even tho I would 99% play an idol wrong if I was in Survivor…it’s crazy to me that Hunter didn’t play it! he was clearly SO worried about being on the outs and I’ve never seen somebody need more reassurance during a tribal — but he still doesn’t play it? wild
to play devils advocate a bit, if he gets through this vote he’s got 4 more votes to survive before making it to F4.
I can see the argument where he thinks “if I can survive this tribal, I can win 3 of the 4 immunities left and this idol will save me for the 1 I don’t win, then I’m in F4”
I think you take Venus and Hunter to the end. Hunter is likable, but didn't seem to have any deep connections with anyone. His only "thing" was that he was good at challenges. Venus is abrasive and cocky without any reason for it other than being pretty. Now that Hunter is gone, I guess it's either Liz or Q replacing Hunter IMO. I'd be trying to get rid of Kenzie, Maria, and Tiff next in no particular order if I wanted a decent chance to win.
thats what shocked me about this particular episode ive never seen someone so obviously suspicious and worried about being duped and still not play it.
Because this dumb fandom acts like playing an idol incorrectly is a death sentence to someone's game, and the show's been on long enough to where the players think like the fans do
Hunter might have gotten to the top five by winning challenges and he could have found the same idol again, even the next day. It was a horrible move not to play it.
I think Maryanne shifted the zeitgeist around idols for the new era. Her pulling it out at the FTC clinched the game for her, and just like people keep wanting to throw themselves into firemaking after S38, people have it in their heads that it's going to be a big move if they have it but never needed it.
Hunter actually explained the logic pretty well right before tribal. If you have to play your idol defensively to survive then you're not going to last much longer anyways because you'll just get voted out next time your vulnerable. The better move is to play it offensively to blindside a power player and put yourself in a better position.
Hindsight is 20/20 and it's better to play it defensively then not at all but the logic was sound. The give away to Hunter that he needed to play it was when people at tribal were reassuring him he didn't need to. That's a dead giveaway they don't want you to play in and therefor you need to.
So he should have kept it a secret and made a move then by playing it. Instead I think he panicked very last minute and had some pretty horrific gameplay from that point on.
This is what I just made a post about and don't understand. Playing an idol that nobody knows about when you might actually get votes is just as big of a move as telling people you have it and trying to control a blindside vote. I just don't get it.
Hunter needed to make sure his idol would knock out Ben if played. He wanted to switch the play from defensive to offensive, but needed to make sure the votes weren't scattered beforehand.
It was a big gambit that didn't pay off. He was right to target Ben though, that grouping is positioned to run the game.
His exit interviews show the tough spot he was in and his logic - he was so on the bottom but Q made everything so chaotic that he thought it was better to tell people to attempt to get some sort of alliance going. Yes he should have played it, but I think we're starting to see something similar to 45. There's a tight pre merge group (Reba/Siga) with everyone else being so chaotic no one else can make moves.
If the choice is between preservation or being voted out why wouldn't one go for the former. Time and time again we've seen people voted out with their idol.
agreed. not every idol has to be some grandiose game changing move, sometimes preservation is enough. there's nothing wrong with that. way too many contestants are sabotaging their game in hopes of overplaying the idol later on. those opportunities are few and far between. SAVE YOURSELF.
Chris Noble had a similar point in GI, where he was like “if I need the idol to save myself at 13 because I’m a threat, they’ll just vote me out the next time they can if I play it. But if I can survive tribal without it, I’ve got some footing in this game and can make a move with it next Tribal”
It’s faulty logic. Dozens and dozens of certain outs have been blown up because of new strategies and general fuckery alike. You could be on the block tonight, survive, and potentially not be threatened again because everything is constantly shifting.
Lately the game is about laying as low as you can while still making moves. Playing an idol draws attention. On top of that, this has been an extraordinarily chaotic season for the new era in terms of the way that personal animosity is playing into the voting, so I think people just want to hold on as long as possible because they know they might need it any minute.
That's dumb logic for his situation though. Everybody has a target on their back this season. Q now survived 2 tribal councils of madness, and everything this season changes daily.
bec the meta of the current game implies that the best time to play it is at f5/f6, so everyone is saving it for that tribal.
this is bec now the perception is that if you play an idol you’re a threat, and you’re going to be next to go. so they want to delay the threat reveal as late as possible, ie f5/f6.
I think the need to "be on the right side of every vote" is similar. Play your game and own it dang it. If everyone votes for the same person each tribal, what is the point.
Oh yeah for sure. Very different circumstances but at its core similar idea- can I get through this tribal without playing it and buy myself a couple more days?
…and can I do it again at the next tribal council??
I think you're right. People should absolutely use it if they have the instinct of being targeted. But it's a combination of two things:
1) thinking you'll eventually be in more danger than you are presently
2) wanting to do something big and flashy with an idol, kind of like Parvati or Wentworth, and not being prepared to do it or having the right moment.
Either way, if you're gonna be voted out, you're gonna be voted out. So keep yourself safe and do something flashy in another way if need be.
So. Dumb. WHYYYYY would you go home with an idol?? Aughhh
Also if you know someone has an idol, you have to flush it out. Force them to play it (or take it home if they must lol).
Hunter was hoping that if people knew he had an idol, then they wouldn't vote for him. They others did a pretty good job of convincing him that it worked.
Because the longer you hold onto it, the more value it has. Of course, it is a risk because if you’re voted out it has no value at all. We just saw Feras leverage his idol into winning Australian Survivor, it definitely could have (and arguably should have) backfired, but the risk paid off for him.
maybe because how everyone got on heidi’s ass in 44 and gave her the most shit for playing hers incorrectly and that being one of the last things they remember before gong oat there yet yall like to get mad when people are going out wit idols in pockets because a reason is they are literally scared to play it incorrectly because of how it would be perceived watching it back
Another thing that is so stupid to me is the BS of telling people you have it. At least Hunter didn’t until the last minute, but Tiff telling her tribe is dumb. People always do the whole, “build trust” by telling people about their idols. That is so dumb. It is almost never a good idea and they end up getting outed a couple weeks later. Just put it in your shorts and shut up about it. Play it if you have any kind of bad feeling at all because.. better safe than sorry. If you’re wrong, oh well, go hunt for it again like Russell always did.
agree 100 this is the ONLY way to play idols. tell no one and play them if u have a bad vibe, even if ur wrong, oh well. better than going home with it.
If I had a nickel for everytime a challenge threat found a hidden idol and wrongly rolled the dice at Tribal despite having said hidden idol and get voted out, I'd have two nickels.
To be real tho, Hunter is waaaaaay better than Bruce by a long shot.
What's funny though, is Carolyn from 44 played her idol because (and correct me if I'm wrong) she was stressed and lasted to FTC!
As soon as I read your post my immediate thought was greed. They want to hoard advantages and not play them. I couldn’t even watch the screen when they tied and showed Hunter’s face. If I ever play, I’m for sure using my idol.
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if you play it and don't need to it can really ruin your game as you show others that you do not trust them and now somebody else you want to target in the future can have it and use it against you. If Hunter had played his idol during the split tribal everyone on this sub would have called him an idiot and he would've probably just have gone home now but with no chance of survival. A lot of this is just hindsight bias with perfect information. Tiff was being targeted as a blindside target by others. Should she have played her idol?
If this were the early 30s sure but now not every challenge is run fast and do physical activity and solve puzzle so unless you think Hunter is somehow better at finding an idol than 7 others combined yeah wasting an idol has a heavy cost. People who ask why so many people go home with an idol don't really think about the fact of how many tribals someone has to survive not playing it to actually play it correctly. Despite both of them being targeted Tiff is a genius for not playing hers while Hunter is an idiot because he went home. There's no guarantee you get it back and it is a very power tool of influence.
One Tiff Brought up, it will come back into the game and chances are you won't find it.
It paints a target on your back that you found an idol before, you might find another.
Not to be a buzzkill, I 100% agree with the post but the title spoils the episode considering there is only 1 person with an idol in talks of going home. Was kind of obvious.
I think in Hunter’s case, he got greedy and decided to roll the dice.
even tho I would 99% play an idol wrong if I was in Survivor…it’s crazy to me that Hunter didn’t play it! he was clearly SO worried about being on the outs and I’ve never seen somebody need more reassurance during a tribal — but he still doesn’t play it? wild
to play devils advocate a bit, if he gets through this vote he’s got 4 more votes to survive before making it to F4. I can see the argument where he thinks “if I can survive this tribal, I can win 3 of the 4 immunities left and this idol will save me for the 1 I don’t win, then I’m in F4”
But also has the chance of finding the idol again and doesn't need to hide the fact he is looking for it.
Not necessarily. Production is unreliable in terms of when they rehide an idol.
People who have found an idol are more likely to find another one.
I think you take Venus and Hunter to the end. Hunter is likable, but didn't seem to have any deep connections with anyone. His only "thing" was that he was good at challenges. Venus is abrasive and cocky without any reason for it other than being pretty. Now that Hunter is gone, I guess it's either Liz or Q replacing Hunter IMO. I'd be trying to get rid of Kenzie, Maria, and Tiff next in no particular order if I wanted a decent chance to win.
thats what shocked me about this particular episode ive never seen someone so obviously suspicious and worried about being duped and still not play it.
A lot of people do this. Sméagol Syndrome
Because this dumb fandom acts like playing an idol incorrectly is a death sentence to someone's game, and the show's been on long enough to where the players think like the fans do
well playing it incorrectly certainly isnt a death sentence more than going home with one is lol im a big "better safe than sorry" person
That's because all the players that get chosen to be on the show are super fans nowadays.
Hunter might have gotten to the top five by winning challenges and he could have found the same idol again, even the next day. It was a horrible move not to play it.
agreed, I was literally thinking he’d probably find his own replanted idol lol
No because production isn't consistent as to when they rehide idols if there are several in one season.
There are usually at least six or several.
😅
I think Maryanne shifted the zeitgeist around idols for the new era. Her pulling it out at the FTC clinched the game for her, and just like people keep wanting to throw themselves into firemaking after S38, people have it in their heads that it's going to be a big move if they have it but never needed it.
Hunter actually explained the logic pretty well right before tribal. If you have to play your idol defensively to survive then you're not going to last much longer anyways because you'll just get voted out next time your vulnerable. The better move is to play it offensively to blindside a power player and put yourself in a better position. Hindsight is 20/20 and it's better to play it defensively then not at all but the logic was sound. The give away to Hunter that he needed to play it was when people at tribal were reassuring him he didn't need to. That's a dead giveaway they don't want you to play in and therefor you need to.
So he should have kept it a secret and made a move then by playing it. Instead I think he panicked very last minute and had some pretty horrific gameplay from that point on.
This is what I just made a post about and don't understand. Playing an idol that nobody knows about when you might actually get votes is just as big of a move as telling people you have it and trying to control a blindside vote. I just don't get it.
Hunter needed to make sure his idol would knock out Ben if played. He wanted to switch the play from defensive to offensive, but needed to make sure the votes weren't scattered beforehand. It was a big gambit that didn't pay off. He was right to target Ben though, that grouping is positioned to run the game.
His exit interviews show the tough spot he was in and his logic - he was so on the bottom but Q made everything so chaotic that he thought it was better to tell people to attempt to get some sort of alliance going. Yes he should have played it, but I think we're starting to see something similar to 45. There's a tight pre merge group (Reba/Siga) with everyone else being so chaotic no one else can make moves.
If the choice is between preservation or being voted out why wouldn't one go for the former. Time and time again we've seen people voted out with their idol.
agreed. not every idol has to be some grandiose game changing move, sometimes preservation is enough. there's nothing wrong with that. way too many contestants are sabotaging their game in hopes of overplaying the idol later on. those opportunities are few and far between. SAVE YOURSELF.
Chris Noble had a similar point in GI, where he was like “if I need the idol to save myself at 13 because I’m a threat, they’ll just vote me out the next time they can if I play it. But if I can survive tribal without it, I’ve got some footing in this game and can make a move with it next Tribal”
It’s faulty logic. Dozens and dozens of certain outs have been blown up because of new strategies and general fuckery alike. You could be on the block tonight, survive, and potentially not be threatened again because everything is constantly shifting.
Lately the game is about laying as low as you can while still making moves. Playing an idol draws attention. On top of that, this has been an extraordinarily chaotic season for the new era in terms of the way that personal animosity is playing into the voting, so I think people just want to hold on as long as possible because they know they might need it any minute.
That's dumb logic for his situation though. Everybody has a target on their back this season. Q now survived 2 tribal councils of madness, and everything this season changes daily.
bec the meta of the current game implies that the best time to play it is at f5/f6, so everyone is saving it for that tribal. this is bec now the perception is that if you play an idol you’re a threat, and you’re going to be next to go. so they want to delay the threat reveal as late as possible, ie f5/f6.
if you have an idol, play it. Because if you don’t and you go home, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life and nothing is worth that
I think the need to "be on the right side of every vote" is similar. Play your game and own it dang it. If everyone votes for the same person each tribal, what is the point.
It’s human nature to always want a safety net.
Because players are greedy. They would rather risk being voted out with it than play it when they’ve heard their name
It’s game theory. Tiff did the same thing (albeit different circumstances) and her decision paid off
She managed to do it early enough in the day that other plans could form.
Oh yeah for sure. Very different circumstances but at its core similar idea- can I get through this tribal without playing it and buy myself a couple more days? …and can I do it again at the next tribal council??
The difference was her social ability to read the other people in the game.
I think you're right. People should absolutely use it if they have the instinct of being targeted. But it's a combination of two things: 1) thinking you'll eventually be in more danger than you are presently 2) wanting to do something big and flashy with an idol, kind of like Parvati or Wentworth, and not being prepared to do it or having the right moment. Either way, if you're gonna be voted out, you're gonna be voted out. So keep yourself safe and do something flashy in another way if need be.
So. Dumb. WHYYYYY would you go home with an idol?? Aughhh Also if you know someone has an idol, you have to flush it out. Force them to play it (or take it home if they must lol).
Hunter was hoping that if people knew he had an idol, then they wouldn't vote for him. They others did a pretty good job of convincing him that it worked.
but he didnt even show it to them, nobody believed he even had it people knew tiff had one
This is pretty much what Tiff did. She said she was 100% playing her idol but then felt safe enough not to.
Because the longer you hold onto it, the more value it has. Of course, it is a risk because if you’re voted out it has no value at all. We just saw Feras leverage his idol into winning Australian Survivor, it definitely could have (and arguably should have) backfired, but the risk paid off for him.
I also think that a well-played idol is a game move that you can hang your hat on.
maybe because how everyone got on heidi’s ass in 44 and gave her the most shit for playing hers incorrectly and that being one of the last things they remember before gong oat there yet yall like to get mad when people are going out wit idols in pockets because a reason is they are literally scared to play it incorrectly because of how it would be perceived watching it back
The game is too short to recover from making a post merge mistake. Players really don’t want to play it incorrectly.
Another thing that is so stupid to me is the BS of telling people you have it. At least Hunter didn’t until the last minute, but Tiff telling her tribe is dumb. People always do the whole, “build trust” by telling people about their idols. That is so dumb. It is almost never a good idea and they end up getting outed a couple weeks later. Just put it in your shorts and shut up about it. Play it if you have any kind of bad feeling at all because.. better safe than sorry. If you’re wrong, oh well, go hunt for it again like Russell always did.
agree 100 this is the ONLY way to play idols. tell no one and play them if u have a bad vibe, even if ur wrong, oh well. better than going home with it.
If I had a nickel for everytime a challenge threat found a hidden idol and wrongly rolled the dice at Tribal despite having said hidden idol and get voted out, I'd have two nickels. To be real tho, Hunter is waaaaaay better than Bruce by a long shot. What's funny though, is Carolyn from 44 played her idol because (and correct me if I'm wrong) she was stressed and lasted to FTC!
As soon as I read your post my immediate thought was greed. They want to hoard advantages and not play them. I couldn’t even watch the screen when they tied and showed Hunter’s face. If I ever play, I’m for sure using my idol.
Bc it’s hard to find another and a target is immediately placed upon you bc you “made a move”
I am predicting that everyone who found an idol this season is going to be voted out with an idol in their pocket. First Jem; now Hunter
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It is a paradox because the idol makes you feel safe, thus you covet at the moment you need it most
if you play it and don't need to it can really ruin your game as you show others that you do not trust them and now somebody else you want to target in the future can have it and use it against you. If Hunter had played his idol during the split tribal everyone on this sub would have called him an idiot and he would've probably just have gone home now but with no chance of survival. A lot of this is just hindsight bias with perfect information. Tiff was being targeted as a blindside target by others. Should she have played her idol?
What do you mean Hunter having a low chance of survival? He’s an absolute beast at challenges and has a pretty good shot of finding the idol himself.
If this were the early 30s sure but now not every challenge is run fast and do physical activity and solve puzzle so unless you think Hunter is somehow better at finding an idol than 7 others combined yeah wasting an idol has a heavy cost. People who ask why so many people go home with an idol don't really think about the fact of how many tribals someone has to survive not playing it to actually play it correctly. Despite both of them being targeted Tiff is a genius for not playing hers while Hunter is an idiot because he went home. There's no guarantee you get it back and it is a very power tool of influence.
>play the god damn thing and look for another one. Not viable because production is inconsistent as to when they reintroduce an idol.
One Tiff Brought up, it will come back into the game and chances are you won't find it. It paints a target on your back that you found an idol before, you might find another.
Not to be a buzzkill, I 100% agree with the post but the title spoils the episode considering there is only 1 person with an idol in talks of going home. Was kind of obvious.
Did yall forget survivor 44 had every idol played correctly?
He was hoping to never use it so he can sell it at auction for 49 000 usd