We are only one episode of Survivor Maryland: All-Stars from the finale. Look no further for our thoughts on the power rankings for the remaining players.
1. Victoria Zhao (last week: 3rd)
Victoria is now all the way in first place after another great week of Survivor Maryland gameplay. We saw her mastermind the 3-2-2 vote that ended up sending Micah home with an idol in his pocket. Despite her strategic prowess, she is forming good relationships, which is evident when someone like Micah shows her his idol.
The other favorites to win are Chris Thomas and Holli. Victoria is the least likely to be targeted out of this group, putting her in a very good position. Eric is essentially the only person left in the game who she does not have a strong bond with, and I think he will be far more likely to go after Holli or Ashley at this point.
At the Final Tribal Council of Survivor Kaoh Rong, Scot Pollard talked about how Michele had kept becoming stronger as the game went on when someone like Aubry had become weaker in her game position over time. While I do not necessarily agree with his points for the situation in Kaoh Rong, I believe this accurately describes the games of Victoria and Holli.
Victoria began the game with little power and did not gain too much power until the mid-merge stage. It is not like she was not playing before this time, but she was constantly on the bottom. Victoria’s stock is rising by the week, and maybe all the way up to be the winner of Survivor Maryland.
2. Holli Rutkowski (last week: 1st)
Going back to my Survivor Kaoh Rong analogy, I believe that Holli has been losing power, despite her solid positioning. Last week is possibly the lone time that she made a plan with Chris Thomas and will not be flipping out afterward from being duped. Of course, the main reason for her dependence on Chris and Victoria recently is because of their partner twist reward, coupled with the immunity of Alex G. It is forcing Holli’s hand.
From Day 1 to present, I believe that Holli has consistently played this game the hardest out of the remaining six. Coming into this week, I believe a lot will hinge on whether she and Victoria stick to their recent voting bloc or not. Since Chris Thomas is no longer immune, Holli could easily want to go after him. If Victoria wants to keep Chris, it will come down to Alex G or Eric.
I think Holli would be able to get Victoria to sacrifice Alex G, but then again who knows with Ashley’s alliance with Alex. Eric seems like the vote that everyone would easily agree on if Holli decides to play it safe. Playing it safe has been what Holli has been forced to do of recent, while it has gotten her to this point, it is far from her ideal final six. To sum this up, Holli still holds a lot of the cards this week and is now one Tribal Council away from improving upon her previous Survivor Maryland performance.