This is the first part of the Road to Survivor 40: All Winners!

Let’s discuss the most recent winner of the cast, Nick.

Premerge Game

Nick started off on the David tribe on David vs Goliath. He did not have the best start to his game as he was seen as lazy and sketchy by Carl and Pat. Nick was gaming hard from the start. He created an alliance with Elizabeth called the Throughbreds on Day 1. This was the first of many named alliances Nick made this season. Nick did this as not only a way to make the alliance more official but also he did it for fun. His level of gaming made him a target for the first vote. The Davids lost the first immunity challenge and things looked dire for him but an unusual event occured when Pat hurt his back on the ride back from the challenge and was medevaced. It was unclear if Nick would have gone because Pat was also rubbing people the wrong way but Nick did dodge a bullet.

The next day, Nick made an alliance with Christian called the Mason Dixon Line which connected him to Gabby and put him in the almighty swing vote position when the tribe was deciding between Lyrsa and Jessica. A major step up from being a target. He and Christian went with the group of Lyrsa, Elizabeth and Gabby to vote out Jessica leaving Carl, Davie and Bi on the outs.

The next round, He listened to Bi wanting Gabby out and took it in but the Davids won so nothing was formed at that point. Then, the swap happens after Bi quits the game. Nick ends up on the Jabeni tribe with Lyrsa, Natalie Napalm, Mike White and Angelina the Rice Queen. This was a great tribe entertainment wise. Again, it looked like it was a bad spot for him but the Jabeni tribe gets second in the challenge and is safe.

This is the only time that Jabeni does not lose as next time the vote is between his former David tribemate, Lyrsa, and Natalie from the Goliaths. Nick was safe in this vote due to him making a connection with Mike and creating the Rockstars alliance. Nick needed to save Lyrsa since he would be all alone on a tribe with all Goliaths making him the easy vote. This vote was the infamous Jacketgate vote. People forget that Nick was also involved because Natalie asked him to get Lyrsa’s jacket for Angelina. That request is what put his sights on Natalie. Thankfully, for Nick, Mike pulls through and votes out Natalie putting Angelina in the dark without a jacket.

The next vote is one of the most pivotal vote in his game. After egtting decimated in the challenge, Jabeni has to decide who to vote out. It was between Mike’s ally Angelina and Nick’s ally Lyrsa. Nick had to decide if he should betray the David tribe but keep Mike as an ally or vote off Angelina and lose Mike’s trust. Considering that the two people he ends up in the final three with are Mike and Angelina, safe tyo say he made the right choice. This was risky since the Davids could have felt betrayed and cut ties with him. Also, he was putting the Davids in the minority of 6 to 7. After this vote comes the merge.

Merge

Nick was well insulated at the merge. He had the protection of Mike on the Goliath side and was well liked among the Davids. Nick is quickly pulled into the Strike Force alliance with Alec, Alison, Mike, Gabby and Christian. They plan to let a couple of Davids go so they get a majority so Elizabeth is unanimously voted out. The very next vote, Mike betrays the Strike Force and targets Christian. Carl reveals his Idol Nullifier to Nick after they find a vote steal with the help of Davie. At tribal it looked like Nick was gonna lose one of his closest allies but Davie saves the day by playing an idol on Christian and the Mayor of Slamtown leaves.

During the Dan vote, Nick falls in the background. He learns of Christian’s new idol when the Davids share their advantages with eachother. The one big moment was Nick stealing Alison’s vote in order to insure that Dan leaves after being nullified.

The next day, Nick and Davie search for the idol in the early hours of the morning. This is one of the bigger parts of Nicks game. He would search while the others were asleep so he could find the idol as soon as it was rehidden. Nick finds a clue telling him to get the idol at night. Nick does exactly this and gets his first idol. Nick does not need it this vote since Alec was a massive target. In the second half of the double episode, Nick starts getting cocky when the Davids are controlling the game. Nick was invisible this episode as he gets blindsided for the first time by Gabby and Christian flipping on Carl.

After the Carl vote, Nick shows his biggest flaw as a player. He is pissed after tribal and starts to hold a grudge against Christian for blindsiding him. Nick shows that he is an emotional player if things don’t go his way and this could screw him on season 40. Gabby tells Nick about her plan to blindside Christian but Nick is conflicted so he tells Angelina and Mike to vote for Gabby in case Christian has an idol. Gabby is idoled out and Nick gets his way.

Nick decides to create a fake idol that causes Davie to want Nick out. It is important to note that this is the first time Nick is targeted since the beginning of the game. Nick has a great skill in being under the radar while still playing hard. Nick pulls Davie back in by confessing that the idol is fake. Mike is frustrated by this so he tells Nick Davie’s old plan and Nick is pissed. At tribal, Nick pretends to play his fake idol by “scanning” the room then plays the real one. Nick did not get votes that night but Christian leaves in the process.

Endgame

Nick creates a final three with his old Jabeni tribemates and helps Angelina climb that 100 foot ladder to get an idol. Nick unfortunately is blindsided by Davie leaving after Mike promised to keep him safe. Nick throws a tantrum that rubs the others the wrong way and makes him the number one target. Nick’s hot head nature after a blindside is his biggest weakness. Nick wins immunity and jumps fully into the Jabeni 3. They take out Alison and move on to the final vote of the game.

Nick is the biggest threat at the end but he wins simmotion and has a spot in the final three. He chooses Mike to go up against Kara at firemaking and Mike wins putting the Jabeni 3 in the final 3.

Nick has a decent final tribal. He argues that the basis of his game was information and timing. This makes sense as he had tons of information and other than Carl and Davie’s votes, he did get the correct person out. Nick does not have a major moment of wow or screwed up in his FTC. He ends it by talking about his mom’s drug overdose and that he faught his way to the end. Nick brought the correct people since Angelina was a hot mess and Mike did not want it enough. Nick wins by a vote of 7-3-0.

Overall Game

I think Nick played a good game and is a slightly above average winner. He did not have a huge move or memorable moment but he played well throughout the game. His best stretch was from the Jessica vote to the Alec vote. He did show some cracks with his hot head attitude after not getting his way and his early overplay. In terms of the all winner season, Nick has a target as the most recent winner on the cast. Nick could fly UTR for a while with all the big names so I see him definately making the merge but I don’t see him as an endgame player in the season. I predictg he is out in 8th place.

Rating

I will rate his strategic, social and physical game on a scale of 1-10 and combine it into an average score. I will compar scores throughout the winners

Strategic game – 8/10

Social game – 6/10

Physical Game – 7/10

Overall average – 7/10

Next time we will be looking at the winner of Ghost Island: Wendell Holland

Grab your stuff and head back to camp!