Chase

**Chase** (chase\_irondwarf#8661) placed 5th in Season 8 & 9th in Survivor Season 10.

Starting the game very quiet but good natured on the Kisa Tribe, Chase would unknowingly be up for elimination early on due to being perceived as an inactive on his OG tribe. With the first boot of his OG tribe being firmly set on him, Chase would luck out when the Kisa Tribe won the first two challenges and then had two DQ’s immediately back to back, pushing him into the tribe swap without having to face this danger. Before this swap, Chase was able to secure the Kisa Extra Vote as well. On his new tribe, Chase was set up to do alright, hitting it off very well with Tanner and the rest of the OG Taki members lightly. Due to this, Chase was considering flipping on his OG Tribe to form a majority with the OG Taki members; however, when Hao was doing too much after a challenge loss, Cherry manipulated Hao into scaring all 3 OG Kisa members into fearing a very hard and heavy 3-3 split that did not exist and that he was with the OG Kisas. Thus, Chase would vote incorrectly at the first Tribal Council and be put into yet another precarious position, only for Tanner to reconcile with him and understand why he voted the way he did. With their trust in each other only minimally damaged, Chase and Tanner began to consider forming a trio with Chad, fearing that while they liked Cherry his Ilolma ties could be strong at the merge. Unfortunately, this would never take off as Lola was completely inactive, leading the entire tribe to stack votes on her in a seemingly no brainer vote off. Another tragedy would then strike Chase when Naran played an idol on the inactive Lola solely to get Tanner out as a threat, leaving Chase with zero true allies as Tanner was the connector for Chase and the other tribemates. At the merge, Chase was still reeling from the loss of his closest ally and being on the bottom when he would face the wrong side of a vote yet AGAIN: this time, his only remaining OG member Smokin blindsided out of the game. Following this, Chase felt his days were numbered and immediately withdrew a bit, becoming emotional at his constant bad positioning via little fault of his own beyond socializing with the “wrong” people. Additionally, he had accidentally exposed having an Extra Vote for all to see when he for some reason asked the hosts publicly if he could play one after voting had closed rather than in private. Luckily for Chase, two separate factions would see the benefit of keeping him in the game. First, Cherry and “the Frats” alliance, consisting mostly of the Nu Taki members. Second, Katt & Elise due to having good conversations with each other. Chase would initially side with The Frats, appearing as though he would be taking on a passive game from here on out due to the trauma of constantly losing. However, this was not the case when at the following Tribal Council Chase decided to make a move of his very own to blindside The Frats. Knowing that Cherry would likely run the end game if he stuck with them for any more votes, Chase went to Elise & Katt and formed a plan to use outsider Rye (who had just been blindsided) and Elise’s Extra Vote to pull off a showstopping blindside and put a wrench in Cherry’s plans, freeing up the game. Following this, Chase would gain newfound confidence in his game and winning odds and begin to play the game much more aggressively. Having a taste of control, Chase went on to flip on Katt & Elise to differentiate his game from theirs and blindside them the following vote by sending Rye home despite the duo being okay with Rye going anyway. This luckily caused very little friction, but did set a target firmly on his back. With Cherry and Chad both plotting to idol Chase out potentially the very next round if he were to lose immunity, Chase did no such thing and won a clutch immunity challenge, preserving his life in the game for another round. Chase would then flip back to Elise & Katt’s side, intending to get rid of Cherry before once again flipping back to Naran and Chad to eliminate one of the duo. Unfortunately, Chase’s plans were foiled when particularly Katt & Chase made it obvious to Cherry that he was in danger due to a lack of socializing. This coupled with essentially a goodbye message to Cherry by Elise led Cherry to play his Hidden Immunity Idol on himself, blindsiding the trio and sending Elise to the Jury. Chase’s game would then begin to crumble, as he left Chad out of the prior vote despite being viewed as a duo and had the duo of Naran & Cherry looking squarely at him. His only hope of surviving if he were not to be immune (which he was not) was for Cherry to also lose immunity. Unfortunately, Cherry would go on to win immunity by a landslide, leaving Chase exposed. He would go on to pitch a Naran vote to Chad and Katt, with both agreeing it was best to nerf Cherry’s power and both actually intending to vote for Naran. However, when Chad mismanaged his social game with Katt and left her feeling paranoid, she would end up switching her vote to Chase out of self-preservation, ending up actually being the deciding vote to send her ally home in a close 3-2 vote. Chase is remembered for his growth arc in the game, going from someone constantly at the bottom to taking his own agency in the game at the first perceived chance. This trait of not getting complacent with one’s position is very admirable, leading Chase to be a fan favorite.

Placed on the Brain Tribe in Season 10 for his late game strategy that almost won him the game last time, Chase would be another member of Mona that was noticeably less active than his first go around. Also seeming to go with the numbers like his close ally Xcync, Chase would not attempt to make moves or play aggressively until it was much too late for him. His want for agency in the game seemed to stem from him and X being left out of the F12 vote, and then him being blindsided with his closest ally going home following. At the demerge, Chase was an easy target as the other 4 were roughly aligned with each other and he had not made lasting social bonds. However, Chase did not give up and initially had players silently onboard for a potential Dangan blindside; however, when Dangan won immunity, Chase's fate would seemingly be sealed. Despite pitching for an Anthony boot, Chase was unanimously voted out 4 - 1 just to preserve an easy vote.