Sooner

* The Elysian Fields
* Dante's Inferno

## *Survivor* Career

**Sooner** is a contestant on *Survivor: Dante's Inferno*. He later appeared as a temporary host on *Survivor: Macedonia* and returned to play in *Survivor: The Elysian Fields*

## Profile

* Dante's Inferno
* The Elysian Fields

**Name:** Sooner

**Tribe Designation:** Typhon

**What are you interested in, what sort of aspirations do you have in life?** I'm from New Mexico (USA) and I'm currently going for my bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering. I'm currently interested in Advanced Logic Design/VHDL-based coding, so I'm perusing that as my focal point in my degree. Outside of my education, I'm an offroad side-by-side rider. Since I live in a desert, I love to go out to the mesa and sand dunes to ride, so I suppose that fits the category of "hobbies". I don't know what else to put here, so I'll list some of my favorite TV shows and music artists, which I hope gives everyone a better understanding of who I am and what I tend to like in life.

TV SHOWS: Scrubs, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Supernatural, and Dexter.

MUSIC: Def Leppard, Aerosmith, Evanescence, Rush, and NSP.

**What does *Survivor* mean to you?** As nearly everyone here will say, Survivor means a lot. I've been watching since I was in.. *I think* 2nd grade. Back then, Vanuatu was just finishing up and Palau premiered, which was technically my first season. I've seen most of the seasons, give or take some of them in between, but I am an avid fan as of today. I participate in ORGS and other Survivor-based gameshows on other games, i.e. Minecraft, etc. Survivor, to me, is a get-together to have fun with friends and family. While my family isn't as much of active towards the game as I am, we still bond over what we think and would do in situations often witnessed on the show. My girlfriend hasn't ever seen the show, but that doesn't stop me from talking her ear off about it, if that gives you any idea of how invested I am into these games.

**Who is your favorite *Survivor* player, and what is your favorite season?** Oof, favorite Survivor player... I don't know how to answer this but I'll do my best. Personality wise, I like Shambo Waters. She's hilarious and is underrated in my opinion. She made moves, albeit some of them weren't smart, but she made moves. Gameplay and reputation wise, I'd say I relate most with Tyson from Tocantins/BvW, since he's villainous and is smart when it comes to the social/strategic aspect of this game. He's not THAT nice of a person inside the game, but outside, he seems really chill, which is how I hope to perceive myself in the orgs I play in. Tyson was able to win even by being mean, which goes to show that any personality can win this game, so you don't have to necessarily be nice in any season you play in. Favorite season? Hmmm... I'd say Cagayan (obvious choice though) or One World. Cagayan for gameplay, One World for the laughter and WTF moments. Tarzan made that season.

*Full interview can be found here.*

**Tribe Designation:** Deucalion

**Previous Seasons & Finishes:** *Dante's Inferno*: 4th, 8th Juror

**How would you describe your gameplay in your original season(s)?** In my original season, I was the rook in the giant game of chess; except it wasn't chess, it was 4d-layered chaos chess that was Dante's Inferno. That season was wack, yo. The reason why I say I'm a rook is because I wasn't really the frontline strategy guy during most of the game. I commanded people and helped protect those I cared for, but I certainly played for myself and had some meaningful moves. The rook in chess isn't the most helpful piece of the game, but it is arguably one of the most important ones in terms of winning the game. I played a game that was very UTR pre-merge, but very devastating and commanding in the merge-section of the game. I tried my best to orchestrate as many votes as possible, but only after the time I spent laying low and letting the power players (i.e. Abe and Dolphin) fuck their games over. Essentially, my point here is that I was strategic. I'm a very strategic person and that's the fun part of this game. I started from the bottom in Hell and I most certainly expect to do the same here, if I'm casted. In my original season, my goal was to make friends/allies, and command those people to do my bidding, which worked extremely well for me the second Abe was voted out. Putting people in situations where they NEED to help me is what helped me get so far in Hell. Two words to describe my original gameplay: commanding, strategic

**If cast, how do you plan on improving on your game?** I'm going to quote the infamous Keith Nale here and say: "I'm not going to change a lot, but tweak a little". For instance, I think I'm going to stick with the same plan of laying low and letting the bigger players get their egos out-of-control and for them to get voted out before I make any huge powerplaying move. I want to play as strategic as possible, just like last time. If it means playing a certain way, as in playing under the radar or even in the middle for a few votes, then that's what I will do. That part of my gameplay will definitely not change. I'm still going to be good old commanding Sooner. However, with that said, I feel like a big downfall of my game last time was the lack of awareness later in the game. I voted for Eliza at F5, which ultimately set me up to fail originally. I think if I wouldn't have made that mistake, I would've done amazing in a firemaking and would've ultimately won that season. I think my goal this time is to change how I perceive others and not automatically make assumptions about their strategy or character. I assumed Eliza was with me, which clearly she wasn't and she was pissed that I voted her, so I think I need to breathe, calm down, and think through things a bit more if I make it to the end game. Something else I would like to change is my strategy pre-merge. In Hell, I didn't do that well in making my gameplay known or having any huge power-playing moves pre-merge, aside from the Abe voteoff. I think if I can improve this and still be strategic about it, then I'll do it. The number one thing I want to do the second I get on the game is make a strong foundation and bond with people. The closer I am to making friends, the closer I am to having allies which can potentially be controlled when the time comes.

**Why do you want to come back and play again?** Natalie has been messaging me for months to say that Allstars is coming and that I have a spot back. I want to fuck Frankie's game up, or Dolphin's. Dolphin annoys the hell out of me. It says something when I can't understand him in voice chats OR text chats, because his strategy, gameplay, and personality is just so obnoxiously annoying. Also, I want to win. I want to undo the mistakes that I made in Hell. I want to make it to firemaking. I want to have that crown.

**If you were any Greek god, who would you be and why?** I would say Zeus because that suits my gameplay strategy the most: commanding, leader, and very almighty of himself. I won't choose him because that's a bullshit claim and anyone who says they're Zeus is immediately full of themselves. They're not THAT great, come on now. I would say the male version of Persephone. Persephone defied her mother's wishes and married a guy who was devoted to her, which soon led to her becoming the queen of the dead. She ruled the underworld with her king. The reasoning for this is simple: Recently I was in a bad breakup with my 4 and a half year long relationship. I'm still not really sure how to feel about it and I'm still really hurt about the whole ordeal. I'm struggling a lot nowadays, but the one thing I would wish for in my life is for the devotion that we both had for each other. I want that person to rely on and to rule the galaxy with, because having power, albeit in a relationship, friendship, financially, sexually, etc., is appealing to me. Having that feeling of love for wanting to control things is what drives my motivation to do things. I want to find that love again; that one that unfortunately left in July. Persephone found that love and made the most out of it, ruling the undead and becoming the queen of the underworld, which I would absolutely love to be the king of. Her love for her king and her love for power is what drove her to be in that situation, which exemplifies exactly the person I am. I want to have that drive; that person, so that I can have more to control in life.. because with a loving, devoted person, anything is possible. I might have gotten this story wrong but there's that, I think it translates well with my game, too. I try to find that person that I can find devotion to, which ultimately decides how much power I have in my game life.

**How will you become the Sole Survivor of The Elysian Fields?** Oh boy this question. My fingers are getting tired so I'll make this one a quick answer. My gmaeplay is going to revolve around a lot of what I did back in Hell. I want to do it again, but I want to trim up some of the rougher edges of my old gameplay style. I want that million natalie-bucks, and I'll stop at no course to get it. My plan is to play as strategic as possible, be as smart as possible with what I say publically and with what I do. I'll play up any role, position, or person I need to in order to win this game. I will lie, cheat (not literally dw), and steal if I need to in order to win this.

## Trivia

* Sooner is the first person to be eliminated in 4th place without going to a fire-making tiebreaker.
	+ This would only later be followed by Coffee in *Norway*, as every other 4th place contestant would be eliminated through said tiebreaker.
* Sooner won the *Fan Favorite* award in *Dante's Inferno*, receiving a total of 9 votes. He was eligible for voting again in *The Elysian Fields*, were he received only 1 vote for Fan Favorite.