Survivor Game Changers Cast Assessment: Ciera Eastin
A soon-to-be three-time player, Ciera Eastin has a lot of heart and a very sociable gameplay strategy. What will she bring to Survivor Game Changers?
Few of the 20 players set to appear on Survivor Game Changers have been confirmed, yet it was announced during the Survivor Millennials vs. Gen X reunion that Ciera Eastin would join the cast of returning players. Considering the subtitle, Ciera did manage to change the game of Survivor in a major way; by being the first and only player to vote out a loved one.
After the merge in Survivor Blood vs. Water, Ciera found herself in a tight spot. She was positioned well within her majority alliance but was put in the uncomfortable position of seeing her mother put up on the chopping block. The tribe was going to vote Laura out, but if Ciera had voted for somebody else, she would have shown allegiance to family over the needs of the tribe.
What happened at tribal history solidified the Ciera Eastin name into Survivor fans forever.
Jeff Probst loves to talk about this move so much because it showed just how tough a competitor Ciera Eastin truly is. That season was an emotional rollercoaster for players and fans alike, and to have to vote against your mother to further yourself in the game of Survivor broke down the traditions that the game holds dear.
By voting out her mom, Ciera showed how much of a social threat she is at this game. That kind of power is what she will covet the most when she arrives on Survivor Game Changers next month.
In a season where most everyone, no matter their skill level, is a strategist, it will be interesting to see how Ciera Eastin adapts. During her time in Survivor Cambodia, she helped manipulate seasoned players to vote against her best interests after she made the merge, playing a part in orchestrating two blindsides in a rocky season where nobody was safe.
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She represents the core of new school Survivor, using her cunning skills as a social player to make friends and influence people. However, playing on another returnee season with plenty of bigger egos, including Survivor Cagayan winner Tony Vlachos and Michaela Bradshaw, she’ll have to sneak under the radar alongside Sandra Diaz-Twine and Cirie Fields.
As Survivor Game Changers features plenty of players who know each other from past seasons, Ciera Eastin has few latent connections. She barely played with rumored castaway Brad Culpepper, and never interacted much with another rumored castaway, Jeff Varner. Meanwhile, plenty of others have competed on the same seasons with each other, cutting into Ciera’s ability to slink away behind meat shields or perceived threats.
Just as she has done before, Ciera Eastin may have to fight from the bottom up if she is to make it out of Survivor Game Changers in a decent placing. Perhaps she will align herself with bigger social threats like repeat Final-Tribal-Minus-One player Cirie Fields, or bring in a follower-type strong player like Caleb Reynolds.
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Survivor these days is all about making the big moves at the right time, and with so many strategic players scrambling straight from minute one, it’s hard to know where Ciera Eastin will go. One thing we know for sure is that if she is emotionally strong enough to vote out the person who gave birth to here, she is strong enough to play with anybody out there.