Michael Garcia

Fans vs. Favorites

Last Chance

### Tribe(s)

Azul Tribe, Villains Tribe (Heroes vs. Villains)Potawatomi Tribe, Merge Tribe (Twist Manor)

Tribe Parvati, Tribe Cochran, Merge Tribe (Fans vs. Favorites: Revenge of the Fallen)

Tribe Potawatomi, Merge Tribe (Last Chance)

### Finish

14/16 (Heroes vs. Villains)10/13 (Twist Manor)

10/14 (Fans vs. Favorites: Revenge of the Fallen)

12/17 (Last Chance)

### Alliances

Darlington Alliance (Heroes vs. Villains)Hailey Briski, Breanne Nevers (Twist Manor)

Maggie McNulty, Ness Mulyk, Steph Krug, Emily Pena (Fans vs. Favorites: Revenge of the Fallen)

Ashley Nosavic, Maggie McNulty, Conner Hackett (Last Chance)

### Votes Against

4 (Heroes vs. Villains)8 (Twist Manor)

15 (Fans vs. Favorites: Revenge of the Fallen)

12 (Last Chance)

**Michael Garcia** was a contestant on Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, Survivor: Twist Manor, the Fan Favorite and a contestant on Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites: Revenge of the Fallen, and a contestant on Survivor: Last Chance.

Even though he never made it to the end in any of his four attempts, Michael is known for his aggressive strategic gameplay and willingness to make big moves. Although his game is heavily admired by many, it has made him a huge threat in all of his attempts to win, which always leads to his eventual demise.

## Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains

Right from the start Michael knew he had to gain control quickly before alliances were solidified. He had a strong bond with Elizabeth and linked up with Bri and Kaleb in the process when they were all put onto the Azul Tribe together, making himself the leader of what would become the *Darlington Alliance*. After losing the first immunity challenge, Michael knew they were in trouble because of the 4-4 divide. He talked to Bri about a plan for her to speak to Kathy about voting with them, preventing a tied vote as he rallied the troops and set his sights on voting Dion out. To his surprise, Bri managed to convince Kathy to vote with them, and all five of them voted out Dion at the first Tribal Council of the season, saving Elizabeth. After winning the second immunity challenge, Michael realized that his fellow allies on the opposing team were outnumbered greatly when compared to the majority they held on his tribe, and his friend and ally, Seth, would be voted out as a result of this.

Before the third immunity challenge, a tribe swap was announced. The players were going back to their predetermined labels as Heroes or Villains. Being placed on the Villains Tribe with Elizabeth and reunited with Conner, Michael knew he had to win or he would be in deep waters. Unfortunately, their tribe lost the third immunity challenge. Right away, Christian spoke with Michael and asked what happened with the Dion vote. Michael claimed Dion was a threat and told him he wanted to vote for Nathan because he assumed he had a hidden immunity idol, to which Christian agreed. Later, Michael, along with Elizabeth, spoke to Conner and asked what he thought. Conner said he trusted Christian and they should vote with him. Michael still on the wary side, lied to Kathy and told her Christian, Nathan, and JP were gunning for her and she should vote with them to get JP out of the game, she agreed. Unfortunately for Michael, his luck ran out and Kathy and Christian both flipped on him along with JP and Nathan and voted him out 4 to 3.

**Michael's Voting History**

## Survivor: Twist Manor

At the beginning, Michael was picked by Hailey to be on the Potawatomi Tribe. Right away he aligned with Hailey and Breanne to form a squad. When looking for hidden immunity idols, Michael spoke to the remaining three men about what they thought about the others to gain some trust. After losing the first immunity challenge, he saw Kyle G., Tom, and Jack strategizing outside the house and got nervous. He then went and spoke to Tom and Kyle G about what they were talking about and they both said they wanted to vote out Breanne for not doing much during the challenge. Michael not buying this went to Breanne and Hailey and told them they need to rope Jack in and vote out Kyle G. The following Tribal Council, the four of them eliminated Kyle G. and left Tom in the dark. Before the second challenge, the Potawatomi Tribe received a new player in Richie. Michael knew he could use him to his advantage but found him rather annoying. After losing the second immunity challenge, Michael knew it was time to make a tough decision because he believed himself to be aligned with Tom and Jack. With the persuasion of Breanne, all of them unanimously voted out Tom because of his connections to the other tribe.

At the third immunity challenge, it was announced that everyone would be randomly switching tribes. The new Potawatomi Tribe consisted of Michael, Hailey, Juice, Kyle S., and previous foe Nathan. The would immediately win the next immunity challenge and be immune from tribal council. Unfortunately for Michael however, he would lose his ally Breanne as she was voted out that tribal council. After losing the following immunity challenge, the Ho-Chunk Tribe sent Michael into the Solo Room to limit his conversations with the other players on his tribe. Luckily for him though, he would be granted an advantage in the game. The *Block a Vote*, this advantage allowed him to stop any player from voting at tribal council. Michael knew that he couldn't just use this at the next tribal council because that would just force a tie and have them draw rocks. He then came up with an elaborate plan to lie to another player and convince them that the advantage he had would save the both of them as long as they vote the exact same way. He didn't know whether to use this lie on Kyle or Nathan, but ultimately chose Nathan thinking he would be more trusting. At tribal council, Michael played his block a vote on Juice; and himself, along with Hailey and Nathan voted him out with only getting a vote from Kyle.

Expecting another challenge, a bomb was dropped on him when it was announced that the previously eliminated four players were competing once again for their chance to go back into the game. With a 25% chance, he rooted for Breanne to bring it home, but unfortunately Juice was crowned the winner and he returned back to the game. The tribes were finally merged and Michael knew he was on the outs.

After losing the first individual immunity challenge to Richie and knowing they were really good friends, he decided to go back to fellow voters Jack and Nathan. He tried to convince them that they would be targeted by the others for their close friendship unless they worked with him and Hailey. However, knowing that still wasn't enough to at least cause a tie, he went to Richie and asked to vote together. Richie had a different plan, he wanted to gun for Nathan because he didn't trust him. Michael tried to draw their attention to Hunter for being a strong physical player and set their eyes on him. Meanwhile, Nathan and Jack were actually feeding all their information to the enemy. At tribal council, Michael realized the numbers were against him when the idol nullifier was played against him and he went home in a 7-3 vote.

Before the Final Tribal Council, a Jury discussion that wasn't filmed was held and led by Michael. During so, the former competitors determined where they were leaning towards. However, tensions started to rise when people, more specifically Rob, were heavily criticizing Hailey's under the radar game. This all came to halt during the Final Tribal Council when Rob was speaking to the final two and Michael decided to call him out for being a hypocrite in terms of his gameplay. He questioned what Rob did in the game, but ultimately the argument went nowhere. Michael ended up voting for Hailey to win the title of Sole Survivor, this being one of the many factors that would cause the eventual 4-4 tied vote at the Final Tribal Council.

At the *Survivor: Twist Manor Reunion Episode*, Michael was applauded for his game, but was called out on for his many negative comments and heated fights with others, most notably those against Hunter, Rob, and Richie. Michael attributed his bitterness during the jury roundtable towards Rob criticizing Hailey during the Jury Roundtable for not playing the game even though Michael perceived him as playing less of a game than Hailey did. When asked about the comments he made about Richie, he claimed Richie played a chaotic and paranoid game and that he did not want to play like that, and that his aggressive gameplay had stressed him out, and he went on to mention that they just mainly played two vastly different games. Michael then made an apology to Hunter and Kyle S. regarding his negative talk about their gameplay. It was then later revealed that he was the one who basically helped Hailey pick the Potawatomi Tribe, and he told Richie he did not tell her to pick him because he was unsure if he could trust him or not. Michael was then called out upon for not being a trustworthy person by Darius, as he is able to lie and get close allies to backstab each other in the game.

**Michael's Voting History**
 **2** | Tom
 **5** | Hunter
 **Voted**
**To Win**

## Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites: Revenge of the Fallen

Michael's game would hit the ground running when the Favorites were told that they had to vote someone out of their group immediately, as he would go out and campaign to others to vote for Ness. While he would succeed, she would not be out of the game, and she would end up being on his tribe as the two of them ended up together on Tribe Parvati. What made matters worse was that their tribe would lose the first immunity challenge of the season. However, this would not impede Michael's efforts in the game as he attempted to get a campaign to turn the tribe against Adam and Cole, seeing the two of them as huge threats in the future of the game. Michael would attempt to build bonds with Emily, Sam, and Steph; and he would attempt to bond with Ness in order to help him get the number's advantage, despite his concern for her potential advantage in the game. At tribal council, Michael's work would be effective, and Cole would become the first person voted out of the season. After Tribe Parvati lost the next immunity challenge, Michael would go out and would attempt to put the target on Adam, but after several missed attempts he would shift to Ness seeing her as a huge threat for her unknown advantage in the game. However, feeling like causing trouble, Emily would tell Ness who would help her attempt to throw the target onto Michael. At tribal council, Michael's alliances with Emily and Steph would prove valuable, as it would help him avoid getting the majority of the votes at tribal council, but this would lock him in a tied vote against Ness, twice. This would give him individual immunity, sending his allies into the game's third rock draw, leading to Michael witnessing Emily meet an early demise.

Michael's game would finally take an uphill turn as a tribe swap would keep him on Tribe Parvati with Steph, Thomas, and Ness. However, Michael's new tribe would not bring him anything new, as he would have to plan for a return to tribal council after his tribe lost the next immunity challenge. Although he was very weary of Ness, he saw Thomas as the bigger liability on his tribe due to his challenge performance and his desire to take out his closest ally, Steph from the game. At tribal council, he would vote for Thomas, sealing his fate in the game. After his tribe once again lost the next immunity challenge, he knew that the chance to take Ness out of the game would be then and there, seeing her advantage as a major threat in the game. However, Michael would get information in the game from Richie, who informed him of his hidden immunity idol find on Tribe Vlachos. At camp, Michael would quickly convince Steph to help him take out Ness. At tribal council, Michael's plan would work, or so it seemed, as Ness' advantage would take full effect as she would use the *Super Idol* to save herself. This would effectively take out Steph, Michael's closest ally in the game, leaving him all alone with Ness.

However, Michael would get another opportunity in the game to help further himself, as a second tribe swap would send him to Tribe Cochran alongside Ness, Maggie, Vin, and his former *Survivor: Twist Manor* opponent; Richie. Despite his and Richie's efforts in the next immunity challenge, they would lose, sending him and Ness to yet another tribal council. At camp, Vin would immediately come up with a plan that would involve taking Richie out of the game and splitting two votes between him and Michael, with him getting his vote from Richie. However, Michael would be unsure of taking out Richie, as despite his concerns with keeping Richie in the game with a hidden immunity idol, he was concerned with getting eliminated as a result of Richie using his hidden immunity idol. He would not feel any better as Richie would consistently flip-flop on his answers to him and the others on his tribe on if he would actually use his hidden immunity idol. At tribal council, Michael's concerns would convince him to change his vote from Richie to Vin in hopes that he would only get his planned one vote from Richie, meaning that he would help to take out Vin in an ideal 2-~~2~~-1 to save himself from a tied vote. However, Vin would be on the same mindset, and he would also change his vote from Richie to Michael. Especially considering how Richie would play his hidden immunity idol, Michael's vote against Vin would save him from being eliminated, but would lock him in a tied vote against Vin. In the revote, Michael's alliances with Maggie and Ness would help to keep him in the game, with him receiving a sole vote from Richie.

Michael's efforts in the game would finally be rewarded, as he would make the merge and would hope for more opportunities in the game, even though he would grow concerned at the impact of Cole winning the Comeback Challenge and returning to the game after he met his earlier demise to Michael's hand. However, he would begin the merge on yet another unlucky note, losing the first individual immunity challenge in a tiebreaker to Richie. Immediately after the challenge, Richie would pull him aside and would attempt to work with Michael, as the both of them saw Darius as a threat and wanted revenge on him. However, Michael's game would already be deemed to threatening, and the two of them would have many difficulties attempting to get the majority on Darius. Michael would not give up, and he would attempt to solidify his bond with some of the others in the game in hopes that he would be safe for another tribal council. When talking to Sam, Michael would attempt to swing his vote to Darius, and he would be given a fake hidden immunity idol from him. He would find out its validity when talking to Maggie and Ness mere minutes later with their collected information about the designs of the hidden immunity idols in the season. Michael would then go back to Richie in an attempt to see where their plan was at, and Richie would promptly lie to him saying that he was fine, but would attempt to give a hint to Michael saying that using a hidden immunity idol would not hurt him. At tribal council, Michael would go forth with the plan to take out Darius and would play the fake hidden immunity idol. While he would get confirmation that the hidden immunity idol was fake, his efforts would not be enough to change the outcome as he would be eliminated in a 7-3 vote. Michael would place 10th out of 14th and would become the first member of the jury.

At the Final Tribal Council, Michael would make it public information that Corey and Richie had both chosen to lie to him in the game, and would condemn the both of them for their games while he praised Maggie for her loyalty to him in the game as well as her honest gameplay. He would go on to say that winning challenges and making big moves would not guarantee them a win in the game. In the end, Michael would end up casting the sole vote for Maggie to win the game.

**Michael's Voting History**
 **1** | Cole
 **2** | Ness
***N/A***
***Immune***
Adam, Sam
 **3** | Thomas
 **5** | Vin
***N/A***
 **6** | Darius
 **Voted**
**To Win**

## Survivor: Last Chance

Back for a fourth time, Michael would reenter the game in S*urvivor: Last Chance*, with him making a potential alliance with Maggie obvious early on as he shakes her hand in front of everyone as the season's theme was explained. Michael would be put onto Tribe Potawatomi, with the chance to redeem this tribe from the trainwreck it was in his second season, S*urvivor: Twist Manor*. He, alongside his tribemates Ashley, Alex, Collin, Conner, Lita, Sam C., and Sam R., would be thrown immediately into their first immunity challenge, of which they would be victorious, finally giving Michael a season where he did not attend the first Tribal Council of the game. At camp, Michael would waste no time, as he would quickly find his tribe's hidden immunity idol and would reveal it in a confessional. Also in his private confessional, Michael would be grateful for his tribe's challenge win, emphasizing the importance of winning, but was concerned with his allies on the other tribe being at risk. Michael would go on to privately state his concerns with trusting Sam R., due to how he burned Michael the round he was eliminated in in S*urvivor: Fans vs. Favorites: Revenge of the Fallen*. Ironically, Sam R., would privately talk about how unconcerned he was about Michael, citing that he believed he would not be a concern to him. Michael would spend the rest of the first round back in the game bonding with his tribemates, excited to be back once again.

At the next immunity challenge, Michael would be put on the puzzle portion of the challenge, and proved it to be a good choice as he would ultimately be a major reason for why they figured it out and won immunity once again. While Michael would celebrate with his tribe back at camp, he would privately be concerned about the fact that Elizabeth, a pregame ally from their first season together, was voted out. However, despite seeing this as a problem, Michael would state in his confessional that he is in a good spot in the game because of how they keep winning challenges and feared a future loss. He would go on to privately mention his hidden immunity idol, stating that he did not want to use it unless he had to and that some people were already suspicious of him due to him not looking for it, despite Michael not telling anyone he had it. Michael would go on to criticize his tribe for having the assumption that no one was running anything on the other tribe while predicting that Jack D. and Jake were in control and that Maggie could hold her own, all while being worried about Sam R.'s good social game and wanting to not be on his bad side. Before the next challenge, Michael would be surprised to be involved in a tribe swap, one that would keep him on Tribe Potawatomi alongside Collin, Conner, Sam C., and Sam R., with the five men celebrating that they had a strong tribe. At the next challenge, their claims of the "winning culture" staying on their tribe would prove to be true, as Michael would help his tribe to another immunity challenge victory, keeping him safe once again. Back at camp, Michael would converse with his tribe, with them all assuming that a comeback could be possible, and he would joke about his poor luck in past seasons with the winners of the comeback challenges typically targeting him. Michael would then joke about his experiences in his past seasons, even mentioning an incident between him and Hunter in *Survivor: Twist Manor* after the Final Individual Immunity challenge that led people to believe many different things regarding Darius' eventual voteoff that season.

At the next immunity challenge, Michael would sit out for his tribe, and despite his absence in the challenge, Tribe Potawatomi would go on to win immunity once again. Back at camp, an announcement would be made that there were things, such as hidden immunity idols and/or advantages, hidden at their camp still, leading to the tribe eventually looking for the hidden items as Michael jokingly commented that they were lazy when told that they were bad at scavenging for these powerful items. At the next immunity challenge, Michael would make a big effort to help his tribe, which would be beneficial in the long run as Tribe Potawatomi would once again win immunity for the fifth consecutive time. Back at camp, Michael would privately talk about his happiness with his winning tribe and how he could see the others whispering and hoped that Conner would tell him if he was at risk so he could play his hidden immunity idol. Additionally, he would go on to privately mention his joy at the women winning, as he hopes that one of Jack D., Jake, JP, and Tom would go out on Tribe Targaryen, the losing tribe of that round, but he assumed Alex would be going home as he predicted an incoming second tribe swap or merge. As Michael would joke with his tribe about their past experiences in the game with their past opponents, he would be targeted by many people on his tribe, with Sam R. believing that Michael possibly had the hidden immunity idol and Sam C. revealing that Michael would be a major target if their tribe had to vote someone out.

Michael's predictions were correct, as the next round would reveal not only that Alex had been voted out, but also a merge, and the second half of the game began with the first individual immunity challenge of the season, of which he would lose to Lita. Back at camp, A paranoid Michael would immediately converse with all of his allies, even regrouping with Maggie as they attempted to sway JP. JP and Michael would talk about wanting their alliances to not go against each other and for them to take out the swing votes first to prolong the inevitable war they saw coming, and they planned to target Sam R., of whom Michael nicknamed "Dolphin Sam", because of his distrust of his former *Fans vs. Favorites* opponent, despite Dolphin Sam telling Michael that they should form a new majority group to keep themselves safe. However, as Michael was scheming and dealing, the others within the game would be plotting against him, with Lita revealing to them that she had actually seen Michael find his hidden immunity idol at the start of the game, increasing his target as the others planned to split the votes against Conner and Michael, with Michael coming in partway to their conversation to throw out Dolphin Sam's name as a target for them. However, despite his and his allies' desire to target Dolphin Sam, Michael saw the benefit of keeping him around, seeing him as a lone wolf with no one to flock to, and wanted to pull him into his alliance. Michael would attempt to do so by talking to Dolphin Sam and attempted to convince him to vote against Jack D., with the two of them seeing him as a threat, and Michael would speak of his paranoia as the two departed to speak with others about the vote. In private, Michael would once again speak of his paranoia while recapping the pros and cons of voting against Dolphin Sam, despite him also wanting to vote against one of the other men, seeing them as shady and implying them to be threats, specifically Jack D. due to his challenge prowess. Michael would further privately talk about how he was aware Collin is not on his side, due to the two of them not even communicating since the start of the merge, and he believed the lines would be drawn with him wanting to play his hidden immunity idol to avoid his worst dreams of once again being the first merge boot. Michael would then go on to discuss his new plan of targeting Jack D. one on one with Conner and Maggie, the latter of whom told Michael that she would pass this information on to Ashley as Michael ranted to Maggie about his anger towards his current situation. At Tribal Council, despite his anxiety rooted from his past seasons, Michael made a surprising choice to not play his hidden immunity idol. Unfortunately, this would be the wrong choice for him, as the others had split the votes against Michael and Conner in a 4-4-3-1 split vote. Unsurprisingly, Michael would be sent home in a 8-2 vote on the revote, but not before Devin reminded everyone that the jury phase had now begun, and cited Michael's reputation as a bitter juror as he preceded to curse almost everyone left in the game as he threw his now-defunct hidden immunity idol at Conner, which would later be thrown into the fire after his departure from Tribal Council. Michael would place 12th out of 17th, and would once again become the first member of the jury.

***Jury Roundtable/Final Tribal Council Coming Soon...***

**Michael's Voting History**
***N/A***
Collin, JP, Tom, Jack D.,
Sam C., Lita, Sam R., Jake

## Trivia

* Michael is the only contestant to use an advantage he received from the *Solo Room* in *Survivor: Twist Manor*.
* Although it was not shown, Michael headed a jury discussion after Darius White was eliminated in *Survivor: Twist Manor*, which stirred up heated discussions between him and Rob Johannes over who they thought should win, which was carried over to the Final Tribal Council when Michael publicly disagreed with Rob during his speech.
* The first two times Michael was voted out in the *Survivor Whitewater* series, Nathan Valk had cast a vote against him at that Tribal Council.
* The last two times Michael was voted out in the *Survivor Whitewater* series, Sam Rehl had cast a vote against him at that Tribal Council.

* Michael is one of three contestants to be a host and a contestant between multiple seasons, the others being Christian Davis and Devin Ulrich.
* Michael is the first male player to have to go to every Tribal Council in the premerge phase of the game, doing so in *Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites: Revenge of the Fallen*.
* Michael currently holds the record for the most votes cast against a contestant, garnering 27 votes across his first 3 seasons.
* Michael is the first contestant to be the first member of the jury on three separate seasons, doing so in *Survivor: Twist Manor* and *Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites,* and *Survivor: Last Chance*