The Ultimate Cataclysm

**The Ultimate Cataclysm** is the 30th season of the fictional reality competition series *The Cataclysm*. It is the seventh overall season to feature returning players. Returning to the site of the first season, the Okinawa Islands in Japan, it features a record-breaking 24 contestants divided based of players who represented the strength, endurance, and intelligence qualities required to win the game. It also features the largest prize in show history at US$3.5 Million.

## Format

* **Exemption Challenge:**The Cataclysm's immunity challenge. The winners of this challenge are exempt from elimination.
* **Commander:** Prior to an exemption challenge during the faction stage, each team must select a member to be the team captain. This player becomes the Commander for that challenge. The Commander of the winning faction gets to nominate three players from the opposite team to face the voting ballot.
* **Final Challenge:**The finalists are determined in a Final Challenge, where the remaining contestants compete in a multi-level final competition that determines who advances to the end. In this season, the remaining six contestants compete to earn one of three final spots and the losers become the final members of the jury.
* **Ballot:**The Cataclysm's elimination round. Those nominated to face the ballot risk being eliminated.

## New Twists/Changes

* **24 Players**: The largest cast in series history is in play as 24 contestants compete on this season.
* **Reward of Redemption (ROR):** Previously used during the original format, the Reward of Redemption this season is bequeathed to a player still in the game by the most recent eliminated player. This reward gives an advantage to a player in the next Exemption Challenge.
* **Every Advantage:** Every advantage that has been used in series history is available for use this season. That includes every Medallion, Gem, Talisman, etc. that has been introduced in the previous 29 seasons. The advantages available to use are as follows:
	+ **Resurrection Medallion:** Allows its holder to remove their name from the voting ballot.
	+ **Fire Medallion:** Allows its holder to nominate a player of their choice for the voting ballot.
	+ **Chaos Medallion:** Allows the holder to void nominations and add all eligible players into the voting ballot.
	+ **Ghost Medallion:** Used between *Malta* and *Costa Rica*, this previously retired medallion allows its holder to secretly steal the vote of another player in the voting ballot.
	+ **All Star Resurrection:** Used in the original *All Stars* season and from *Immortals* to *Vietnam*, its holder can undo the events of the voting ballot and prevent anyone from getting eliminated. It can only be used once in the game.
	+ ***Jordan*'s Cradle:** From *Jordan*, these advantages include: **Oasis** (exemption from a voting ballot), **Kingdom** (the ability to overthrow the Commander and nominate three players for the voting ballot), **War** (allows the contestant to compete in a mini-challenge to re-enter the game should they be eliminated), **Conquest** (gives the contestant an extra vote in a ballot), and **Empire** (allows the contestant to void all votes in the ballot after they've been read, thus resetting the episode). Each Cradle advantage can be used only once.
	+ ***Sierra Leone*'s Gems:** From *Sierra Leone*, these advantages include: **The Ruby** **-**Allows its holder to void the vote of a fellow voter in the ballot, **The Diamond -** Allows its holder to substitute one nominated player for a non-nominated player at the Ballot, **The Emerald -**Grants its holder an advantage in an Exemption Challenge, **The Golden Gem -**Grants its holder the ability to add all eligible players into the ballot, and **The Pearl -** A secret Gem that grants its holder immunity at a voting ballot of their choice. These gems are earned in duels during the Faction stage where one randomly selected contestant from each faction gets to compete for them. Each Gem can only be used once.
	+ ***Malaysia*'s Talismans:** From *Malaysia*, these advantages include: the **Water Dragon Talisman** - allows the ballot votes to be casted out in the open, the **Fire Bird Talisman** - allows its holder to add a non-nominated contestant into the voting ballot, the **Hidden People Talisman** - allows its holder to save a nominated player from the voting ballot, and the **Shining Pillar Talisman** - gives its holder an advantage in an Exemption Challenge. Each Talisman can only be used once.
* **New World Rules:** During the top 16, the game is briefly contested under New World Rules where the players individually earn exemption, save themselves from the voting ballot, and do not vote. For the players who aren't exempt, they all face the voting ballot.
* **Faction Draft:** The faction draft occurs twice this season, on Episode 7 and Episode 11.

## Casting

Casting for this season was done by dividing potential returnees into subgroups based on the strength, endurance, and intelligence qualities needed to win the game. The strength subgroup (Kerama) contained players who were physically dominant, mentally tough, and were strong personalities in past appearances. The endurance subgroup (Yokatsu) contained the players who were the most resilient, the ones who persevered despite the obstacles against them, and were considered underdogs at some point. The intelligence subgroup (Izena) referred to the past contestants who relied on their mental abilities to further themselves in the game, i.e. had strong social games, were master manipulators, controlled votes, and were brilliant strategists. Contestants who were considered but not selected for this season were cut in favor for a future *Resurrection* season.

## Episode Progress

Legend
 Runner-Up
 2nd Runner-Up
 SAFE
 LOW
 BTM
 ELIM
 ELIM
 IN

### Gem Results

 2
 3
 4
 5
 Roderick

## Notes

* On Episode 1, Erin played the **Fire Bird Talisman**, and nominated Malaya for the voting ballot.
* On Episode 5, Keven played **The Diamond**, and substituted his own nomination for Craig.
* On Episode 6, Kyle B. played the **Resurrection Medallion**, thus removing his name from the voting ballot.
* On Episode 7, Mason played **The Pearl**, thus granting him immunity in the voting ballot and removing his nomination. Also, Heather played the **Fire Medallion**, nominating Roderick for the voting ballot. Alison also played **Conquest**, giving her an extra vote in the ballot.
* On Episode 9, the format briefly changed to New World rules. As a result of a tie, Alison and Casey competed in a duel. Alison lost and was eliminated.
* On Episode 14, Kyle H. played **Kingdom**, overthrowing Joe's original nominations Erin, Kyle H, and Paige and instead nominating Hazel, Sidney, and Taryn. Also, Hazel played the **Chaos Medallion**, thus voiding all nominations and adding all eligible players into the ballot (excluding herself, Joe, and Kyle H.)
* On Episode 16, Sidney played **The Ruby**, choosing to void the vote of Joe. Also, Taryn played the **All Star Resurrection** advantage, thus undoing the events of the voting ballot and sparing herself from elimination.
* On Episode 17, Sidney played **Oasis**, thus granting himself exemption from the voting ballot.
* On Episode 18, Tatianna played **War**, allowing her to compete to re-enter the game.

## Season Summary

The 24 legendary players arrive on the site of *The Cataclysm*'s beginning years ago: Okinawa Islands. The contestants learn they will be separated based on who's considering the strongest, smartest, and most resilient players in history. The strongest form Kerama, where Casey and Roderick become allies immediately feeling they're major targets. Casey also becomes close with Erin. A secret trio forms between Dominic, Kyle H, and Paige. The smartest form Izena where the male winners in Keven, Mason, and Sidney become an alliance. There's also a bloc formed with Alison, Hazel, and Taryn. The players who defined endurance form Yokatsu, where Joe and Kyle B. are revealed to have formed a final 2 deal. Aliyah and Derek become friends, as does Nicole with a reunited Tanner and Tatianna.

At the first Exemption Challenge, Craig nominated Casey, Dominic, and Roderick feeling they were the biggest threats on the Kerama faction. To prevent an ally going home, Erin found an advantage on the first episode and their alliance decided to target outsider Malaya, who was eliminated. Kerama made a comeback the next episode with Roderick as Commander. On Yokatsu, Joe and Kyle B were thought to be needed on the faction as opposed to Derek, leading to Derek's elimination. Yokatsu ended up facing the voting ballot once again and voted off Aliyah. Yokatsu's third consecutive loss forced the team to scramble. To save themselves, Joe and Kyle B. formed an alliance with Valentina and with Nicole choosing to keep Kyle B., Tanner was eliminated. Yokatsu's luck finally turned around the next episode, and as Commander, Valentina immediately question Alison on her nominations prior, with Alison saying "it was to not show bias against one person." Not liking the answer, Valentina nominated Alison along with Keven and Sidney. In an effort to save herself, Alison and her alliance made a deal with Keven, Mason, and Sidney to vote together against Craig leading to his elimination. When Yokatsu once again faced the vote, Kyle B & Joe and Nicole & Tatianna decided to vote together to eliminate Valentina.

Episode 7 brought the first faction draft of the season, with the 18 remaining contestants being divided equally into the new Izena and Kerama factions. With Casey as Commander, new Kerama were successful and safe. Casey's nominations of Alison, Heather, and Mason led to the original Izena to figure out a plan. The three came up with a plan to target Roderick by using Alison's Conquest and working together to find the Fire Medallion, which Heather ended up playing. To secure their numbers, Alison reunited with Kyle B. from her season and Paige got on board having been against Roderick on the original Kerama. It took multiple advantages and flipped votes to successfully eliminate Roderick. The following episode, an infuriated Casey asked Erin what happened on Izena, with Erin simply responding to nominate the same people. As a result, winning Commander Thiago nominated Alison, Heather, and Mason for the ballot. Alison and Kyle B's rekindled alliance led them along with Heather, Joe, and Nicole to vote former winner Mason out.

With 16 competitors remaining, the game shockingly changed to New World rules putting all in one living area and having only the Exemption Challenge to save them from the ballot. Fearing the original Izena and the relationship between Alison and Kyle B, Alison became the ire of the rest of the competitors. As a result, the other contestants who were not aligned with Alison banded together to vote her out. At the following voting ballot however, the original Izena worked with Joe and Kyle B along with Nicole and Tatianna to vote off Casey.

On Episode 11, another faction draft split the remaining 14 contestants back into the Izena and Kerama factions. Kerama winning the next two Exemption Challenges left Izena to stick to a plan for an inevitable Solo Stage. Thiago was eliminated as he was without an alliance in this new Izena, and with the original Izena being targeted, Heather was eliminated. Both Thiago and Heather became the first and second members of the jury.

The final 12 contestants made the Solo Stage of the season with four of each original faction. These original factions were aligned by this point, however Erin still lacked trust in the solid alliance of Dominic, Kyle H, and Paige. When Keven won the Exemption Challenge, Erin offered to repay the favour should he keep her out of the voting ballot, thus sparing her and the alliance of Dominic, Kyle H, and Paige became targets. Dominic was eliminated next as a result. In a major power play involving multiple advantages, Paige was eliminated next. Kyle H.'s elimination followed at the very next episode.

Feeling that Keven and Sidney were on a war path to win the game, Hazel began looking at her options. Feeling similar, Joe and Kyle B. alongside Nicole and Tatianna began planning for a potential blindside. With Erin winning the Exemption Challenge, Hazel approached Erin about targeting the other original Izenas by flushing their remaining advantages. Deciding to go with such plan, Erin nominated Keven, Sidney, and Taryn for the voting ballot. In a move to save himself, Sidney exposed Taryn for having the All Star Resurrection advantage which led to Taryn getting voted out and forcing her to use the advantage to save herself. An infuriated Taryn thus severed ties with Sidney having lost trust in her original Izena alliance. Nicole winning the next Exemption Challenge led to Taryn offering an alliance with Nicole and Tatianna to work together in the Final, however Nicole decided to target her, Keven, and Sidney instead. Sidney played the Oasis power to save himself, and thus Taryn was again voted out. This move changed the perception of Sidney to the other competitors, who no longer viewed him as a potential threat to win. With this in mind, Erin and Hazel form an alliance and offered Sidney an option to work together. Joe and Kyle B also consider working on Sidney, however when Hazel won the next Exemption Challenge, Sidney agreed to align with her. As a result, they decided to target Nicole and Tatianna next. Despite playing the War advantage, Tatianna was eliminated from the game. Keven won the next Exemption Challenge, thus sealing Nicole's fate in the following episode. Joe and Kyle B were then the targets of the new alliance, with Joe getting eliminated in the penultimate episode.

After a gruelling competition, the Final Challenge came leaving Erin, Hazel, Keven, Kyle B, and Sidney to fight to earn a spot in the final three and to plead their case to the jury for the $3.5 Million dollar grand prize. In order to guarantee a chance for them to win, Erin, Hazel, Keven, and Sidney worked together in the Final Challenge believing Kyle B had the best chance to win the game. Keven was eliminated in part 2 of the final, with Kyle B being the last contestant eliminated in part 3. As a result, Erin, Hazel, and Sidney were the official finalists.

The jury was ultimately torn between Erin and Hazel with both competitors being credited for strong, smart gameplay. Erin was praised for managing to navigate the game despite losing early allies and being an outsider for quite a while. Despite this, Dominic, Kyle H, and Paige in particular were less enthusiastic and campaigned for Hazel. Hazel was praised for her part in keeping a strong alliance with the original Izena and knowing when to make major game changing moves. Sidney, being the former winner, was slammed by many jurors for his "sloppy and desperate" gameplay. Taryn claimed that Sidney's fate was truly sealed when he threw her under the bus. In the end, Sidney received only the vote of his ally Keven, and with 7 votes to 3, Hazel Kavanaugh defeated Erin Montoya to win *The Ultimate Cataclysm*.