Astervivor: Wadi Rum

***Astervivor: Wadi Rum*** (also known as *Astervivor: Wadi Rum - Strength vs. Strategy vs. Social*) is the fourth season of *Astervivor*.

Wadi Rum at this point in *Astervivor* history, was the best season. Whilst some parts of the season aged poorly, a lot of it still holds up to this day with lots of flips and interesting votes. Noah became the fourth member of Astervivor Royalty and is the first male winner, beating Lemons and sweetestcon in a 6-2-1 jury vote.

## Production

Production of *Wadi Rum* went extremely smoothly, with not much changes from the first draft to the final product. The location was chosen very quickly and it was decided on the theme of *Strength vs. Strategy vs. Social* instead of a *Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty* theme due to the fact that Beauty does not work that well.

Casting for *Wadi Rum* opened on December 11th, 2021 and closed on January 1st, 2022. There was 33 applicants.

## Format

* **Tribe Composition:** The 21 castaways were divided into 3 tribes of 7.
* **Merged Tribe Composition:** The final 14 castaways were merged onto a single tribe.
* **Final Tribal Council Format:** Three finalists (Noah, Lemons and sweetestcon) faced a jury of ten. The jurors individually addressed the finalists. In the end, fourth place player jphoenix857 did not submit a jury vote, so only nine jury votes counted.

## Features

### Twists

* **Strength vs. Strategic vs. Social:** Castaways were divided into three different abilities that they labelled as what they were most confident at: Challenge Strength, Game Strategy and Social Skills.
* **One World:** The three competing tribes would be competing against each other while living together on the same area for an unknown period of time. The tribes were separated on Day 8, where a Mutiny also happened.
* **Double Elimination:** On Day 7 of *Wadi Rum*, castaways on both Iistiratijia and Ajtimaeiun had to vote out a member of their tribe.
* **Mutiny:** On Day 8 of *Wadi Rum*, castaways had the option to immediately join another tribe, only Ryder took the offer.
* **Early Merge:** Instead of merging at the Final 10, *Wadi Rum* merged at the Final 14.
* **Double Tribal Council:** On Day 23 of *Wadi Rum*, castaways on Faisaly had to vote out two members of their merged tribe instead of one. Hidden Immunity Idols and successful Shot in the Darks would leave you successful for both votes, whereas unsuccessful Shot in the Darks made you lose your votes for both votes.

### Powers

* **Hidden Immunity Idol:** Found somewhere on the map, Hidden Immunity Idols, when played, would negate all votes at a tribal council. These were valid until the Final 6.
* **Legacy Advantage:** Found somewhere on the map, Legacy Advantages, when played, would act like regular Hidden Immunity Idols, however they could only be played at a certain time. If the castaway that found it was eliminated before they could use it, they had to will it to another player. This became valid at the Final 15.
* **Safety Without Power:** The castaway was able to leave Tribal Council before the vote, effectively making them immune, at the cost of not voting. They also had the choice to allow two players to leave Tribal Council if they did not pick themselves. This was only valid at the Final 21 tribal council.
* **Shot in the Dark:** By sacrificing one's vote at Tribal Council, a player in trouble may invoke this advantage for a chance to be immune at any vote until the Final 7. While the chance of a favorable outcome was slim, if successful, the play acted as if a Hidden Immunity Idol was played.

## Season Summary

Twenty-one castaways, divided into three different tribes, Alkhudue, Iistiratijia and Ajtimaeiun arrived at Wadi Rum. These tribes represented three ways of playing the game, Physical Strength, Strategy and Social Skills. One World was revealed, and so that meant that all twenty-one castaways could talk to each other. They were told that Hidden Immunity Idols would be present and that the Sandscapes would appear tomorrow during the first Immunity Challenge.

The Sandscapes allowed for even more cross-tribe and secret conversation. The first Immunity Challenge went off with a bang, and ironically the Alkhudue tribe, the tribe representing Physical Strength went to Tribal Council. With that, Ryder found the Safety Without Power advantage, removing them from the first Tribal Council and angering many. It was decided that the vote should be Vice and he was eliminated.

Alkhudue lost again in the next challenge, however soon avoided elimination for the next round where a Double Elimination took place. Whilst the tribe did have a numbers disadvantage, it was avoidable. On Day 8 though, One World was closed and there was now an option to mutiny to another tribe, and that this would be the only swap in the game. Ryder took this opportunity and mutinied from Alkhudue to Ajtimaeiun, where they quickly allied with players such as Shane and Tonio who were leading the tribe. Three more rounds took place before the merge, featuring idol plays by Istelle and Cooper, leading to two 1-0 votes. JJ was the final player eliminated before the merge.

The merge was easily the most chaotic point of the whole game, as 14 players were placed onto a single tribe. The tribe name was chosen, Faisaly *(which means the arbitrator or separator between good and evil)*. After a duo immunity challenge, all fourteen players were placed into a single Tribal Council, and Tonio was eliminated via a successful Shot in the Dark play, the only Shot in the Dark to be successful in the whole season.

The old Iistiratijia tribe, led by Amber were trying to vote between tribe lines and to eliminate the other two starting tribes, however this did not work out for them as both Hayden and Cooper were eliminated. A Double Tribal Council followed and when the biggest threat at the game at the time, Shane, lost immunity, both himself and Ryder were eliminated. Whilst the two eliminated weren't from Iistiratijia, this didn't escape the tribe from the limelight and bpayne93 was eliminated next. Whilst they were not in the best position, they had managed to recruit another ally, Ivy.

For the third time this season, istelle was eliminated by a Hidden Immunity Idol, with the move being led by Noah, who was quickly becoming a dominant force after cutting down the big threats. Ren struck out soon after. With that, the Iistiratijia tribe and their allies fell, with both Ivy and Amber being voted out quickly after. This created a Final 4 of Noah who was becoming more dominant as the rounds progressed, Treyvor who was going through and fighting his way to Final Tribal Council, Sajidah, the player who at the start of the merge managed to blindside Tonio, and Jake who was being perceived as a goat. A brutal Final Immunity Challenge happened and Noah only just managed to win it, allowing him to make to Final Tribal Council. Jake became the game's final Juror, although he did not vote in Final Tribal Council.

At the Final Tribal Council, Noah was praised for his dominance in the endgame as well as the fact that he got no votes against him during the season and Treyvor was praised for his emotional journey. Sajidah was bashed for her move to eliminate Tonio and her inactivity during the endgame. In the end, Noah won the season in a 6-2-1 jury vote, becoming the fourth member of Astervivor Royalty.