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#12. Monica Culpepper
(14th Place)



Monica was unlucky to have been in a bad position very early on in the game, but she did seem to do a decent job of trying to get out of it before the swap. She worked hard, proved herself in challenges, and socialized well with the people in charge. At the very least, she made sure she would be the last target of the minority. At Manono though, she tried to improve her position, but she didn't do a great job at it. It would've been very easy for her to have gotten her, Jonas, Christina, and Leif together. Those two guys were only with Colton out of fear, but if they were promised two votes, all they would have to do was write Colton's name down. They wouldn't have to ask anyone to do anything, so they wouldn't have to worry about the plan backfiring. Then, they could've pulled in Tarzan, and then maybe the expendable guys on the other tribe after the merge. Monica did try to take out Tarzan, but I don't think she realized that she was in a desperate situation. She accepted an immediate decision from Colton about Tarzan's elimination as if she didn't have to campaign for it. Being in that position, I would be very suspicious. You have no idea what their dynamics are, and without hesitation, Colton tells you he's voting out Tarzan. Because she believed it, she didn't feel that she had to give any reasons as to why Tarzan should go, and so they voters weren't presented with reasons. I'd also be suspicious as to why Alicia, who was always against me, was ensuring me that I was safe. If she would've been able to figure out how things really stood, with herself and with the guys, she could've greatly improved her position. She was unlucky because of her position early on, but she did a very good job at trying to improve her position, although her perception was not reality after the swap, and that hurt her, causing her to feel more secure than she actually was, and leading to her elimination.

Where she ranks overall: #268

#11. Colton Cumbie
(14th Place)



An argument can be made that Colton was running the tribe, and therefore, he was playing a good game. However, he was put into that position because he made himself such a big target, which caused Sabrina to give him something that prevented him from going home, and made him a threat, which in turn caused people to do whatever would keep him from going after them. Basically, he played such a terrible early game, that Sabrina saw an easy way to divide the tribe. Even as the leader, he didn't do a very good job. The people on the outside of his alliance hated him, with the exception of Jay, and the decisions Colton made strategically were also detrimental to himself and to the tribe. He eliminated the strongest guys because he considered it good gameplay to be the leader of a tribe, and the only people who would be manipulated into letting him be the leader were also generally not good at challenges. The argument could be made that getting rid of Matt and Bill was smart, because they were going after him, but that just means he made himself a target early on. If it weren't for Sabrina's idol, he could've easily been the Matt of the tribe. The idol was what turned things around for him, after all. Even his allies had some problems with him, so I can't imagine his social game being that good. It was smart of him to say he was going to play the idol at the first tribal council to make sure that people weren't going to vote for him, but that meant that he couldn't use that again for a time where he was actually in danger. He made enemies with the guys who could've helped him win challenges, meaning he made it so that his best move was to get rid of the physical assets. It was not a good decision for him to give up immunity either, because more intelligent players would've forced a tie, should they have been in Leif's, Bill's, Mike's, or Jay's position. They even could've found a way to get Tarzan to vote for Leif to make it 4-3-1. Colton just got lucky that people were too afraid to at least try to do anything.

After the swap, Colton was faced with new outsiders who he could isolate in Christina and Monica, and he was sure to take full advantage of that opportunity. For one thing, he got very lucky that the outsiders of the men were on the other tribe, his only male ally who he might've had a hard time manipulating was also on the other tribe, he stayed with the three guys who were the most willing to follow him, and Alicia and Christina, who still had problems with each other at that time, were both on his tribe. He insulted his tribe mates in front of them, but it was actually the perfect tribe for him to continue his rule. Swap him for any of the guys on Salani, and he's out. The fact that he didn't notice that, and that he was upset with the team he got, makes me question his strategic prowess even further. As far as his decisions as the leader, he eliminated one of the girls' outsiders, and according to Jonas, he was dead set on eliminating the other. He says he wouldn't have, but that's easy to say after you find out that she was in fact an outsider. Even if he would've eliminated Alicia, his plans after the merge seem sketchy to me. For one thing, I'm not sure he would've had the numbers. Even if he did, he says he would've targeted Chelsea, and then tried to align with Kim after that. I feel like he would've asked the wrong person to vote for Chelsea, and word would've gotten back to Kim, and Colton would've been idoled out of the game. If the plan worked, and he was able to align with Kim, I don't see what would've made her keep him over the several other people who wanted her to take them to the end. At best, he would've just been another one of her pawns. I give Colton credit for getting into a good position, but it was because he was so bad before that, and he didn't make very smart decisions with his position, and he wasn't very well liked by the people outside of his alliances.

Where he ranks overall: #260

Next up: two men who voted for different people at the FTC

#10. Jay Byars
(10th Place)



Jay's game had its good points, and its bad points. He was in the minority in the beginning, and none of the four guys in that alliance seemed to notice that they needed a fifth for the majority until it was too late. However, of all eight people in the minority on their tribe this season, Jay handled his position in the best way. He socialized with the guys in the majority, while still being close with his allies, both of which allowed him to avoid the target for a while, and he formed a side alliance with the guy in charge, which is something I'd recommend anyone do should they find themselves in the minority early on. Even if it's not the head of the alliance, having someone who has a say in who goes home on your side, even if you're in the minority, can have a tremendous benefit. I tend to believe Colton only formed an alliance with Jay, because Jay was the only one who liked him, but Jay gets credit for it in any case. His alliance allowed his to make the swap, and then the merge, giving him more opportunities. Jay, while still making strong social connections with everyone, aligned with the girls, hoping to go far with them. This was a good initial plan, but he was expecting to get to the final three with just this plan, which was incredibly naive. He shouldn't have agreed to vote out Jonas or Michael. Then he was surprised that Kim was going after him. Troyzan told him about Kim's plan, and he didn't believe her. Even if he was lying, Jay had nothing to lose by just voting for Alicia, and not telling Kim anything. From Jay's point of view, if what Troyzan was saying was true about how Kim was going after Troyzan, but Troyzan is playing the idol, and Jay tells Kim, Jay's out, period, because she'd put more votes on him. He had nothing to lose by not telling her. Not to mention, if Kim wasn't splitting the votes, which is what he believed, he shouldn't have worried that Troyzan was going to be able to get her out anyway. I have no idea what Jay's logic was behind telling Kim. To me, this is about as bad as Tyson's move. He could've stayed, yet he did something that only could've sent him home, and could not have saved him in any way at all. Jay played a good pre merge game for someone in the minority, and had a very strong social game, but he was naive to think Kim would be loyal to him over everyone else, when she had no reason for it, and he made a game ending move that could only could've hurt him, based on his illogical assumptions about the dynamics of the tribe.

Where he ranks overall: #250

#9. Leif Manson
(9th Place)



Leif played a very passive game, and it's a strategy I tend to defend, but he should've been looking for opportunities to improve his position after the merge. Leif has said that his strategy was to lay low, and I respect that, but you have to be very lucky to do absolutely nothing but lay low, and expect to win. The difference between Leif and someone like Sandra is that Leif was too afraid of taking risks, fearing he'd become a target, which at times is a good thing, but even when faced with elimination, or presented with opportunities to change his position, Leif stayed passive, while Sandra stays in her position, and observes the dynamics of the tribe, looking for a chance to improve her position, and she takes it when it comes, before it's her turn on the chopping block. Leif was in the majority before the merge, and he did maintain solid friendships with players in and out of his alliance. Apparently, he also told Matt he was going home in addition to just Bill, which makes mee feel like he was trying to gain favor with the outsiders, which is a pretty good idea, and he did tell Bill not to tell anyone, and I believe Bill wouldn't have done that. Leif just should've made sure no one was nearby. Leif wasn't too hurt by the fact that Michael told Colton what he did, but he did agree to go to tribal council, with even a slight possibility that he was going home, and all he did between agreeing to go, and actually going, was hope that they were telling him the truth, and that Bill was going home. He didn't try to make a big move, when it would've been the perfect opportunity. I can understand this more than the other times though, because after Colton calmed down a bit, Leif was no longer on his radar, and still in a solid alliance of five. After the merge, Leif still maintained his good position, while making friends with the girls. He continued to socialize well with everyone after the merge, but he wasn't in as good a position anymore. Throughout the season, people had been saying that Leif wasn't playing the game, and it wasn't until post merge when I agreed. His pre merge game was overally rather strong, in my opinion. Don't rock the boat if you don't need to. However, after the merge, leif proved that he wasn't going to rock the boat even when he did need to. He was smart to let Kim tell him what to do, and do it, when it didn't matter, and the person was going home anyway, but that was not always the case. When Kim used him and Tarzan for her plan to split the votes between Troyzan and Jay, he should've immediately ran to them and told them, so they could've voted Kim out. Jay might've believed it if someone who was in on the plan told him. Even if he didn't, they could've agreed to vote out Alicia as long as Jay didn't tell Kim what he told him, and then Alicia would be out, and Jay would then know that Kim was against kim based on the fact that he would have gotten votes. Then, they would've only needed to flip one more person for the majority. Leif missed that opportunity, and after Troyzan won the next immunity challenge, Leif was the target. I don't know if he didn't believe it, but he seemed to just hope Troyzan's plan to get Kim out would work. He didn't seem to do much convincing himself, at least from what we've seen. All of this led to his elimination. He did seem to be well liked thought, from what I've seen and heard, and he probably could've beaten any guy in a jury vote, except for maybe Jay and Jonas. Overall, I understand the idea of Leif not wanting to risk his position by making a big move, but that's only a good strategy when your position is good, like it was before the merge. Leif's post merge game, or lack thereof, prevents him from moving on any further into this ranking.

Where he ranks overall: #242

Next up: two white people of the same gender

#8. Troyzan Robertson
(8th Place)



I'm not exactly sure where the idea comes from that Troyzan is a good player, but based on this season, I disagree with it. He did put himself into the majority early on, but he could've been in the same position by aligning with the Rooster alliance. The guys would've been more likely to win challenges, and he wouldn't have been perceived as the biggest physical threat, like he would have if he made the final five with Colton's alliance. He could've taken the idol out at his first tribal council too. I believe he chose the wrong side early on for his own game, but at least he was in the majority. After the swap, he was smart to align with Kim, if only because she would take someone to the merge who she thinks might be on her side, even if she didn't actually want to work with him. The thing is, for a while, Troyzan actually believed that Kim was going to take him to the end, and so he stayed with her. Before Jonas was eliminated, Troyzan could've easily gotten the numbers, but he blew that by voting with Kim to take Jonas out. Then, he continued that by taking out Mike. He and Mike were never together, but he was a possible number for Troyzan. Then, I do give Troyzan credit for figuring out that Kim was going after him, and for the last three tribal councils where he was in the game, he tried to make some moves against the people in control, but it took Kim going against Jay for him to do that. Before that, he was just as much of a sheep, and just as responsible for Kim taking control, as everyone else was. He tried to save Jay, and figured that they might be splitting votes, but after Jay refused to believe him, he should've just tried to go after Alicia still, in exchange for Jay not telling Kim, and then he would just have to get Leif's and Tarzan's votes. After that, I do think he made a strong case to Alicia and Christina, but he should've told them that after they took out Kim, they could've just gotten rid of Troyzan next anyway. His campaigns didn't work, and Leif was out. Then when he lost the immunity challenge, he did come close to taking Christina out, but he should've asked her to try to get the two votes for Christina onto someone else. Then, they could've forced a tie. Troyzan couldn't get the votes together and he was eliminated. As far as his social game goes, people didn't really seem to like him, but I think he might've gotten some votes out of respect if he would've been able to make it to the end. He was one of many victims of Kim's alliance, and when he realized it, he wasn't able to get out of his position.

Where he ranks overall: #234