Matsing Alliance

The Matsing Alliance (also known as the Matsing Duo) is an alliance in Survivor: Philippines. The alliance that consists of Malcolm Freberg and Denise Stapley, the duo were considered the strongest members of the Matsing tribe. Even though they were separated by the Tribe Dissolve (sending Malcolm to Tandang and Denise to Kalabaw) they still managed to reach the merge, and by aligning themselves with the major alliances (Tandang then Kalabaw), they avoided being main targets. The alliance eventually formed a coalition with the Fulcrum Alliance, successfully sending the alliance (and the Fulcrum Alliance) at the Final Four. The duo, however turns on each other at Final Four, vying to get the Fulcrum Alliance's votes for a spot in the Final Three.

The Ill-Fated Matsing
The alliance of original Matsing tribe members Malcolm Freberg and Denise Stapley formed during Day 1, where they bonded and formed an alliance. They systematcially voting out the seemingly weak members Zane Knight, Roxy Morris (who was wary about Angie Layton's closeness to Malcolm) and Angie Layton (who was close to Malcolm and sided with the alliance when they voted out Roxy, where she was voted out the next Tribal Council for her perceived weakness) in the first three Tribal Councils of the season, as they never won Immunity. After the fourth straight time losing a combined Reward and Immuntiy Challenge, Russell Swan was blindsided by the alliance at Tribal Council, thinking that he would act as a swing vote between Malcolm and Denise, where the two voted him out instead.

Alliance Separated and Reunited
With them the only Matsing left, they were given a message that Matsing's Hidden Immunity Idol is still hidden. Malcolm eventually found the idol, giving the alliance a boost after their tribe lost four members. Before the start of the next Reward Challenge, the pair were separated and absorbed into the other tribes Tandang and Kalabaw. They however managed to stay going into the merge, with Malcolm being safe with Tandang winning every Immunity Challenge, and Denise aligning with the men's faction in Kalabaw. At the merge, Jonathan Penner suggested to the Kalabaw Alliance (which is affiliated with Denise during her stay in Kalabaw) to create a majority with RC Saint-Amour and Michael Skupin, who were in the minority in Tandang before the merge. However, the alliance (particularly Malcolm) planned to vote Penner out with the help of the Tandang Alliance (affiliated with Malcolm) and the Kalabaw Alliance (affiliated with Denise) without Penner who agreed to the idea of splitting the votes between RC and Penner.

The Matsing's Idol
During the first days of the merge, Lisa Whelchel found Malcolm's idol while rummaging his bag to see for other clothes that she could hang, with the alliance noticing it. Cautious about the information of the idol spiling to the tribe, Malcolm invited Lisa to join the alliance, which she cautiously accepts. With RC being eliminated after Penner used his idol, Penner seems to be the next target of the alliance.

Penner however won the Final 10 Immunity Challenge, derailing the primary plan. Lisa thought that her ally Michael Skupin would be the next target as the alliance targets the returning players first, and with the knowledge of Malcolm's idol, she plans to betray the alliance and blindside Malcolm, who hid the information of the idol to the Tandang Alliance. Malcolm, however becomes aware of the blindside when Pete Yurkowski asked him if he had the Matsing's idol (which Malcolm lies that he didn't have it), and Pete telling him that Lisa said that Malcolm had it.

Malcolm, thinking that Tandang would blindside him, flipped to Kalabaw's side (with Denise) to vote against Pete, supposedly Skupin aiding them also in the vote. During the Tribal Council, Lisa tries to rally to blindside Malcolm insisting that he has an idol, but Malcolm managed to get the target off his back by showing his idol and threatening to use it if someone goes with Lisa's plan. He didn't play the idol, but it is good decision as Malcolm didn't receive any votes against him, but Jeff was eliminated instead as Skupin voted with Tandang and Penner voting against Abi-Maria Gomes.

Working with Kalabaw
With the alliance betraying Tandang, the alliance now made an alliance with the Kalabaw Alliance, with the hopes of flipping Skupin and Lisa (who consists the Fulcrum Alliance) to their side. Denise proposed a plan against the Tandang Alliance: the alliance would vote against Artis Silvester, as he is the least likely candidate to be given Abi's idol. The plan worked, with Skupin finally voting against Tandang, and giving the superalliance the majority. With Lisa joining the six-person alliance (that now consists of the Kalabaw, Matsing and Fulcrum alliances), the superalliance could split their votes between Pete and Abi to flush Tandang's idol. The plan worked, flushing Abi's idol and voting out Pete.

Final Four Alliance
During the time that the superalliance are planning to vote against Tandang, Malcolm and Skupin made a Final Four alliance, with Matsing and Fulcrum co-aligning until the Final Four. After Pete was voted out, the plan to vote off Abi was suspended after she won the Immunity Challenge (with the help of an advantage she bought during the Survivor Auction), having the six-person alliance vote one of their own. With Matsing and Fulcrum co-aligned, they targeted the Kalabaw Alliance, particularly Penner. Even after Penner's effort to sway the Fulcrum Alliance to side with Kalabaw by saying that siding with Matsing would be bad for the Fulcrum Alliance's game, the Fulcrum Alliance still aligned with the Matsing Alliance, eliminating Penner. With Carter and Abi left in the outs and Malcolm winning the Final Six Immunity Challenge (preventing the Fulcrum Alliance's plan to blindside Malcolm), the alliances vote out Carter. After Carter was eliminated, the alliance's next target is Tandang alliance's last member Abi. During the boat Reward where Skupin invited fellow ally Lisa and alliance member Malcolm, Malcolm made a Final Three deal with the Fulcrum alliance, planning to betray Denise in the following days. Malcolm won the Immunity Challenge, but decided not to give the idol to Denise, saying that she is safe and doesn't need it. Abi tried to sway the Fulcrum alliance to break their alliance with Matsing, saying that the Fulcrum Alliance would be better bringing her to end as she will not get Jury votes for being unlikable, but the Final Four Alliance remained strong, voting out Abi unanimously sending her to the Jury.

Turning on Each Other
During Day 37, after Malcolm won the Reward Challenge (in which an advantage to the final Immunity Challenge is the reward), Denise tells him that Malcolm has a great chance to win the final Immunity Challenge. Denise proposed on voting against Lisa to force a tie between them (assuming that Malcolm wins immunity). However, Malcolm seemed hesitant with the idea, never saying that he is planning to vote against Denise at the next Tribal Council and hoping that the alliance he made with Fulcrum would bring him to the Final Three. Concerned for her standing in the tribe, Denise approached Lisa that Malcolm might be planning something behind their backs, and suggested to vote him out in the next Tribal Council. Lisa - who already thought of voting against Malcolm before - agreed with the plan. Malcolm meanwhile had an alliance with Skupin, which they agreed to bring themselves in the Final Three. After Malcolm didn't win Immunity, Denise and Lisa tried to convince Skupin to vote against Malcolm, which they did in the next Tribal Council. Malcolm was voted unanimously sending him as the last member of the Jury, and Denise being the last member of alliance standing.

Final Tribal Council
At the Final Tribal Council, Denise, with the members of the Fulcrum Alliance faced a seeminlgy averse Jury. Malcolm berated Denise for her apparent appeasing of the Jury, but Malcolm - including five other Jury members - voted for her, defeating the Fulcrum Alliance in a 6-1-1 vote, making her the Sole Survivor.