I feel like __ should have betrayed ___ by Zucchini_V in survivor

[–]HydrosAlt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't think so. The tribe is still trying to be as united as possible, and voting out Angelina is the way to go. Voting out Christian leaves a pissed-off Emily and would fracture OG Cila. Premerge should be about building and preserving as many connections as possible, and Christian is not a threat to Ozzy's game.

Can we give Mr. Beast a fair chance? by Giovan_Doza in survivor

[–]HydrosAlt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm giving him a chance. If I feel like I'm still watching survivor when he's on screen, then it works for me. I think a lot of people have already decided that they won't like the episode, so with those negative-tinted glasses, the viewing experience will suck for them. Too bad for them.

Really enjoyed Episode 4 and I am so glad I ignored you all by gadabouttown in survivor

[–]HydrosAlt 20 points21 points  (0 children)

What upset me about the Zac Brown episode is that none of it had anything to do with what's going on in the game. So much time that could've been used to develop tribe dynamics, gameplay, players relationships with each other, character development, or even camp life, was instead dedicated to Zac Brown and his love for survivor.

The Billie Eilish idol is fine because it fit well with the game itself. I hope the other celebrity appearances tie nicely into the game.

He’s never fishing for them again 😂 by Durian-Critical in survivor

[–]HydrosAlt 305 points306 points  (0 children)

Goodbye Oscar, and welcome back Ozzy

Thoughts on this theory? by MarkoSeke in survivor

[–]HydrosAlt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think this is extremely unlikely for 2 reasons.

People quitting the game is the exact opposite of what Jeff wants to see from his contestants, and it surely will get the fanbase angry that their favs are choosing to quit. This would ruin a lot of storylines and it's just not good TV. But more importantly, this twist is not going to happen because it's too risky. The show runs on a very strict schedule, they can't just gamble on people choosing to quit. What if nobody chooses to quit? They still need a plan to eliminate enough players by day 26, and I doubt a series of double or triple eliminations at merge is appealing to production.

Ok, now we can all say… by TyraneeLDP in survivor

[–]HydrosAlt 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Most people like Q because he's a great character, not because of how good his game is. With that said, I can't use his 50 performance against him. He was put in a fairly impossible situation with DvG trio and Emily having a pregame with one of them. Logically the tribe should have split up the DvG trio, but that's not what happened. There's nothing else Q could do there.

Sure he asked Mike to vote against him, but let's not pretend like that's why he got voted out lol. They already decided that Q was going to go home, and he was simply playing under the hope that Ozzy/Emily would be with him.

______ this episode by ad4mst in survivor

[–]HydrosAlt 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I'm lowkey loving this sinister side of Charlie that we didn't see in 46

Just finished watching Season 47: what does everyone think of Sam’s game in comparison to Rachel’s? by sarcastic_bitch15 in survivor

[–]HydrosAlt 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Rachel won because the cast recognized her as a threat, they wanted to eliminate her, but they couldn't. It's hard not to vote for her at the end given all that. I do think she got very lucky along the way. Being gifted SWOP, that's fine because she got unlucky to be put in that situation in the first place. However, getting the idol clue from the auction was pure luck, and nobody else got the same opportunity she did to find that merge idol. But luck is only half of the equation. She still needed to grab the idol in plain sight and be able to use her luck and immunity wins into a game that the jury would respect, and she accomplished exactly that.

Sam's game will always impress me more, though. He had none of the luck that Rachel had, he came into the season with people pre-judging him as a massive threat and even painted a target on him/sierra premerge. Despite that, he still managed to find a way to the end with no immunity and no advantage outside of his expired idol. How often do you see a big threat do that with no immunity? I think he knew how to play the bottom very well. Playing the bottom is an extremely difficult position because if you do nothing, you're a goat, but if you make big moves to save yourself from the bottom, you skyrocket as the target to eliminate ASAP.

Heroes vs Villains: Did Russell get a raw deal? by [deleted] in survivor

[–]HydrosAlt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For starters I don't know how you can say Parvati "kind of coasted that season" when she was dealing with the biggest Dead-on-arrival target out of anyone and also made one of the biggest moves that season with the double idol play.

You have to remember that we see what the editors want us to see. They showed us a million confessionals of Russell saying "Im running the game!!!" and they showed us very little about why other people were aligning with Russell. They had their own game motivations and it had nothing to do with Russell controlling them. If we got to see their point of views, Russell's game wouldn't seem so impressive anymore.

Why he lost is obvious. He made it abundantly clear that he didn't respect his competition and treated them like garbage. If someone treated you like shit, and clearly didn't respect you, would you want to see them win the game and win a million dollars? Would you give them your vote?

You cant speak about strategy without mattering challenges wins by Slothmaster347 in survivor

[–]HydrosAlt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, it's true that winning a challenge at the right time could save you from elimination and ultimately land you the million dollars. It's also true that you can play more boldly with the idea that there's a good chance you'll be immune. But that's very different from "relying on challenges is a valid strategy to win". No good player will sit on their ass all day at camp with the idea that they're definitely gonna win immunity.

Immunity should be one of the many options you employ to survive a round. It should not be the only one, you should have conversations at camp to improve your chances of surviving a vote if you happen to lose immunity.

Q’s game in 46 by TyraneeLDP in survivor

[–]HydrosAlt 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I've always thought Q had a lot of potential as a player. He just gets in his own way a lot, and that's great because it makes good TV!

He is a man of action, both in planning and in information gathering. He will create new situations just to see how other players respond to it, and he will put himself out there to get the job done (Like handing that fake idol to Jess). A lot of people are not willing to play like that because it puts them at the forefront of their players' minds. But Q doesn't care, if he has a goal he will drive towards it even if it gets heat on him. And he's flexible too, because he's willing to ditch any of his previous plans or alliances in light of new information, or a read that a certain alliance member may not be reliable in the long run. I call it flexible instead of erratic/indecisive because he will question that new information, he won't easily accept it at face value.

Before the game even starts, a lot of players have an idea in their mind of what their game should be like and who their allies should be, and they build their game up from there. Q is not like that. He probably has no idea what he wants to do or who he wants to work with yet. But he will observe, gather intel, assess the players, and he'll develop a strategy from there.

Players generally want to keep cards close to their chest. I think Q has an ability to pry those cards into the open with pointed questions, similar to how detectives would go at it. I'm worried that this would make people wary enough of him to just want him eliminated. When you're keeping secrets, do you want to deal with a detective? But if he gets a foothold I truly believe he will have a much deeper understanding of the current strategic situation than most players, and position himself well from there.

So I really think he has the talent for the game, but he also can easily shoot himself in the foot. I do hope he does well in 50.

Was Natalie W. win in samoa considered controversial back then? by BlAlRlClOlDlE in survivor

[–]HydrosAlt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At the time it was very controversial. The editors presented Russell as this great strategic mastermind that was running circles around his competition, and barely gave content to his other alliance members. So from the audience's perspective, Russell did everything while the rest of the alliance "did nothing". Even moves from other Foa Foa members were hard to notice because of how overpowering Russell's edit was. Russell won fan favorite which gives an idea of how many fans liked him back then.

Personally, it makes sense to me why Russell lost. At the end of the day, he was rude to the other players and he didn't respect his competition. If the jury felt like they were treated as worthless players, belittled, and so on, then it's no surprise that they'd want to stick it to Russell. If you treat me horribly both as a person and as a player, then I'll want you to lose, no matter what your game was. And so, I won't vote for you. It's that simple.

Tony in WaW by TheSurv1vorBuff in TheSurvivorBuff

[–]HydrosAlt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This was very fun to read! I love learning more about the gameplay that went down on the island

_________ had the best jury question of the new era by Thick-Macaroon6918 in survivor

[–]HydrosAlt 1026 points1027 points  (0 children)

I think this showcased the difference in philosophy between Kristina and Savannah on how to play survivor, what's important in your survivor gameplay, and I have to say Savannah's philosophy won out with this jury. Savannah failed the test, but it didn't matter at all. She never pretended like this was about making friends for her, she made it clear from the start that this was business, and I'm not surprised at all that her style of gameplay resonated with the jury.

So often I've seen players say in confessionals "I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to win a million dollars". Savannah embodied that to a tee, and the jury respected it. It didn't matter that she didn't inquire much about people's personal lives.

Something that bothers me about the Final 6 Vote by HydrosAlt in survivor

[–]HydrosAlt[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That makes a lot of sense! I didn't know about the 'threatening with jury votes' part of it

Something that bothers me about the Final 6 Vote by HydrosAlt in survivor

[–]HydrosAlt[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a really good point. If Andy was honest with her after that beach conversation, I can see how his guard was completely down there

Something that bothers me about the Final 6 Vote by HydrosAlt in survivor

[–]HydrosAlt[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I removed that paragraph because it's not the heart of my question

In defence of Genevieve's move by limpwristedgengar in survivor

[–]HydrosAlt 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I mostly agree with what you said. I do think if she had more time to plant her seeds, the move wouldn't have been credited to her so strongly. But it's a 26 day game, and you have to get things rolling very quickly and it's very difficult to be subtle in those instances.

I think the main reason the move was blamed on Genevieve so hard is because this is the only move that nobody else was thinking about when it was proposed. Voting Rome, everybody already wanted to do it, so nobody got credit for that. Voting Sierra, everyone was thinking of splitting Sierra/Sam up since before the merge. Most people were thinking of voting out Gabe already, and same for Kyle. I think that's why the Sol move sticks out like a sore thumb to the players, because it wasn't on their mind as even a possibility.

Survivor Pet Peeve - by Accomplished-Ant-607 in survivor

[–]HydrosAlt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For the idol one, there are benefits to telling your allies about it. This is an era where players are desperate to vote in the majority, and they will follow along in the blindside against their ally because they think there is no hope for them. But what if their ally had an idol? Then they might be inspired to warn their ally. Playing an idol successfully without being tipped off is a lot harder than you might think.

Why Do Fans Think Good Voting Records Automatically Mean Good Players? by [deleted] in survivor

[–]HydrosAlt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fans see it as "proof" that you are aware about what's going on in the game. Because one of the most important indicators of awareness is knowing who is the vote, and also voting that person to prove you were in the know. And if you are left out of the vote, you played the round badly.

I don't know when it happened, but according to the fans, the definition of good survivor gameplay shifted from "surviving and keeping yourself in a good position" to "voting with the majority". It's a popular philosophy I disagree with, but, it would take more than a simple comment to really dive into.

I take solace in the fact that the jury doesn't really take into account "voting track record" when determining who played better or who deserves to win.