She might not be the most polarizing castaway of Survivor: Edge of Extinction, but Victoria’s understanding of the game puts her above the rest.
It’s crazy when you stop and think how much Survivor has evolved since Borneo. Whether you’re a fan of Edge of Extinction or not, season 38 has continued the Survivor evolution, especially in terms of voting strategies.
This season said goodbye to conventional ideas of Pagonging and sticking with a majority alliance. It has even made many question if these post-merge votes can be classified as voting blocs. Despite the constantly shifting groups of voters, there has been one consistent trend: Victoria.
Victoria Baamonde is the only player in this season to play a part in voting out all four returning players! Her performance in the Aubry blindside stands out the most, but she had a key role in the other three as well.
Even more outstanding is the fact that she is the only castaway left who has voted correctly every single Tribal Council. She has never been on the wrong side of the votes. That’s not an easy feat to accomplish in this unpredictable season filled with shifting alliances.
Unfortunately, ever since the merge, Victoria’s edit has gone downhill, which is definitely why some might underrate her gameplay. One person with a possible winning edit that comes to mind is Rick. Fun fact, Rick has voted incorrectly in four of the last six votes.
Gavin, Julie, Lauren, Ron and Aurora have all been majorly blindsided at one point or another after the merge, often leading to some emotional and difficult moments for them. It just goes to show how challenging it is to accomplish Victoria’s feat of never being the one who is blindsided. Not only is that amazing from a gameplay point of view, but I’m sure that has kept her from feeling as emotionally drained as the other six.
Why is Victoria always on the right page? I thought of two reasons. First, her game-awareness is impeccable. Her solid social relationships have resulted in other people coming up to her with their plans. That skill has enabled her to know where the votes were headed.
The second reason is that she knows when to yield to other ideas. A few of the eliminations after the merge weren’t Victoria’s ideal options. The Eric and Julia votes are perfect examples. Instead of disagreeing or desperately trying to manipulate the votes, Victoria humbly allowed other plans to go through.
This has kept her in the loop, while still maintaining a low profile. Victoria’s game awareness and self-control have made her a serious strategic force in this season. We’ll have to see how those two skills will help her get to Day 39.