give it to the next biggest loser and that's.... Jacob! Jacob is being seen as a not reliable person by some of the new faces he's meeting. Also, Rachel, who is supposed to be their 4th if they do go to tribal, already said she doesn't give a shit about the three of them lol and will probably float over to Tyler. Not sure since they haven't actually had to worry about a tribal or even planning for one but I think that even if the Crete side of this game comes out on top for a Carolyn boot, they won't maintain control for too long. 

[Cochran]

Final 18 Round 10

The tribes sort of both shook out the way we expected yesterday. I guess some people thought it would finally be the end of Carolyn but I figure that as long as she's hitched up to Tyler, she's not going anywhere. I would like to think that the dust is finally settling, people know who they're with on these teams etc etc but it seems that this cast always has some new shit popping up whenever it comes to that. 

Zakros- This team is a little bit more obvious than the other. The Steph boot drew the lines a bit, putting the original Zakros and Maus together with the others riding the outside. There is some murmurs of Taylor wanting to pick up the outsiders and make something happen against the Maus on this tribe. I think that would be pretty smart honestly IF the people he was relying on weren't so... unreliable. We know that Erika doesn't give a shit about Allies by now, and Jessica will lose it the moment that she feels that someone has wronged her. He also will be burning multiple people that he's made some headway with. But it DOES give him the power and also ruins the potential looming threat of OG Maus being a large majority of the game.

If it does happen, I hope it's Carolyn that goes. I DEFINITELY don't want it to be Tyler since he's probably my favorite right now, and Hali has improved her spot so much since the early days too. Obviously, Shirin is on top of the world but I don't know what's going on in her head so I'm hoping it drops on her if it's not Carolyn. But honestly I don't if that push has any weight to it and I could just as easily see Erika go home. Which, honestly, Erika has been a name thrown around for days at this point and I like watching her cockroach her way through tbh. 

My fav for this round

1. Tyler - Solid gameplay, awesome confessional, overall great/rootable. May eventually be in need of a blindside but he's not too big headed yet.
2. Hali - Definitely the most solid improve in spot from the early days. She's a bit unassuming but I like it, it works for her.
3. Taylor - Solid gameplay, confesh, I feel like him finally being away from Jay is giving him some room to spread his wings. I'm for it.
4. Erika - Lol I dunno why she's this high, something about her playing the game completely alone? Love a good cockroach when I'm not playing.
5. Jessica - Still unique gameplay, definitely very much a mess but I am STILL here for it. She seems safe in this team too so good for her.
6. Wendell - Feels like a little cooldown for him, he even said he's gonna try and backseat a bit.
7. Bret - Love the vid confessionals, but don't see him as engrained in the team
8. Shirin - Good gameplay, no confessional
9. Carolyn - Not as active as the rest, sorry.

Mausolus- Maus is a bit more complicated, I think? Which is funny because it really shouldn't be. Bradley is the odd man out here, not involved in any of the power alliances (which at this point cover the rest of the tribe?) And I think that if they do lose then there's a pretty heavy chance that he goes home. The thing is that Domenick is slowly losing his mind. In a regular game, it would be like mid merge and he would probably be able to contain going crazy. This is not that game. The crazy looming in his eyes really came out after Genie didn't pick him for the idol clue and you can tell that she feels it. Rachel also has been fed up with his craziness and Jacob is identifying that he's nutty too. Domenick, impulsively said that Ricard was his target. I don't think that sticks but it just goes to show that he really is playing emotionally here and that is scary.

Genie toyed with picking up the excess and making a move on Dom and honestly... wouldn't be the worst thing for her. I don't think she does it since she's playing a pretty contained and clean game without disturbing too much, but honestly Dom is a bit erratic and she could very easily pick up the rest of OG Kaimeros and Maus on this team to make it happen. I'm happy that Lindsey got some footing here, I know that Jay originally would have wanted to axe her out but it seems like they're forced to be together a bit which is great. I think she deserves a break. Good on her for wanting to cooldown too, that's likely smart but I would love for her to still be losing her mind even in being in power on this tribe. 

So, this tribe if they lose multiple times has the potential to be insane. Probably just an easy Bradley boot tonight though if they go. This team is v hard to rank, everyone is pretty solid

My favo for this round

1. Genie - Love genie when I can get in to her head, she's playing one of the best games and is a great Foil to Dom's craziness.
2. Dom - Losing his mind a bit which is slowly fracturing his pretty well set up game. All for his descent in to insanity.
3. Rachel - My winner pick, in a good spot with some good people. She's catty and real in her confessional and I'm loving her story so far. 
4. Lindsey - Amazing confesh, very real and I love her story too. Def one of the most rags to riches and I think this team is going to be key to getting her some long term allies.
5. Jay - Glad Jay evaded the close call thurs, he has Zakros on the other team having success so he just needs to coast through here tbh.
6. Ricard - Still love Ricard, love the confesh when he pops in, and love him linking with OG Maus here. He and Genie are going to continue to be a force.
7. Jacob - Surprisingly the levelheaded one between he and Dom. He's playing fine not just a little less intersting on the day cause of the insanity here.
8. Will - Will is kinda cooling here, not really doing his own shit but just making sure he makes it the next day rather than directing. I like him better forcing his own plays but we all know that'll come back when he has more footing.
9. Bradley- Not as present as some others, likely on the outs. Still solid confesh and I'm a fan.

---

I wanted to say, since I was thinking this earlier, but there are SO many people left and I really can't believe how many of these people I still feel have a legitimate shot to win this game. I get it's still 18, many game to be played, but there are legitimate paths for pretty much every person to go down that would put them in an FTC where they win. I am sure that will change in the coming days for a few of them, but usually I feel like people sort of get set up in different tiers of players and while some of that has shook out, I don't think that any one or two people are far and ahead the winners of this game that need to be stopped. Yet. 

[Cochran]

Round 11

I'm surprised that Taylor ended up rallying the troops, but I do think that puts him in the spot of power that he wants to be in. Also, Erika still being here is something I'm all about. I feel like she keeps being all over the place, and while I think she is going to be on a Hali war path here I don't think the Crete folks really realize who they're dealing with. Though the sleeping Giant HAS been woken up.

Zakros- This team can really go a couple ways, the new Crete vs Rhodes, or the Apples. I don't think that Tyler/Shirin/Hali can REALLY be hurt by Taylor and Co booting Mama C because she wasn't there as often. Really though they NEED to rely on that grouping to make it out of this tribe. That's why the big winner on this Zakros boot is Taylor. I think he's in the best position here. Everyone is now relying on him/jess for survival. If they booted Erika, it would have been a similar split but with him not having any of the options while the Maus people did. Now he has the ability to decide where he wants to go if this team does continue to lose (likely).

Big loser this round on Zak has got to be Hali. It's not entirely her fault but all of her dirty laundry has been laid out by Erika. Tyler is toying with the idea of letting her go to build trust elsewhere, and it sounds like Wendell has a vendetta with her admitting his name was out there. I think that just lying and icing Erika out, since everyone sort of felt like she was untrustworthy anyways, might have been a better play here. I was thinking yesterday about how clean her game seemed to be despite coming from the bottom (as opposed to Lindsey who had a MUCH harder time) but it just goes to show you that your shit can blow up at any time. I don't know if that will make her a target from the masses, it almost definitely will from Wendell and Erika.

Big ups to Erika for trying to make a splash to save herself (even though she didn't need to). She is erratic but has been interesting and, in some ways, impressive. Happy she's still here to keep doing her thing whatever that is. Also want to note that I am loving Bret after his confessionals this round. They felt very real, and I believe that Stranded definitely DOES have that kind of effect on people. Also, Tyler is starting to over think a little bit, I feel. Forcing a group of four across all four tribes is a bit much and definitely not what he needs to focus on here. I hope it was just a fleeting though cause if he goes to Erika with that, she will tank his ass so quickly. 

Also, Jessica being a swing was not too surprising to me and is something I think she will see a lot more of down the stretch since as Taylor says, she's the safest on this team. Much like Gabon Sugar, I think it'll be in the hand of the girl who's not playing the game the way everyone else is. I do think that until Taylor burns her, he's got her vote as a plus one and she's not really hiding it. Maybe Taylor is lucky to have seen how she's reacted in the past? Because no shot he does anything that could be considered lying to her now lol.

Mausolus- This team is still changing rapidly despite not having to vote which I think is insane. I'm going give Lindsey the winner of this round. She has made such great strides in finally getting herself in to a position where she has some agency. She is in multiple majorities, a brand new final three, and is one of the people who have the power to dictate where this team goes. I saw a GLIMPSE of a winner in her confessional today and honestly, I'm here for it. It just goes to show that she does have the chops to get in with the big dogs and I truly am happy for her. Hali could be in hot water here so she has to make the most of this team, and I think she will. Unsure if Angling for Dom is smart right now, but regardless it just shows that she has options on this team.

Big loser this round is without a doubt Dom. I mean, he has just taken a perfectly solid and strong position and made himself multiple people's number one target. He is being a bit abrasive and pushy and everyone around him, INCLUDING his number 1 Jacob, is noticing. That's just not the kind of person you want to have around. I think that his luck comes in from the fact that this team has the potential to win out challenge wise. I'm not saying that everyone wants him now but he's also being very sloppy? Targeting Will to Lindsey? And the whole Idol clue thing, don't even get me started. Man you gotta learn to bottle that shit up in your confesh until you can A. Act on it or B. not give a shit anymore. But yeah, there is a chance that they push him out with a loss tonight.

Part of the piece that Dom and Jacob are missing is the fact that Bradley is 100p here and he has some game. He was a main pion in the majority alliance AND someone who was able to blow up the spots of Chris/Laurel early and still find footing, so he's not going to just fucking roll over. I think Jacob/Dom are handling him pretty wrong. But the Bradley/Will connection pretty easily can bring in Lindsey, which the purples are Ricard's closest ally sans Genie, and Genie already loves Lindsey and does not love Dom. that's five, and that's not even including Rachel who has been vocally against the blue's she's been forced to play with since the beginning. It's easy to get confident but you can't get cocky, and I think they're both pretty cocky here. 

So, Bradley was pushing Dom yesterday, likely will keep doing so today, and even though it's not set in stone it more than sounds like everyone would love to push Dom out, so I bet that new grouping gets locked in. Will likely benefits the most from this (sans Bradley) since he is on Dom's target list and also has been told to turn his shit off by them? Or something? Unsure what happened but I think that everyone misses the character that was Will. It's hard to see how good of a player Will really is (which is very good, mind you) when the confessionals are shrouded in emoji's but I think the craziness makes him more compelling and I hope that a Dom boot will bring him back.

I don't want anyone else to leave lol

[Cochran]

Oh I should also note that Rachel is swimming in connections right now too. She was my other consideration for round winner on Maus. It's awesome seeing her go from such a shit spot to being in the drivers seat and I think that because she has such a fractured connection with the Zakros she will be an appealing person for the rest of the game to try and scoop up. I think that this team IS good for her, she's right and finally safe, and because of it will have a pretty solid merge setup. I don't think any of us are that surprised that she's playing this well but just like Lindsey, she's done so so much with a bunch of nothing. Very impressive.

Few things to note- Only two duo's have been together for the entire game (Taylor/Jessica and Hali/Shirin)
The split for OG tribe members is:
5 Zakros
5 Maus
4 Lato
3 Kamieros

But that's deceptive since three of the groups have a single person who is not included in their "majority" (Rachel, Bradley, Erika). That makes Maus the most cohesive, but even they have some disconnect due to Lindsey being on the outs early. If an OG Maus leaves soon, OG Zakros ends up having the most members left (who would have thought) but they also have a second person who doesn't really owe any loyalty to them really in Bret. That makes them much less of a threat than the Maus 5 and is why they'll probably stick around.

Genie and Ricard definitely benefit from an Erika who is all over the place and obv not with them. Like in Philippines when blue lost all the challenges premerge, if you're good enough then people WANT you to help them later. It gives them a lot of room. But I more wanted to say that despite the Rhodes vs Crete narrative that Erika was peddling (further showing she is separate from green) actually has a chance to be the way this game shakes out. Jay/Jacob/Dom are a tight trio and a majority of the Crete's on current Maus, all of Crete voted together on current Zakros too. That would put Rhodes at a disadvantage number wise but it OF COURSE is not that simple, what with Rachel and Bradley essentially being with the Rhodes on Maus and Erika being the target of all of Rhodes on Crete.

Obviously the more we move forward and swap etc the lines are going to continue to blur, and OG tribes and games will become less relevant but I think it's funny that despite all of the hecticness it still bleeds through a bit. Also, if it was as cut and dry as Crete vs Rhodes down the stretch I think that Rhodes takes it. Ricard and Genie are a linking factor of the two "factions" of OG Maus (People who like Lindsey and people who don't) so I don't see how that group of seven people doesn't work together in some capacity if they could. So, with that in mind, it's probably smart for Taylor/Wendell/Bret/Jess to pick up Erika and keep pushing out the Maus people.

[Cochran]

Erika getting a little flip happy to push out Jessica is everything I could have ever hoped for. Erika very quickly goes from perpetual target to swing vote/instigator. I think that Tylers pitch maybe is helping a bit but holy shit I love her mind and hope to god she makes something happen. V happy she's not a target right now

[Cochran]

LOOKS like Tyler has talked himself out of being the primary target over on Zak, Dom still is getting heat but it could be Bradley too. I don't think they lose unless they throw though and no one really seems to be considering so.

Loving the erika/wendell duo

[Cochran]

Alright I took a detox day yesterday, time to get back to it

Round 13 Final 15
Hoping that we have a merger tomorrow. It's time to give these guys a break and at least let them know they've made merge.

Maus-
Gotta talk about the Dom boot because that has an effect on everything else on this team. Losing Dom is bad for the game as a whole, he was aggressive, committed, and OTT crazy in these last few rounds. But him leaving was pretty good for multiple games. Whenever a player who takes up a lot of space leaves there is a bunch of empty space to fill in. Much like with Mike, where the space was filled with Tyler, Nina, Shirin, Will as far as power goes, the same thing is happening here with Genie, Lindsey, Ricard, Will. Dom really did this to himself, as Jocob noted, and I think that making himself seem unreliable and emotional severed the ties that would have been keen to keep a big shield around. But everyone from Rhodes who took part in this severed a leg of the potential Crete powerhouse. Crete really took over on Zakros (or at least it looked that way prior to this round) and the blue boys WOULD have Linked with Wendell, while Jay would have linked with Taylor/Jessica. So, I don't know if everyone realizes how good of a move this had the potential to be. 

Rachel identified that this move could have waited for her and she's definitely right. I think that she is handling the fallout well and is using this to get closer with Will/Lindsey/ and also Bradley but less so. She is right to think that she's very safe on this team and not being seen as attached to Dom definitely gives her options. Honestly, I am blown away by how well Jacob is handling the situation. He is emotional and distraught in confessionals but is saying a lot of the right things in messages. I think his best bet is to remain on their side because people are already throwing heat at Jay here. Speaking of I absolutely DO NOT want Jay to go. He likely will if they lose but is grinding away at trying to find a spot but he would be absolutely killer in the merge. 

Big winners from this vote, definitely Lindsey. She is getting in tighter with Rachel, just saved Bradley's tail, and Jacob isn't even that pissed at her. What a big win on her part. Genie did note that she is a threat to win though but I am sure that comes to a head post merge. Love what she's done for herself here. Speaking of, Genie is also FINALLY getting identified for being a huge fucking threat. Probably played the best game thus far, Genie has a lot of options and I am happy she is going to face some adversity post merge. Ricard has been on a bit of a down slope game wise but life gets ya. I think that is not a bad strat since there is some time here to lower your threat level before a merge where you can come out more. Genie is definitely the bigger threat of the Genie/Ricard Duo. This leaves the biggest winner of this round in Will. Will is BACK in full force and I am here for it. The drained less energetic Will was interesting because it pulled off the veil of crazy and you saw how solid his mind was moving, but I'd give that up a million times for the emojis lol. He went from bottom of the team here to absolutely solid and I think he deserves all the credit for it. Then of course there is Bradley, who is now in the thick of things again. I still think he gets angled as a target from Jacob/Jay here but I don't see it happening. He's been a bit busy himself but has done more than enough with the people that mattered.

I think best move for most of this team would be to get rid of Jay. I absolutely do not want that. So hoping that they win which is likely in any challenge that requires skill.

Zakros- 
Less interesting over here obv but I think that Tyler has done some good work to shirk the target off of himself. Wendell and Erika seem interested in keeping him around over Shirin (and also over Jessica) so he's likely going to get off of this team scott free. Which is good, we all want Tyler in a merge. Erika is my favorite this round though. She constantly goes form bottom of the barrel to completely in control and all the while doesn't really give a shit about locking down anyone. She's really fascinating to watch play and I think that she gets to start being more devious and not have to worry about a target in the merge. I can't wait. Love Erika's duo with Wendell, however long it lasts and honestly Wendell is one of the best players out here. I would say that his game is the best played besides Genie? He has been in bad spots more than a few times and always seems to come out of the other side with some power. I expect big things to keep happening from him, though much like Genie people see him as a big threat if the last challenge had any indication. 

Jessica has now become the discord servers sweatheart, just in time for her to get targeted. I think that Erika is going to get her way too. My big thing for Jess is that she KNOWS that she feels certain things and is just going with the flow instead of acting on her own thoughts. Then DO something about it!! Girl you have all the power to do whatever you want! I do love and have loved Jessica though, even if she does go home here. Taylor has proven himself to be an absolute big dog this swap though I think that Dom leaving was a hit to his game/the potential groupings he could have been with. No way he's in trouble here and I expect he will be a force come merge after being hitched back up with Jay and co. And then there's Bret who has been doing just fine for himself. He isn't really breaking out here or anything but is playing the game just fine, isn't much of a target, and will likely find a good spot come the merger. 

Pretty sure that's everyone! I would love for Zakros to lose and boot Shirin, but if they do boot Jessica then at least that'll be an entertaining council. Hyped for a fucking merge though this cast is insane and has definitely been the best game of anything that I've ever lurked so. 
 

[Cochran]

If Jessica does leave today, we get a 4 Maus- 4 Zakros- 3 Kaimeros - 3 Lato original tribe split, with the OG games being 7/7 flat. First tribe swap split of 4 Kaimeros - 4 Lato - 3 Maus - 3 Zakros, Game merge tribes being 5 Gyaros - 5 Rhodes - 4 Crete with the only tribe not being as evenly split as possible being the current teams with 8 Maus and 6 Zakros. The only way it could be more even if is Mausolus loses tonight and Jay gets voted off (which is likely to happen if they do) because he and Jessica were on every team together besides this current one, making it a 7/7 split to a potential merge also. Pretty incredible stuff.

 

[Cochran]

MERGE
Final 14

It's about fucking time. 26 people gone already and we still have two more weeks of gameplay minimum? Kind of insane. This has (up to this point) been the most entertaining season of anything that I've ever lurked. This cast is insane and also very talented for the most part. There is definitely a lot of different gameplay styles still running around here and I am excited for this merge. I HOPE and PRAY that all of the big dogs don't immediately go for each others throats, but we all know that shit is going to happen. Honestly even some of the lower threat level players succeeding is something that I'm for. 


Bret has been pretty UTR for a lot of this game and I think that stands to benefit him here. A good thing about Bret's game is that he hasn't really pissed anyone off? He came for Jay in the beginning but even Jay doesn't seem to care about it now. I think that Bret is definitely someone that we're sleeping on over on our side of things. He is under the heavy threat level, but this is the kind of place that you WANT to be in a merge. Especially with all of these peons who we know are going to be after each other. It sort of gives him some room to move around and play. There are definitely scenarios where Bret can win this game, he is just going to need to try and take more of an active role in making things happen.

Not right now though, I think he's doing wonders by staying out of the spotlight and putting himself out there as someone that people can get to know and maybe eventually use. It's smart, but won't give him a resume if he goes deep just playing that way. He proclaims himself to be a strategist and I believe that he intends to make some magic happen here in the coming rounds.


Erika has been amazing to watch. She is playing in a way that I'm not entirely sure should be working but for some reason is. She somehow rotates so quickly between being the target to having complete control that I can't tell if her game is genius or if she's just crazy. She doesn't really seem to care too much for being a part of long-term alliances which is great because it gives her room to play, but not great because she shouldn't have anyone having her back. Right now, she has some people who are after her or who know that she's fucking shady (accurate) but I think she's going to be able to play a little bit of the middling role here which is PERFECT for her game honestly. 

Can Erika win this? Totally, I think that she's not going to let anything stop her from pushing to get her way and will almost definitely be a part of some big moves in the future. The problem comes when you figure that people who know her shit already know she can be a problem, and I don't think that she's going to try and contain who she is in these first few votes. That's something I like about the TC queen, she's going to do whatever the fuck she wants and will do what she can to push and make it happen. But I think she is going to cross some people the wrong way here in the first bit. I'm ready for the lion to be let out of it's cage though.


Genie has probably played the cleanest game out of this whole cast. She was never a target on multiple insane tribes (Kamieros was a team where literally everyone's name besides her was thrown around) and she is here with a lot of strong connections. From both sides. I don't think that she is going to go anywhere anytime soon, because chances are if something spread, she would end up hearing about it this early. The thing is that some people are becoming wise to just how good she actually is. I don't think that anything she does can really help that at this point, so eventually it will be an uphill battle to make it the last couple steps.

We love Genie on the lurkers side of things, it's been great to watch her work and I would love for her to be able to stay with some of the stronger people and make a run here. She has the challenge chops to make it happen with a run coming in late and people do love her enough to keep her around (for now). She's going to be a large part of the beginning of the merge being Rhodes vs Crete because of all the Rhodes connections she has. She is the bridge for some players (Lindsey/Tyler mostly) and I think that eventually that's going to fall apart. But for now, very happy to see her doing her thing and am pulling for her success


Jacob has pleasantly surprised me with how he handled the last few rounds. He took the Dom boot in stride, did and said all the right things to make sure that there was no scenario where he was ever going to go home. He has been in some tough spots in this game, and I always sort of picked him up as someone who was a bit neurotic and not as sociable as some of the others? Sure, people do give him shit about how he communicates but I think that that is going to allow for him to leave less people burnt by him long term. Because I think he's in a great spot here. I think it's pretty obvious that he is going to be more willing to work with the Crete side to start but he is the person that some Rhodes people are going to try and keep tight for later.

He has a lot of game, but I think people know that he's wheeling and dealing so it's not like he can slide under the radar. I'm not sure how he does win this game because he undoubtedly will be a casualty in the war of getting rid of the top threats if he tries to push to be the only threat left. So, something about making the right move eventually is probably best for him imo. But I'm a big Jacob fan, love the video confessionals and his overall personality and he really does sound like he's out here having fun. That's why we do this shit, and I can always get behind someone who's having a good time.


Jay is a fucking monster. There is no world where he should be here right now. He made it through two votes that should have been against him. And you really can't blame anyone else besides him since he's working his magic to anyone who will listen. Somehow the only person who identified that what Jay was doing was Rachel? Because this move for Genie and Ricard was just not great. Genie especially. I'm happy Jay is alive and kicking though because we all know he's about to be a force moving down the stretch here. He's got a lot of game but the problem is that people already know it.

I think all of the lurkers are saying Jay wins if he makes the end. Eh, there's a lot of game to play/mistakes to be made but I think that at this point it's kind of a hard point to argue against. He's got very good reads on the standing of the game and his own standing, ie identifying Genie as a threat but understanding that he needs to keep her around, and I think that he is the kind of person who is going to have to play with the big dogs if he even wants a chance at making the end. I have been impressed multiple times with how strong he's been and even though he has 0 business being in this merge, thanks to all the dummies who let it happen.


Jessica has been great to watch grow this season. I've talked a lot about how I felt about her as a character, I think she's refreshing and different. And she has some game too! The people that she ends up getting close to fucking love her. Her social chops are definitely there. I think there is a couple things she's doing wrong that she really doesn't understand. That will come with some post game reflection and coaching from the podcasts/blogs etc. Like, ghosting people after tribal when you've lied to them is not great. Damage control is missing for sure. Also, she needs to push her own agenda a little bit more because she has the ability to make things happen but feels like she needs to take a backseat.

I would love for Jessica to win this game. I think that would be an incredible story. Do I think it can happen? No, probably not. I think that she is going to continue to rock the game that she has been playing, and I think that isn't going to garner enough respect. I feel like as long as she has Taylor around, she'll just keep by his side, doing what he wants. Which is sweet actually, they're great as a duo. But I think that Jess is already getting flak from her last team, Erika is laser focused on her from last round and she likely would have gone had Zakros lost. I think she's an early merge casualty but she's given me a lot already and I appreciate that.


Lindsey has been so fucking awesome to watch. She has turned her game around completely and has been incredibly impressive for someone who has never played the game before. Like, she's really built a little bit of an empire of people who really trust her in this merge, has a nice new link in Jay after saving his ass and is almost definitely not going to be an early target by anyone sans Tyler (but even Ty knows he needs her early). She keeps us very updated and feels very real. Honestly there's not much to like here. Much like Kimmi said, I believe she would be the most satisfying winner out of who we have left.

She's made some mistakes though and doesn't always have a perfect read of the game. Can't really blame her because we have all the info, and she doesn't but... JD really wanted to work with her and Will. Booting Erika would have saved Hali in the swap because Rodney and her were close. Hindsight is 2020 but I do fear that a bad read can get her focused on someone that she really shouldn't. She has a ton of allies though which is kind of surprising given that throughout the entirety of Rhodes no one trusted her for some reason, I just think that if Genie is already identifying that she could definitely be a winner if she gets there is not good for her long term. I want it bad but don't think she's the most likely to get it.


Rachel is actually who is going to win this game. She started out with nothing and really turned everything around. I think that she has been a little bit more passive than the rest of the cast and it's benefited her a lot coming in to the merge. People do not think that she's a killer top tier top dog player the way that they do a Jay or a Tyler or a Genie and that's right where you want to be. She's also set herself up with connections on BOTH sides of the game, while also making it seem like she isn't that close to anyone from her old game (which is true, actually). She has good reads on the game state and I am still super happy with her being my winner pick.

Because she IS actually a huge gamer. That is a very strong and successful strategy, convince people you aren't as good as you are and then let them realize just as it's too late to do anything about it. So I don't know if she's felt like she hasn't had the push to be the person she normally is or whatever, but what she's doing is good for her game long term. And she's been in these spots, knows how to react and when to bite. Plus ofc listening to her complain about everyone else in confessionals is exactly what we all want. I don't think anyone is really sleeping on her on our side of things but the players sure as hell are and that's going to bite them.


Ricard has been cooling for the last little bit. I think that's taken some of his fav status away from those of us lurking, but I don't think it's really bad for him. I am here for more Ricard because he's been back and spitting in his confessional a bit more. He reminds me of Stranded Penner, took a little bit of a break in the middle of it all and it ended up allowing him to make his way to the end of the game. Much like Rachel, he's taken a bit of a backseat here but is still without a doubt a strong gamer. He is the link the Genie has right now, rather than them being an equal duo in many people's eyes.

That just means that he's going to need to come back out into the light eventually. I think that's what he intends to do, and in the first round of slicing off the threats (which will happen eventually, it always does) he is going to be safe while some of the bigger dogs fall over. A slow ramp back up to the power player that we got to feel in the beginning of the game is probably the best bet for him here. Because he's in there, we've seen that shit early and I think that same deal as Rachel, people have forgotten and when it gets late and they can't do anything about it he strikes. 


Shirin is a good gamer. She has gotten herself in a decent position in every team that she's been on and wasn't even going to be the target to leave on her last team when she should have been the obvious one (her or tyler but ykwim). So you can't deny that she's a player, but it's hard to get behind her when we don't know what's going on in her head. I am holding out hope that now that her exams are over she is going to have some more time to dedicate to the game and hopefully to confess because I remember a Shirin close to fan fav back in the early days because she was smart, social, and had good reads. I hope for the return.

If she does return, her dip in activity has definitely put her in a less threatening spot. I think she's dipped a little bit TOO much since her name has been on people's lips/ she likely will be seen more as an appendage to Tyler than a lesser threat going in to the merge. But, much like the last two she has a TON of game up her sleeve, is obviously good and has the opportunity to make it deep with a lot to show for it. So, this could be good for her honestly. Make yourself a non threat and then be a threat later, especially because she knows how to play and win games. Just, if you are gonna come back and win this thing, show us what's up in your head please lol I really wanna like you again.


Taylor gets the biggest bump in respect/favorite since the pre-game merge award. I guess early on there really just wasn't a lot of reason to show what he had because he just sort of coasted, and Jay does take up a lot of space and time but the MINUTE he was on his own, he became a menace. Honestly, those two together are going to be an absolute unit and I'm excited to watch it. But for Taylor himself, he's kind of the whole package. Well rounded, well respected player who has some challenge chops and a killer social game. I think that he has people who bridge the crete/rhodes gap and will keep the target off of himself because of that.

I worry that he ends up getting too big of a target on his back here too though. Zakros has the most players left (who woulda guessed) and I think that people already see Jess as shackled to him. He has Jay as a bigger personality from that team but eventually people who haven't are going to realize that Taylor has it all going on over here. So he stands to benefit from keeping the targets around if he really wants to make that run to the end. I honestly can see a Taylor win happening though, he's less in front of everyone than some people are and could use that to get himself deep. Also the 4some with one from each team is going to help for some of those later pushes.


Tyler has been my favorite for a very long time. I like seeing what goes on in his head which he does such a good job of detailing. My fav thing in the morning is to wake up and read some Tyler confessional lol. I think that he showed that he isn't just good when he's on top on this last team though. He saw he could have potentially been in trouble and decided to lock down a grouping using each original team that literally took everyone's focus off of him. Seriously, Shiring was target one and Jessica was the other name floated out. He's damn good at this game.

The problem is that people know it. I think that Tyler may be the most visible person in the game, and it will definitely be hard to get to the end playing that way. Luckily for him he intends to work with a lot of people who also have visibility which is what you have to do to make it long term. Honestly, he took a big hit in this last swap, losing two people out of Tyler's "army" which we thought would without a doubt be running rampant here at the merge. He is really just picking up the pieces while he can now which could make his threat status a little bit lower? But it may be too late for that. Would love to see him make a run here but I think he is way too high up on peoples watch list.


Wendell is a killer too lol. I said in my last blurb that I think that he played the best game up to this point sans Genie and I stand by that. I think he's sort of out in the open now as someone who was running his last team, which is less good for his longevity, but I think that enough people really want to work with him here. He is very capable socially, understands what to say to get himself out of jams, and has good reads on the game as a whole (sans the whole idol with dom thing). I think that he does a very good job at making himself available to everyone.

He has a lot of things working for him here, some links to the Rhodes side like Genie/Ricard and now Tyler. A solid duo with Erika which could totally bite him yk cause Erika, but I just don't see a way that he gets got here. Definitely not any time soon. I see him being a big pusher to have Crete stay together and I think that when that group gets turned on, it definitely is not going to be Wendell who gets axed out of here first. I've been talking up Wendell the whole time though, kid has a ton of game and I'm happy to get to see him navigate here.


Will is BACK baby. I love the fire Will has in him now that he knows we want him to be his good old Will self. The thing about him taking a round off of the emoji madness is that... we got to see his mind work. He has a lot of things going on there and we all have seemed to forget the iron fucking grip Will had on early Maus. He has this uncanny ability to get people to believe in him and trust him. I think that part of it is who he is, it makes him seem a bit less threatening which is the furthest thing from the truth. I am very excited that he got rid of the people who were trying to push him out though, he has some leverage here.

I think that Will can win this game without a doubt. He reminds me of Rocky in Stranded S25. Had a bit of shtick, got the end and then dropped the whole thing and said it was part of his plan. Now, if Will shows up at FTC and has this amazing speech then honestly his game WILL hold up. Because he's out here playing, making moves, and he's not afraid to do so. The problem is that he can be a little bit trigger happy. Not a problem right now but I worry about if he might try and bump his resume TOO much down the stretch. Whatever it is I'm here for Will. 

[John]

Rachel is actually who is going to win this game. 

Stop cursing my favorites with your consistent wrong predictions. Take it back before it's too late. 

[Cochran]

Don't worry John i was joking in all of my previous posts but not that one