I'm going to do a bit of a faux-nalysis / merge ranking here because I'm bored and I don't feel like making a different thread for it. I'm also not completely caught up with PMs so the opinions may be coming off as a little uninformed compared to usual. This will serve as a good catch-up post to anyone who hasn't been paying much attention, hopefully. Here goes:
1.
Cassandra (
Mykines Hestur Mykines )
Cass stands out to me as the best player so far in the game. She was in the ( ( Goddesses ) + BAP ) back when she was on Mykines then went to Hestur and formed the DREAM TEAM ( + Anthony) which followed her back to Mykines and again back to the merge. The DREAM TEAM brought three to the merge (Cass + Penner + Candice), another trio in the Goddesses (Cass + Jessica + Liliana) and also Stacy from BAP. In other words, she's sitting pretty. Cass has successfully usurped Penner as Candice's #1 and she makes easy time talking to other players as one of - if not the single - biggest social threat. Her biggest problem I think is that people are starting to realize it.
2.
Nate (
Svinoy Mykines Mykines )
This one might come as a surprise but I think Nate has found himself in a very good spot in the merge here. He created a little diagram of alliances to show where everything is at from his POV (
http://i.imgur.com/G7HrTQ7.png - linking it rather than embedding it so as to not add any more to what will probably be a lot of text). Nate popped in at the first swap replacing the previously inactive Nate and quickly hit it off with Jessica as well as Cecilia. Then he found himself on the new Mykines tribe and got himself involved with Penner and Candice. As his image shows, he's not quite at the center of things but if he pays attention to what he's drawn up, he knows who is and has aligned himself with them as well as keeping some others on the side.
3.
Candice (
Svinoy Hestur Mykines )
Candice started this game in a very solid position on Svinoy in an alliance that at its core included Cecilia, Stephannie and Penner (I think it also included Adam and JP but they are both gone). She went to Hestur and quickly became best-allies with Cassandra, who she (Candice) deems as the biggest social threat which as a tried veteran is a very expected and solid move to hook onto her. She has been with Penner every step of the way which saw some turbulence in Hestur when Penner decided to vote out Candice over Mookie but it seems they put some tape on that relationship when they moved to Mykines together. There, she reconnected with former-ally Cecilia as well as Nate. And then when she hit the merge, she reconnected with former-ally Stephannie. Candice is in the thick of things on almost all sides and the best thing she has going for her is that she has pushed the narrative that she is poop at challenges so there is no urgency for her to go any time soon.
4.
Stephannie (
Svinoy Svinoy Svinoy )
Like Candice, Stephannie was in the core-Svinoy alliance with Candice, Penner and Cecilia. Then Steph was pegged to be DOOMED in Svinoy 2.0 and she probably would've been, as there were plans by Rocky, Yau and Flicka to usurp her since she was their leader. With Hestur's collapse paired with Yau-Man's quit, Stephannie found herself still on Svinoy but this time with a new crop of people. Flicka entrusted herself to Steph when she shared that she had found her idol with Stephannie as they were planning to make a power move to take Jessica out, but after Jessica was immune Liliana and Rocky jumped on the bandwagon and JP ended up going in that tribal council and Anthony in the one that followed which left only Jessica as an enemy from Svinoy 3.0. She hit the merge with Flicka, Rocky and Liliana by her side and re-connected with Penner and Candice and offers from Cecilia and Jessica to work together (which at this moment she does not plan to uphold, per her confessionals). She has connections to almost everyone in the game so it will be interested to see how she navigates the rest of the game.
5.
Jessica (
Mykines Mykines Svinoy )
Perhaps surprisingly after the past two rounds, Jessica has found new life in the merge. She has an undeniably good social game and does a very good job talking to people in PMs and getting them to want to align with them. Jessica, like Cass, was setup well on Mykines 1.0 with Cass, Liliana, Stacy and now-deceased Anthony and Mookie. She found herself two new allies in Cecilia and Nate when the tribes swapped in Mykines 2.0. Then, she finally was swapped out of Mykines and found herself in some very dangerous waters and saved herself with two clutch tribal immunity idols (thanks very much in part to Flicka posting her HII at the beginning of TC). She hit the merge re-uniting with Cassandra and has found a new potential alliance with Penner and Candice to add to her group of allies that already include Cecilia, Nate and Stacy. Jessica may find herself as public enemy #1 as some (Flicka mostly) are gunning for her. I'm anxious to see how my winner pick weasels her way through the merge.
6.
Penner (
Svinoy Hestur Mykines )
Like Candice, Penner was involved in the original Svinoy core alliance with Candice, Cecilia and Stephannie. Penner was also very tight with Rebecca. Penner went to Hestur with Candice and hooked up with the DREAM TEAM with Cassandra and Mookie. Cassandra was Candice's "get" while Mookie was Penner's. Penner and Mookie quickly formed a duo which worried Cassandra and Candice and they decided to act on that by saving Anthony and dumping Mookie, which proved correct as Penner voted Candice out over Mookie (and Cassandra). They seemed to repair things on Mykines 3.0 and seem to be a powerful duo (and trio with Cass). At Mykines 3.0, Penner also re-connected with former ally Rebecca and also re-kindled the wary relationship with Cecilia and also made a new pal (new Mookie?) in Nate. Hitting the merge, Penner has his DREAM TEAM alliance with Candice and Cass, his former Svinoy allies Rebecca, Cecilia and Stephannie and also his new buddy Nate. He also seems to see Jessica as someone he can work with which puts Penner in a pretty comfortable spot here at the merge.
7.
Cecilia (
Svinoy Mykines Mykines )
Cecilia was in a weird position on original Svinoy 1.0 where she was not originally part of the core alliance with Penner, Candice and Stephannie but managed to weasel her way into that position which I think set the tone for how she has planned from that point forward. She became wary of Penner almost immediately and pegged him as someone who is too big of a threat for her but she planned to work with him until she could take him out. Similar sentiments applied when the tribes were swapped and Cecilia found herself aligned with Jessica, the leader of Mykines 2.0 along with her Svinoy buddy JP (JP has since been voted out). Cecilia formed a pretty quick bond with Nate and Jessica (and Stacy too I think?). She then re-connected with Candice and Penner on Mykines 3.0 and Stephannie at the merge, though Stephannie is apprehensive about working with Cecilia and Jessica which could find Cecilia (and Jessica) less connected than they think they are.
8.
Rebecca (
Svinoy Svinoy Mykines )
Rebecca is in an interesting position in this game in that she has never been to tribal council so she has never needed to prove her loyalties to anyone. Rebecca was connected to the core-Svinoy 1.0 alliance via Penner and that was really all she had at that time. She stayed in Svinoy with Stephannie and Flicka and became allies with them, and then found herself in Mykines 3.0 re-united with Penner and Candice, who have her on the side. Rebecca is calling her alliance "the main bitches" (Rebecca, Steph, Flicka) and the "Fantastic Four" (Rebecca + THE DREAM TEAM) so she has some allies but I feel that she is lower on the totem pole than she realizes. [insert randomgif.gif]
9.
Stacy (
Mykines Mykines Mykines )
Stacy is a bit of an enigma to me because when I view her PMs, she seems fine. She doesn't write many confessionals so I can't really speak to what she's thinking, maybe she isn't thinking. Stacy's game so far has been being involved in the fringe BAP alliance that was connected to the Goddesses. She remained in Mykines 2.0 with Jessica which heightened that bond, as well as formed a thing with Cecilia and Nate. She remained on Mykines for Mykines 3.0 but I am not sure if she made any progress there with any new allies aside from remaining with Cecilia and Nate. She hit the merge with those three and former ally Cassandra and Liliana. Like Rebecca, I think Stacy is closer to the bottom that she might feel and she is playing too INVIS for me to comment on accurately.
10.
Rocky (
Mykines Svinoy Svinoy )
Rocky is probably my favorite in the game because he is hilarious and also has a little bit of game sense as well. Rocky found himself on the outs on Mykines 1.0 and decided to do something about it with Yau-Man and Flicka (and Rebecca?) in Svinoy 2.0 to take out Stephannie and/or Liliana but when Yau-Man quit, those two sides merged together to attack the new-comers in JP, Jessica and Anthony. Rocky was the target from the JAJ-alliance which took a Liliana flip(?) to send JP home over Rocky. Then together that alliance sent home Anthony. I don't think Rocky hooked up with any old allies at the merge so his connections are Stephannie, Flicka and Liliana (and Rebecca?) and anyone he has talked to since but it doesn't seem like he's made any progress with Candice, Penner or Cass so it remains on Steph whether she can carry Rocky or if he can get himself in over time otherwise I think this might be a short-lived merge trip for Rocky. I'm just glad that he will probably make the jury, I feel like he'll be an interesting change of pace if he is able to last a bit longer.
11.
Liliana (
Mykines Svinoy Svinoy )
Liliana is an interesting case as well but only really in the sense that I don't know what's going on here. She had her alliance with Jessica + Cass and also Stacy on the side. She was sent over to Svinoy 2.0 with Stephannie and had the potential usurping by Yau-Man, Rocky and Flicka and remained with them for Svinoy 3.0 where they teamed up to take out JP and Anthony and have gone into the merge pinned up against Jessica, though like Rocky, I don't think she met up with any new allies. I think she might think she has Stacy or Cass but I think Jessica has them and as a result, she does not. I think she could go soon, maybe.
12.
Flicka (
Svinoy Svinoy Svinoy )
Flicka started off on Svinoy 1.0 annoying everyone with her struggles in PM and posting a lot at the camp. She found her name thrown around with the inactives if they were to go to TC which isn't a good thing. She was voted least valuable (or low on the valuable totem pole) which annoyed her and caused her to seek safety elsewhere which is where she started making plans with Yau-Man and Rocky (and Rebecca?) to take out Steph or Liliana but since Yau quit, the two sides teamed up. Flicka had an HII which she used to bond with Stephannie and could have used as a power move to take out Jessica had she not played it at the beginning of TC -- Flicka was the agreed upon boot from everyone minus Flicka and Steph who planned to vote out Jessica. However once Flicka played the idol, TC went into a frenzy which ended up with Flicka, Steph, Liliana and Rocky voting out JP and sticking together in the following TC to vote out Anthony. I'm not so sure she has a lot of new allies at the merge, maybe Rebecca, maybe former Svinoy 1.0s but I don't think she has much sway here. I don't necessarily think she will be the first one out but I think she is not in a very good position in the game.
ok that took a long time, hopefully it was worth the read.
by Trashley Markwood » Wed Aug 26, 2015 8:44:20 pm 
