User blog:Alejandro Reyes/Season 26 Survivor: Caramoan Favorites Assesment

{|class="wikitable" style="margin:auto; text-align:center; font-size: 8pt;" ! scope="col"| ! What Makes Them A Favorite? ! Assesment
 * colspan="2"| Contestant
 * colspan="2"| Contestant








 * align="left"|John Cochrain
 * Competed in Season 23. He portrayed a Survivor Nerd who knew the game from an outside perspective incredibly well. He was an underdog in the game as he was targeted by his tribe in every tribal council during the pre-merge section of the game. He managed to defend himself in the first 2, he got saved by his tribemate in order to initiate a blindside on the 3rd and was used in Ozzy's Trojan Horse strategy on the 4th one. He jumped ships at the first tribal council in the merge portion in the game because it was at 6 vs 6 and Cochrain didn't wanna settle to the Purple Rock Tie Breaker. He told his opponents who his tribemates were playing the idol for and votes against his tribemates, only to be betrayed when he was the last member from his tribe standing.
 * Weak physical and a weaker social player but a decent strategist. If he ever gets to the merge, he just might get further in the game but it's gonna be hard for him to play the game with the reputation he set for himself in his original season. Socially awkward, weak in challenges and disloyal to his allies who have saved him twice in the pre-merge section of the game.


 * Franchesca Hogi
 * She competed in Season 22 Redemption Island. She formed an alliance with Phillip Shepard and Kristina Kel out of neccisity. Her ally Kristina, told her about a hidden immunity idol the she just found and that she was planning to eliminate Boston Rob but Franchesca maintained her strategic perspective and told Kristina to use it on someone else because the whole tribe would hate them for eliminating Rob. In the first tribal council where it was very clear that they didn't have enough votes to eliminate anyone F(even with the idol since Rob's alliance + Phillip were splitting the votes against Franchesca and Kristina) Franchesca went home, being the first person out of the game. She left the tribe saying "Don't trust Philip"
 * Franchesca is a big wildcard. It's as if she played in a back to back season because even if a lot of people have seen her play, nobody knows how she plays since she only made an appearance in one episode. This is very advantageous on her part because it's not big enough of a reason to have her eliminated. She has her arch nemisis Philip on her tribe which would mean that if one of them would be in the majority alliance, the other would probably go home...maybe after Cochrain.

23, New York, NY 21, Katy, TX 29, Miami, FL 33, Los Angeles, CA 42, South Jordan, UT 25, Hermosa Beach, CA 54, Santa Monica, CA
 * Erik Reichenbach
 * Competed in the original Fans vs Favorites on the Favorites side. He played a good game as a physical, social and strategic player. He formed a strong alliance with Ozzy Lusth and Amanda Kimmel and was devastated when Ozzy was blindsided. When he became the last man standing, he knew his only chance at winning the game would be to win the rest of the immunity challenges. He succeded until the final 5 where the Black Widow Brigade convinced him to give up his immunity necklace and voted him out immedietly after.
 * On Erik's defence. The Black Widow Brigade's stratgey was really sneaky, I think a lot of players would have fallen for it. Watch it on youtube if you haven't already seen their move. Erik is a well rounded survivor player. He's smart, strong and incredibly competative. He could sit in final tribal council if he manages to remove the picture of being a huge physical threat.
 * s26 andrea t.jpg
 * align="left"|Andrea Boehlke
 * align="left"|Andrea Boehlke
 * Competed in Season 22 and became the first woman to ever return from Redemption Island. She became such a threat that even Rob Moriano feared her.
 * Great player, very physical. She has a standard threat level which would not identify her as an easy target. She could potentially win the game.
 * s26 brandon t.jpg
 * align="left"|Brandon Hantz
 * align="left"|Brandon Hantz
 * Competed in Season 23 and was in a firm alliance with Coach Wade. He plays with honor and integrity as well as maintaining his loyalty to his alliance. He was voted out after he became a jury threat since he played by loyalty the whole game. He is known for giving up his immunity necklace and getting himself voted out.
 * Brandon is a wild card because I'm not sure if he'll play the same game this time. When he got himself voted out in his original season; the entire Hantz family was so mad that nobody attended the reunion show to support him. I wouldn't be surprised if Russell Hantz (his uncle) showed him a thing or two and made sure that Brandon would play a different game. If he plays the same game; he wont win but if he changes his gameplay; his reputation from season 23 could assist him and get him very far in the game.
 * s26 brenda t.jpg
 * align="left"|Brenda Lowe
 * align="left"|Brenda Lowe
 * Competed in Season 21 where she became so confident in her gameplay that she felt that if she went to final tribal council, she could potentially beat anyone.
 * Brenda is a big threat both as a jury threat and as a strategist. She could definitely be one of the first few to go if she doesn't have a solid alliance. She's not strong enough of a physical threat to be kept around but if she makes it to final tribal council, she may just be able to prove that she can beat anyone. She is one of the people who is dangerous when she gets to the merge because while everyone would most likely concentrate on taking out the Physical threats, she could easily be under the radar and plotting her opponent's elimination.
 * s26 corinne t.jpg
 * align="left"|Corinne Kaplan
 * align="left"|Corinne Kaplan
 * s26 dawn t.jpg
 * align="left"|Dawn Meehan
 * s26 dawn t.jpg
 * align="left"|Dawn Meehan
 * align="left"|Dawn Meehan
 * Competed in Season 23 and portrayed the loving mormon mother but evolved into a badass woman who could prove herself in challenges. She won a challenge for her tribe at one point and even won immunity once. She built good alliances, even though she was one of the initial outcasts in the tribe. She was voted out at the merge when the dominating rival tribe saw her as a social threat.
 * Dawn's strengths are her social skills and surprisingly; her physical strength. Much like Denise Stapley. What most people don't remember about her season though is that she could have saved her Savaii tribe from Cochrain's infamous flip when he confided in her and invited her to jump ships with him but she chose to remain silent and keep Cochrain's secret in hopes of maintaining Cochrain's loyalty. This shows her lack of aggression in the game so I doubt that she's gonna win.
 * s26 malcolm t.jpg
 * align="left"|Malcolm Freberg
 * align="left"|Malcolm Freberg
 * Competed in Season 25 and became a huge underdog after being in a tribe that was desimated. He built a good alliance in his new tribe (After he and Denise Stapley were split) and soon got back with his old ally at the merge. Together, they built an alliance that brought both of them to the final 4. When Malcolm plotted to eliminate Denise, she plotted to eliminate Malcolm and the latter was voted out for being a huge jury threat.
 * Malcolm played an incredible game last season. He's very strong, likeable and is a decent strategist. Since he played in a back to back season; the players won't know about his gameplay which could work both ways. They could see him as a huge threat since nobody will know how he plays and they could also see him as low threat since there are so many other targets. Malcolm will definitely make it to the merge but his physical strength may make it hard for him to make it to final tribal council. It wouldn't be surprising to see him align with Dawn since she is similar to Denise. This guy is definitely gonna be a huge character in this season.
 * s26 phillip t.jpg
 * align="left"|Phillip Sheppard
 * align="left"|Phillip Sheppard
 * Competed in Season 22 with a very different strategy compared to the other players. While most people tried to fit in and be friendly, Phillip did the exact opposite by annoying almost every person in the tribe so that Rob Moriano would keep him around. He played by loyalty by Rob's side which earned him a seat in the final tribal council. After recieving 1 vote, he became that season's runner up.
 * If you think his strategy is gonna work in this season, think again. Remember that it's much harder to stay on an island for 39 days that it is to watch it. Surviving the elements, the strategists and the other players is much harder than it seems. If moral is down and Phillip fails to keep his mouth shut, people will probably send him home. His strategy worked in Redemption Island because his original tribe was practically winning the whole time (After Russell Hantz was eliminated) which kept the moral high. But what happens if the favorites get the best of Phillip? I think that if moral is still high, if the Favorites start winning and if he uses the same strategy; he may get into the final tribal council 1 more time but if not, then he's screwed. His lack of physical strength and lack of social game may make him an easy target if he pisses people off early in the game, but these ARE favorites we're talking about, they may just grab a page from Moriano's playbook.
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