Matsing is a tribe from Survivor: Philippines. Their tribe color is blue.
Offset by the poor leadership of its returning player, Matsing suffered a perpetual losing streak by failing to win a single challenge, which decimated the tribe down to two members who were absorbed by the other two tribes on Day 11. Despite Matsing's failures during its 11-day tenure as a tribe, its two remaining members found success post-merge, with one of them eventually winning the game.
Members[]
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Tribe History[]
Before going down as the most fractured of the three competing tribes, Matsing started somewhat on a higher note, having shelter and fire one hour after reaching their camp. Russell Swan, the tribe's returning contestant, known for his superb leadership which helped his former tribe dominate, declared he will not step in the leadership position. But to the annoyance of the tribe, he continued to bark orders anyway. This prompted Malcolm and Angie to keep Russell in their sights. Wanting to play with Russell's hunger for leadership, Malcolm fed Russell's ego by guiding him to make a fire and give him the full credit of doing it.
The next day, Zane confides to Denise about the back-story of his tattoos as part of his strategy. Zane continued charming his tribe mates to gain their favor. Seeing through Zane's plot, and their mutual admiration towards each other, Malcolm and Denise formed a secret alliance. Later, Russell found a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol underneath the tribe's rice basket. Zane caught Russell, and leaked the information to his tribe mates.
At the inaugural Immunity Challenge on Day 3, Russell poorly delegated his members to the tasks at hand to ensure he would not do the puzzle part of the challenge. Matsing lost the challenge, sending them to their first Tribal Council. Back at camp, Russell's controversial move put him in line for elimination. Meanwhile, Zane, who also performed weakly at the challenge, tried to gain sympathy by asking his tribe to vote him out, but in truth, he was hoping that his move will turn the tribe against Russell. At their first Tribal Council, Zane, who admitted his abrupt nicotine withdrawal (which he only did the day before he left for the Philippines), was voted out unanimously. Not wanting to repeat the same mistake at future challenges, Russell vowed to change his ways.
After the first Tribal Council, Russell and Roxy were alarmed by Malcolm and Angie's seemingly growing closeness, cuddling at night to warm themselves up throughout the rainy night. After losing the second Immunity Challenge on Day 6, Roxy and Russell targeted Angie. At their second consecutive Tribal Council, Roxanne called out Angie and Malcolm for their constant cuddling, while the two fired back by stating that Roxy barely worked at camp and the pair were only friends. For her aggression and laziness around camp, Roxy paid the price after a 4-1 vote.
The demoralized Matsing foursome went back to camp, where Russell encouraged his tribe to do their best. Russell, knowing that Malcolm had connections with both Denise and Angie, felt that he was in trouble. Malcolm and Angie declared they are only friends, with Malcolm telling Denise he was is willing to vote Angie out if Matsing loses again. It turned out at the Day 8 Immunity Challenge, Matsing came up short from victory once again, when Russell and Angie struggled at the swimming portion of the challenge, sending them back to Tribal Council (even though Malcolm and Denise excelled in the challenge). At their third straight Tribal Council, Russell and Angie accused each other for lack of life experiences and giving up, respectively. Angie fought back at Russell by telling him he kept talking down and underestimating her. In the end, Angie was sent packing after a 3-1 vote.
Down to a paltry roster of three, Malcolm, Denise, and Russell struggled during another rain, losing their fire in the process. Despite this, Malcolm still hoped to win even just one challenge. The three agreed to continue fighting hard for their survival. Uncomfortable with the idea of going home before the merge for a second time, Russell tried to find the idol. Meanwhile, Malcolm lamented on keeping Russell for the sake of muscle mass, but the returning contestant had yet to prove anything to them. After losing for the fourth consecutive time in a closely-contested challenge, and unable to locate the Hidden Immunity Idol, Malcolm and Denise voted a visibly disappointed Russell off after a 2-1 vote.
The Dismantling of Matsing[]
On Day 11, down to two members, Malcolm and Denise anticipated that they would be absorbed by the other two tribes, so they wasted no time to look for Matsing's Hidden Immunity Idol. With Russell having the clue with him when he left, the two scoured the entire camp for the object. Malcolm then noticed the token on top of the rice container, and it turned out to be the Hidden Immunity Idol, to their delight. Because Malcolm found the idol, it was his to keep, leaving Denise vulnerable. Later that day, Malcolm and Denise's speculations of them being absorbed by the other two tribes proved correct. After a draw of buffs, Malcolm and Denise were sent to the Tandang and Kalabaw tribes respectively, marking an end to the ill-fated tribe that was Matsing, making them a dissolved tribe.
Matsing Reunited[]
On Day 17, the eleven remaining castaways were merged into the new Dangrayne tribe. They lived the remainder of their days at the old Matsing camp. Matsing's only remaining members, Malcolm and Denise, were reunited.
| Episode | Challenge | Challenge Type | Sit-Out | Result | Eliminated (Vote) |
Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Share the Wealth | Reward/Immunity | None | Lost | Zane (5-1) |
1st Voted Out Day 3 |
| 2 | Manila Folders | Reward/Immunity | None | Lost | Roxy (4-1) |
2nd Voted Out Day 6 |
| 3 | Deep In Thought | Reward/Immunity | None | Lost | Angie (3-1) |
3rd Voted Out Day 8 |
| 4 | Swing Break | Reward/Immunity | None | Lost | Russell (2-1) |
4th Voted Out Day 10 |
| Tribe Dissolved, Day 12 | ||||||
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Matsing is the first tribe to never win a challenge, losing all four challenges it competed in.
- Matsing is pronounced "Mat-ching" in the Filipino language. However, this pronunciation has never been adapted by Jeff Probst nor the castaways.
- Matsing is the third tribe to be absorbed and produce the winner of the season, following Viveros and Puka Puka.
- Matsing is the fourth starting tribe to go down to three players before the merge, following Maraamu, Sook Jai, and Ulong, followed by Luzon, To Tang, Soko, Jabeni, Manu, Sele, Ua, Tika, Lulu, and Yanu.
- Matsing is the second starting tribe to go down to two players before the merge, following Ulong. They would be followed by Ua. Matsing, however, is the only tribe to have none of the players voted off the tribe pre-merge outrank any rival tribe members, as Koror and Yase both voted out members before Ulong and Ua were down to two.
- In addition, there were only two remaining members of the original Saboga, Manihiki, and Puka Puka tribes and one remaining member of the original Aitutaki tribe before their seasons' respective merges. However, the tribes themselves were not reduced to those numbers as their seasons had the tribes dissolved and the remaining castaways were scattered among the remaining tribes.
- Matsing holds the record for most days without having a tribe member voted out with 28 between Russell on Day 10 and Malcolm on Day 38.
- Matsing lived on Catanawan Island, the same island where Tandang (albeit on the other side of the island) and Gota lived.