OK, so I thought I'd take a stab at this rankings thing. Most types of player rankings have been done before, so I wanted to do something a little different. Ranking underrated players seemed like a good topic. It could provoke new discussions and bring back memories of some of the more forgotten players. I saw a ranking list done a couple years ago on the matter, but it included Champs like Tom and Brian, as well as All-Stars like Rob C., JFP, and Ami. So no disrespect intended, but I think I could do a much more accurate job. I've come up with a list of players that I felt were underrated, but feedback is welcome. Here's the criteria I'm applying:
- Judging in terms of Overall Gameplay: Social (how well you are liked, trusted and respected), Strategic (any decisions that try to give you a competitive advantage in the game) and Physical (not just challenges, but what you provide around camp, and the ability to adapt to the environment)
- Not judging based on 'Character' or entertainment value.
- Underrated by a composite of all fans: Casuals and Sucksters.
The key part in determining who's underrated is recognizing everyone's feelings and biases. At Sucks, there's a bias toward females, and snarks. For the Casuals, there's a bias toward IC beasts and camerawhores. Sucksters underestimate physical play, while Casuals underestimate social play. As for myself, in the interest of full disclosure, here are mine:
- My favorite players that the ones that are a little awkward/"off" who struggle to fit in but don't get sucked down in the bitterness of the game (Matt vE, Bobby Jon, Edna). I like them as "Characters", but I don't pretend that they are great players. So with that in mind, I can honestly state that I am not a fanclub member of any of the players on the list.
- Blindsides are overrated. Pulling a blindside is like winning an IC, it can win you Sprint Player of the Week, but doesn't mean much if you can't follow it up with good play.
- Winning tribal pre-merge IC's is underrated. If you can get the numbers advantage this way, you don't need to make risky moves until the end.
- I'm a big fan of strategic moves that are not socially based.
- I have more respect for players that are 'demographic outliers' (oldest person, only black person, etc). It's a lot harder for someone like Chicken, Rory, or Jan to have a "Good Social Game" as opposed to a 20-something Mactor.
- I respect the different ways a player can try to win, whether it's coattail-riding, controlling the vote, or going on an IC run. The object of the game isn't to vote people off, it's to SURVIVE.
- Luck is a significant factor in the game. So most of the players on the list either got screwed by a twist/poor decision/unfortunate event, or came very close to winning.
Since the premise of this list is "Y'all don't give em enough respect!", the players included will not be the most popular. And they probably won't inspire that much hate either. That's kinda the whole point. The hope is that this list will give people an appreciation of the more unheralded players. So there won't be any All-Stars, Camerawhores, Drama Queens, Trainwrecks, etc.
I plan to list two at a time, who share some common theme, along with some honorable mentions here and there. I'll also try to make my writeups entertaining and insightful. But I can't make any guarantees, so don't hold me to that.
The List: The 20 Most Underrated/Overlooked Survivor Players
Hint for first 2: First, but in the wrong way.
Additional List: The 20 Biggest All-Star Survivor Snubs
- Judging in terms of Overall Gameplay: Social (how well you are liked, trusted and respected), Strategic (any decisions that try to give you a competitive advantage in the game) and Physical (not just challenges, but what you provide around camp, and the ability to adapt to the environment)
- Not judging based on 'Character' or entertainment value.
- Underrated by a composite of all fans: Casuals and Sucksters.
The key part in determining who's underrated is recognizing everyone's feelings and biases. At Sucks, there's a bias toward females, and snarks. For the Casuals, there's a bias toward IC beasts and camerawhores. Sucksters underestimate physical play, while Casuals underestimate social play. As for myself, in the interest of full disclosure, here are mine:
- My favorite players that the ones that are a little awkward/"off" who struggle to fit in but don't get sucked down in the bitterness of the game (Matt vE, Bobby Jon, Edna). I like them as "Characters", but I don't pretend that they are great players. So with that in mind, I can honestly state that I am not a fanclub member of any of the players on the list.
- Blindsides are overrated. Pulling a blindside is like winning an IC, it can win you Sprint Player of the Week, but doesn't mean much if you can't follow it up with good play.
- Winning tribal pre-merge IC's is underrated. If you can get the numbers advantage this way, you don't need to make risky moves until the end.
- I'm a big fan of strategic moves that are not socially based.
- I have more respect for players that are 'demographic outliers' (oldest person, only black person, etc). It's a lot harder for someone like Chicken, Rory, or Jan to have a "Good Social Game" as opposed to a 20-something Mactor.
- I respect the different ways a player can try to win, whether it's coattail-riding, controlling the vote, or going on an IC run. The object of the game isn't to vote people off, it's to SURVIVE.
- Luck is a significant factor in the game. So most of the players on the list either got screwed by a twist/poor decision/unfortunate event, or came very close to winning.
Since the premise of this list is "Y'all don't give em enough respect!", the players included will not be the most popular. And they probably won't inspire that much hate either. That's kinda the whole point. The hope is that this list will give people an appreciation of the more unheralded players. So there won't be any All-Stars, Camerawhores, Drama Queens, Trainwrecks, etc.
I plan to list two at a time, who share some common theme, along with some honorable mentions here and there. I'll also try to make my writeups entertaining and insightful. But I can't make any guarantees, so don't hold me to that.
The List: The 20 Most Underrated/Overlooked Survivor Players
Hint for first 2: First, but in the wrong way.
Additional List: The 20 Biggest All-Star Survivor Snubs
