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30. Claire - island sun (Lost/Heroes)

Claire was very much the undeserving UTR winner of Lost/Heroes, and I resent that she won out over Niki and Sun in the end game. Yet she ranks above them. Why? Well, it's pretty much because her social game was phenomenal. She wasn't actively strategizing and hatching plots to manipulate the strategic dynamics, but she was always incredibly personable and very easy to approach. In fact, I think her social game was one of the best I've ever seen, and it made her so difficult to distrust or target. It's purely what carried her into the Final 2, and though she was low-key and didn't do much for most of the game, it handed her an easy landslide jury vote. She and Noah both gave me power over the Heroes post-merge, and while Noah was the loyal member of that duo, Claire was the one who was easier to trust. I'm not sure how she did it, but she was approachable in a way very few players are. Did that mean she had your back? Of course not. She'd do whatever she had to to advance another round. But she sure made you think she was on your side, and she was quite possibly one of the nicest people in the whole game. Even pre-merge, when Sawyer went out of his way to hate on the Heroes tribe and denounce each and every one of their members (and when you fake pure hate like that, it becomes very easy to actually despise the people you're pretending to loathe), I liked Claire quite a bit and had no harsh words for her. Yeah, she was too quiet, and yeah, I wish she had made more proactive game moves. But she was still very likable. And I think her challenge performances were very clever, because she knew exactly when to step it up and exactly when to downplay her skills. Pre-merge, we could all tell she was one of the stronger competitors on the Heroes tribe, but after the merge, when she didn't need protection or attention, she stopped doing well and we all began to think that maybe she wasn't the beast we thought she might be. Shannon and Niki became my primary IC competition and Claire became someone nobody had to worry about pulling off an IC streak. Of course, when the end game came around and Claire actually needed those victories, she pulled out three wins in a row, guaranteeing her spot in the F2 and quite a bit of strategic influence over the final boots as well. I don't know if her parabola of challenge performances was done on purpose, but if so, it was very good game play. And that's what I respect about Claire, her game. Because as subtle as it was, it was there, and it was impressive. She had a power to make you like her that few players possess. I haven't seen that charisma from island sun since then ( =P ), but Claire showed me he has the ability in spades.

29. Amanda - I LUV TIJUANA (Stranded: All-Stars)

Amanda was one of my favorites in Peru, and it was a real joy watching her as a host. No, I didn't like her crusade against Dave pre-merge because Dave was such a great character, but the guy brought that upon himself, so I can't blame Amanda much for it. But it was post-merge where she really began to shine, going from a top dog in the partners alliance to the ultimate underdog after the epic betrayal by Lill and Tijuana. From that point on, it was Amanda against the world, and I loved seeing her overcome the odds to make it another round. She won challenges, scrambled behind the scenes, made public pleas, found idols, and did everything she could to survive as long as possible. And it worked, taking her into the F4 with a HII in her back pocket. Of course, poody planned the game incorrectly and allowed two idols into the Final 4, which led to an idol quick-draw showdown in which Amanda was bested by her slightly faster adversary, Lill. That was the end of her ride in Peru, but it was a great one, and I always felt she was a fantastic character with a wonderful story line and a ton of potential to go far should she be given her rightful second chance (because she was really pretty screwed over).

So when Amanda came back for ASS, I was rooting for her. Sure, I was playing against her and I was ready to beat her mercilessly, but I was hoping she would go far anyway. She eventually ended up on my tribe (the dream tribe of All-Stars, really), where we quickly talked and aligned. And I liked her as a fellow player just as much as I knew I would. She was enjoyable and strategically competent, and I was convinced we would go far together.

But then it all came crashing down as Lill played yet another HII and Amanda was screwed over yet again. I didn't particularly like her reaction to it, but considering her history in the Stranded series, I think a little frustration is pretty understandable. Amanda was robbed of another strong showing, and I can only imagine how much differently the game would have gone if Amanda had made the merge over Christa.

Anyway, Amanda's a really tragic character who I've always really liked, and I wish we had more time to work together. It could have been a pretty epic pairing, I think.

28. Jason - NickF227 (Colosseum 6: Horror Edition)

Nick seems surprised that Jason lasted this long in my rankings, and I'm not sure why. Because as far as I'm concerned, Jason was the most personable player in Colo6 and one of the most depressing boots of the game. I had a couple of alliances running, but nothing was too strong, and that meant a lot of my PMing was more about general topics or basic elements of the game (rather than epic plans to go to the F2). So Jason and I spent a lot of time discussing random personal stuff, and I felt like I really got to know him through that. He became less of a game character and more of a real person, which I appreciated. On top of that, Jason really tried his best in the game and was always a pretty positive presence in it. He racked up more clues to the Killer's identity than anyone else, and while he couldn't ever figure them out, his frustration was always kinda amusing and it was funny to see him holding the keys to a sure victory and not knowing how to fit them into the locks. Not that he was stupid to be stumped - I will never understand how we were supposed to figure out the science beaker/hallway/ladder/whatever it was supposed to be clue. Anyway, point is, Jason always seemed like a really likable kid in a game that was way over his head. That's not really all that accurate, but it was the characterization I always saw, and I liked him for it. Plus, he helped make my stay on the jury that much more fun by contributing to the group speculation and suspicions. And he gave Jaws and I credit for figuring out Patrick pretty quickly. So that feeds my ego. <3

27. Kyle - louie77 (Double Trouble)

Kyle was not my partner at the outset of Double Trouble (that would be the thus-far-unlisted Sawyer), but he pretty much became my partner as the game progressed, and if I were to make a ranking of the most loyal allies I've ever had, Kyle would certainly be up there near the top. He 100% had my back and was 100% committed to getting us to the end. In fact, early on, he was the one with relationships I didn't have, and he used (and abused) them to get us further in the game. Not that he did all the dirty work, but he certainly enabled our dual crimes. He had no problem with me blatantly protecting my ace in the hole, Sawyer, and he trusted me as much as I knew I could trust him. Basically he was the best ally you could ever hope for. I liked him a lot and had things gone according to plan, I would have crushed him in the jury vote because he had no problem making enemies and telling people off.

So why is Kyle only at #27? I mean, that's a decent ranking, but someone as great as him should surely be higher on the list, right? Well, the problem is, Kyle is responsible for a lot of what made Double Trouble not a great gaming experience. I remember at some point, things were really going poorly in terms of hosting and whatnot and we were stalled out for some reason (sorry, it was a long time ago, I don't remember the specifics). Kyle broke game protocol and PM'd me at Sucks asking if I wanted to help contribute to his epic plan to basically ruin the game somehow. I had no idea who he was prior to that point, and I didn't really know louie that well (besides him being the CTS ranking guy) so it didn't affect my opinion of him, but I'm not really big on breaking the rules of games (hold the laughter, meanies) and I'm even less big on trying to bring games down with player revolts or whatever (even if the hosts are fucking up). Coming off of poody's All-Star game that had gone unfinished, I wanted to see this game play out. And you know what, I honestly think it's louie's cheating that helped make me comfortable with my decision to cheat later on. It's certainly what enabled it. Because Remote hadn't been particularly clever with the passwords (mine was pulau), it was easy enough to guess Kyle's (louie), and that allowed me to access the Jury Lodge and alter my opening speech based on their comments. So yeah, in some way, Kyle is partially to blame for my mistake and disqualification. It's a stretch, but the association is still there, and that spoils his reputation a bit in my subconscious.

But most of all, I was really disappointed in Kyle because he straight-up disappeared when I needed him most. I think his computer died or something, I don't know, but right as the end game was rolling around, Kyle disappeared from the boards, forcing his removal from the game. That left me vulnerable at the F4, leading to the loss of my last ally (Sawyer) and forcing me into a F3 where I was pretty much fighting for my life. That really sucked, and it reminded me of my first ever online Survivor game (which I played via AIM and this geocities website when I was, like, 13) where my closest ally had abandoned me by disappearing from the game. I didn't like it then, and I didn't like it in Double Trouble. Had he stuck around, we would have cruised into the Final 2 and I never would have been so insecure as to feel the need to read the Jury Lodge (nor would I have had the means to in the first place).

Despite all that, Kyle was a fantastic ally, and I'd love to have someone like him on my side in every game I play. It's not often you find someone you can trust 100%, and for me, Kyle was that guy. We worked really well together and I look forward to the time that Louie and I can do it all over, because we were a pretty fierce duo.

26. Andrew - CrystalMathea (Pearl Islands Redux)

Honestly, Andrew was probably more of Ryan's ally than mine. But the three of us made for a pretty awesome pre-merge trifecta, all of us being cocky assholes pretty much running the show. We fell apart a bit after the merge, but I was still protecting the two of them and the round Andrew left was the only round I wasn't on the right side of the vote. I'm pretty sure I knew he was leaving, but I was trying to get his jury vote. Anyway, I liked Andrew a lot. He knew how to play the game, but didn't seem super intensely focused on it like Ryan. He was laid back just enough for me to be really comfortable talking to him, yet driven enough for me to know we could do some real damage. There was something appealing about his attitude, how it would shift from focused and scheming to humble and sociable. He was a bit low-key at times (especially post-merge), but we got along so well for so much of the game that I felt like I knew him very well even if he wasn't around much that day or whatever. Ultimately, he paid the price for his relationship with Ryan, and man, I really wish it had been Ryan who got the boot that night instead. The game would have gone so much better, I'm sure of it.