Survivor: Game Changers will be full of players looking for any advantage. For J.T. Thomas, it sounds like he’ll be using others’ physicality against them.
As we inch ever closer to the premiere of Survivor: Game Changers, it seems easy to continue speculating on how and where things may go. (Granted, there are purported spoilers still floating around the internet.) Some players, though, have made it pretty easy to see where they plan to go.
J.T. Thomas is one such player. His Entertainment Weekly interview is pretty straightforward, as is his answer to the alliance question: Ozzy Lusth. Why? He said:
"“I think my social game’s way better than Ozzy’s. I think I can beat him in the end, no problem. So it would be awesome to have him as almost a physical threat/shield, if you will…”"
You can’t fault J.T. for thinking all the way to Day 39 even before the game started. So, let’s break down his choice of Ozzy here.
In our own cast assessment, we pointed out that Ozzy is actually a pretty good choice for an ally of J.T. — and J.T. has a really good point in his social game’s strength. However, keeping Ozzy around for too long could let him go on an individual Immunity run if his physical game hasn’t waned much. The cast list also tells us that the two will be on the Nuku tribe together, and we’ve identified J.T. as a good match for Ozzy in our assessment of the Cook Islands alum. However, at the same time, Ozzy has said, as we noted in that same assessment, that he wants to play a better social game. That makes him a lot more dangerous to J.T. than J.T. may expect.
Dalton Ross also posted a photo of J.T. revealing his pre-game first target to Instagram:
Of course. However, couldn’t J.T. use Tony as the same sort of physical shield, as he intends to do with Ozzy? Granted, Tony has a better read on people — as noted on J.T.’s vote — but Tony will need allies in the game if he wants to get anywhere, and J.T. could use that, too.
Next: Game Changers Cast Assessment: Andrea Boehlke
We’ll see how it all shakes out when Game Changers premieres.