Mink

**Mink** (Mink Man#5414) placed 8th in Season 3 & 19th in Survivor Season 10.

Starting off very quietly on the Qele Tribe, Mink was almost perceived as inactive initially by his tribemates. This did not stop him from finding the Qele Extra Vote, though, and upon this discovery he began to strengthen his UTR social game with the other players. This carried him through the Qele tribal councils without a target on his back. Mink’s desire for a controlled chaos wouldn’t begin until after the tribe swapped onto Nu-Kama. Here, Mink vowed to take control of the game whilst being a villain, planning to flip between the OG Kama’s and the OG Cagi’s after allowing them to vote out Wren. This was successful, as the two sides despite being snaked each once were still ready and willing to work with him. At the merge, Mink vowed to continue this strategy as he took social control of the game. While recognized as a threat by some for this strategy, Mink was able to stay well protected socially to never be in true danger while jumping back and forth between alliances. This strategy was proving so successful that it seemed clear Mink would only face any true adversity at the final leg of the game. Despite this, Mink made a critical error at the Aurora Survivor Auction that cost him the entire game. Upon winning an Extra Vote if he abstained from voting, Mink decided to spin a lie to the others that he actually would receive an Idol for abstaining from voting. This spooked Kazeno in particular, who despite being Mink’s closest ally was realizing that his play style would be hard to beat and oppose at the end if Mink had an Idol. As such, Kazeno formed a last-minute countermeasure to this by organizing a showstopping blindside of frontrunner Mink and blowing the game wide open for the rest of the players. A 4-2-1 vote sent Mink to the jury, who was surprised how his plan of needlessly lying about an Idol ended this way. Despite this questionable self-sabotage, Mink is remembered for playing a masterful flip-flopping game.

Returning in Season 10, Mink began the game on the Mona Tribe as a frontrunner. With his strategic mind that put him onto the Brain Tribe jumping out in full force, Mink would become initially well positioned and in no danger of going home. To pad this cushion, Mink would quickly find the Mona Hidden Immunity Idol. With his number 1 Denim also well positioned, Mink seemed destined to be able to play this successfully should his name be mentioned by anyone. Mink’s downfall would begin much quicker than expected, however, when the tribe perceived him as a liability due to spotty activity. His first noticeable strike to the tribe was his perceived lack of effort in the scavenger hunt, which Mona would lose. At the following challenge, emboldened by his idol and wanting to be a villain, Mink would throw the Pitfall Panic challenge, casually laughing in confessionals about how he didn’t care at all that they would be going to Tribal Council. Karma had its kiss for Mink, when despite this not factoring into the decision, Mink’s perceived activity and yet another challenge failure put him into the crosshairs. While Xcync was initially slated for an “obvious” boot due to initially not getting on well with most of his tribe, X would shake his booty off socially to attempt to ensure he was not in danger, outshining Mink who much preferred others to come to him. Even Denim would be in agreement that Mink should go, feeling as though Xcync’s new social activity streak would be less of a liability. Additionally, his close ally Dangan as well as Anthony would frequently reference how dry they felt he was socially, being akin to a gamebot versus Xcync’s social game that gelled better with their personalities. Mink would accurately perceive that danger heading his way, feeling as though people’s lack of socializing with him was the writing on the wall. He stated he would use his idol to idol out either Xcync (which he chose) or Anthony, and would wait until right before Tribal to officially use it though in case of any scrambling. At Tribal Council, Mink would however allege he was “too busy” to remember to play the idol, and become the third boot of the season in a 4-2 vote. He is remembered for self sabotage yet again, mirroring his Season 3 performance in a way by letting overconfidence cloud his already solid game foundation.