AusSurvivor

### Summary

In the islands of Samoa, 24 Americans begin the adventure of a lifetime. They were separated into 3 tribes of 8. On the blue tribe Saanapu, Jacob & George had conflicts with Sarah & Kalista on work ethic. Saanapu went to the first 2 tribal councils, voting out Hayden and Nicole in an effort to keep the tribe strong and unified. On the Vavau tribe, Isaac was an outcast from the beginning, but Scott and Ethan persuaded the tribe to keep him and blindside Abby for her lack of challenge strength. On the dominant red tribe Aganoa, Sydney and Jackson forged a relationship with each other, and remained at the core of their tribe. Sophie and Madeleine were originally on the outs, but after the power couple Sydney and Jackson decided Alex was the weakest link, they blindsided their alliance with Jed, Harley, and Linden by disrupting their split vote and sending Alex home.

On Day 12, Saanapu and Vavau lost the challenge and had to go to Tribal Council, where 2 people would be voted out. On Saanapu, AC and Stephen had to choose between Sarah & Kalista and Jacob & George. They chose to vote with the latter, voting Sarah out. On Vavau, the majority of the tribe decided to vote Isaac out in an attempt to keep the tribe strong. However, in a surprise twist, Isaac and Sarah switched tribes and had to choose someone from their original tribe to join them on their new one. Isaac chose his ally Scott, while Sarah chose Stephen, who recently betrayed her. The new Vavau tribe ended up losing both Immunity challenged after the switch. Sarah and Stephen were able to fix their relationship and managed to find multiple cracks in the original Vavau tribe, convincing them to turn against Riley and Matt.

On Day 17, Saanapu won the challenge and chose to stay intact, meaning the 2 other tribes had to be split up. The new Vavau tribe consisted of a majority of original Aganoa members, and Ethan, Faith, Stephen, and Sarah from the previous Vavau tribe. Madeleine and Sophie, originally on the outs of their old tribe, managed to have Linden blindsided. However, they did not keep their position as Madeleine was voted out next, leaving Sophie on the bottom. Even though Sophie's clutch idol play resulted in Ethan's blindside and an opportunity to find footing, she was voted out. The Vavau tribe, now down to 5 to Saanapu's 9, won a challenge which allowed them to send one tribemate to Saanapu's tribal council. Stephen was sent, and in a shock twist, he was allowed to kidnap one member of Saanapu, and he chose Scott, hoping that he would help them win the next challenge. Vavau lost the following challenge, and Scott was subsequently voted out.

On Day 30, the tribes merged and there were obvious divisions: AC, Jed, Harley, Jackson, Stephen, & Sydney were aligned closely, with Sarah, Faith, & Kalista attached, leaving Jacob, Isaac, & George on the bottom. For the first vote, Rebekah was unanimously voted out due to her untrustworthiness and for the fact that she had no allies. The majority alliance split the votes at the following tribal council, sending George home right before the jury phase of the game. The Core 6 decided to bring in Faith, Jacob, and Isaac to blindside Kalista. While Faith was willing to flip on her allies, Isaac decided to tell Kalista and Sarah about the vote. Kalista played her idol, getting her revenge on Jackson, angry about his plotting against her. The minority 4 tried to get Faith and Sydney to flip on Harley, but they chose to remain loyal to the 6. Harley also played his idol, feeling unsafe, but also causing his allies to distrust him. Sarah was voted out after Isaac, after Harley promised to keep her.

Harley's villainous antics, sneakiness, and unpleasant character around camp proved to be Jacob and Kalista's saving grace, as all his allies, including showmance AC, unanimously blindsided him. Jacob, who was making relationships and friendships with the majority alliance, integrated himself with Stephen and Sydney, making a final 3 pact. Sydney decided to use her idol to make a big move in the game by saving Kalista, and blindsiding her closest ally AC, in order to gain more respect from the jury and gaining an ally in Kalista.

At the final 6, It was the Fia Fia 5 against Kalista. After a hard fought campaign, Kalista was finally voted out after 46 days, leaving Jacob, Jed, Faith, Stephen, and Sydney. Jacob has been the hero all season, giving his tribe fire and being the moral compass of the cast. Jed has been under the radar strategically, but his social game has been lacking as well. Faith has made a name for herself as the biggest goat due to being deemed "annoying" by all her tribemates, but she was able to find her footing. Stephen has been in everyone's good graces, winning 3 individual immunities, and has called every shot in his alliance. Sydney has been playing hard since the start, allying herself with the bottom dwellers, yet remaining in the majority, as well as making big moves to improve her standing. At the final 5, Jacob won individual immunity, and Faith was the target of the remaining players. Unknown to everyone else, Faith found a hidden immunity idol after hysterically almost falling from a tree. Faith confided in Stephen her findings, and Stephen used this as an opportunity to take out his biggest competition and best friend: Sydney. At tribal council, the vote was tied 1-1 between Jed and Sydney, and Stephen, mid-tribal, convinced Jacob to flip on Sydney on the revote to break their final 3 deal. Jacob, due to his likable personality, was voted out next. Stephen won his 4th and the final immunity immunity, and chose to take his "home dog" Jed to the Final Tribal Council over Faith, whom he believed would be harder to beat.

At the Final Tribal Council, Stephen was applauded for his stellar social game, his challenge prowess, and his strategic awareness, along with the fact that he attended 20/22 tribal councils, serving each one. Jed received criticism for his perceived lack of strategy, and his tendency to gossip. At the live reunion, Stephen was awarded the title of Sole Survivor and the $1,000,000.

Winner: Stephen

Biggest Snake: Isaac

Most Heroic: Jacob

Best Social Player: Sydney

Biggest Beast: Jed

Best Strategist: Sydney

Most Robbed: Faith

Best Pre-Merger: Sophie

Player of the Season: Harley