Spoiler: General Tips
1. If someone suddenly stops talking to you (or is suddenly talking a lot less) for no good reason, they're probably planning on voting you.
2. Even if you dislike or distrust someone, if a vote is legitimately in both of your best interests, you should still work with them.
3. Never burn bridges with someone. It doesn't matter how bad of a position they're in, things can always change. This goes double for people who have made it to merge and will be on the jury.
4. That guy that everyone knows is in charge of a powerful alliance? He's in a bad position in the long term, because he's the first target for backstabs within his alliance AND power moves (such as idols) from outside his alliance.
5. If you can't control the vote, settle for making sure it isn't you.
6. If you can't get into the main alliance, do your best to bond with one or two people on the outside. They'll usually do their best to keep you around just in case the main alliance breaks down.
7. If there's an endurance challenge and you can't allocate at least seven hours for it, you might as well not bother and save yourself the time.
8. Figuring out how you're going to eventually vote off certain allies when the current alliance breaks up is just planning for the future. Actually telling anyone about it before they need to know is probably a bad idea.
9. Never give up. There can be absolutely ridiculous turnarounds in this game.
10. Keeping reward items secret is usually a good idea. That said, telling someone about your reward items is a good way to convince them you trust them, which can be very helpful if you need to win someone over.
11. Remember that the other players talk with each other. Keep this in mind when discussing potential votes, especially if you're trying to sell different stories to different players.
12. If at first you don't succeed, blame CHESSKID.
2. Even if you dislike or distrust someone, if a vote is legitimately in both of your best interests, you should still work with them.
3. Never burn bridges with someone. It doesn't matter how bad of a position they're in, things can always change. This goes double for people who have made it to merge and will be on the jury.
4. That guy that everyone knows is in charge of a powerful alliance? He's in a bad position in the long term, because he's the first target for backstabs within his alliance AND power moves (such as idols) from outside his alliance.
5. If you can't control the vote, settle for making sure it isn't you.
6. If you can't get into the main alliance, do your best to bond with one or two people on the outside. They'll usually do their best to keep you around just in case the main alliance breaks down.
7. If there's an endurance challenge and you can't allocate at least seven hours for it, you might as well not bother and save yourself the time.
8. Figuring out how you're going to eventually vote off certain allies when the current alliance breaks up is just planning for the future. Actually telling anyone about it before they need to know is probably a bad idea.
9. Never give up. There can be absolutely ridiculous turnarounds in this game.
10. Keeping reward items secret is usually a good idea. That said, telling someone about your reward items is a good way to convince them you trust them, which can be very helpful if you need to win someone over.
11. Remember that the other players talk with each other. Keep this in mind when discussing potential votes, especially if you're trying to sell different stories to different players.
12. If at first you don't succeed, blame CHESSKID.
Spoiler: Pre-merge Tips
1. Get into the majority alliance as soon as possible. There's always one being made, and while you don't need to make it yourself, you do want to be a part of it.
2. Don't rest on your laurels just because you're in the majority alliance. In tribes where everyone is active, it often comes down to who everyone else likes the best.
3. Backstabbing people for being good players in the initial tribes is usually a mistake. You want strong players for allies going forwards, and actually going through with a stab so soon means very few people will trust you.
4. If you're on the outside of the tribe, put everything you have into challenges. You want to avoid TC for as long as possible, and being seen to be helpful might sway people towards you. It's no substitute for good social play, but every little bit helps.
5. Keep an eye out for idols. Scan the forums frequently (and in particular after every twist), sometimes there's an idol puzzle or link the mods have hidden away.
6. In general, being active and not being seen as untrustworthy is usually enough to make it through the initial tribes.
7. In a tribe swap situation, keep tribal loyalties in mind, but don't let them dominate your thinking. You'll need more allies than just your initial tribe to succeed long-term.
8. At game start and any time there's a new twist, PM everyone you can as soon as possible.
2. Don't rest on your laurels just because you're in the majority alliance. In tribes where everyone is active, it often comes down to who everyone else likes the best.
3. Backstabbing people for being good players in the initial tribes is usually a mistake. You want strong players for allies going forwards, and actually going through with a stab so soon means very few people will trust you.
4. If you're on the outside of the tribe, put everything you have into challenges. You want to avoid TC for as long as possible, and being seen to be helpful might sway people towards you. It's no substitute for good social play, but every little bit helps.
5. Keep an eye out for idols. Scan the forums frequently (and in particular after every twist), sometimes there's an idol puzzle or link the mods have hidden away.
6. In general, being active and not being seen as untrustworthy is usually enough to make it through the initial tribes.
7. In a tribe swap situation, keep tribal loyalties in mind, but don't let them dominate your thinking. You'll need more allies than just your initial tribe to succeed long-term.
8. At game start and any time there's a new twist, PM everyone you can as soon as possible.
Spoiler: Post-merge Tips
1. There's no guaranteed strategy for dealing with merge. This is when past alliances break down and when the knives come out in force. Don't bother making detailed plans for endgame, because there's the situation almost always changes within a couple rounds at most.
2. If there's no reward items in play, it's easiest to make moves during rounds with an odd number of players remaining. With a double-vote or vote nullifier in play, it's easier to make moves with an even number of players remaining. Hidden immunity idols can make plays happen at any time.
3. Sometimes you have to accept that you can't get a specific target out, and pander to the swing vote's preference.
4. If everyone seems to be in support of multiple status quo votes in a row, you're being lied to and probably backstabbed.
5. Be careful with allies who have been through tribe swaps. It's difficult to tell whether they're truly loyal to you, or loyal to the people they met on the other tribe.
6. If there's a clear majority alliance, the minority will be doing everything they can to break it up. In particular, if everyone in the majority claims they haven't really heard anything important from the minority, then someone is lying.
7. Challenges aren't important except when they are. In short, unless a planned target wins immunity, it won't really affect things much. Of course, as the number of players decrease, the odds of that happening skyrocket. The F4 and F3 challenges in particular are very important.
8. Power players in obvious majority alliances commonly get backstabbed at either F9 or F7.
9. For all people talk about jury management, that won't matter if you don't make it to FTC in the first place. Don't worry about appeasing the jury until you actually get there.
10. If things seem hopeless, then by all means, go for the desperate play. Maybe they'll actually believe the fake reward item, or that person you've never talked to is actually looking for a new ally. There's no reason not to try it.
2. If there's no reward items in play, it's easiest to make moves during rounds with an odd number of players remaining. With a double-vote or vote nullifier in play, it's easier to make moves with an even number of players remaining. Hidden immunity idols can make plays happen at any time.
3. Sometimes you have to accept that you can't get a specific target out, and pander to the swing vote's preference.
4. If everyone seems to be in support of multiple status quo votes in a row, you're being lied to and probably backstabbed.
5. Be careful with allies who have been through tribe swaps. It's difficult to tell whether they're truly loyal to you, or loyal to the people they met on the other tribe.
6. If there's a clear majority alliance, the minority will be doing everything they can to break it up. In particular, if everyone in the majority claims they haven't really heard anything important from the minority, then someone is lying.
7. Challenges aren't important except when they are. In short, unless a planned target wins immunity, it won't really affect things much. Of course, as the number of players decrease, the odds of that happening skyrocket. The F4 and F3 challenges in particular are very important.
8. Power players in obvious majority alliances commonly get backstabbed at either F9 or F7.
9. For all people talk about jury management, that won't matter if you don't make it to FTC in the first place. Don't worry about appeasing the jury until you actually get there.
10. If things seem hopeless, then by all means, go for the desperate play. Maybe they'll actually believe the fake reward item, or that person you've never talked to is actually looking for a new ally. There's no reason not to try it.
