Survivor: Blood vs Water - strategic credit

I recently rewatched Survivor: Blood vs Water and decided to do something a bit different during my rewatch.  I thought I'd give one or two players "credit" for each vote of the season.  If one player nearly singlehandedly made the vote happen (such as Aras with the first Laura M. vote), I give that one person full credit.  If more than one person made the vote happen, I give full credit to the player that had the most influence, and half credit to the player that was second most important in making the vote happen.  Full credit = 2 points, half credit = 1 point.
       
I recognize that the strategic game is only one of three aspects of Survivor, and that there's strategy beyond just votes, but this was something fun to do that at least gives some insight as to how hard each player played.  Read on to find out who was behind the vote outs of Blood vs Water!  *Note: the first two vote offs (Candice and Laura B.) are not included here as each player was voting on their own merit only.

Marissa: Brad Culpepper (full credit) and John Cody (half credit) -- There is no denying the fact that Brad Culpepper was behind most of the early-game strategy on Tadhana.  He was the leader of the men's alliance and most of the guys did what he said.  I debated only giving him credit for this move, but he did consult John who is the first person that threw out Marissa's name (though I'm almost positive that Brad would have named her about two seconds later).  

Rachel: Vytas Baskauskas (full credit) and Brad Culpepper (half credit) -- Vytas and Brad were both instrumental with this one so I struggled with who to give full credit but it was pretty clearly Vytas that came up with the idea of voting someone off who's loved one might switch, so I went with him.  After he came up with that idea and named Rachel, Brad contacted Hayden and Caleb to lock in the votes so he more than earned his half credit.

John: Brad Culpepper (full credit) and Ciera Eastin (half credit) -- The John vote was primarily Brad's doing but I felt Ciera deserved a half credit because earlier in the episode, she was the first person to name John as a smart player to vote for, and who knows how much that influenced Brad's later decision to oust John.

Brad: Caleb Bankston (full credit) and Ciera Eastin (half credit) -- I contemplated only giving Caleb credit for this one as he is the one that flipped the script and saved Ciera.  That said, it was clear at tribal that Caleb "did not want Ciera to go home" and that that was part of his reason for flipping.  Earlier in the episode we had seen Ciera making social connections to Caleb, and who knows how much influence those conversations had on Caleb's decision making, so I felt that Ciera earned half credit.

Laura M. #1: Aras Baskauskas (full credit) -- And now we come to the first vote that was orchestrated single-handedly.  Aras played Laura M. like a fiddle, she said that she trusted him "completely".  But at that point he was still aligned with Tyson's alliance, and came up with the brilliant plan to oust Laura, due to her challenge strength, he hoped that she could beat Culpepper at Redemption who would be a threat at the merge.  Aras' plan worked to perfection and everyone voted against Laura M.

Kat: Monica Culpepper (full credit) and Tina Wesson (half credit) -- In a way Kat got herself voted out.  She poorly orchestrated a plan to oust Monica but when Tina told that to Monica, Monica instead orchestrated the elimination of Kat.  Tina started the ball rolling by telling Monica but then Monica made the vote happen.

Laura B: Tina Wesson (full credit) and Monica Culpepper (half credit) -- To be perfectly honest, Laura B pretty much did herself in by telling Vytas he was going.  But the plan was to vote out Vytas until Laura B did that, and Tina and Monica were the people that made the vote switch.  It was hard to decide which one of them should get full credit.  I ended up giving it to Tina because she's the one that told Vytas to vote Laura B, making her look a little bit more in control of the vote than Monica.

Aras: Tyson Apostol (full credit) and Ciera Eastin (half credit) -- Once the merge hit, Tyson emerged from his shell and set out to play one of the most dominant post-merge games Survivor has ever seen.  Starting with this Aras vote, his name was on every vote (except the rock draw) as either full or half credit.  Tyson knew Aras was a threat and that he needed to get him out, and he made it happen. Ciera definitely deserves half credit here as she got her and her mom's votes with the singles rather than the couples.

Vytas: Laura Morett (full credit) and Tyson Apostol (half credit) -- Throughout the season Laura M. was amazing physically and decent socially, but not super strong strategically.  This was her one big move.  She recognized and convinced the entire alliance that Vytas should go before Tina/Katie.  Tyson helped spread the word to Gervase and Monica to make sure they where on board, but Laura took the lead on this one.

Tina #1: Tyson Apostol (full credit) -- This was probably the most straightforward vote of the season, and that's part of the reason that it only took one person to make it happen.  Katie and Tina were on the outs and Katie had the immunity necklace so that left one person to vote for.  Tyson told everyone "Tina" and the deal was done.

Laura M. #2: Tyson Apostol (full credit) and Ciera Eastin (half credit) -- This is an interesting one, because at face value, it was Tyson that made this move happen (in fact, after the immunity challenge Ciera was campaigning to get Katie out briefly, and Tyson convinced her to go for her mom).  Therefore Tyson gets full credit for the move.  Ciera more than earned her half credit though as she was willing to vote out her mom (even before Tyson mentioned it), and when she did, it was one of the most emotionally tough votes ever cast in Survivor history.  The interesting part of this one is that, for that reason, had Tyson and Ciera both made FTC, I think the jury would have given Ciera full credit for the move, even though Tyson really deserved it.  This is a good example of my "system" being entirely centered around strategic credit, but the social game is just as important, if not more, and Ciera truly excelled socially.

Caleb: Ciera Eastin (full credit) and Tyson Apostol (half credit) -- This was one of the more dynamic votes of the season as at least three names were being thrown around, an idol was played, and I don't think anyone felt safe.  It's also one that both Ciera and Tyson deserve a lot of credit for.  In the end I give Ciera the credit, simply because she had the opportunity to go with Hayden/Caleb/Katie and not only chose not to, but told Tyson about their plan, and named Caleb for elimination.  She was in control of that vote, Tyson just helped round up the troops to ensure it happened.

Katie (rock draw): Ciera Eastin (full credit) and Hayden Moss (half credit) -- This was not only the  most dynamic vote of the season, but is up there in terms of all-time great tribals.  Ciera entered tribal tight with Tyson/Monica/Gervase but Hayden did a brilliant job convincing her she was #4 (and Gervase helped Hayden's case by repeatedly calling her #4 at tribal).  Then, Ciera forced the first modern rock draw in Survivor history.  Unfortunately for her and Hayden, their ally Katie drew the wrong rock, but they did what they could to make a Big. Move.  and I respect the hell out of that.  To be perfectly honest, both Hayden and Ciera deserve full credit for this move, but I give full credit to Ciera for two reasons: first off, Hayden had nothing to lose, Ciera had everything.  You can talk all day long, but if Hayden's hand was going in that bag of rocks, would he have made the move?  Who knows.  Not many people in Survivor history have.  Ciera not only talked the talk, but walked the walk.  Also, I do think that Gervase blowing it at tribal was almost, or just as influential on Ciera as Hayden's speech was, which might make Hayden's influence a little less important.

Hayden: Tyson Apostol (full credit) and Monica Culpepper (half credit) -- This was actually one of the toughest votes of the season to give credit for.  Tyson and Gervase really only had one option on who to vote for since Ciera had immunity but I still got the sense that Gervase would do whatever Tyson wanted him to, so I give him credit for sticking with his alliance.  I also give Monica half credit since Ciera and Hayden tried their best to flip her, but she stuck with the guys.  One thing I want to point out here is that you can get strategic credit for making a move, even if it's not necessarily the best move for your game.  I do believe that at this point in the game, Monica was in a bit of a lose-lose spot. She was never going to beat Tyson.  She was never going to beat Ciera.  That said, I think her best bet was to flip and by doing so "make a move", and hope that Laura or Tina would reenter the game and that she could vote out Ciera and sit next to that person and Hayden at FTC.  Even then I don't know if she'd win, Hayden had a pretty darn good game going as did Laura M., but it was probably her best chance.

Ciera: Gervase Peterson (full credit) and Tyson Apostol (half credit) -- Tyson made an interesting decision at the F5 to let Gervase and Monica decide who to vote for.  Not sure if I agree with that move or not, but it was quickly clear that Gervase wanted Ciera out (IMO this was the better move) and Monica wanted Tina out.  Gervase got his way so clearly he deserves full credit.  I contemplated not giving anyone half credit, but especially since Gervase didn't mention the Ciera vote as a big move of his at FTC, I think that off camera Tyson did help convince Monica that Ciera was the right F5 boot.

Tina #2: Tyson Apostol (full credit) -- Despite Tina's best efforts to flip Monica and force fire, the final vote really was straightforward once Tyson won final immunity.  He reassured Gervase and Monica that the best Final 3 was the three of them and the deal was done.

TO RECAP, each player's game:

Tyson Apostol (13 points) -- There's a reason that Tyson is the eighth best in my winner rankings.  His Blood vs Water strategic game was straight up fantastic.  He controlled nearly every vote post-merge.  He found two idols.  He won the last two immunity challenges.  He convinced Gerv and Monica to be his "goats".  The social game was his biggest flaw, but with the exception of Vytas, it didn't matter, especially after an exceptionally good FTC.

Ciera Eastin (8 points) -- Stay tuned for an article as to why I believe Ciera is the second best player to  never win, but first let me recap her Blood vs Water game here: she played so well this season.  Far and away, the second best player of the season.  The question is would she have beaten Tyson?  I think so.  Very very likely.  And her social game is why.  Yes, her strategic game was great (the Laura M vote and the rock draw being her two biggest of many moves) but so was Tyson's, but she had so many more friends on the jury than Tyson.  And true friends, not just people that liked her.  And there's no question that she would have beaten anyone but Tyson.  I respect the hell out of Ciera for what she did at the F6 tribal.  It was risky, but you gotta play to win.  She got a bit of bad luck that night, and I just would have loved to see what would have happened had Tyson drawn the white rock.  I bet Ciera would be our winner.

Brad Culpepper (5 points) -- Giving credit only where it's due, Tyson and Ciera were the two strategic stars of Blood vs Water.  And that becomes obvious when the person with the third most points was one of the early season boots.  Culpepper played hard, but I would argue, way too hard.  He was pretty poor socially, and even though he's a strong guy, he couldn't win a challenge for his tribe.  Just because you have a lot of points, doesn't mean you're a super smart player.  Culpepper is a good example of that.

Monica Culpepper (4 points) -- Monica not only lasted longer than Brad in Blood vs Water but also played a whole lot better (despite receiving one less strategic point).  Post-swap she made a couple good moves but unfortunately for her she became complacent post-merge in the Tyson alliance and failed to make a big move when she could have.  She won three immunity challenges and her social game was average, not bad as it is made out to be.  Monica's game can best be summarized as one that had a lot of potential, but never really took off.

Tina Wesson (3 points) -- Tina is an interesting one.  Like Monica, her only real good moves were post-swap but her social game was one of the best of the season, and physically she was quite good as she proved on Redemption Island.  Would she have beaten Tyson?  I say no, Tyson dominated, but some say yes, just because of her social game.  Tina is a good example of a player whose entire game is not demonstrated on this type of credit list.

Vytas Baskauskas (2 points) -- Vytas made one big move early on with the Rachel vote.  Other than that he never really took off strategically, but like Tina, he had a great social game (the way he handled himself on the post-swap Galang tribe is an excellent example).  Tyson and his gang got the best of Vytas which is a real shame because I feel he had more game in him.

Aras Baskauskas (2 points) -- Aras is an interesting one.  He had a really good game going socially, strategically, and physically.  He only went to tribal once pre-merge but orchestrated the vote that night.  It seems as if he may have overplayed a bit, as Tyson recognized him as a strategic threat and promptly voted him out at the merge.  If Tyson and no-one else had recognized him as said threat, I think Aras would have had a deep run and could have possibly won again.

Caleb Bankston (2 points) -- Caleb was definitely an underrated player, partly due to the fact that he was under-edited.  His only successful strategic move was the big Brad Culpepper blindside, but that was a huge one that took some guts to pull off.  I have mad respect for that move.   He also tried to make a move at the F7, but ultimately it's the move that backfired on him.  I think he'd be a great player in a Second Chance type season, but tragically that will never happen.

Gervase Peterson (2 points) -- With no disrespect meant, Gervase played a pretty poor game on all levels.  The Ciera blindside was his one keystone move, but for all the other votes he simply followed Tyson.  You could call him a goat.  Socially he wasn't much better and although he won one individual challenge, so did everyone in the F5 and the two people he was next to at FTC both won more than one.  So yes, I hate to say it, but he didn't deserve any votes at FTC.

Laura Morett (2 points) -- In both her seasons, Laura took a backseat strategically while playing excellent physical and decent social games, making her lack of points somewhat misleading of her game overall.  She did take the lead on the Vytas vote and that was her one big strategic move.

John Cody (1 point) -- John is a player that never really had a chance to take off as he was an early Brad victim.  If he'd stuck around I think he could have become quite a good strategic player.

Hayden Moss (1 point) -- If Brad is the example of a player that can become incredibly "overrated" by a ranking like this, Hayden is the player that becomes drastically "underrated".  1 point is not a good overview of Hayden's game.  Unfortunately for him, he played from a minority position for much of the game, which limited his ability to get credit for moves, but he was trying everything he could throughout the game and never took his eye off the prize.  He was instrumental at the rock draw tribal, and I wish my system allowed him to get more than 1 point for that.  His social game was on point and he's no slouch physically.  This guy needs to come back to Survivor and try his hand again, he's a darn good player.

Candice Cody, Rupert Boneham, Marissa Peterson, Rachel Fougler, Colton Cumbie, Kat Edorson, Laura Boneham, Katie Collins (0 points) -- With the exception of Katie, all these players were pre-merge boots who either never really had the chance to play, quit, or made dumb moves at one of their first tribals, resulting in their elimination.  Katie, well, what can I say.  She made it deep in the game but just never really "played" (except for her one challenge win).  She was drug along until she picked the wrong rock.