New casts are a risk from a production standpoint because for every Cagyuan theirs a One World. I think Blood vs Water is a good compromise for this. You get strong old faces but also get the chance for people like Ceira to become strong and memorable on her own. Also the loved one angle adds drama/layers to to the…

I agree I'm just saying likability and strategy are both needed to win at the end. Savage can play strategically but a lot of people here don't like his smugness. That would also hurt him in the final with the jury. You need to be strategic to get to the end but you also can't be a good planning jackass and expect to…

On the one hand alliances to the end seem to be out of fashion this season but the short-term play has led to a lot of blindsides that make the season so good so I can't really complain.

Likability is something you need to win Survivor. Abi decided many of the pre-merge blindsides which sounds pretty strategic but no way can she win.

Possible, but unlikely. Nobody knew Wentworth had an Idol (or her new one now) so Jeremy's got to be worried to a degree about others finding Idols at challenges or Night Idols when he's not looking as Wentworth has.

Social game is strategy to a degree though. True Jeremy and Spencer are better at strategy then Joe but a challenge streak against two weak players in the final could win it for him on the off chance he made it that far.

Yeah that one wasn't so bad and the 3 of them at least had a story for a second chance being medically pulled and a newbie won that year. But Coach vs Ozzy? Rob & Russell? Bleh.

Broken finger? The shot of the hand in the preview had a blood pressure monitor on it. The preview made it look like something fell on someone's head but Probst said it's more an exhaustion thing coming up.

His Idol will protect him. And a medical evacuation could shift the game in a new way.

No. He went to Tribal once pre merge to take out Monica. His name hasn't been brought up once.

Jeff did admit it forced them to speed things up a bit.

I agree it was a big mistake though I do think it might not have been such a massive victory. More then once Bitter Juries have made an impact and Spencer did a good job or at least trying to mitigate that.

Debatable. Tony could have easily lost to Bitter Jury Syndrome like Russell did twice.

True, though they did also tease someone leaving in Terry's episode. And if the injury/illness is bad enough they will pull people late in the game such as Erik.

True though his speech for tony proves he can probably out talk just about anyone left. Never underestimate jury impressions.

Or a Loved One Challenge where you pick two or three other family members to stay.

And possibly whoever might be evacuated next week…

Really? The edit made me think it was framed around his choice togo between Tasha or Kass.

Not really. He was the deciding vote that sent Kass home. He and Jeremy both did the Wigglesworth blindside and he's the one who sent Fishbatch home tonight. Not to mention he was favored in the edit of the pre-merge.He's only been caught off guard by Idols so far. Partly because nobody tells anyone they have them…

Blood vs Water seems like a good compromise to me. Reliable old players but new ones as well that can make a mark like Ciera and Wentworth have. The ones I hate are when they pick two Producer favorites and put them on Tribes of newbies. Way unfair even without Redemption Island as a safety net.