Round 05

[Matt Elrod]

Malcolm going is a little bit of a shock. I wouldn't have minded seeing Tyson go just because it would've forced Malcolm to be close to me without me having to be close to his alliance, but now it just leaves me with one less option to work with here. I'll take the options I have, which are still a lot, and move on.

There's been a tribe swap. Most of us expected one of these around final 14, so it isn't a big surprise. I consider Abi and Danni to be players who will both work with me, and I'm connected with Brandon through the the Brandon, JT, Lisa, and Matt alliance. Then you have Tina, who I helped with the idol clues, and one of her allies in Tijuana. Jonas is a player who I don't know much about, but I already am feeling pretty comfortable with the group. I'll socialize more today to figure out what's going on, but I should be comfortable the first vote if everyone thinks I'm with them and can help choose the right person to target.

[Matt Elrod]

I feel comfortable with everyone here.

I am telling Danni what happened during the Ashley vote in order to generate suspicion with Danni towards Brandon and JT. It's definitely working, and I'm just being honest with her so she knows where she stands with original Menba. She could've been the next person to go. It wasn't a good position for her, and it makes sense for her to make a move to advance her position within the tribe. And if she did that, it would allow me to flip without being the sole traitor from Menba.

I'd still prefer to win. I have no connection to Tyson now that Malcolm's gone, and Jay said that's who the new Menba tribe will be voting out if they lose. I'd rather him go first than anything else.

[Matt Elrod]

I'm glad we won the challenge. Jay feels comfortable that Tyson's going, and I trust him and his judgment a lot. I have no connection to Tyson, so him going will be helpful to my game.

Brandon got picked to go for the idol, which just further supports that he's well connected on original Menba. Brandon told me that he went to places Danni and I had already been to. It doesn't matter since Tina and I have the idols, but Danni and Jay have put the clues together and still not realized what exactly they have to do. If they do figure it out, I'll just act like someone probably accidentally claimed the idols earlier which is why they're not available now.

Jay is Menba's strongest competitor. With Tyson gone, I think we have a better chance of just winning the challenges up to the merge. Beating Jay will be the biggest obstacle.