Episodes #7-9 - Discussion

[devon]

The rounds have been pretty short so far, so discussion of all episodes from now until the next phase of the game will be in this one thread.

[devon]

Being on production does weird things to you. Jack voted me out of Endure, and Austin is a good friend, but I really hope Jack murders Austin here. Jack's latest confessional is the best one of the season, and I'm really hoping we get Motivated Jack for the rest of the game.

[kilby]

jack is the man. hes gonna win

[devon]

First Tribal Council night without a roundtable, but I'm in heavy procrastination mode so here's my thoughts on how people's games are looking after our second swap:

The big decision point during the Basino tribal council scramble, imo, was Georgina's decision to burn her Extra Vote. This looks sloppy on paper, but on closer analysis, I actually think it might have been brilliant. Between the Episode Guide information and the fact that she had told a few people, Georgina's Extra Vote was public knowledge enough that the target it was putting on her (and Jenny) likely outweighed its utility. If Georgina had gambled her vote on a tribe that didn't get wittled down as much as Razu did, she could have disguised it better, but unfortunately that wasn't the case due to the circumstances of the game.

Whether it was a good idea for Waylon to gamble his vote depends on what kind of position he is in on the tribe. If he's the next boot, then introducing paranoia + giving himself an advantage disrupts the game - and he only stands to benefit from such disruption. But if he's in a good position, this could set him up to be the next boot - he would have something to lose from disrupting the status quo. Ultimately, I think it was a good decision because even though Carley is ostensibly the next boot on this tribe, Carley is a very capable player that could socially integrate with the other girls + Jack very well.

Jack has really stepped up his game on this tribe. He's made good bonds with everyone, although the potential dark cloud looming over his game is that he might be the next in a long line of people whose relationship with Sam is asymmetric in her favor. It sounds like they've been flirting and getting along, but on a game level, Sam has been clear in her confessionals + prod chat that Jack is not a priority to her game.

Jenny seems to be one of the first people to clock how powerful Sam is in this game. It seems like her priority will be to murder Austin come the merge - and I think she'll succeed - but it'll be very interesting to see what she does afterwards. She better not be content to Pagong the Motoga tribe with Sam, because Sam will definitely take a pre-emptive shot at her.

Sam is juggling a lot of relationships right now, but so far she's doing it very effectively. Even if people compared notes heavily I don't think it would matter - they'd just assume that *they're* the one that Sam is being genuine with. However, her game will inevitably be put to the test once she has to blindside someone that's closer to her inner circle of people. Once she does so, a clear line will be drawn between her and those that were on that person's side - and Sam's social mist won't matter anymore. How she navigates this inevitable line-drawing will determine whether she's our winner or our "robbed" 6th-9th place finisher. 

[kilby]

we stan jenny again i think she can really emerge as the person who exterminates sam

[malkon]

It took a long time, but Jenny is FINALLY showing strategic presence and it's great. She's very smart and really thinking through her options. I'm very very impressed with her this round.

[mikeg]

Huge mistake in not voting Silas out right now. His read is very correct that he’s not in a good spot here but these people this season don’t seem to play with logic. He should not be making it to the merge but he will and will be in a GREAT position. Kudos to him for not dying with all of the stupidity surrounding him

[devon]

Might as well post this here, below was the draft order for the reverse captain swap. They took turns sending a player to the other tribe, without knowing who the other captain was.

Nicole had the first overall pick and sent Carley to Basino, Jack sent Austin to Motoga with his first pick - hence why those names are first on the table.

Jack	Nicole
Carley	Austin
Jenny	Lee
Kollyn	Emily
Sam	Biniam
Georgina	Silas
Waylon	Elyse

(I thought this was foolproof to run anonymously but we almost encountered the one, unforeseen, scenario in which it would've been broken...lol)

[devon]

Feb 23, 2020 1:54:10 GMT -5 nicoles said:

2. What do you think is the best part about your game right now? Why?
I'm in good with everyone and everyone seems to like me (but perhaps doesn't trust me). This will become a liability during jury phase though. It always does.

Feb 23, 2020 1:54:10 GMT -5 nicoles said:

4. With half the cast now gone, what is the biggest obstacle from you getting to the $1,000 prize?
I'm almost always seen as a jury threat and i can't win out at about F7 when I become the biggest target left standing.

THEN DO SOMETHING DIFFERENTLY THIS TIME