Previously on... Survivor!
After a stunning blindside sparked by the betrayal of two Oerhaos members, Raz was left without brando, his second in command. His back was now against the wall with fellow Oerhaos leader Nin10mode and new ally Emelia Kaylee. Much like the Squids were the round before, the faithful Oerhaos members were three alone against a majority.
Meanwhile Blackyoshi secured his bond with the Squids, in an effort to protect his friend Yurimaster, and avoid being on the bottom of the Oerhaos breakdown. Venexis joined him out of sympathy for the Squids’ plight and out of curiosity to see what would happen.
The immunity challenge consisted of a flash game relay. In a runaway victory, Raz won immunity. For earning second place, Nin10mode was given the Exile Vilify, which gave him the ability to keep one person from attending Tribal. To weaken the opposition’s numbers, he sent Blackyoshi to Exile, giving them a 3-3 tie with Venexis in the middle between Magnen and Nin10mode.
However, Venexis spent the round undergoing a medical emergency that left him completely out of the loop. To avoid being easily outed and hunted against as the Oerhaos traitor, he switched back to his former tribe, voting out the matron of Shadowsquid, Magnen.
Seven are left. Who will be eliminated… next?
SPOILERS: Avoid the Breakdown if you don’t want spoilers!
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Breakdown:
Episode 9: “Interesting Proposal.”
Challenge: Coconut Chop
Description: An adaption of the classic Survivor challenge, players would answer questions about their fellow tribesmates, as well as sending a list of 12 chops. Every time a contestant answered correctly, a chop went through. Last one standing won, and the person with the most correct answers won the Time Master.
Immunity Winner: Emelia Kaylee
Reward Winner: Nin10mode
Reward Winner: Nin10mode
Voted Out: Nin10mode (4-3)
Other Votes: Harmless
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“We have a traitor now.”
That was the subject of the first of many PMs shot around this round. Harmless, stung by Magnen’s surprising blindside, addresses BY, informing him that either Yurimaster or Venexis (presumably Venexis) had switched back on them, leaving the two of them high and dry.
He isn’t about to take this lightly in the slightest.
“I'll see if I can get MK or Raz to vote Ven with Yuri and me next round. I'm kinda taking a guess at this point, because Ven is probably playing a double agent at this point. What a scumbag.”
Prepare for the most chaotic round of the entirety of this game.
Immunity Challenge: Coconut Chop
The goings-on in this round are so convoluted that it would need an entire unfiltered segment just to explain so I’ll be getting the challenge out of the way now.
During the Magnen Tribal Council, all eight remaining contestants were sent a list of 12 questions that they were required to answer about the other contestants. Everyone except the ailing Venexis filled it out. Then they were made to follow that up by answering the questions guessing the majority vote for each of them. Blackyoshi forgot to do this, and therefore was unable to make any chops.
After that, they were to send me 12 “chops” which would knock each player down a peg every time they got one right. Once someone was chopped four times, they were out. The person with the least amount of chops against them was out of the game. Those who failed to submit answers still participated in the game but were stripped of the ability to chop.
Coconut Chop is always the biggest gamble of a challenge. When done right, it causes people to question their place in the game and potentially make big moves either afterward, or down the road (see Marquesas for the ever-classic example). When it’s less successful, the people in the minority are ganged up on and subsequently voted out (see Pearl Islands, where Ryno was given a billion coconuts and then booted the very same evening.) However, one thing is usually consistent: people who are usually under the radar will win it. Jenna Morasca, Tammy, and Cassandra are usually the types of people you will see win a good-ol’ fashioned Coconut Chop.
If the big hitters of the game don’t play it right, none of them will be safe.
Here’s the list of questions and answers. The answers in parentheses were the guesses they had for the majority, whereas the ones that don’t have them are their own opinions.
Some interesting notes:
Yurimaster had wanted Raz out last round, presumably undone by his immunity win. Blackyoshi wanted himself out of the game. Who knows what would have happened had Blackyoshi not been exiled and Raz not the recipient of immunity.
All six contestants answered differently on question 3, therefore everyone was correct.
Nin10mode saw alliance member Raz as his biggest threat to win. He also guessed that people thought he was the friendliest member of the game.
Everyone saw MK as the one getting a free ride, including MK himself, except for Raz, who claimed Magnen was the one getting a free ride because of her being saved by Harmless last round. This is very important to the dynamic between the two tribes.
The tribal divide was cemented by who people found the most frustrating. Raz and Nin10mode were frustrated by BY. Harmless and Yurimaster were most frustrated with Raz. Fringe members Blackyoshi and Emelia Kaylee were frustrated with different people: BY with Harmless, and EmKay with the departed Magnen.
As for voted out players that the contestants wished were still in the game, the answers were just as spread out: Harmless wanted first boot JSlayerXero, Raz wanted Ridder, the 16th contestant that never showed up, EmKay wanted perceived rival Brando, and Nin10mode wished opposing leader NanTheDark was still around.
There were some interesting answers, but now it’s time for the chops.
The Chops, Recapped
As is usual in most Coconut Chop challenges, it didn’t take long for the minority to get flushed out. Raz and Nin10mode’s early chops were Harmless, Yurimaster, and BY. It didn’t take long for Harmless to bite the dust, but during the question 3 bonanza, Nin10mode and Raz got a strike against them from Yuri and Harmless. After Raz took a couple hits from Harmless, Harmless was out by the power of Raz and Nin10mode come round 4.
Yurimaster was soon to follow… kind of. With Harmless out of the way, the backup shops became Yurimaster, while Yurimaster continued the assault against Nin10mode. However, plans go a little south after Nin10mode, underestimating how well he’d do and how long it’d take to remove Yurimaster, goes to his next level of chops. Therefore, Emelia Kaylee and Raz get a chop against them. Yurimaster switches to Blackyoshi the round before he’s removed, along with an inactive Blackyoshi.
Speaking of inactive members, Venexis has not experienced a single chop against him. Emelia Kaylee has only experienced one, and he’s barely getting any of the answers right. Raz and Nin10mode end the penultimate round with one chop against each other, meaning they’re both out of the running.
Venexis is on his way to winning immunity by doing absolutely nothing. And it looks like he could use it.
The last question, EmKay doesn’t get it right. Raz and Nin10mode do. After eliminations, they run into the very last name on both of their lists. Both of them are Venexis.
Emelia Kaylee has just won immunity. True to Coconut Chop form, the person seen as getting a free ride sneaks into a win because everyone else is too scared of each other. Nin10mode has a runaway victory for the Time Master item, guessing nine of the twelve answers right. Raz and Nin10mode laugh their mistakes off, Venexis is amused that despite being half-dead and unable to participate he nearly won, and overall this is a challenge everyone seemed to enjoy. It’s a far cry from round two when people were getting ready to riot. People are finally feeling a drive to win the game.
It shows, too. Like I’ve already said, this is by far the most intense round to date.
Tribal Council Answers
“2) What are the odds of this still being a Tribal Game?
High odds.” ~Raz
Some things never change.
Going into the Tribal Council, we have the three Oerhaos members, unflinching as ever. Against them, you have Blackyoshi and the two Squids. Venexis is right in the middle, for better or worse.
In the Oerhaos corner, we have…
Raz
“1) The Brando vote was 5-4 against your tribe. The majority flips again to your side, in a 4-3 vote. What do you think has changed?
Strategy.”
Clipped as ever with his answers, he gives nothing away, saving his feelings for his friends and his confessionals.
Nin10mode
1) The maximum amount of possible Squid members on the jury is 3. Does that affect the way you play?
“There won't be at most three, there will be three. Sorry guys. And no, I think I've been playing the same way and will continue to play the same way, all the way until the tribe is completely devoid of minorities.”
Nin10mode’s gotten cocky all of a sudden. He’s standing with his tribe and he wants everyone to know it. Although seeing as he’s of Filipino descent living in New Jersey, he might not want to get rid of minorities.
Emelia Kaylee
1) You were almost unanimously answered for doing nothing, including by yourself. However, despite getting the fewest questions right, you win immunity. How is being unnoticed an asset in Survivor?
“I wouldn't consider it an asset, more just a little perk - but now people are definitely going to start giving me stink eyes.”
Quiet, snarky, and letting others do the work for him, this guy’s safe tonight, but he would be anyways.
In the other corner, we have our de-facto underdogs, the Shadowsquids, with their third ranger.
Blackyoshi
“2) Do you think that you will be a victim of revenge?”
“I'd better be one.“
Self-sacrificing and humble, he’s partially ashamed for what he’s doing but still stands by it.
Yurimaster
3) At what point does a vote-out surpass just being part of the game and begins to get personal?
“When people get the competitive spirit way too far, or the prize too. Must say it must horrible being voted out. Must also say that sometimes when we were in the Shadowsquid tribe I was really pissed in one of the challenges, so pissed that my RL behaviour changed a lot. But I started to learn to control myself after this. I just hope this doesn't happen with anyone, or that we end up ruining friendships here. We must accept the fact that there's going to be only one winner.”
Yurimaster is probably the youngest player at merely 13 years of age, but despite a really nasty start he’s showing himself to become the most mature one.
Harmless
2) How do you plan on getting out of this bind without immunity?
“I dare Oerhaos to vote me. I dare them. Go ahead, vote who you people thought was the underestimated player in this survivor tournament. Don't recognize the bigger threats that lie closer to you, which vary upon individuals reading this. Feed the beast by not keeping alive what voting power that will help you survive to the end. I am a person too, you know.”
Down and out, disenfranchised, and betrayed one times too many, the angry former outsider on the Squid tribe is now the full-fledged flag-bearer of their legacy.
Of course, in the middle, that leaves us the enigmatic, ever-so-slippery Venexis.
1) You were forced to take a break during the game. Do you think that affected you at all?
“I'm tired. Really tired.
Lawl but really, I don't think so. I would've totally understood if anyone took this opportunity to eliminate me due to the absence, but everyone must have a hitlist at this point. I don't think I'm at the top of most people's lists at the moment. Of course if I do end up leaving forget I said all of that, and instead pretend I answered with "I saw it coming." :p”
Just like always, Venexis sees this as an experiment, and goes where he feels he needs to be. He’s our swing vote and the fate of the game could very easily rest on his shoulders.
But things are never that simple, and in this round, it isn’t simple at all.
It’s time for the wrath of Harmless.
The Private Message Chain.
I’m not going to commentate overmuch on the private messages sent to me that round from one member to another. They speak for themselves. But I will try and explain where everyone’s head was at during the round.
We’ve already seen that if Harmless has his way, Venexis will be going home. In the wake of Sarah Lacina we’ve reaffirmed there’s never a true problem with voting out the swing vote if they’re bad enough about it. Venexis has flipped on both sides without really alerting each one. He doesn’t have allegiances. He isn’t being a princess about it, but his attempt to stay hidden by voting Magnen is about to backfire.
Now all Harmless has to do is tell the Oerhaos “Ven flipped on both of us. Let’s both survive another round and vote Ven out.”
That’s literally all he had to do.
Round 1: Intimidating Emelia Kaylee/Propositioning Him
“You're doing a pretty good job back there letting everyone vote for themselves. I don't hate you for it though. In fact, imo it's a pretty decent strategy sometimes. I'm not calling you lazy or anything. In fact, I'm willing to talk with you a bit. I know you voted Magnen and all, but what can I do about it. She was the one I most trusted, but with her out I'm once again leaning towards freelancing.
Do you miss Brando, just out of curiosity?” ~Harmless
Great sell, Harmless.
“You know how it's late an' my eyes hurt an' I'm marathoning Kampfer. brando was cool, I guess. nice to hear how you're dealin' without Magnen but if you're looking for priority targets, you should deal wit' the ones who have more skill than th' ones who piss you off” ~Emelia Kaylee
Mistake 1: Pitching his idea to a) the person who visibly conflicted with Brando, b) the person who has the least amount of interest in flipping or in general, and c) doing it in a passive aggressive, intimidating way.
“I understand. To be perfectly fair though Ven willingly voted Brando and had no objections when I asked him for support, and right now I can't even tell who's side he's on. He's backstabbing everyone as we speak. I'm willing to stop him using us if you are.
Can you secretly vote with me on Ven? We might be able to get a majority and also put an end to the double agent.” ~Harmless
Finally, got to the sale pitch at least. And he sold it pretty decently.
“Interesting proposal.” ~Emelia Kaylee
“But yeah, think about it. It could help us even the numbers too. If you're interested in that sort of thing. Raz and nin are planning to stab you in the back sooner or later as well, courtesy of Yuri and BY for the info.” ~Harmless
Went straight for the planting seeds of doubt with his alliance. I wonder how that will work out.
Round 2: Emelia Kaylee rats on him
Anything on your end?” ~Emelia Kaylee to Nin10mode and Raz.
Oooooooooooooh. Yeah, that didn’t work out so hot.
Nin10mode and Raz start to converse with each other.
“I had a hunch that the final vote for Brando was Ven's, but I didn't want to believe it.
As it stands right now, the alliance is impossible from here on out, with -BY's and Ven's unpredictability.
On the other hand, there's the slight possibility that MK, Harmless, and Yuri have an alliance and are just trying to further weaken our's.
Basically, this is how we're split:
You and I
-By unknown
Ven unknown
Harmless and MK (and most likely Yuri)
There's a chance that Ven is truly with us and MK was lying, and that we'll be digging our own grave by agreeing with MK (Lessening our alliance from 3-2 against their probably 3).
There's a chance that Ven is a traitor(but still a friend), and that by sticking with him, one of us will be voted out next round (By practically everyone except the two of us)
What do you think we should do? Right now, the whole endgame plan is in ruin. By that I mean our original alliance dominating and playing each other fairly afterwards.
I'm thinking we should ask Ven first and go from there. If you want, we can continue this conversation via steam and copypaste the conversation for Moy again.” ~Nin10mode to Raz”
Nin doesn’t totally trust MK, but will take a chance on him.
“Raz and I talked about it and we practically know it's Ven, but Harmless seems like more of a threat at the moment. Instead of heeding his words, the three of us should probably vote him out. Ven and BY are basically wildcards at this point, which means the only alliances should (theoretically) be you, Raz (and Ven) and I against Harmless and Yuri. (Raz is reluctant to kick Ven out of the alliance until we're absolutely sure he's the culprit) We'll remain the majority for a bit longer. Game?” ~Nin10mode to Raz/MK
“Just an update; Ven is faithful. The four of us are in an alliance now, until the rest of the Shadowsquids and BY are out. Proof.
Priority hitlist is:
1. Harmless
2. -BY
3. Yuri?” ~Nin10mode to EmKay and Raz
I’m not exactly sure why Nin10mode turned Venexis’ F10 revote into a sign of loyalty now. I also find it interesting how Yurimaster is the lowest priority target instead of ex-Oerhaos member Blackyoshi.
While Nin10mode rallies the troops, Yuri and Harmless find their back against the wall. Yuri suggests an emergency suicide pact.
“Ok, so unfortunately, we are going to plan D, the worst one IMO.
So, how it works:
You'll ask Nin and all the other alliance members if you can join them. Say things like "Yuri is an asshole and BY is meh", but of course, try to be convincent. Then say things like "There's no use being a Shadowsquid anymore. I know your alliance will defeat us, you have advantage in numbers." then use more arguments, finally, asking if you could join their alliance to beat me and BY. If their answer is a yes, then you ask more details.
Then we proceed to the next part of the plan: Foward every PM you sent to them and that they sent, to me. In the right moment, I'll send a PM to Ven, asking why he betrayed us and such. acting as if I didn't know what was happening. If he mention you in the conversation, I'll act as being surprised, angry and such, trying to make him to join us again. If succesful, I'll show him the next going out, Nin. Remember that in this whole process, you are betraying me and BY, so act as if you was an Oerhaos. Also, something I'm almost sure they are doing: cheating. If you see some PM that comproves this, Report to MoD ASAP. This'll also include being a lot in the chat, to see if they spoil something.
This plan, however, has a risk of they not accepting, or Ven not saying nothing, or BY doesn't showing up. In any of these cases, one of us gotta say goodbye.” ~Yurimaster
Harmless, however, is insistent on one thing.
“Don't say one word to Ven. We can't let him "request" help from Raz, who still supposedly trusts him.” ~Harmless
No matter what, they can’t contact Venexis. They need to find another way that they can surely get in.
Harmless has an idea of who it can be.
Round 3: Harmless goes back to intimidating EmKay.
“I know you have already said that you're interested, but I wish to fully grasp your attention this time. I want you to hear me out. Please, I urge you, read the entire PM.
Just how much longer do you wish to stay with Raz and Nin? How much longer do you wish to keep this constant division of "Oh, hey, look, it's the Shadowsquid", when you don't even start to call us by our names anymore? I must say, Raz and Nin have officially enraged me. They don't deserve to win anymore. As I have mentioned before with courtesy of BY and Yuri, all they are doing is using you and Ven, knowing that once the Squids and BY are gone then you have no more voting power against them. Then they turn on you and Ven, and they have the upper hand because of that dueling glove, which could potentially mean double immunity and forcing one of you to vote the other.
How I know for sure about this plan is both the courtesy of information given by Yuri and BY, and Nin's reply to the most recent TC (8 I believe). Just look at that, Yuri's information of chopping squids first then you guys is accurate to say the least. Are you willing to just sit there being unnoticed, yet being used at the same time? If we rebel now, we can stand a chance instead of having our voting power dwindled. Yes, they are taking us squids out first so you have no extra voting power to match them with when TC after TC comes and goes. You will be outnumbered if you don't help us.
I don't hate the two, but in this forum it's a completely different ball game. I am absolutely upset with how Raz thought that Magnen did nothing and got a free ride up to this point. The one I most trusted and the one that gave a 110% in the entire survivor ORG? That is just cruel. It's almost like as if I said that Peter or Brando didn't do jack shit to make it up to this point either, even though I'm pretty sure they did. It really makes me feel like he's taking this too far with this feeling of Oligarchy with nin. Do you feel the same?
I will promise you my support if you help me. I'm not going to break any trust or alliance with Yuri or BY, but likewise I'm not going to break it with you, if you're willing to help me strike them down. First step we need to do is take out former backstabber Ven so he doesn't mix up the votes/vote against us, and then we should have a 4-2 majority on them. If you're willing to help, your chances of survival increase from 0% to a much greater number. I cannot determine that number, but I guarantee it is better than 0%.
MK, the fate of the entire game and how far you make it is in this decision. I hope you understand that. I have one last question to ask you now.
ARE YOU WITH ME?” ~Harmless to MK
Harmless was going straight for the Oscar with this one. I’ve heard Occupy speeches and radical leftist blogs less extreme over that. On someone with more emotion behind his decisions, Harmless’ speech of “Nin10mode and Raz are evil dictators and you are a horrible sheeple for letting them constantly oppress me” might have worked well on a Blackyoshi or, hell, even a Venexis, with his insanely absurdist exaggerations that make cut and dry Survivor sound like the Holocaust.
Mistake #2: Consistently going after a dead-end road, especially someone who barely plays with emotion, with an emotionally aggressive speech.
Emelia Kaylee’s response?
“Considering my loyalties, the fact that you have said nothing about what you'd personally propose doing if this plan manages to hoist you into the role of the new leader, and the fact that I personally know a few things more, I'm going to have to decline. :(“ ~Emelia Kaylee to Harmless
And sure enough…
He's dedicated to the cause, I'll say that” ~EmKay to Raz/Nin10mode
“No, once it's just faithful Oerhaos, the alliance is disbanding and it's a free for all. I t would have seemed more like a free-for-all if Brando was still here and BY made a different choice, but that's how it is, I guess. I want to tell Harmless that as soon as he changes his tone to something completely different, it's really obvious what his intent is.” ~Nin10mode to EmKay/Raz
That doesn’t sit well with Harmless, who finally lets the lead go but not without final words.
“Well then. I gave you a chance. Oh well then. If you get betrayed then it's your own fault. Don't say I didn't warn you.” ~Harmless to MK
So there we go. Harmless has utterly ruined things for himself. He targeted the swing vote by making the worst sales pitch ever to the least interested person in the game that alienated him to the point that he reaffirmed loyalty to his new alliance. Not only that, but he won’t let go the idea of voting for Venexis when he clearly needs him as a swing vote. And you know what that leads to?
“Harmless. Got an interesting little message, not cool 
Might as well certify, I guess.” ~Venexis
“I'll go for Harmless again. I should have been doing that earlier already. Seeing him going against Ven, the one who kept him alive together with me. Just no. I won't support that kind of backstabbing. I didn't even want to vote for brando back then, but my situation left me no other choice. However. I guess you know that already.” ~Blackyoshi
And with that round of horrendous gameplay, Harmless has gone from ninja’ing his way from saving his alliance to utterly destroying any chance of survival they had and going out in 7th place. I had the voting chart filled out and everything. Nin10mode, Raz, EmKay, Venexis, and even Blackyoshi reunite unwittingly to vote out Harmless. He’s gone. Done like dinner.
...but that’s when someone else saved the day.
Someone else finally saw some common sense in changing the plan and working on a way to save themselves.
Round 4: The Angel of Mercy
“I'm sorry for the rude title of Betrayal, but I want to talk about some serious things about alliance and stuff.
I remember that back then, you made an alliance with us. But after some time, you voted Magnen out. My question is: what brought you to do this?
Sorry for being rude, again, but I want you to answer this, because you pretty much ruined mine and Harmless's chances of winning. Okay, I even deserve being voted out, as I'm the less known here and such, but for what I heard, Harmless play games with some of you in steam and such.
And my last plea, I know that you are not going to join our alliance again, but if you are going to vote someone out, please, vote for me. And tell this to the other members of your alliance too. I don't want to play this game anymore, and just quitting now would damage Harmless. Harmless deserves to play more, way more than me that doesn't even have motivation to continue.” ~Yurimaster to Venexis
Yurimaster is making an appeal to Venexis. Acting like a rational human being. He’s thinking he’s on his way out and would rather go than Harmless, but at least he’s actually talking to the swing vote and trying to get him to see the light.
And you know what the crazy thing is?
“I won't lie and try to deny it, I did vote Magnen last council.
But you should be aware that it was out of necessity. In an Oerhaos alliance PM a while ago, BY took the blame as traitor to protect me. I didn't find out until recently due to my absence, but I think the implications are clear- that I was expected to stay in good standing with Oerhaos, enabling access to their target list and other sensitive information. This would have gone fine, (I was intending to self vote, with the absence), but then BY was exiled. This reduced the game to 7 players, and I was the tiebreaker.
Obviously, this put me in a difficult decision. I knew the tie was between Mag and Nin, and as the only outlying player, it would be very obvious who I voted.
I chose to not let BY's sacrifice be in vain, and after a tiring few days of various medical tests and several hours waiting in an airport, I didn't fully comprehend that voting against Nin was the better move. For that, I apologize.
Whether you believe me or not, know this: I've voted Harmless in the most recent council, solely on the evidence of a single screencap, one that shows Harmless attempting to get MK to vote me off in secret. I'll tell you and MoD this, I wish to take back that vote. I do regret voting Mag, and really don't want to eliminate either of you- the game kinda forces it on everyone.
I told Harmless that honesty is usually the best policy when Nan was eliminated, and I was truthful with him. I'm being truthful now too, whether you trust it or not. You have every reason not to, and that's why I'm retracting my vote for him now in front of both you and MoD... who did you have in mind?” ~Venexis to Yurimaster and Harmless
Venexis heard him. He took Yurimaster’s very natural plea rather than Harmless’ manufactured speeches and decided his allegiances lay there until further notice. Yurimaster singlehandedly saved his alliance by pulling a Trish Hegarty on drifting alliance member Venexis. Now it’s just a matter of who they’re going to vote out.
Harmless has an idea of who deserves to go home.
“We shall vote out MK. It's official.” ~Harmless to BY/Ven/Yuri
That is not a half-bad idea. For Venexis, voting out EmKay, who doesn’t have the intense passion or connection to him that Raz or Nin10mode have, would be much easier to swallow. Not only that, but there’d be much less guilt from the perpetually guilty Blackyoshi. EmKay is the easy vote, much like Brandobrawl was in the Final 9. It’s a pretty reasonable strategy, even if it does spawn out of a revenge fantasy against the guy who he couldn’t convince.
There’s just one tiny problem, though.
“I'm terrible at the reply all feature, so again:
Isn't MK immune?” ~Venexis in reply
So the die is cast, it appears. Another Oerhaos is going home, and as much as Harmless might want, EmKay won’t be it. On the bright side, he’s got four on board to take out one of two impressive threats. Whether it be their item-stocked leader Nin10mode or the always active strategic leader Raz, they’re getting rid of a big threat.
The Oerhaos three are voting for Harmless, which is the most logical thing I’ve seen all round.
“Harmless.
Certified. Ain't no one playin that game with me, mister.” ~Nin10mode
“Ahahaha, wow
I vote Harmless. Confirmed.” ~Emelia Kaylee
The foursome led by the Squids cast their votes.
“I change my vote to Nin. I didn't really know what was happening before Ven sent me that PM, and I feel sorry for that.” ~Yurimaster
And just like that, the second leader falls.
As I was preparing the results, I got a private message from Nin10mode. I was wondering if he had caught on and was preparing a hail mary. Maybe he was just giving a confessional saying that he was on his way out. I was curious for a sign that maybe this wouldn’t be nearly as tragic a downfall as it appeared to be.
The private message was about his plans to use the Dueling Glove the next round.
He never saw it coming for a moment.
Post-Mortem
Yurimaster blew me away this round. I had never taken much notice of him; like Emelia Kaylee, he was a background character to power players. But he showed traces of Trish Hegarty in his game that round when he worked his social game to swing Venexis back with a mix of honesty and humility. He undid all the damage Harmless Vlachos did that round and set his alliance back on track.
I was really hard on Harmless that round. It’s nothing against him, but he was really hard to watch this round. A combination of destructive, reckless gameplay, some hardcore slander, and some raw, painful to watch anger about his position in the game made this round what it was, and it nearly led to the most painful downfall I’ve seen in ages.
However, the downfall would go to Nin10mode, who got too big for his britches and let his confidence swallow him up. He put unearned trust in Venexis based off of a Final 10 vote and it cost him, much to his shock. It was a sad way to watch him go out, and it was sad to watch him leave. Despite a rough start, his moderator attitude showed itself in spades. He was confident, team oriented, a great speaker, and most importantly, a great sport. I thought he stood a strong chance of winning, but no one is perfect.
I’m very thankful that he was a good sport afterward, sending in his post-game interview answers almost immediately and starting some really potent conversations in the Jury House to start the cross-tribal healing process.
Nin10mode met a hard fate this round and took it just as strongly and with as levelheaded a reaction as I expected from him. He was a pleasure to host.
Final 6 Predictions: Made Live After the Vote
If you were to ask me what my dumbest move predicting this game was, it was underestimating Yurimaster as a player. Right now, he has an alliance of three within an alliance of four, is looking to go to the end with someone no one really likes in the game, and has used his social abilities to fix the flagrant mistakes Harmless made this round in a way I never thought possible. If he can return to the simple method of voting people out and keep reining in BY and Venexis, then he is on the right track to victory.
We’re on the final stretch, and unless Raz is able to pull out a miracle, he isn’t going to be long for the game. Raz has been seen as the Big Bad, the super player, the kingpin of Survivor. While he’s a power player for sure, he actually is being left in the dust by Venexis and BY from his alliance, who know when they need to leave an alliance. Raz’s hierarchy was always Raz/Brando/Nin10mode, and Venexis was never going to crack into that top tier to sit with him at the end, much less BY. I don’t think Raz is the asshole everyone else thinks he is, and I definitely don’t think he’s a bad player, but he was very one-track minded. Now, he doesn’t have an alliance, and the perception the Squid pair has of him will leave him damned even if Raz can shake off the loyalty mantra and try and scramble. Truth be told he’s probably over it now that his friends are out. Shadowsquid plays emotionally, for sure, but I think Raz is the most emotional player out there. He just hides it under a layer of Machismo.
Harmless frustrates me beyond belief. His F9 move to protect Magnen was one of the boldest I’ve ever seen in ORG and Survivor history, and the fact that it worked blew my mind. I was talking to all my friends about it; as an ORGer who was humiliated after giving away immunity, I was immeasurably proud. But then, he follows it up with this, one of the most aggressively bad rounds of playing I’ve ever seen. Because of a very serious case he didn’t even begin to try and understand, he almost burnt every bridge he had into a 5-2 vote against him. It is by the grace of Yurimaster that he didn’t ruin the Shadowsquid comeback. There’s no way he wins a jury vote; even Nin10mode disapproves of his behavior, and he isn’t even personally mad at Ven.
Speaking of Venexis, he was really kind of cornered. As it turns out, he wasn’t going further than fourth in his Oerhaos alliance and with Yuri and BY’s ties, he isn’t getting further than fourth anyways, more than likely. He can try and pull something out with one or two of them, but it isn’t looking very likely, sad to say. He knows how to take an opportunity when he sees one, so that’s his only hope; don’t be disagreeable and rely on your natural charm.
Emelia Kaylee, there isn’t much to say. He’s not super-competitive, he’s pissed off Harmless more than he should piss off a vengeful power-hungry warlord, and even if he gets to the end people don’t really care too much or get along with him to vote for him to win. Against Harmless, maybe, but ultimately he’s probably going to be this game’s non-entity. I hope that changes.
Blackyoshi is the perfect name for the Dark Horse, and I didn’t even expect it until I read Nin10mode’s Exit Interview. He switched to the darkside quickly, and while some like Raz feel hurt and P.O’d, Nin10mode forgave him because he liked him and BY was real and personal about his gameplay, working not out of pride but out of self-preservation. Not only that, but he and Yurimaster have a bond that can benefit BY if Yurimaster decides to take him to the end. BY has Nin’s vote, and with some doin’ he can possibly sway some other people in the jury. He just has to be gutsy and not apologize for everything.
This ORG could not be going any better. I’m intensely satisfied to see how this game is going and excited beyond belief to see how it ends.
6. Raz
5. Emelia Kaylee
4. Venexis
3. Blackyoshi
2. Harmless
1. Yurimaster
Next Time On… Survivor.
Six people are left. It’s four against two, but once they face adversity, can they stand tall with each other, or will bad actions come back to haunt them?
Raz is angry and alone, and he begins to speak some hard truths about the game.
A shocking result to the immunity challenge happens, and an even more shocking outcome after that, leading to the most unusual blindside of the season.
