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Showing posts from April, 2026

Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans, Episode 8 "Double the Fun, Double the Demise" Gameplay Breakdown

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 "Tiny, extra large, medium!" -Christian Hubicki What's this!?  Survivor has a brand new, game-changing twist that I actually liked!?  This is madness!  In all seriousness, I actually did dig the new "double duo demise" twist or whatever it's called.  Yes, it's a new mechanic that really shakes up the game and maybe screws over some players, but, unlike other big twists, this one is primarily a social twist.  There are so many new layers to the vote here and the connections to other players becomes even more important.  The more I think about it, the more I like this twist and I would like to see it again.  For now, let's get into who played well and who sucked. Who Played Well: Taking out Coach and Chrissy was absolutely the right move for the majority of the players.  Both of them were alleged members of this pre-game alliance and pillars in this honor and integrity group.  If the other players didn't make a move here, the honor and in...

Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans, Episode 7 "That's Not How I Play Survivor" Gameplay Breakdown

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 "Did, like, a massacre happen?" -Rizo Velovic Oh, Coach.  How I missed your self-righteousness and hypocrisy.  No one does it quite like Coach.  I'm a little worried his honor and integrity alliance could take over the whole season.  I'd prefer if that didn't happen, but I'm fascinated by how this dynamic is going to break out next week.  Before we get to next week though, we have to talk about this week and who played well and who sucked! Who Played Well: I'm not putting Coach or Jonathan in this section, but I will say that taking out Dee was a great move for the other members of their alliance.  This worked out the best for Stephenie, Aubry, Chrissy, and Joe.  It benefits all of them, gets their alliance further, and takes out a dangerous player in Dee.  Plus Stephenie managed to get a Vote Steal on the Journey, so it was an especially good episode for her.  I predict that Vote Steal is going to doom someone as soon as the next episo...

Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans, Episode 6 "The Blood Moon" Gameplay Breakdown

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 "I feel like a spicy pickle!" -Rick Devens While I don't know if I would call the Blood Moon the biggest twist in Survivor history, it was certainly impactful.  Since this was a much larger cast than usual, the Blood Moon simply feels like a natural extension due to the math of the season.  That said, this was a massacre and we lost three people that I was really hoping to see continue on.  It sucks, but that's Survivor.  So, let's take a look at who played well and who sucked. Who Played Well: We'll start with Aubry.  She finally took out her arch-nemesis in Genevieve, which might free her up to play the game in a stronger capacity.  I also like that she told Christian and Devens that she was going to play her Idol, but didn't.  Rizo proved last season that this is a possible strategy to pull off long term.  I still wouldn't want that level of attention, so if I were Aubry, I would play it sooner rather than later, but I like that she didn'...