With only six players remaining on Survivor SA: Island of Secrets, the castaways are poised for their final push.
For the first time in the four Tribal Councils on Survivor SA: Island of Secrets, more than two players voted against an Amigos member. In last week’s episode, we finally got to see a real attempt to flip the script. However, although the final vote was a tight one, it was closer than it seemed thanks to Rob’s expert manipulation.
A four-person alliance was cemented with that vote, and it will be hard to break their bond during the next two Tribal Councils. The Amigos are sitting pretty with the Final Three in their sight, but there’s still time for a blindside. Here’s how the Final Six rank heading into today’s episode.
6) Mike Venter
If Mike makes it to the end, he has a strong shot at winning it all. The reason why he’s number six has to do with his ability to make Final Tribal Council. Yes his social game is good, yes he’s strategic, and yes he can win challenges, but there’s someone who’s proven to be more effective in all three of those categories.
Mike’s best shot is to string together a streak of immunity wins somehow, but Rob and Steffi are strong competitors that won’t let it happen. If Mike loses Immunity, he has to hope that the women live up to their foreshadowed all-girls alliances by blindsiding Rob.
5) Durão Mariano
It did seem for a time that Durão was best buds with Rob, making his Final Tribal Council prospects grow. But that’s exactly how Rob wants people to feel. Just like Mike, Durão was expertly deceived by Rob. He’s still on the outs, but he does have stronger social connections than Mike, combined with less of a threatening style of gameplay.
4) Laetitia Le Roux
If anyone can be considered as a lock for Final Tribal Council, it’s Laetitia. She’s in tight with the Amigos, and there’s a good chance all three are starting to see the value of bringing Laetitia to the end. That said, her idol find could change things.
We saw in Australian Survivor last year how a bitter jury combined with under the radar gameplay enabled a castaway to become the oldest ever Survivor winner. It still is a longshot, but if Laetitia plays her cards correctly, and if the jury can’t look past their hurt feelings, we might just be in for a surprising champion.
3) Nicole Capper
The longer this season goes, the more I doubt Nicole’s odds at becoming the Sole Survivor. The jury is continuing to dislike anything she says at Tribal Council, making it difficult for Nicole to gain any sympathy if she does make it to the end. Even though she has played a solid game, I can’t see her winning against Steffi or Rob at this point. She might have to take both of them out, which isn’t easy to do with only six castaways left.
2) Steffi Brink
I’m shocked at how much Steffi has changed over these last few episodes. She went from being an athletic castaway who seemed to know little about the strategy of the game, to now playing with grit and possessing a legitimate plan to win it all.
The wise decision she made to blindside Mmaba started her on this promising path, but it was her latest journey to the Island of Secrets that elevated her play even further. The opportunity she got to talk strategy with her good friend allowed her to regain that killer instinct and recognize the need to make a move on Rob before it’s too late. Steffi is peaking at the right time!
1) Rob Bentele
The domination continued for Rob last week, as his magical social game allowed him to control Mike and Durão’s votes freely. His idea to switch the decoy vote to Steffi was absolutely brilliant! That way, he knew for sure that the players outside of his alliance would be voting for only one person instead of multiple targets. As a result, if Jacques did play an idol, Rob would know who to play his for.
Although it’s fun to root along with the jury and hope someone dethrones Rob, it’s gotten to the point where it would almost be a shame if anyone won but him. Playing a masterful game like Rob has been playing deserves respect even if it doesn’t end up being the most unpredictable season.