Round 7: We are merged!

[benjimcfly]

There's a bit to recap of what happened last round, so stick with me. 

Leading up to tribal, Robbie gave Gleason his idol. The plan is to vote Lauren out, because Robbie sees value in working with Leanna in future rounds. Leanna/Charlene/Lauren are all set on the vote going to Gleason, and bet their tokens accordingly. The only person who felt something was off was Leanna. 

Gleason and Leanna talk and she's fairly straight forward with him that she's putting his name down and he will be going home. I'm honestly a bit shocked that Leanna wouldn't think that Robbie and Gleason's pre-swap bond was stronger than what her and Robbie had. Gleason talks to Robbie a few hours before tribal and tells Robbie that he's going to vote Leanna out. It's all Gleason's vote, as Robbie is going to play along with his plan and throw a vote on Gleason. This part confused me a little. I understand exactly what they were trying to do, but for Robbie to assume that Leanna would give him her fire tokens after being blindsided is a stretch. 

The vote comes, and much like Unguja's first tribal, Gleason really hams up the fact that it's he that's going home. There's some reasoning and some "I hope they do well" etc. It's a bit much for me, but it's the game they decided to play. Gleason plays Robbie's idol and negates four of the five votes, sending home Leanna with one vote. The most heartbreaking part was Leanna's reaction after the vote. She was genuinely confused that she was being voted out by Gleason, someone she knew previously and liked/trusted. 

Lauren has a great attitude about the blindside, and Charlene is fairly quiet, but accepting. Unguja had a 4-2 advantage walking into swap and merged with 2-2. It's impressive how Robbie and Gleason (read: mostly Robbie) were able to find cracks in the game, mostly due to Leanna's want for a power grab. I don't put all the blame on her, but it was a perfect storm of missteps and conversations that were timed at the worst time for Sam and Leanna to get booted. 

After the vote, it's revealed there is an Edge of Extinction and there is a battle back. Everyone's favorite ultimate frisbee player (no, not me), Ben returns to the game. This should be very interesting, as Ben was voted out by one person and their sole vote. He was well liked and in a great position. He will need to play a little less aggressive than he had been playing before, or else he will be clocked in a future round.

[benjimcfly]

Benji's current standings:

1. Melody

Still in the best position, for all the reasons I've mentioned. Only a couple people have their sights on how dangerous she is: Hannah and Robbie. However, after Leanna left, she gave all 9 of her fire tokens to Melody, who promptly bought an idol. She has so many connections and she has her finger on the pulse of the whole merged tribe. She knows how everyone is feeling and how they want to vote. She only has a couple more tribal councils to play the advantage she found in round 1, so I'm expecting her to play this for someone else/give it away, giving her a strong bond with whomever she chooses.

2. Austin

Now, this is not indicative on his perceived place by those he's playing with, but an observation of the amazing position he has put himself in. Austin played the swap the best he could have. He begrudgingly worked with Ben/Kelsey/Hannah on the first vote and Jermin blindsiding Ben put him in a great spot. He now is good with Melody, Will and Jermin and Kelsey and Hannah don't have a reason to NOT trust him, since they didn't have to vote again. Lauren knows Austin and is ready to work with him. Lauren has had a few rough rounds, but her social game is impeccable, especially early on. She's going to be helping Austin know what's going on with her old Unguja tribe mates, in addition to some of the old Pemba relying on his voting with them. He doesn't even need to be on the right side of the vote, because he's unsuspecting. He has a good strategy of playing dumb with players when he needs to and using information to gain trust with the players that will help him get further. I see Austin being fine for the next few votes.


3. Robbie

Robbie is still in a great position, due to his social game. The best thing possible for him was a lot of people are starting to tell him how good he is at this game. He's recognizing he's playing well and needs to be more calculated about who he wants to work with. The next best thing possible was Ben winning the battle back. Now there's a bigger target and #1 ally of his to take any of the heat. Robbie's lies and promises might be his undoing, but no one has him pegged as a major threat that needs to go.... because he's tight with everyone. I don't see him going the distance, as his target will get bigger as rounds move on. But he's in a really good position to do his best in this game.


4. Charlene

Charlene is the Austin of Unguja. She's loyal, nice and is a good strategist. I have mentioned this before, but I think she might be perceived as a goat. She needs to make her own moves, but is plagued by players who want to make bigger moves. Lucky for her, Leanna is gone, who was the person that kept foiling her plans. Charlene has a few rounds to put her mark on this merged tribe, and I know she can do it.


5. Ben

All of Ben's allies are right where he left them. He was the only OG Pemba to be voted out during the swap rounds. He has Robbie, his #1, Kelsey, his perceived showmance, Melody, someone he knew before the game started, and he has a strong social game. As I mentioned earlier, Ben needs to slow his role and be a little humble these first three or four rounds. If he can manage his threat level, he can make it further down the road and win some key immunity challenges. Ultimately, everyone knows he is a huge threat and will be trying to take him out every chance they get.


6. Will

Will is in an interesting spot. He, much like Ben, brings a lot of swagger into his game/conversations. He's mostly good with the players in the game, but I don't think anyone necessarily has him as a top ally. I think this is due to his exile + no tribals since Malfoy. While this is an impressive stat, in survivor, players learn how to be better at this game by going to tribal and testing voting relationships. No one has had to prove anything to Will. He is a good player and is not currently a target, giving him some room to make a move and surge through these next few rounds.


7. Lauren

Lauren is a potential target this round, but I think a lot of people are close enough with her to know she is good to have around. She's extremely social and is in a lot of people's good graces. Putting her seventh isn't saying she isn't doing well, there are just that many players who are playing better. The last two rounds were detrimental to her game, too. Losing Sam and Leanna were her tightest allies on Unguja 1.0 and 2.0. She is savvy enough to talk to people and gain status. She could be a sleeper pick to find herself at FTC and receive some votes. She just needs to avoid being targeted the next couple of rounds.


8. Jermin

The Silent Assassin. Jermin's game is slightly affected by the fact that this is a very social group of people who like to talk all the time. He's not around during the day and that gives other players the time and opportunity to bond. He's definitely a wise and good player, but he needs to give a little more attention to his allies, before they lose faith in working with him.


9. Kelsey

Kelsey! SOS! Come back! Kelsey is plagued by her lack of activity. She was rewarded being swapped on to Pemba and not having to go to tribal. She took it slow those rounds, which worked for her. This round is already going 100 miles per hour and she is MIA. She's going to be fine in this game, until a true easy round comes along and they give her the boot. Girl, you have a chance and the right connections to have a great game, but having all of your friends visit has been tanking this round for you. Hoping she gets a wake up call this round and kicks it into high gear.


10. Gleason

Gleason needs to make a move. He played Robbie's idol and had to fill in the gaps of the stories with some gray details. It's either him or Hannah in this first vote (at least, that is how it currently sounds) and he is going to cling to Robbie's relationship to help get him out of it. But there's nothing his allies can do to save him. The only advantage his allies had was played last round... on him. People like an easy vote at the merge, and Gleason is one of the public enemies, after his Leanna blindside.

11. Hannah

She's on the bottom with her Pemba tribe. She's on the bottom with Unguja. Melody hates that Hannah wants her out. Hannah's closest ally was Robbie and Robbie has his pick of allies. She 100% would have been voted out pre-merge, but she was lucky that messy Unguja helped her out. Time will tell if she manages to save her ass this round, but she's in a difficult spot to improve moving forward.