Survivor season 35: Ali Elliott can roll with the punches

If Ali Elliott has one great strength coming into Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, it’s in the fact that she’s used to twists and turns.

Alexandrea Elliott introduces herself as Ali in her cast introduction video, and it seems like the show is more than willing to go along with that — since the text matches what she says. She’ll make her start on Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers on the Yawa tribe, among her fellow Hustlers.

She also sounds like she’s prepared for interpersonal clashes and large personalities alike, based on her story of befriending all kinds of people. “Celebrity assistant” alone is the kind of job that calls up someone who can endure a lot of changes, and then she also mentions she actually works for a YouTuber. That kind of quickfire, demanding work likely means that she can bounce back from shifts in the game and at least attempt to claw her way back if she finds herself on the outset of the alliance. It doesn’t hurt to have resilience in Survivor.

However, she does talk about something that does concern me:

Did you catch how she says her plan is to float through the game? Now, floating as a strategy shouldn’t be discounted. If you don’t make waves and instead forge personal connections, it can go a long way to convincing other players that you’re beatable, only for you to walk away with a million dollars. Combined with her self-admitted drive to win, though, and she might break away from the relative safety of floating to try for a big move at the wrong time.

Looking at her cast profile, she also says she wants to be a “challenge beast,” and on the Hustlers, that might help her get at least to the first tribal switch. But again, she also owns up to having “tons of pet peeves,” so it’ll be a matter of squashing any of those that she encounters down — the friendliness will get her further than that.

Next: Season 35 previews show confident tribes

It’s hard to get a good read on how far Ali might go in the game. If she gets too annoyed, too quickly, not even physical strength will save her in the early game. Ditto with that clash between that urge for rivalry and that desired plan to not excel. To go far, she’ll need to strike a balance, and hopefully her job’s ever-changing nature has prepared her to find that balance.