I feel the need to update my rankings after a few seasons have passed. New additions- Dreamz (it was between him and Earl; no one was going to give the money
to Cassandra), Courtney, and Ozzy.
JaMalle's Old rankings:
2. Twila - She had a handle on things early on. She kept a majority alliance at all times and got in good with the men post-switch. She made all the right moves. But then comes her personality... It may sound strange, but Twila backstabbed as a bitch, while Chris backstabbed as a friend. The jury's feelings were hurt, but had Twila not been so immature towards Eliza/Julie, she could have won in the end.
3. Katie - She's so underrated here at SUCKS, it sickens me. She used to be fat and useless. Thing was, she was likable and funny. Now, where she faltered was that she was only likable and funny to the Kool Korors. What about the outsiders? Coby, Janu (jack-o-latern), Caryn, and Willard? She didn't take into account their feelings at all. That's where her social game was lacking. With Koror dominating, there was no way she was getting the votes of the outsiders (now we know Coby voted for her, but that was a special circumstance). Katie was very smart and strategic. She knew Tom/Ian/Katie was in power, but she also knew Tom was stealing her F2 partner away from her. When she realized this, she tried to overthrow Tom's control at F7. But lo and behold, Caryn sucks. After this, Katie's options were limited. Backstabbing Ian was NOT the right move for Katie, and that's why she remained loyal. The one move I do think Katie should have done was the vote against Caryn at F6. It was yet another failed attempt at stripping Tom of power. But I give Katie A for effort (not many people here do). Now, had Tom not won those crucial ICs, I see Katie making different moves... Katie also gave a decent jury speech. Greg/Jen's bitterness was unfounded.
4. Clay - He knew his role and he played it damn well! He knew he was a goat from the start of his relationship with Brian. But the one thing he knew that no one else knew was that Brian would be a goat too! And Clay capitalized on this wonderfully. He got to know the SJs, specifically Penny and Erin. He gave them false senses of security. He made sure he was a tiny bit more popular than Brian with them. Sure, he didn't get Jake's vote, but that didn't matter. Jake was too smart and mature to be caught in Clay's willy nilly tricks. All Clay had to do was get ONE CG vote. That vote was Helen's. And it was his. All he had to do was answer her question. He was an ass about it, refusing to answer her hard, yet simple, question. In one split second of the entire season (the last hour of the game), he lost Thailand...
5. Lill - She was responsible for every single boot post-merge, and each and EVERY one of them was beneficial to her and her position in the game. Was she emotional? Yes. Did she get tugged and influenced by the multiple factions? Yes. But the fact is that her and Sandra rode a wave of chaos in PI and that deserves some congrats. Too bad she's an outcast...
6. Kelly - My recollection of Borneo is lacking, but what I do remember is Kelly being really wishy washy, and not the most likable out of the Tagis. I think she would have been one of the first Tagis eliminated, but her immunity run prevented that. She gave a lack luster jury performance, and was crushed by her own tribe in the end. Maybe she was just on the wrong tribe...
7. Danielle - She played a great strategic game imho. She masterminded the Bobby boot with the other two queens of Casaya (in hindsight, had she not booted bobby, Casaya would have been pangonged), and she made sure to weasel her way into the core alliance with Cirie/Aras. Her problem was not realizing that Courtney was the only castaway she could possibly beat in the F2 due to her lack of a social game. Booting Courtney was one of the worst moves of the game (for Danielle). Had she lost to Courtney to the end (imagine that), maybe she would be rated a lot higher, but she didn't, she lost to Aras. Had she simply had a better social game, she could have gotten the support of Austin/Sally. AND had she solidifed her friendship with Courtney and explained why she booted her, she could have had her vote too. decent-strategic-game+horrible-social-game+lacklust-zjury-speech=2nd place loser.
8. Colby - Ok, Colby wasn't as bad as some would like to say. I hate his guts, but I consider myself a fair person. He had a lot of control throughout the entire game, but he used it in the wrong ways at ALL possible turns. He was apart of the Mitchell/Jerri/Amber alliance. Why did he decide to cause a tie with the minority alliance? Because Tina thought they were more deserving... Ok fine, Now, Colby's in F3 with Tina/Keith, but wait! Jerri/Amber are STILL willing to go to the F3 with Colby. Very smart move on Jerri/Amber's part, but how unrealistic they were. Everyone boots Jerri. Bad bad bad move. Yes, they got rid of a annoying person and a strategic threat, but they didn't let Amber in on the plot. Jerri didn't deserve it according to Tina... Had Amber had HALF A FREAKING brain, she would have ran to Kucha. She didn't, Colby gets lucky again. Amber boot. Another bad boot for Colby. According to Tina, Amber didn't deserve it... Ok, now we look back at the entire game. He was positioned to do VERY well no matter what side he went with (Mitchell/Amber/Jerri OR Tina/Keith). I think the earlier would have been a better choice, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Colby takes Tina to the end, the one time Colby should do what HE THINKS is right, he does what Tina thinks is right... He deserved to lose. Tina successfully played the "moral card" in order to advance her to the bitter end. Was there anyway Tina could get rid of Colby? No. So what does she do? She uses him to her advantage and comes away with a win because of it. The only other player to successfully play that strategy and win was Danni. OK, back to Colby, he sucks, because S2 was made for him to win. It should have been easy. But at every single turn, he allowed Tina to make decisions that were in HER best interests, not his, based simply off of who deserved to be there and who didn't.
9. Neleh - She should have beat Vecepia. But her social game was lacking. Ok ok, V wasn't liked much more than Neleh was, but Neleh should have explained to Rotu that it was a game, and that she did what she had to do. Her jury speech, on the contrary was horrible. She tried to be nice, when she should have been mean. Her speech reminds me of Amanda's (though not as EXCRUCIATINGLY as bad).
10. Ozzy - He tried thinking strategically, but once his alliance was decimated (Cece, CB, Flica), he went brain dead. He knew that he was next on the block so he decided to just play the fisherman role. Not a bad idea, except for the fact that it does nothing for you post-merge. LUCKILY for him, there was a mutiny, and it solidified him in Aitu's F4, putting him in 4th place. I don't blame him for staying true to this alliance since this is a special case, but I do blame him for not thinking strategically at all post-mutiny. The only thing that came close to strategy was not giving the Raro Kids food. *eyeroll*. He didn't take advantage of Nate like he should have, and he let Yul/Becky make ALL the decisions. He's one of my fav 2nd placers, but I'll be honest, he's not one of the best.
11. Steph - She made the wrong move time and time again. You wanna know what the funny thing is though? She was figure head leader (strategically and on a tribal standpoint) from start to finish. So why could she make decisions for her own self-interest? Because, she allowed Rafe to hiss in her ear. Had Lydia, been a better player, she would have warned Jamie of his demise, allowing him to successfully overthrow Stephenie. What's even funnier than the former? Rafe, allowed Danni to have his ear. What happens now? Judd, Cindy, and Lydia all get the boot, none of them being good boots AT ALL for Stephenie. For Rafe? Yes, only the Judd boot was moderately good for him. For Danni, those were the PERFECT 3 boots. Instead of coming to the F2 with a very unlikable jerk in Judd, Stephenie decided to go with the person who backstabbed every person she did. The problem with that strategy was that in a Rafe versus Stephenie situation, she's a returning castaway AND unlikable. Stephenie's plan should have been Judd/Rafe/Steph. Having the power structure be Rafe>Stephenie, wasn't that bad (still resulting in her defeat), but even WORSE was a power structure of Danni>Rafe>Stephenie which lead to her defeat in a big big way. She allowed the most dangerous player in the entire season to subtly usurp Rafe.
12. Matt - He had nothing at the beginning of the game. No social or strategic game at all. But then slowly, he began to develop and great strategic game where he had the worker bee alliance taking out big threats (Deena and Alex). If not for Jenna's immunity run, Matt and Butch would be the F2, and we'd have a very very close match. Jenna goes at F4 and Butch wins the F3IC and takes Matt. Maybe then, Matt has a chance. But still, even with Matt's new emergence of a brain, he forgot to develop a social game! He was creepy and unlikable and creepy and weird and creepy and I think you get the point. Like sooooooooo many other 2nd placers (Twila and Danielle immediately come to mind) , even if you play a decent strategic game, you have to have a decent social game to compliment it.
13. Courtney - I like her a lot better than some of the other 2nd place finishers, but let's not be silly here. She did absolutely nothing but attach herself to an alliance and stuck with it. This is what you guys crucified Katie of (which btw isn't true), so Courtney's spot here is deserved. What's even worse is that Courtney even bad-mouthed her own alliance to their faces all because they didn't vote JR out. No matter how lazy, pathetic, and unworthy she was to everyone in China, what were they gonna do, vote her out? haha Ok, the one thing I WILL say about Courtney, unlike so many other 2nd placers is that she gave a fantastic jury speech!
14. Mama Kim - Lucky lucky lucky. She had a chance to overturn the Boran Boys and did nothing to capitalize on their mistakes/weaknesses throughout the game. She went on an impressive immunity run, but that was about it.
15. Dreamz - definitely falls to the bottom. One day he was thinking strategically, and the next day he was an emotional WRECK. He was erratic, and played the game on an hourly basis. There was absolutely no good gameplay and when there was, it was based off of emotion and the spur of the moment. He lied and lied and lied to the jury and was confusing and in denial. Had he owned up to his mistakes, I can see him maybe getting one vote, but that wasn't the case.
Sorry for the long read ya'll! : }
JaMalle's Old rankings:
1. Rob1. Rob - Remains at the top, and for good reason. He had the power and held on to it all the way to the end. It was an amazing victory that should have been. But really now, as much as I don't think Romber's gameplay was good, is it THEIR fault that literally every other post-merge player was horrible at strategy?
2. Twila
3. Katie
4. Kelly
5. Clay
6. Danielle
7. Lil
8. Neleh
9. Mama Kim
10. Colby
11. Matt
12. Steph
2. Twila - She had a handle on things early on. She kept a majority alliance at all times and got in good with the men post-switch. She made all the right moves. But then comes her personality... It may sound strange, but Twila backstabbed as a bitch, while Chris backstabbed as a friend. The jury's feelings were hurt, but had Twila not been so immature towards Eliza/Julie, she could have won in the end.
3. Katie - She's so underrated here at SUCKS, it sickens me. She used to be fat and useless. Thing was, she was likable and funny. Now, where she faltered was that she was only likable and funny to the Kool Korors. What about the outsiders? Coby, Janu (jack-o-latern), Caryn, and Willard? She didn't take into account their feelings at all. That's where her social game was lacking. With Koror dominating, there was no way she was getting the votes of the outsiders (now we know Coby voted for her, but that was a special circumstance). Katie was very smart and strategic. She knew Tom/Ian/Katie was in power, but she also knew Tom was stealing her F2 partner away from her. When she realized this, she tried to overthrow Tom's control at F7. But lo and behold, Caryn sucks. After this, Katie's options were limited. Backstabbing Ian was NOT the right move for Katie, and that's why she remained loyal. The one move I do think Katie should have done was the vote against Caryn at F6. It was yet another failed attempt at stripping Tom of power. But I give Katie A for effort (not many people here do). Now, had Tom not won those crucial ICs, I see Katie making different moves... Katie also gave a decent jury speech. Greg/Jen's bitterness was unfounded.
4. Clay - He knew his role and he played it damn well! He knew he was a goat from the start of his relationship with Brian. But the one thing he knew that no one else knew was that Brian would be a goat too! And Clay capitalized on this wonderfully. He got to know the SJs, specifically Penny and Erin. He gave them false senses of security. He made sure he was a tiny bit more popular than Brian with them. Sure, he didn't get Jake's vote, but that didn't matter. Jake was too smart and mature to be caught in Clay's willy nilly tricks. All Clay had to do was get ONE CG vote. That vote was Helen's. And it was his. All he had to do was answer her question. He was an ass about it, refusing to answer her hard, yet simple, question. In one split second of the entire season (the last hour of the game), he lost Thailand...
5. Lill - She was responsible for every single boot post-merge, and each and EVERY one of them was beneficial to her and her position in the game. Was she emotional? Yes. Did she get tugged and influenced by the multiple factions? Yes. But the fact is that her and Sandra rode a wave of chaos in PI and that deserves some congrats. Too bad she's an outcast...
6. Kelly - My recollection of Borneo is lacking, but what I do remember is Kelly being really wishy washy, and not the most likable out of the Tagis. I think she would have been one of the first Tagis eliminated, but her immunity run prevented that. She gave a lack luster jury performance, and was crushed by her own tribe in the end. Maybe she was just on the wrong tribe...
7. Danielle - She played a great strategic game imho. She masterminded the Bobby boot with the other two queens of Casaya (in hindsight, had she not booted bobby, Casaya would have been pangonged), and she made sure to weasel her way into the core alliance with Cirie/Aras. Her problem was not realizing that Courtney was the only castaway she could possibly beat in the F2 due to her lack of a social game. Booting Courtney was one of the worst moves of the game (for Danielle). Had she lost to Courtney to the end (imagine that), maybe she would be rated a lot higher, but she didn't, she lost to Aras. Had she simply had a better social game, she could have gotten the support of Austin/Sally. AND had she solidifed her friendship with Courtney and explained why she booted her, she could have had her vote too. decent-strategic-game+horrible-social-game+lacklust-zjury-speech=2nd place loser.
8. Colby - Ok, Colby wasn't as bad as some would like to say. I hate his guts, but I consider myself a fair person. He had a lot of control throughout the entire game, but he used it in the wrong ways at ALL possible turns. He was apart of the Mitchell/Jerri/Amber alliance. Why did he decide to cause a tie with the minority alliance? Because Tina thought they were more deserving... Ok fine, Now, Colby's in F3 with Tina/Keith, but wait! Jerri/Amber are STILL willing to go to the F3 with Colby. Very smart move on Jerri/Amber's part, but how unrealistic they were. Everyone boots Jerri. Bad bad bad move. Yes, they got rid of a annoying person and a strategic threat, but they didn't let Amber in on the plot. Jerri didn't deserve it according to Tina... Had Amber had HALF A FREAKING brain, she would have ran to Kucha. She didn't, Colby gets lucky again. Amber boot. Another bad boot for Colby. According to Tina, Amber didn't deserve it... Ok, now we look back at the entire game. He was positioned to do VERY well no matter what side he went with (Mitchell/Amber/Jerri OR Tina/Keith). I think the earlier would have been a better choice, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Colby takes Tina to the end, the one time Colby should do what HE THINKS is right, he does what Tina thinks is right... He deserved to lose. Tina successfully played the "moral card" in order to advance her to the bitter end. Was there anyway Tina could get rid of Colby? No. So what does she do? She uses him to her advantage and comes away with a win because of it. The only other player to successfully play that strategy and win was Danni. OK, back to Colby, he sucks, because S2 was made for him to win. It should have been easy. But at every single turn, he allowed Tina to make decisions that were in HER best interests, not his, based simply off of who deserved to be there and who didn't.
9. Neleh - She should have beat Vecepia. But her social game was lacking. Ok ok, V wasn't liked much more than Neleh was, but Neleh should have explained to Rotu that it was a game, and that she did what she had to do. Her jury speech, on the contrary was horrible. She tried to be nice, when she should have been mean. Her speech reminds me of Amanda's (though not as EXCRUCIATINGLY as bad).
10. Ozzy - He tried thinking strategically, but once his alliance was decimated (Cece, CB, Flica), he went brain dead. He knew that he was next on the block so he decided to just play the fisherman role. Not a bad idea, except for the fact that it does nothing for you post-merge. LUCKILY for him, there was a mutiny, and it solidified him in Aitu's F4, putting him in 4th place. I don't blame him for staying true to this alliance since this is a special case, but I do blame him for not thinking strategically at all post-mutiny. The only thing that came close to strategy was not giving the Raro Kids food. *eyeroll*. He didn't take advantage of Nate like he should have, and he let Yul/Becky make ALL the decisions. He's one of my fav 2nd placers, but I'll be honest, he's not one of the best.
11. Steph - She made the wrong move time and time again. You wanna know what the funny thing is though? She was figure head leader (strategically and on a tribal standpoint) from start to finish. So why could she make decisions for her own self-interest? Because, she allowed Rafe to hiss in her ear. Had Lydia, been a better player, she would have warned Jamie of his demise, allowing him to successfully overthrow Stephenie. What's even funnier than the former? Rafe, allowed Danni to have his ear. What happens now? Judd, Cindy, and Lydia all get the boot, none of them being good boots AT ALL for Stephenie. For Rafe? Yes, only the Judd boot was moderately good for him. For Danni, those were the PERFECT 3 boots. Instead of coming to the F2 with a very unlikable jerk in Judd, Stephenie decided to go with the person who backstabbed every person she did. The problem with that strategy was that in a Rafe versus Stephenie situation, she's a returning castaway AND unlikable. Stephenie's plan should have been Judd/Rafe/Steph. Having the power structure be Rafe>Stephenie, wasn't that bad (still resulting in her defeat), but even WORSE was a power structure of Danni>Rafe>Stephenie which lead to her defeat in a big big way. She allowed the most dangerous player in the entire season to subtly usurp Rafe.
12. Matt - He had nothing at the beginning of the game. No social or strategic game at all. But then slowly, he began to develop and great strategic game where he had the worker bee alliance taking out big threats (Deena and Alex). If not for Jenna's immunity run, Matt and Butch would be the F2, and we'd have a very very close match. Jenna goes at F4 and Butch wins the F3IC and takes Matt. Maybe then, Matt has a chance. But still, even with Matt's new emergence of a brain, he forgot to develop a social game! He was creepy and unlikable and creepy and weird and creepy and I think you get the point. Like sooooooooo many other 2nd placers (Twila and Danielle immediately come to mind) , even if you play a decent strategic game, you have to have a decent social game to compliment it.
13. Courtney - I like her a lot better than some of the other 2nd place finishers, but let's not be silly here. She did absolutely nothing but attach herself to an alliance and stuck with it. This is what you guys crucified Katie of (which btw isn't true), so Courtney's spot here is deserved. What's even worse is that Courtney even bad-mouthed her own alliance to their faces all because they didn't vote JR out. No matter how lazy, pathetic, and unworthy she was to everyone in China, what were they gonna do, vote her out? haha Ok, the one thing I WILL say about Courtney, unlike so many other 2nd placers is that she gave a fantastic jury speech!
14. Mama Kim - Lucky lucky lucky. She had a chance to overturn the Boran Boys and did nothing to capitalize on their mistakes/weaknesses throughout the game. She went on an impressive immunity run, but that was about it.
15. Dreamz - definitely falls to the bottom. One day he was thinking strategically, and the next day he was an emotional WRECK. He was erratic, and played the game on an hourly basis. There was absolutely no good gameplay and when there was, it was based off of emotion and the spur of the moment. He lied and lied and lied to the jury and was confusing and in denial. Had he owned up to his mistakes, I can see him maybe getting one vote, but that wasn't the case.
Sorry for the long read ya'll! : }
