Total Drama: High Rollers

***Total Drama: High Rollers*** is the third season of *Vix's Total Drama (Era 3).*

The season ended with Gouyen defeating Artyom and Lincoln in the final jury vote, by a 5-3-2 margin.

It has produced five returning players (Blake, Kokoa, Lincoln, Pandora and Serika) for subsequent seasons.

## Development

Applications for this season opened after the first merge rounds of Harmonic Scenes, with the season being advertised as a different and more experimental experience than the previous one. Almost thirty applications were sent in, yet only twenty went on to be in the season.

## Twists/Changes

* **New Ceremony Format:** Instead of the usual discussion format from the previous two seasons and the late Era 2 seasons, after the challenge results, the players heading to the ceremony had some time to act out the time between the challenge and the ceremony, and could use this time to either strategize or do whatever they wanted. They'd then enter the ceremony area and have time to cast their votes.
* **Shot in the Dark:** Returning from *Camp Kickoff*, by sacrificing one's vote at an elimination ceremony, a player in trouble could choose to invoke this advantage for a one-in-six chance to be immune from the vote. If successful, the play acted as if an Immunity Idol was played.
* **Destiny Chips:** Each player received ten white special poker chips called Destiny Chips. These could be traded around, and when a player is eliminated, they can bequeath theirs to other players. Trading in 100 of these will earn that player the Immunity Idol.
* **Jackpot Room:** Each round, a player was chosen to enter the Jackpot Room. Its contents remained a mystery to everyone who hasn't entered it, and this twist ends once every player has entered the room, or once five players remained in the game.
* **Luxury Challenge:** On Day 7, an individual challenge was held. The winner would have a free visit to the Jackpot Room, and would exiled to a winner's room until the next elimination.
	+ **Team Expansion:** Besides the winner, the players were shuffled into three new teams of five. The winner would join the team that is next to lose a player.
* **Double Eliminations:** Multiple double eliminations occurred.
	+ **One Team Immunity:** On Day 9, only one team won immunity, with the other two teams each voting out a player.
	+ **Double Envelopes:** On Day 14, just like the Double Urns twist from Camp Kickoff, players had to choice to place their vote(s) in two different envelopes, and both sets of votes would be read separately.
* **Joint Ceremony:** On Day 10, once again, only one team won immunity, but the other two teams instead attended the same ceremony to vote out one player.
* **Merge Composition:** The teams merged when twelve players remained.
* **Jury:** The jury consisted of the last ten eliminated players, who voted for one of the final three to win the season.

## Season Summary

The 20 contestants entered the casino and were immediately randomized into two teams of ten. The players were also faced with an altered format, being given more time between the challenge and the ceremony, leading to more open talks about upcoming votes. While the first phase of the game led to the vote-outs of perceived weakest links, it did give room for more open ideas and passed information. The Jackpot Room was also in play, resulting in earned advantages or lost votes.

A team swap occurred on Day 7 following Lincoln's win in an individual reward challenge, expanding the game into three teams of five while she would join the next team to lose a player. The swapped phase had an active run, leading to the downfall of strategic players like Brandt and Nereus, a successful advantage play by Serika and an incorrect advantage play that caused a very narrow joint ceremony.

With the final twelve reaching the merge phase on Day 11 and being met with Serika's quit soon after, the game was somewhat divided into factions and pairs such as Ali/Vermillio, Blake/Ryujin/Zaxton, Kokoa/Leofric and Artyom/Lincoln. The former of which was immediately targeted and, despite the Knowledge is Power advantage's success, fully decimated before eight players remained. The following ceremony saw a power shift with Ryujin's reneging from his alliance with Zaxton, Lincoln's exposing of Blake and an incomplete juggling of advantage that caused both of their ousters. With another quit from Kokoa, the final five was met with the opportunity to take out a jury threat in Gouyen. With Lincoln as the swing vote, he ultimately decided to keep his ally and friend, who returned the favor after winning the final immunity challenge and taking Lincoln to the final three, with Artyom taking the third spot after defeating Leofric in a tiebreaker challenge.

At the final jury vote, all three of Artyom, Gouyen and Lincoln were commended for their diverse yet strong games -- with Artyom's strategic soundness and vice grip of the game, Gouyen's protective yet physical gameplay and Lincoln's upfront persona and ability to use drama to his advantage. In the end, Gouyen's status with the jurors plus her effective under-the-radar route resulted in her victory, crowning her the winner of High Rollers by a 5-3-2 vote.

## Trivia

* High Rollers is the first season to produce two winners.