Raini

**Raini** is a contestant from Tropic Survivor: Kauai.

## Cast Assessment

Raini is quite the firecracker. He’s loud and knows how to use it to his advantage. He’s an extremely energetic individual but one that knows how to control his energy and channel it into success. This motivation results in a relentless drive to commit to and thrive in anything he puts his mind to. Whether Raini can win this game or not isn’t a question, the question is will the other castaways let him. Someone with as bold of a presence as Raini has to manage their threat level at all times, one slip up could mark the end of his journey.

## Kauai

Intentionally following the power players of the season with the hopes of being able to cut them out of the game at the last minute is a risky strategy that in Raini’s case proved to be quite effective and almost won him the game. In the early days on the Kai tribe Raini had a difficult time connecting with his fellow tribemates. The only bonds of any substance he was able to form were with Jacob and Shaun, two castaways who had good relationships with everyone on the original Kai tribe. Raini wasn’t in any immediate danger due to Mike’s inactivity, but had his tribe attended more than one tribal council before the swap it would’ve been pretty safe to bet against him.

As a result of the swap Raini was moved to the new Lā tribe with Shaun and Tris. The trio found themselves in a stalemate with original Lā members Aidan, Logan, and Velma. It’s unclear what would’ve happened had the tribe attended a tribal council due to the tie in numbers, but a Raini flip would’ve been plausible as he had few connections to his original tribe and it was no secret that Shaun and Tris had become a stronger duo after the swap. Fortunately for Raini the tribe won every post-swap challenge which allowed him to keep as many options open as possible heading into the merge.

Prior to the merge Raini had been extremely under the radar, allowing him to hide and conceal himself as just another number while the bigger threats started targeting each other. The first vote saw all of the original Kai tribe stick together. This gave Raini the foundation he needed to build some momentum. But at the second things started to get sticky. After Shaun started to gather troops against Kaden, Raini decided to stick with the swapped Kai trio of Alyssa, Jacob, and Kaden which forced a 4-4 stalemate. Things blew up and tensions flared at the tribal council as Raini instigated the most iconic argument of the season with Tris, but was villanized for it by the rest of the cast. This lost Raini the respect of Logan on the jury, as well as the opposing foursome that was targeting Kaden. This didn’t impact Raini’s game too much short term as Kaden’s idol play against Shaun propelled him into majority numbers.

For the next two tribal councils, Raini led the numbers as Velma was eliminated and Tris followed after a revote at the final six. But with arguably three of the other castaways left in the game having a better chance of winning the game than him, Raini needed to play the rest of the game perfectly. While Jacob and Kaden were both obvious targets, Aidan’s challenge prowess and current immunity streak complicated things severely. After Aidan won the final five immunity a trio of Aidan, Alyssa, and Raini formed in hopes of putting a stop to the infamous run of Jacob and Kaden. With no more idols left to protect him, they were successful in eliminating Kaden. After Aidan secured immunity again at the final four Jacob followed. Things were starting to look up for Raini as he felt like he had a legitimate shot to win against Alyssa. The only thing that stood in his way was the final immunity challenge that Aidan needed to lose for things to go Raini’s way. But Aidan didn’t lose, and Raini’s karma caught up with him. After considering his options Aidan was honest with Raini and told him that he was likely to take Alyssa to the final tribal council. Raini lashed out on him upon hearing this, further cementing the likelihood of him getting third place. Aidan was true to his word and eliminated Raini one day short of the final tribal council.

Overall, Raini played an effective under-the-radar game that allowed him to make it deep into the season with only a few late-stage votes against him. His floater strategy allowed him to go from a minority position to a majority position due to his strong social game, with many believing that he pioneered the floater strategy in Tropic Survior.

### Voting History

**^1**  In "The Obsession Honestly", the vote ended with a 4-4 tie between Kaden and Tris, forcing a revote. Raini did not change his vote on the revote.