Chris Daughterty

CHRIS DAUGHTERTY - A CASE STUDY

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Opening:

Voting strategy is dependent upon the social dynamics and relative strength of the individual players in the tribe. This is as much true at the beginning of the game as it is at the end and any discussion of strategy has to begin with a summary of the individual players in the tribe.

Brady: PP-player. An athletic player who formed an early friendship with Brook and the two John's but didn't seem to recognize that the game was on in this tribe until it was too late.
Brook: AP-player. Another young, athletic player, Brook's type is tough to call as he was the very first boot of the season. I've got him as an AP-player only because it is my assumption that he formed a very early final two pact with John P. From what little we saw, he seemed like a team kinda guy.
Chad: PP-player. Chad formed a very early relationship with Chris, Rory, Lea and Travis though from the early going it was obvious he was riding no higher than third in this alliance (there's a very good chance he was riding lower than that). I see him as a follower and not one to do anything to up his place on the tribal totem.
Chris: AU-player. Chris formed an early alliance with Travis as his second and backed up Chad, Lea and Rory. Chris was most certainly the leader and obviously had the numbers but he didn't understand the importance of tribal moral and of keeping up tribe strength. His alliance was dubbed the Fat Five by the other members of the tribe.
John K: PP-player. In with Brook and the other John, John K was clearly a follower and didn't do much of anything even when it was clear his number was coming up.
John P: AP-player. The leader of the young guys alliance, I think John P was much better equipped to lead this tribe and I suspect their fortunes would have been better if he had the numbers of Chris. In my opinion, he was the strongest player in this tribe.
Lea: PP-player. Lea most certainly was playing back-up to the Chris/Travis pair and, like Chad, I can't see that he would have done anything to up that position.
Rory: PP-player. Although in with the Fat Five, Rory appeared to be the fifth wheel in this group, though it is possible that Chris and Travis had higher aspirations for him - they certainly were aggressive enough to be playing stunts down the road. Even so, Rory seemed to try his best to keep his options open.
Travis: AU-player. Teamed with Chris, and just like Chris, Travis played this game too hard too early directly resulting in Lopevi tribe ending up on the short end of the stick come the merge.

D-players: Chad, Chris, Lea, Travis
T-players: Brady, Brook, John K, John P, Rory

Tribal Council 1 - Day 2 - Boot: Brook

Votes:
Chad, Lea, Travis & Rory voted Brook
Brook, John K & John P voted Chris
Brady voted Rory

Chris voted Brook

I can't get down on Chris too much for booting Brook - don't worry, I have plenty to dump on him about down the road. The reason for this is that, after a truly pitiful display during the immunity challenge, the vote immediately drifted his way. Obviously, steering the vote in any other direction was the way to go. The thing is, I think Chris was the right call and the tribe - including players like Chad and Lea who had other options to explore - would have been better off with the aggressive Chris out of the picture.

The other thing I don't like about this boot is that, if you are going to take control of the tribe, you go all out and take out the other leader and that would be John P. Removing Brook is a half measure that only serves to guarantee the tribe remains split.

Rating: Dubious - Chris should have gone after the leader of the other alliance and taken out John P.

Tribal Council 2 - Day 7 - Boot: John P

Votes:
Chad, Lea, Travis & Rory voted John P
Brady, John K & John P voted Chris

Chris voted John P

Well, a boot to late but Chris got it right this time.

Rating: Good.

Tribal Council 3 - Day 9 - Boot: Brady

Votes:
Chad, Lea, Travis & Rory voted Brady
Brady & John K voted Chris

Chris voted Brady

By this stage of the game, the Lopevi tribe was disintegrating fast. Brady and John K, their two most athletic players, have been completely written off as far as the dominant alliance goes and Lea and Rory appear at each other's throats. Chris is ignoring this at his peril and it was time to throw Brady and John K a bone by booting Rory or perhaps even Lea. Though the later may have a detrimental effect on the dominant alliance, booting Rory would have been a piece of cake and would have significantly improved the moral, and strength, of this tribe

Rating: Mistake - This tribe is sliding fast and Chris is just ignoring it.

Early Middle-game:

Tribal Structure:

Chad -> Chris
Lea -> Chris
Travis -> Chris
Chris -> Travis
Rory -> Chris
John K - isolated

N-players: Chris & Travis
D-Players: Chad & Lea
T-players: John K & John K

Under Chris' leadership, Lopevi is faultering. They lost two of the three immunity challenges, but thanks to the twist are only one player down when compared Yasur across the island. They were handed another break in a swap that allowed Chris to still maintain control his own tribe. Chris lost Rory as well as his second in Travis in the swap, but gained two players from Yasur.

Julie: AP-player. Julie was actually the leader of a young girls alliance over at Yasur that fell apart to the superior staying power of Ami's alliance. Julie is young and attractive and looking for opportunities to improve her position in the game.
Twila: AP-player. A smart but a brutally honest player that saw her at odds with a number of players in her home tribe. Never the less, she has a strong, and smart, second in Scout back at Yasur and is well positioned for a coup over the tribal leader, Ami.

Tribal Council 4 - Day 18 - Boot: John K

Votes:
Chad, Julie, Lea & Twila voted John K
John K voted Chad

Chris voted John K

The new Lopevi was actually more functional than the old. John K, along with Julie and Twila, were sucking up to the dominant players and with Rory gone, everyone was getting along very well. The tribe went on to win the next two immunity challenges. Yasur wisely booted Chris' second in Travis, a blow, but then made the mistake of removing one of their own rather than getting rid of Rory and reducing the Lopevi tribe down to four. With five Lopevis left, the tribe was still alive and what Chris should be thinking is throwing the next challenge, boot a Yasur and take your chances with a tied merge. The right boot would have been Twila. They should have recognized that she had more commitments at Yasur while Julie was a bit more of a free agent who may have swung their way rather than risk a tie vote.

Instead, Chris promised Twila a final four spot and booted John K. This was a colossally foolish decision. John K most certainly stood a better chance to stick with Chris than Twila. You just can't trust the deal with Twila as she really had no choice but to accept. John, in the meantime, would likely have been thrilled at a final four, or five, promise. He simply had no better options. Twila did.

Rating: Blunder - The most foolish decision ever made by a player who went on to win.

Late Middle-game:

N-players: Ami, Leann
D-player: Scout, Twila
T-players: Eliza, Julie
M-players: Chad, Chris, Lea, Rory

Tribal Council 5 - Day 21 - Boot: Rory

The tribes merged and four new players have entered into Chris's game.

Ami: AP-player. The undisbuted leader of Yasur with a very solid second in Leann.
Eliza: PU-player. A rather catty player who just can't understand why everyone doesn't like her. Out of touch as far as game play goes and has been all over the place with her voting.
Leann: PP-player. Second to Ami, but not much of a player herself who would just fall into the background without her leader.
Scout: AP-player. Physically, Scout is well behind all the other players in this game, but she is smart, well liked, and a gamer. At this stage, she was my pick to win but things just didn't pan out for her.

Votes:
Ami, Eliza, Julie, Leann, Scout & Twila voted Rory
Chad, Lea & Rory voted Ami

Chris voted Ami

A laughingly predictable turn of events. It was truly sad that Chris and company were so blindsided by it.

Rating: Good - At least they targeted the right player in leader Ami.

Tribal Council 6 - Day 24 - Boot: Lea

Votes:
Ami, Eliza, Julie, Leann, Scout & Twila voted Lea
Chad voted Julie
Lea vote Eliza

Chris voted Lea

What's up with all the Lopevis voting different? And really, does Chris think he is fooling anyone voting with the girls?

Rating: Dubious - Chris should not be sucking up to the dominant women. He should be stirring the pot and trying to create dissension. He has material to work with in aggressive players like Scout and Twila and unpredictable players like Eliza.

Tribal Council 7 - Day 27 - Boot: Chad

Votes:
Ami, Eliza, Julie, Leann, Scout & Twila voted Chad
Chad voted Eliza

Chris voted Eliza

Sorry Chris, but Eliza is exactly the type of player you should be sucking up to. She is the weak link in Yasur chain.

Rating: Dubious.

Tribal Council 8 - Day 30 - Boot: Leann

Votes:
Eliza, Scout & Twila voted Leann
Ami, Julie & Leann voted Eliza

Chris voted Leann

I loved this episode but was eventually disappointed that the brilliant way in which Scout and Twila played Chris didn't pay off for them. Oh well. Ami and crew - by this stage Julie had wormed her way into the three spot in this alliance, demoting Twila - targetted Eliza but Eliza so hated Scout and Twila that they knew if they approached her that she would not believe them. With Ami winning immunity, Leann became the obvious target for the coup. Twila went to Chris and the resulting conversation was hysterical.

Twila: You know what player is the key in this?
Chris: Ami?
Twila shakes her head.
Chris: Julie?
Twila is starting to get frustrated.
Chris (doubtfully): Eliza?
Twila nods

Yup, a real rocket scientist.

Rating: Good - Chris was essentially the swing vote here and although it took some prodding to get him moving in the right direction, at least he recognized that continuing to suck up to the dominant players was not the way to go.

Tribal Council 9 - Day 33 - Boot: Ami

Votes:
Eliza, Scout & Twila voted Ami
Ami & Julie voted Scout

Chris voted Ami

Rating: Good - It's pretty obvious the former Yasur leader had to go as soon as possible.

Tribal Council 10 - Day 36 - Boot: Julie

Votes:
Scout & Twila voted Julie
Eliza & Julie voted Twila

Chris voted Julie

With Eliza thinking that it was once again flipping time, Chris found himself the swing vote again. No matter how he voted he would have still been sitting third or fourth in the alliance, so he's better off sticking with what he's got.

Rating: Good - You don't flip on people simply to make a lateral move.

Endgame:

N-players: Scout, Twila
D-player: Chris
T-player: Eliza

Tribal Council 11 - Day 37 - Boot: Eliza

Votes:
Scout & Twila voted Eliza
Eliza voted Twila

Chris voted Eliza

You know, if Chris didn't win this immunity challenge, and I were Scout and Twila, I would have sent his bags packing at this stage. His usefullness is over but his popularity is dangerous. He's an N-player and you never want to be against them in the final two. Eliza on the other hand occupied the lowest social rung on the Yasur ladder for quite some time. She would have been easier to beat. Either way, Chris won immunity and I don't think Scout and Twila were thinking that way anyway.

So let's get to what Chris did wrong this time. Scout and Twila have been a pair since the very early stages of this game and there is no way that one won't take the other if they happened to win the final challenge. On the other hand, Eliza has never had a real ally and Chris saving her skin might be enough for her to take him to the final two should she win the final challenge. This would especially be the case if Scout happened to be the one to go in the resulting tie. Eliza stood a very good chance not to take Twila with her, despite it being the right way for her to go. With the immunity necklace around his neck, Chris had nothing to lose in forcing a tie and a reasonable amount to gain.

Rating: Mistake - Having won immunity, Chris should have forced a tie in hopes of seeing either Scout or Twila go.

Tribal Council 12 - Day 38 - Boot: Scout

Votes:
Chris voted Scout

Chris won the final immunity challenge and booted out the more popular Scout. I was rather sad at this point because Scout was my pick to win this thing from the very early stages of this game and it would have been her if Chris didn't manage to fall ass backwards into this. Oh well.

Rating: Good - The easy and right call.

Tribal Council 13 - Day 39 - Boot: Twila

Votes for winner:
Eliza, Chad, Julie, Lea & Leann voted Chris
Ami & Scout voted Twila

Although I was very disappointed in the conclusion of what was quite a fun season to watch, hindsight saw this as a very interesting final two as Chris and Twila was such opposite players. Chris had great skills socially and could get almost anyone to like him but strategically he was dumb as mud. Twila played one of the best game ever on the voting front but didn't have the patience to deal with players that she didn't like. In the end it really wasn't that surprising who won out.

Grades:

Opening: C-
Early Middle-game: D
Late Middle-game: C+
Endgame: C

Overall Voting Strategy: C-

Overall Social Strategy: B+
Comments: Socially Chris could make a lot of players like him though he severly alienated a large portion of his tribe, players that he needed. Players that liked him would follow his lead but those that didn't couldn't stand him. Leadership: A-, Social Ability: B

Overall Rating: B-