Red

**Red** was a contestant of SurviVARs: Magic Kingdom and SurviVARs: Secret War.

## **Profile**

**Discord:** redbeard

**Gender:** he/him

**Timezone:** EST

## **Survivor**

* S3 - Magic Kingdom
* S5 - Secret War

**Player Ranking (4th)**

Red is one of the most rootable characters I’ve ever seen in an ORG. He has an amazing attitude, and it makes him so easy to watch and cheer on. It’s hard not to love Red, and his social game proves this. He seemed to have everyone in his pocket from Day 1, and he became a top contender right off the bat. It’s sad, really, because he never did anything wrong with his game. I can’t think of any mistakes he made or any blunders that caused him to be voted out. At the end of the day, he was just aligned with the players that fell out of power in the mid-merge. When things started flipping and players like Izzy and Davon really seized control, it meant that Red had to go. His elimination was a great round though, because of Izzy and Nick’s race to grab the tiebreaker. Had it gone to rocks, there’s a chance that Red remains in the majority and goes on to win the game. Red is an absolute all-star, and I hope he stays around the community for a long time. We’re all better for having him around.

### **Awards**

**Hero**

Heroes are hard to come by in Survivor. Especially since everyone plays completely morally bankrupt and enjoys taking shots at one another. Between all of the tribal council diatribes, tribe chat arguments, and semi-toxic eliminations, this player stood above it all. They characterized everything this award is and should be. They were classy in and out of confessional, and they had one of the most overwhelmingly positive Edgics I’ve ever seen… and that was because no one ever said a bad word about them!

**Best Duo**

Survivor is a game of alliances, and this season had a lot of them. There were plenty of pairs that came and went, but most of these wound up betraying each other and cutting each other’s throats at some point or another. Only two players were as thick as thieves from day one until the other was voted out. Their loyalty was unwavering, and even outside of strategy they would constantly express appreciation of one another. They loved each other as players and as friends, and they never flipped. That’s more than could be said for any other pair of the game, no matter how close so many others were. Their dynamic of being polar opposite players just added to the fun each of them brought to the game! They were fire and ice in the most perfect way.

**Move of the Game**

You all played hard, and you all played well. You did the best with the information you had at the time and really really tried to keep yourselves in the best positions you could. This cast felt like a season of all stars and there were many impressive votes this season. We saw Davon slowly flip the game in his favor. We saw Izzy turn a potential firemaking at Final Four into a unanimous vote. We saw a race for a Tiebreaker advantage that completely changed the trajectory of the endgame in the direction of its eventual winner. But among all of that… we saw this move. A move so massive it took out someone who had been climbing the contender list. So many things were going in this player’s favor, and nobody predicted them going out when they did. It was a masterful blindside, where heat was misdirected and an idol was wasted when it didn’t need to be. Every player had a role in this vote, and it signaled a complete change to the season. All you need to do is look at the Elimination Game stats to see that nobody saw this coming, and a vote would never be predictable again.

**Fan Favorite**

I really only have wonderful things to say about this cast. The spectators loved watching every second of this game, and it made Fan Favorite a very close race. You all brought it, you all fought for your spots, and your confessionals were great. That being said, I know that it wasn’t always easy for y’all. Something that made this season especially compelling was all the drama that was at the heart of it. There were broken friendships, coldblooded eliminations, truly heartbreaking moments, and just insane miscommunications. The player who won fan favorite somehow managed to avoid all of that. They were always kind, always respectful, but were far from being boring or vanilla. They had one of the best confessionals I’ve ever seen from a player, but everything about them is just so damn lovable. It’s hard not to appreciate this player for the warmth and energy they brought to the cast. Not only that, but they have the cutest damn kid in the world.

#### **Voting History**

**Player Ranking (2nd)**

As I was writing these I constantly shuffled the top three around, but Red was #1 for a long time. He was THAT captivating in Secret War. His story was unique, because he was never at the very top of the contender’s list like he was for most of Magic Kingdom. Still, he was playing a great game, and seemed poised to do well. That’s not the impressive part though. The really impressive part of his game is that he was being targeted from the moment his feet hit the merge tribe, but he somehow managed to squeeze out a fifth place placement in spite of that. Biggy alone seemed to be targeting him each and every round, but it just never stuck. Red was smart enough to shift alliances on a whim, and he worked with Izzy to a masterful degree in the endgame. They knew they needed each other to stay safe, and it worked wonders for them both. The two of them manipulated the others without showing their cards, and when we hit Final Five it was obvious that one of them would walk away with the win. A lot of people were rooting for Red, because he was the ultimate Underdog. He never should’ve gotten as close as he did to the end, but he damn near won it all. Red is one of the kindest, funniest, sincerest souls on Discord, and I think it’s the biggest blessing to have him play for us twice. Thanks for everything, Red.

### **Nominations**

**Best Duo (With Izzy)**

It’s a classic Survivor strategy. Are you worried that your threat level is too large, and that you’re going to get sniped once the other big players go home? The best solution is just to attach yourself to the other threats and make sure the players in the middle don’t get the momentum to take you out. It’s what Red and Izzy did in this season, and it worked wonders for both of them. If these two didn’t work together, I don’t think either of them would’ve made it as far as they did. They knew they’d have to vote each other out at some point, and Izzy wound up being the one to come out on top, but this didn’t change how much these two controlled the endgame as a pair.

**Best Move (Merlin's 3-2-1)**

Alice’s elimination was madness, but Merlin’s elimination was systematic execution. He was set up to potentially win the whole game, but losing Winston was not good for him. He lost a protector, and was left in the middle without either side really trying to save him. Still, he was far from being a major target. All eyes were on Biggy, Izzy, and Red as major contenders, and Merlin was set to skate through to FTC with some serious win equity. Unfortunately for him, Izzy and Red caught onto this and took advantage of Biggy and JRay’s trust to orchestrate a 3-2-1. Once the majority split their votes, Izzy, Red and Rich were free to grab a narrow majority and control the vote. It was smart, smooth, and entirely unexpected. It also left Izzy and Red with a greater chance at making FTC, which would have been much harder with Merlin alongside them.

**Player of the Game**

There’s a reason Red has been nominated for almost every award on this list. He was one of the main protagonists of this season, and survived against seemingly insurmountable odds. He was so smart with his alliances, and kept the secrets that he needed to keep. He saw that his path to the end was narrow, but he navigated it expertly. Red earned more votes against him in this season than many of these players received across both games combined, and still somehow still made F5 with a real shot to win. There’s not much more to say that hasn’t been said in all of the award write-ups I’ve already laid out above. Red was a highlight of the season, and played one of the best games we’ve seen.

### **Awards**

**Underdog**

The fact this man placed fifth is an absolute testament to Red’s skill in this game. From the moment he reached merge, it seemed like he was doomed to fail. He was very nearly the merge boot, and had many close calls from that moment on. He found any weak point he could in order to survive. He utilized Izzy to flip the game at several key points, and was able to target players like BK in order to keep himself safe for just a little bit longer. He was the frontrunner to win for the majority of the merge, but nobody really believed that he’d be able to pull it off because everyone and their mother wanted him gone. Then, towards the end, we all started to wonder if he could actually make it work. Red could’ve been the merge boot, but he was very nearly the winner of the whole game. We couldn’t be happier with his performance this game, against all odds.

**Best Move (Victoria's Blindside)**

This move was a major turning point in Secret War’s merge game. Victoria had so many advantages that I don’t want to go back to count them, and was going to be able to guarantee herself F5 and potentially comp beast her way to the end like she had done in Hogwarts. She was set up to become unstoppable, and all she had to do was survive F7. Unfortunately for her, Izzy recognized this too. It should have been 4-3 against Red, but Izzy flipped to send Victoria home. Victoria took a major gamble in holding onto her idol, and other players took advantage of that to send a massive threat home. It was the moment Izzy and Red cemented themselves as the players to beat, and set the stage for the rest of the game to come.

**Voice of the Season**

This is the second time Red has been in the running for Voice of the Season. Red was one of the most loveable and rootable players this season. The pre merge Red spoke to us about his game and we saw it crumble around him while he described it. He lost Lex early on, and then was target #1 come the merge. It felt like every round Red was targeted, and every player would shoot him “I’m sorry messages”. Red’s reaction to those messages every round was so entertaining because you could feel his eyerolls through the screen. Though what really puts Red in contention for this award is he was at the center of many different storylines. It felt like when things were happening Red was affected by it the most. Though what really made him great was he vocalized how much he wanted to be in the game and battled every round to do so but more importantly did it with joy. Thank you Red for your heart and fiery attitude.

**Fan Favorite**

Red’s journey was one of the most captivating of the season. Anyone going against odds like Red’s would already be an Underdog to root for, but it’s his lovable personality and amazing confessionals that make him as popular as he is. He’s one of the most memorable players in SurviVARS, and proved exactly why he’s an All-Star with how he handled this second game. Every time he was in danger, you could find the spec lounge rooting for him to make it just one more round, and he continually surprised us by pulling it off.