Episode 10 - Going once... Going Twice... Gone

(Nice substitute, substitute blogging in my substitute blogging absence, Thomas. Thanks for helping out and good analysis the past 2 weeks.)

Episode 10 started with an event that we look forward to every Survivor season. Will they do it this season? Will they have bad items for purchase? Will someone make out like a bandit? Will someone hold out for something amazing, only to be shut down with nothing but a worthless pile of $20s? Will the editors gloss over the details to fast forward to some player drama? 

The answer to that last question is a great big "YES". Damn you, producers and editors! Here is what I took away from the auction and how I scored it. I determined all items purchased were "good" items. I did not give any negative auction points. 

• Will's purchase originally seemed like a negative item, but had a reward when he got back to camp, so I scored it as a "good" item. Let me know if anyone disagrees. 
• Then Shirin bought some chicken and waffles
• Jenn bought a bowl of colorful sugar water that assumedly had some booze in it
• Sierra bought and consumed some kind of kabobs in less than a few seconds
• Rodney got a steak to continue to fuel his DoS antics

Then came the family letters. I gave everyone points for these (except Will). Good Survivor knowledge by Shirin to get everyone to keep the bid low. Douchebag move by Mike, but more on that later.  

Finally, the advantage item. I only gave Dan the "good" item points since he was the only one that got the item. 

There must have been some more to the auction that we didn't see. Tyler wasn't shown buying anything but the loved one letter. Yet, he wasn't involved in the advantage item stone draw. Did he still have $480 left that he was hoping to use on something after the advantage item? Had he bought something else earlier in the auction? I guess we'll never know and I can only score what I knew for sure. So all players at least bought something and no negative points. 

Some scrambling went down at camp as surprisingly Mike was with Jenn and Shirin on the outs compared to the other 6. Mike wins immunity giving Minusamillion a point boost. The "6" did split their votes between Jenn and Shirin, but Shirin and Mike both voted Jenn as well, sending Jenn home. Mike and Shirin didn't want to leave the option on the table for the rest of the group to vote either her or Jenn out, which is probably a great play by Shirin to stay in the game that wasn't shown. All pool teams now have 2 players a piece left to earn them points. 
  

The Teams and Points:
(Parentheses indicate order players were picked) 

AndBag: "Maximillion" - 29 points

1. [Max (2) - 3 pts] - out 3rd 
2. Carolyn (7) - 13 pts 
3. [Lindsey (10) - -1 pts] - out 2nd 
4. Mike (15) - 14 pts 

Michal & Ben: "Jennicide" - 79 points

1. Shirin (4) - 17 pts 
2. [Jenn (5) - 41 pts] out 8th
3. [Joaquin (11) - 8 pts] out 4th 
4. Dan (14) - 13 pts 

Moon & Melissa: "Livin' On A Prayer" - 80 points

1. [Joe (1) - 42 pts] out 7th
2. [Kelly (8) - 9 pts] out 5th 
3. Will (12) - 13 pts 
4. Sierra (13) - 16 pts

Doug & Bri: "Jacked for a Reason, Bro" - 49 points

1. Tyler (3) - 21 pts 
2. [Hali (6) - 20 pts] out 6th 
3. Rodney (9) - 13 pts 
4. [Nina (16) - -5 pts] out 1st

Doug's Power Rankings:

Still anyone's game. 

1. Jennicide - A huge point lead and 2 scrappy players fighting to win give this team the edge. Dan's new advantage should help a little too. Although, it does seem like it is a slightly tough "advantage" to use correctly and the previews for next week show Dan in some hot water over having the advantage (and not hiding it somewhere other than his bag!). I predict at least Dan or Shirin in the final 3.  
2. 3. and 4. The next 3 teams are all very close. Every 5 minutes I change my mind on their chances. Maximillion has the most potential to earn points and have a winner amongst the ranks, but also has the largest deficit to make up. Livin' On A Prayer has a huge point lead, but I don't see a lot of points going Will or Sierra's way and I don't see either of them winning. Jacked For A Reason resides in the middle in both of the categories. 

I definitely want to hear other points of view on the rankings. 

Douche of the Week:

Two worthy candidates this week. Mike for the move at the auction and almost not putting his money down. Will for his blow up and unnecessarily personal attack on Shirin. I'm going with Will this week. Both acts were worthy, but Mike's decisions and actions stayed within the game. Will's went deeper and was unnecessary for the purposes of the game, thus he was a bigger douche in my opinion. It's kinda nice to have a new option besides Rodney and Dan.    

Episode 9: The Controversy of Maximillion

The pool's landscape is rapidly changing from week to week. Two weeks ago we were first in Doug's power rankings and now we're clearly in last place. Last week's first place A to Z team has slipped to third after an unfortunate negative-scoring week, DouBri is in the mix despite a recent loss and a negative player and the Greenbergs top the list despite one of the shakiest non-Sanders, non-Richey drafts in pool history.

Power Rankings:

1. Jennicide - 55 points
1. Shirin - 13
Say what you want about Shirin (and virtually all the other castaways do, and they're not nice things), but she plays hard. For the first time, it appears that Shirin may actually have a shot at winning it all - 60% because of her scrappy performance and 40% because she could get to a Final Tribal with other disliked players. Last week she was listed in the "Hopeless" category, so that's a huge step.
2. Jenn - 25
Jenn is either going to go down as a disappointing character or as a heroic one. If she can summon everything she's got and get through at least one more episode she'll be remembered for her tenacity and resiliency. If she quietly bows out without a fight she'll be the girl who wanted to leave, who all Survivor fans revile because it's such a rare privilege to be a castaway. It's hard to imagine her actually winning at this point, even though the first two jury members would give her their votes. Shirin is now Team Jennicide's #1 horse.
3. Joaquin - 8
4. Dan - 9
On a week with unclear options, I'll go with Dan as my Douche of the Week. Which reminds me - I have not edited the spreadsheet because mine is view only. I have just been updating on here.

2. Jacked For A Reason, Bro - 43 points
1. Tyler - 19
The question remains for the Big Man and Mama C - can they eventually flip a couple Blues against each other? Or will they link up now with Jenn, Will and Shirin and take out the Blues from here on out?
2. Hali - 20
3. Rodney - 9
Rodney's fantastic impressions were especially entertaining because they came from such an unlikely source. At the end of the day though, Rodney is still a douche that no one will vote for.
4. Nina - -5 

3. Maximillion - 19 points
1. Max - 3
2. Carolyn - 11
Carolyn didn't accrue any points this episode, leaving Maximillion with just 22 points because
3. Lindsey - -1
4. Mike - 6
Oh no. We have the makings of a controversy here. Our rules state "Plays a fake immunity idol" is worth -10 points. Mike played it in a no-lose situation, humorously, and voted for idol-creator Joe anyway. Maximillion were already facing a huge points deficit and an unforgiving -10 would cripple their team. It seems unfair, but we follow the rules in this pool. The other thing is that A to Z won't be commenting on this matter for quite a while, as they are way behind on the show (and thus the blog). I've given Mike the -10. To further taunt A to Z, I've put their team name in the blog title for the second straight week.

4. Livin' On A Prayer - 74 points
1. Joe - 42
Jeff Probst stated the obvious when he said "Joe, for the first time since the merge, vulnerable tonight at Tribal Council." Give the Blues credit for sticking to their alliance and ousting him without incident, and give Joe the Survivor Fantasy Monster credit for hitting a five-pointer at the buzzer by creating a fake idol. The Blues may not be a brilliant crew of players, but none of them made the mistake of making moves just to make moves. We'll see if they carry it out for two more episodes and take Jenn and Will out. If that happens, that will be four straight weeks of Blues + Whites > Nos.
2. Kelly - 9
3. Will - 11
4. Sierra - 12
It doesn't seem Will has a real friend in the game. He's just playing out the string. And watching this week's episode, I actually forgot what Sierra's name was for a moment. She's invisible, except for the time she was hanging around Mike while he was talking about a "a group within our group" with Shirin. We finally have some clarity in this pool: Livin' On A Prayer is just that.

Episode 8: The Resurrection of Maximillion

Ten castaways remain, and just five have a legitimate chance of winning. Let's take a look at the remaining castaways and their chances of winning.

The Contenders
1. Mike
Each season one player falls too far in the draft because we overreact to a minor early-episode storyline. This season that player was Mike due to his abrasive obsession with physical labor. Mike outworked everyone to an idol and appears set on keeping it to himself with his BFF Kelly unfortunately ousted by Jenn's immunity idol save. Mike isn't the most popular guy around but he's the best-liked Blue left in the game. If Blue Collar sticks together, Mike's the favorite.
2. Carolyn
Sanders emerged from a one-minute tank in the second round with Carolyn, who we were salivating to take with the next pick. Mama C is sharp, popular and crafty. She's bridged the gap between Blue and White, she has an idol tucked away for a rainy day and has the best alliance in the game going with
3. Tyler
The Big Man has meticulously gained the trust of his tribemates even though the cameras constantly seem to find him in an expression of treachery. He's a patient, savvy, multifaceted player who could work a jury into his favor at the end. He and Carolyn are the true power couple of the game, but they need to find a way to penetrate Blue or shack up with the remaining Nos.
4. Jenn
5. Joe
If the remaining players played optimally, they'd finish off the Nos and then battle it out from there. But we're entering the stage of the game where players will start picturing the endgame, realizing they're on the outside looking in, and bust out some blindsides. If anyone decides to make a move (I'm looking at you, Carolyn & Tyler), they'll need voting troops.

The Hopeless
1. Will
2. Sierra
3. Shirin
4. Rodney
5. Dan
None of these players have much chance at winning. Will and Sierra rank highest because they're not as obnoxious as the bottom three, but they don't have the personality for a championship. 


Power Rankings:

1. Maximillion - 28 points
1. Max - 3
2. Carolyn - 12
3. Lindsey - -1
4. Mike - 14
A to Z was left for dead after that brutal double episode where they lost Lindsey and Max...actually, I take it back, both of the other bloggers noted that they were still in the hunt despite the one-night massacre that cut their team in half. Fast-forward three weeks and they may be the favorites. It sounds ridiculous - they have just half the points of first place MoonBee - but they're the only team with two contenders. Both their players aren't likely to pack their bags anytime soon and will eventually have opportunities to accrue bonus points with correct idol plays.

2. Livin' On A Prayer - 56 points
1. Joe - 26
2. Kelly - 9
3. Will - 11
4. Sierra - 10
Kelly's unfortunate exit, right before the jury bonus, may prove costly. She was the most likable member of the Blues and was thus wisely targeted by the Nos. Joe is a ticking time bomb who's likely to go the instant he loses an immunity challenge, leaving this team with two supporting actors.

3. Jennicide - 51 points
1. Shirin - 11
2. Jenn - 25
3. Joaquin - 8
4. Dan - 7
It's tempting to think of this team as a contender, and maybe they are in this balanced season. They're only five points back of us and their alpha dog (Jenn) doesn't have as much heat on her as ours (Joe) does. But look at this team. Literally everyone hates Dan (my Douche of the Week) and Shirin while Jenn has been pushed to the fringe of the remaining tribe. She's not a threat to quit (as the NEXT TIME ON: tried to hype), but she doesn't have many friends left. Jenn has been a producer thus far but her best days may be behind her.

4. Jacked For A Reason, Bro - 35 points
1. Tyler - 11
2. Hali - 20
3. Rodney - 9
4. Nina - -5
Hali's exit reduced DouBri to just two low-scoring players. Rodney's jacked and Tyler played in the NFL, but neither has given Joe a fight in an immunity challenge yet. Obviously everything is riding on Tyler; the question is, can he produce enough points to overcome the deficit their team currently faces? I believe so. This pool is wide, wide open at this point. It's anyone's game.

Episode 7 - Drop your buffs. (Not like that, Snaders)

This week's episode started by highlighting a post tribal reaction of a bamboozled Tyler and Rodney. The thought that they might be on the losing side of an alliance battle did not seem to have crossed their minds. Finding out Joaquin was not returning with them to camp lit a little bit a of a fire under each of them to recalculate and figure out how to move forward. Rodney, in particular, came away from tribal with a chip on his shoulder. He basically vowed revenge to those that "disrespected" him, even though he had planned to do the same to the rest of his alliance, just down the road a little further.
Rodney was able to let his anger marinate with a few new faces and a full belly because instead of a reward challenge, the tribe met, merged, and mowed down a merge picnic. After everyone ate, they traveled back to a camp that had been cleared, allowing the tribe to figuratively and literally start from scratch.

As they rebuilt camp, the tribe shook each other down to figure out who might be aligning with who. Carolyn and Tyler vowed to stick together, but keep it on the down low. Kelly and Mike confirmed they were still tight. Rodney quickly latched onto Will in order to try to recruit some help for eventually voting out all the other blue collars. Blue collars stuck together for the most part and the other 3 no collars stayed aligned.  

The very segmented tribe had to come together to pick a new tribe name. Mike suggested " 'Murica " as he thought the group of the dozen or so people he was with perfectly represented the country that he calls home. It was a stretch, but we didn't see any other suggestions so it won seemingly by default. Shirin complained, but only in her private interview. Meanwhile, Dan peed on himself because he got stung by a jellyfish and the the blue collars set their targets on Joe because he is a competitive player.

The endurance immunity challenge proved who really was competitive. 6 tribe members (Dan, Will, Tyler, Shirin, Sierra, and Kelly) dropped almost immediately as they couldn't hold their own weight on a pole for more than 5 minutes. The remaining 6 (Jenn, Carolyn, Joe, Hali, Rodney, and Mike) put on a much more respectable show. Joe eventually won, throwing a wrench into blue collars voting plan. They settled on voting for Jenn instead, but Mike wanted to test Will and have him vote Hali just to make sure he will keep his word voting against his old tribe. Actually a pretty smart move.

The blue collars plan did rely on getting a few of the swing votes on their side. Tyler and Carolyn did choose to join with blue collars for this vote and then everything got foiled when Jenn sniffed out the plan and correctly played her idol. Jenn would have received 7 total votes, but instead Kelly went home by votes from the 3 allied no collars and Shirin. The last vote was Will's vote for Hali. The blue collars looked like they each got stuck in the back with a knife / ice pick / chainsaw / any other random weaponry they mentioned during Jeff's questioning.

This leaves the mostly blue collar alliance with 6 votes in an 11 person tribe, but Rodney's frustration with Mike, and Tyler and Carolyn's swing votes potentially up for grabs based on the situation, should leave this game wide open.

The Teams and Points:
(Parentheses indicate order players were picked) 

AndBag: "Maximillion" - 22 points

1. [Max (2) - 3 pts] - out 3rd 
2. Carolyn (7) - 11 pts 
3. [Lindsey (10) - -1 pts] - out 2nd 
4. Mike (15) - 9 pts 

Michal & Ben: "Jennicide" - 50 points

1. Shirin (4) - 10 pts 
2. Jenn (5) - 25 pts 
3. [Joaquin (11) - 8 pts] out 4th 
4. Dan (14) - 7 pts 

Moon & Melissa: "Livin' On A Prayer" - 45 points

1. Joe (1) - 16 pts 
2. [Kelly (8) - 9 pts] out 5th 
3. Will (12) - 10 pts 
4. Sierra (13) - 10 pts

Doug & Bri: "Jacked for a Reason, Bro" - 24 points

1. Tyler (3) - 10 pts 
2. Hali (6) - 10 pts 
3. Rodney (9) - 9 pts 
4. [Nina (16) - -5 pts] out 1st

Doug's Power Rankings:

The 1st and 2nd place teams (by points) added to their totals, while the 3rd and 4th place teams went nowhere. I'm not changing the rankings from last week based on the justifications below. BUT I think it is virtual power ranking tie between 2nd and 3rd. And the whole pool is in a much tighter race overall. 

1. Livin' On A Prayer - They lost their first player, but I didn't see Kelly bringing in a whole lot of points down the road. Probably going to stay at the top of the power ranking board as long as Joe is in the game.
2. Jacked for a Reason - A lot of ground needs to be made up, so most of our eggs are resting in Tyler's basket. He needs some immunity/reward wins and maybe to find an idol. Maybe we're putting too much faith in him? 
3. Jennicide - Gained some points, but they are now much more vulnerable to losing Jenn. Dan and Shirin won't be bringing in a lot of points unless they are brought to the finale because a powerful player wants them to be. Definitely benefiting from the early episode points. 
4. Maximillion - Can Mike survive the aftermath of his plan from this episode ending up in the drink? Carolyn did prove she might win some more points for this team with her impressive 2nd place immunity challenge finish. A long way to go, but not out by any means. 

Douche of the Week:

I'm throwing my DoW vote to Mike this week for suggesting such a dumb tribe name.

Other Business:

I'm traveling for work the next 2 Wednesdays, so if anyone wants to volunteer for some bloggage duties, speak up.

Episode 6 - Impenetrable-ness...

Wednesday concerts and gorgeous March weather weekends make it hard to be prompt with the Survivor blog. Luckily Monday nights and Tuesday's at work are there to catch up and drop some Survivor Pool bloggage.

The episode started as we all expected. Shirin was bewildered by what had just happened. Other tribe mates told her straight up that she was shady with Max and it did actually seem to click with her at least a little. She attempted to mend some relationships instead of just throwing in the towel. Meanwhile, on the other tribe, Rodney and Joaquin reverted back to their high school days and bonded over a discussion about chicks and booze. This alone seemed to form the basis of a "final two, bro" plan. "Work hard. Party harder." wannabe Batman said to Joaquin (who I'm sure would argue that he should be the Batman of these two jokers).

An extremely close reward challenge had the teams launching bean bags via a slingshot at wooden targets and easily segued into several "David vs Goliath" proclamations after the Red tribe posted a narrow victory.

The Blue tribe went back to camp where Joaquin tried to convince Sierra that she was going to have to side with one of her attackers from the Blue Collar tribe. He tried to woo her to him and Rodney's side. To Sierra's credit she seemed to carefully evaluate all the possible situations, which definitely came into play later in the episode.

The question I posed from last week was quickly answered when the Blue tribe decided to throw a memory immunity challenge. What looked on TV to be a very obvious tank on Mike's part must have looked much more convincing to all in attendance and he managed to give Kelly the win... after 3 painful tries. The whole idea behind throwing the challenge was to get rid of Joe, a strong player and big potential threat come merge. Mike re-evaluated after returning to camp and seeing Rodney and Joaquin so buddy-buddy. Mike rallied Joe and Dan, and then made his argument to swing vote Sierra. He must have been convincing and/or Sierra's disgust for Rodney won out and she sent Joaquin packing. I'm assuming they sent Joaquin home instead of Rodney, because Rodney had more potential to coming back to the Blue Collar alliance than Joaquin would have.

This leaves Rodney and Tyler out in the wind, at least until the merge next week when Tyler should benefit from re-joining some other tribemates. Rodney might have to suck it up and come crawling back to the rest of his alliance hoping they can shield him from the vast amount of votes that should be headed his way. Shirin should also be very thankful to the Blue tribe for throwing the challenge as I don't see anyway that she would have survived if Red had lost that challenge as they should have.

The Teams and Points:
(Parentheses indicate order players were picked) 

AndBag: "Maximillion" - 22 points

1. [Max (2) - 3 pts] - out 3rd
2. Carolyn (7) - 11 pts
3. [Lindsey (10) - -1 pts] - out 2nd
4. Mike (15) - 9 pts

Michal & Ben: "Jennicide" - 41 points

1. Shirin (4) - 10 pts
2. Jenn (5) - 15 pts
3. [Joaquin (11) - 8 pts] out 4th
4. Dan (14) - 8 pts

Moon & Melissa: "Livin' On A Prayer" - 40 points

1. Joe (1) - 10 pts
2. Kelly (8) - 10 pts
3. Will (12) - 10 pts
4. Sierra (13) - 10 pts

Doug & Bri: "Jacked for a Reason, Bro" - 24 points

1. Tyler (3) - 10 pts
2. Hali (6) - 10 pts
3. Rodney (9) - 9 pts
4. [Nina (16) - -5 pts] out 1st

Doug's Power Rankings:

1. Livin' On A Prayer - This team looks like it could still bring in a lot of points. It all will come down to how strong post merge alliances are. I think Joe will be in a much better place with some of his no collar teammates and new potential alliance members joining together. He could win a lot of individual points too, which might have him live up to his #1 pick status. 
2. Jacked for a Reason - Rodney needs to scramble, but the merge may just save him for a little. The alliance that has most of the No Collar members need his vote. Tyler and Hali should be safe for a few more weeks as I don't think they stand out - good or bad compared to the other players. To have a chance at the pool win, at least 2 members of this team need to land in a majority alliance, and then we need some individual reward/immunity points to catch up. C'mon Tyler, use that big head of yours.   
3. Jennicide - Losing Joaquin is the only reason this team dropped to 3rd. It was a tough decision between 2 and 3. While I don't think any of their players are in immediate danger, I don't see them winning a lot of points post merge either. Dan and Shirin seem to be on the "sit out" list quite a lot, which will hurt. Can Jenn pull in enough points to keep this team near the top? The point head start to-date will certainly help. 
4. Maximillion - They have two seemingly scrappy competitors with Mike's stock still on the rise. Only two players left to make up some significant ground, though. *So you're sayin' there's a chance?*  

Douche of the Week:

Not a ton of super douchey candidates this week. I'll throw Rodney my vote for being so cocky about how he has everything planned to make it to the final and claimed to have everyone in his control. 

 

Episode 4 and 5 - Double down on the hype!

We'll... Considering this blog entry will be read by most the day before the next episode, I haven't quite lived up to the hype passed along by Michal in the last blog entry. Apologies for the somewhat delayed start to my short lived, 1-season tenure. 

Onward. 

The two hour episode (or two 1-hour episodes back to back) started as most would expect. The No Collar tribe had a kumbaya moment after voting out their negative Nina and vowed to stay 4-strong moving forward. Will pretended that he was on board, but ultimately knew the tribe would only keep him around up until they had to cast another vote. The reward challenge dealt out a good amount of negative pool points due to sit-outs needed for the lopsided tribes. No Collar finally avoided a loss, while also earning themselves some camp chickens, after conquering an obstacle course. Kelly proved to be quite the badass in the Blue Collar loss after suffering a fairly significant head wound and choosing to continue. She definitely earned some credit with all the tribes. This badassery did not earn any points for Moon & Melissa though.

Back at their respective camps, Jenn used her vegetarian/vegan preferences to her advantage and took some alone time to find the immunity idol while abstaining from killing a meal. Quite the benefit for Jennicide. Rodney proved to be a sexist imbecile and set the Blue Collar Tribe up for a significant vote decision.  

A close immunity challenge left Blue at tribal where Lindsey couldn't convince the tribe to get rid of 'roided Rodney and Blue Collar showed their majority alliance of the boys and Kelly. Sierra wasn't amused. Dan and Rodney immediately attacked Sierra back at camp, instead of trying to win back her favor, showing a severe lack of Survivor skill. Mike called them out on this, showing there might be more to him than I had given him credit for. 

This development immediately bit Blue Collar in the ass when Jeff revealed a buff swap at the next reward challenge pairing them all down to just two tribes. 2 very lopsided tribes. New Blue tribe is Dan, Sierra, Mike, Rodney, Tyler, Joe, and Joaquin. New Red is Will, Jenn, Hali, Shirin, Max, Kelly, and Carolyn. This is the Harlem Globetrotters vs. the Washington Generals. The new Red tribe put up an effort against the formidable Blue tribe, but it was over fairly easily and Blue reaped the rewards of the day along with all the rewards previously won by white collar (which were significant). 

Blue Tribe's athleticism and Dan's sniper rifle of a ball swing easily crushed the far fetched dreams of the doomed Red tribe in the following immunity challenge, sending Red on a date with Jeff. The wart footed Max and an overly annoying Shirin schemed their way to what they thought was a safe spot. They were so sure of it it was actually quite humorous watching them talk about being "students of the game" over and over. Carolyn made Kelly's swing vote an easy decision when she jumped ship from the former White Collar alliance. The look on Shirin's face said it all when she was left re-calculating how her and Max's flawless strategy had failed. 
Meanwhile Blue team looks to be setting up a Sierra tug of war -> if they ever lose. Which isn't likely. Are they dumb enough to throw a challenge? 

The Teams and Points:
(Parentheses indicate order players were picked) 
*Thanks to Ben for helping calculate the spreadsheet this week. 

AndBag: "Maximillion" - 17 points

1. [Max (2) - 3 pts] - out 3rd
2. Carolyn (7) - 6 pts
3. [Lindsey (10) - (-1) pts] - out 2nd
4. Mike (15) - 9 pts

Michal & Ben: "Jennicide" - 35 points

1. Shirin (4) - 5 pts
2. Jenn (5) - 10 pts
3. Joaquin (11) - 11 pts
4. Dan (14) - 9 pts

Moon & Melissa - 30 points

1. Joe (1) - 10 pts
2. Kelly (8) - 5 pts
3. Will (12) - 5 pts
4. Sierra (13) - 10 pts

Doug & Bri: "Jacked for a Reason, Bro" - 19 points

1. Tyler (3) - 10 pts
2. Hali (6) - 5 pts
3. Rodney (9) - 9 pts
4. [Nina (16) - -5 pts] out 1st

Doug's Power Rankings:

1. Jennicide - Shirin is likely next out, but Jenn with an idol and 2 on Blue should have this team earning some points over the next couple episodes. 
2. Moon & Melissa - All 4 players seem to be decent position for the nest couple votes. I see Will potentially going after Shirin, but with Joe and Sierra earning them challenge points, they should keep their 2nd place spot for a while. 
3. Jacked for a Reason - None of our players are likely going anywhere for a while, but we have some ground to make up. 
4. Maximillion - Tough double episode for this team. None of us saw it coming in quite this capacity, but Max found this team and delivered right on par with most of AndBag's other number one picks. They still have a crafty Carolyn (with an idol) and I think Mike's stock is rising. Definitely not out of it yet. 

Douche of the Week:

Shirin proved herself my DoW throughout the 2 hours by constantly pissing everyone around her off except Max. She gets my vote. 

Survivor 30: Draft, Episode 3 & Welcome Blogmaster Doug!

I have found myself suddenly quite busy in my life, and while I will always have time to watch Survivor & participate in the Survivor pool, I sadly do not have time to maintain the scoring & blog to go with it this season. I have managed the Survivor pool since 2008 -- at least from what I can tell. I've manned the helm through 2 different blogs (this one and www.punkypickett.blogspot.com) and 13 previous seasons of glorious Survivor pool action. But fear not! I'm considering this a sabbatical only, and I have an absolutely stellar interim blogmaster & pool manager stepping in this season. Welcome Doug! Doug has long been my go-to guy with rule & point-scoring questions, and is an avid fan of both Survivor & reality show pools.

So I'll kick this season off, and then Doug will be taking it from there. I believe that Doug is also interested in getting some guest bloggers to help this season, so please let him know if you'd like to pitch in this season too!

The Draft & Teams:
(Parentheses indicate order players were picked)

AndBag - 15 points

1. Max (2) - 3 pts
2. Carolyn (7) - 3 pts
3. Lindsey (10) - 4 pts
4. Mike (15) - 5 pts

Michal & Ben: "Jennicide" - 11 points

1. Shirin (4) - 3 pts
2. Jenn (5) - 0 pts
3. Joaquin (11) - 3 pts
4. Dan (14) - 5 pts

Moon & Melissa - 10 points

1. Joe (1) - 0 pts
2. Kelly (8) - 5 pts
3. Will (12) - 0 pts
4. Sierra (13) - 5 pts

Doug & Bri: "Jacked for a Reason, Bro" - 3 points

1. Tyler (3) - 3 pts
2. Hali (6) - 0 pts
3. Rodney (9) - 5 pts
4. [Nina (16) - -5 pts]

Michal's Power Rankings:

1. Jacked for a Reason -They lost their dreg right away which is good & the rest of this team just seems really solid! Tyler was my #1 pick, honestly, and he's looking really favorable as everyone under the sun seems to want to confide in him. He also seems like he'll be really good at keeping his alliances fluid. Hali & Rodney round this team out to make for a physically strong & mentally decent (I'm excluding Rodney from the mental part) team. Plus all three of these players are currently in majority alliances, so it's unlikely they'll lose any more players any time soon.
2. AndBag - Bag & Andrea shocked us all by putting together a really good team as well. I think that Tyler is stronger than Max, and have concerns about Carolyn getting blindsided early since Tyler knows about her idol. But overall, a really good team! Lots of potential from the top 3 picks, and their dreg Mike may not last much longer, but is likely to pull in some good challenge points until he's sent packing.
3. Moon & Melissa - Joe is a strong pick, but he's proving that he's not the greatest leader. And I think he made a mistake in this last episode voting out Nina before Will. They already know that Will is untrustworthy & not good in challenges and they kept him anyway. Nina was annoying, but unproven in challenges & Joe was doing good work building up trust with her. Apart from Joe, though, this team is mediocre at best. Kelly seems as interesting & involved in strategy as a piece of wood. Will is on the chopping block if the No Collar team loses again... which seems likely since as a group they are definitely physically inferior to the other tribes. Sierra do okay, but at best she'll be a coattail rider in this game and I don't see her bringing in a lot of points.
4. Jennicide - So Shirin did turn out to be a bad pick, but Joaquin is definitely looking better than most people thought. However, that is a small consolation for what is otherwise a pretty crappy team. Jenn is our best hope as an actual contender. Dan could be one of those guys who's so annoying that real strategists will bring him along because they know they can beat him at final tribal. But he needs to at least make it to the merge before that sort of value is noted. Ultimately our team is hoping for a few more No Collar losses since all the rest of our players are currently on the chopping block. Hopefully given a little more time they'll be able to pull themselves up out of the muck.

Douche of the Week:

I'm gonna go with Rodney for being a drama queen brat about firewood, although Mike was certainly a close 2nd.