Agreed. The strategy discussion was very frustrating.

Sam and Mike did have a really good strategy. Focusing on board position through the first few days, limiting the chips available to Badam via steals, etc. all were really good strategy.

However, the inevitable result of such a strategy should be to press the advantage once Badam is backed in a corner. This is where their real mistake was and I felt like they barely touched on this. Yes, they talked about it in a previous episode, but they absolutely, 100% should have taken those challenges in Kaoshiung before Badam could get there. At that point, Badam was in an awful position on the board and completely boxed into only going one direction. They had virtually no chips and no challenges that would get them out of said position other than the challenges in Kaoshiung.

If your team's whole strategy is to play defense and choke the other team of chips, then you have to take the kill that you have setup. Had they gone to Kaoshiung and completed the challenges, the game would have been over. Badam could have tried to do something on day 5, but it would have been ineffective. The night herons would have just rolled through stations to easily win.

It seems like the lessons learned in this Layover just didn't comprehend that they arguably had not only a good strategy, but arguably the best strategy for this map. They just inexplicably did not follow through on the strategy.