Survivor: Game Changers - Mamanuca Islands

PUSH

Well-Known Member
Pretty good lineup of cast, but umm..... they're calling this season "Game Changers" and there is no Russell Hantz? o_O He wrote the book on game changing.
I heard somewhere they wanted to make this season with 3 tribes - one of winners, one of jury boots and one of early boots. But then with some last minute drop outs or cancellations they had to come up with something on the fly. Probably would have been better to just say All Stars 2. Although I think so many fans associate All Stars with negativity, so I don't know how well that would sell.
 

PUSH

Well-Known Member
I just watched all 20 of the Meet the Cast videos this morning. Some takeaways:

- A lot of people are nervous about Tony and Sandra. Only a few people said they wanted to align with them. Debbie said she wants to work with Tony and Brad.
- Everyone is aware of how many big guys there are. With Ozzy, Malcolm, Caleb, JT, etc, everyone is on high alert.
- On the flip side, everyone is also aware how strategic they women are. Andrea, Ciera, Cirie, Aubry, etc. Several players noted how the women will run the strategic side of the game.
- Tony has a new bag of tricks. He's revealed some of his plans, and they are pretty fun. I won't spoil it for you, but watch his video if you want to know.
- Sandra is planning to use her old strategy of "anyone but me".
- Cirie is planning to be more aggressive to suit the modern style of gameplay.
- Sierra says she is going to use her social game from her first season, but she's not going to hold back on big moves. She also said a lot of the cast scares her - mainly Tony.
- Michaela and Zeke both have noted how others will be skeptical of them because they have no idea what kind of game they played.
- Most noted early targets: Tony and Sandra.
- Barely mentioned at all (aside from the obvious answers): Andrea and Jeff
- Debbie says she is going to go against Aubry, and they both know they can't trust each other.

My winner picks are...
Male: Malcolm
Female: Andrea

Now this can go either way. In Cambodia I picked Vytas as my winner... he was a first boot. Last season Adam was my male winner pick... and we all know what happened with him.

I can't wait for Jeff to exaggerate every little comment and turn it into a metaphor for changing the game! Looks to be an exciting season.
 

PUSH

Well-Known Member
I've been reading the pre-game cast interviews with Gordon Holmes. They give away potential strategic plays, but all of that is a moot point because those who think they know who they want to work with might not even end up on the same tribe. And Probst gave something away in his interview which will mix things up even more.

Anyway... Debbie's interview is funny after reading several other ones. First, she said she doesn't even know why Cirie is out there. Um, hello? She's one of the most iconic players ever. Arguably the best player to never win. Second, she slighted Andrea and Ciera, saying neither of them are strategic. I'd argue they are both much more strategic than Debbie. Third, she told Gordon about the observations she's made while on "lockdown" with the rest of the cast. Telling him who dislikes who, who will be gunning for who, etc. But the funny thing is, in other interviews those players have said they WANT to work with the players Debbie says they'll be gunning for. :hilarious:

Based on her interview, Debbie's pre-game awareness is way off base.
 

artvandelay

Well-Known Member
Anyway... Debbie's interview is funny after reading several other ones. First, she said she doesn't even know why Cirie is out there. Um, hello? She's one of the most iconic players ever. Arguably the best player to never win. .
I'd say Russell Hantz is the best player never to win. I'd put Rob Cesterino second.
 

PUSH

Well-Known Member
So there's actually one player, besides Michaela, on this season who knows who Zeke is. Andrea took part in a Survivor Brooklyn series on YouTube, and Zeke played with her. It was a dumbed down game of Survivor played in Central Park for one full day. So if Andrea remembers him, there might be a little bit there to go off of. Sophie Clarke also played in that game, and ended up Winning. I think Andrea was 4th or 5th. Zeke I believe was the first or second jury member.
 

PUSH

Well-Known Member
Also, the Game Changers premiere will be the 500th episode of Survivor. That's a crazy milestone for any TV show. Just goes to show how loyal the fan base has been for 33, soon to be 34, seasons.
 

artvandelay

Well-Known Member
I'd put Cirie and Rob ahead of Russell, because he lacks a social game, which is arguably the most important aspect of the game. Russell would probably be my #3.
Ok. Russell did get robbed his first season. He totally deserved to win.

I'd say Russell is a game changer, but probably didn't get asked back because of the stuff that happened with his nephew.
 

PUSH

Well-Known Member
Ok. Russell did get robbed his first season. He totally deserved to win.

I'd say Russell is a game changer, but probably didn't get asked back because of the stuff that happened with his nephew.
Russell totally deserved to win in Samoa in my book. The worst jury decision ever... but I see why he lost. He should have been the runner-up in HvV rather than #3. Parvati should have won that season. Sandra should have been #3 IMO. But Parvati lost because she was so closely connected with Russell.
 

PUSH

Well-Known Member
Just watched this interview with Jeff. In it he made some interesting comments. He said he needed to convince CBS on Varner, which isn't a surprise. Varner isn't the most known guy, and Jeff seems to be enamored by him. Then he said CBS needed to convince casting about Ozzy. Which I agree. Ozzy is one of the most overrated players in Survivor history IMO.


 

artvandelay

Well-Known Member
I was reading today about a change in the voting policy if there's a tie vote. For this season there will not be a revote. They immediately go to a tiebreaker. If all of the tribe members cannot unanimously decide who to vote out, they go to rocks. Jeff said this is to try to prevent split votes to flush out hidden immunity idols.
 

RMichael21

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I was reading today about a change in the voting policy if there's a tie vote. For this season there will not be a revote. They immediately go to a tiebreaker. If all of the tribe members cannot unanimously decide who to vote out, they go to rocks. Jeff said this is to try to prevent split votes to flush out hidden immunity idols.
Hmm, that's interesting. It should be interesting to see how it plays out, if it becomes effective this season at all.
 

PUSH

Well-Known Member
I was reading today about a change in the voting policy if there's a tie vote. For this season there will not be a revote. They immediately go to a tiebreaker. If all of the tribe members cannot unanimously decide who to vote out, they go to rocks. Jeff said this is to try to prevent split votes to flush out hidden immunity idols.
I think the excitement of the rock drawing last season and in BvW could have caused this. Along with the dull moments vote-splitting brings. At first it was a genius and exciting concept, but now it's just routine and boring. I'm not sure if I like that, being that it changes one of the fundamental strategies of the game. But it should add excitement. I just don't want rock-drawings to become commonplace. I don't like the person voted out to be determined by luck.

I saw Stephen Fishbach commenting on Twitter about something with tie votes, but I couldn't figure out what it was. Now I know.
 

PUSH

Well-Known Member
Also, it will force new strategy come even-numbered votes. 2 alliances of 3 people each would likely force someone to flip to save themselves. Maybe even two people, which would be it would still be a tie vote. Or if you wanted to risk losing your alliance, you could throw your vote away at someone who isn't being targeted, just to get yourself one step further. I could see Sandra using that approach.
 

GenerationX

Well-Known Member
Sandra is one (if not THE) best player the game has ever had. Two games, two wins. If she wins a third time, there would be no way you could make an argument against her. You could argue others played a better single game during their season(s), and I think that's fair. In the season Boston Rob won, he played flawlessly. Granted, it was his third or fourth time out there, but he played the single best game I've seen.

I'm not overly excited about the line-up. Hali and Andrea are cute, Jeff is entertaining, Tony is crafty, and Cirie is probably the most likable person to ever be on the show. The rest I sort of recognize, and I will save my endorsement until I'm impressed with someone's game play. I'm strongly doubting that someone will be Ozzy.
 

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