Ever since the Survivor 50 cast was announced a month ago and right before the returning players all hopped on a plane to Fiji and started filming the anniversary season, fans have been speculating how each castaway will approach the game this time around and, specifically, how they will perceive each other.
The first season to mix old school and new era contestants, it's anybody's guess of who will be seen as a true target as the core of the game has shifted over the last 10 years from jury votes being cast due to gameplay and strategy to more relationship-based selection.
When Christian Hubicki (Survivor: David vs. Goliath) was on the jury in season 37, he voted in favor of Mike White to win over Nick Wilson, despite the fact that he'd been in a tight alliance with Nick since day 2. In the end, he respected Mike's gameplay more.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, you have Jonathan Young (Survivor 42), who spent most of the game working closely with Mike Turner. At Final Tribal Council, Jonathan was the only member of the jury to vote for Mike over the winner, Maryanne Oketch, who everyone agreed had the better resume.
So players who have previously been seen as huge strategic threats might not be all that threatening compared to those who have been known to run a good social game. Or maybe it's the opposite. Maybe, the social players who have been eliminated early in the past because people were afraid of how loyal they were are now going to get farther due to the emphasis on loyalty in the game.
No matter the direction of gameplay Survivor 50 ends up favoring, there are two players going into the season who everyone should already be targeting: the unknowns of Survivor 49. All the incoming players have had a chance to see each other play before, but they haven't watched season 49.
Because of the filming and release schedule, no one on the anniversary cast knows how the Survivor 49 players approached their game or what they're capable of.
The biggest threat to anyone's gameplay in Survivor is an unknown variable. There are currently two very unknown variables on a beach in Fiji alongside 22 other players who can anticipate what moves everyone else is most likely to make. Of course, deviation is a huge part of returning to the game and adapting with a new cast of players, but for the players who have been to the island and back a handful of times, it's fairly easy to assess their threat levels before the game even begins.
So now the only question is, will the two Survivor 49 players be the first to go because of this? Or will they be kept around and used as shields by other players later on? We can't wait to find out!
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