Four previous winners returned and recruited tribes of four on their own. The coaches would not compete in the game with the players, but would compete alongside them to help win them advantages and powers in the game.
At the merge, the coaches would compete in a challenge where the last-place coach would be removed from the game, forcing the remaining players to sign as a free agent with any of the three remaining teams.
1️⃣6️⃣ Joel/KarmaSutra - Ao Tea - Day 1 (QUIT) #TeamBrady
After a controversial first challenge, JOEL quit the game, leaving #TeamBrady with just three members.
1️⃣5️⃣ Donte/camell22 - Waka - Day 2 (3-1) #TeamLiv
With Waka heading to its first tribal council, the tribe agreed to vote out their least active member in DONTE.
1️⃣4️⃣ AJ/zorbo678 - Ao Tea/Waka - Day 3 (6-1) #TeamBrady
After the swap, the players on the new Waka tribe agreed to target #TeamBrady, leaving AJ and Ty as the two players on the outs. Ultimately, it was AJ who got the boot.
1️⃣3️⃣ Tyler K./TylerK - He Ao/Waka - Day 4 (4-2) #TeamJackson
With a double tribal council looming, #TeamJackson and #TeamJake were looking to make the first move on one another, targeting each other's TYLER. In the end, the tribe sided with #TeamJake and voted out TYLER K.
1️⃣2️⃣ Brandon/livnglavidaloca - Waka/He Ao - Day 4 (5-2) #TeamLiv
With #TeamLiv on the outs at HE AO's first tribal council, BRANDON and ROBBY were on the chopping block, but the tribe opted for challenge strength by keeping ROBBY and voting out BRANDON.
1️⃣1️⃣ Tyler B./bamold1999 - Roa/Waka - Day 5 (3-2) #TeamJake
With WAKA going to tribal council, Ty was the first target on player's minds. However, BRADY won the power that eventually resulted in Ty sending himself to Exile Island and escaping the vote. With Ty safe, it became a showdown between #TeamJackson and #TeamJake. DANIEL played an extra vote which pushed #TeamJackson over the top, sending TYLER B. home.
1️⃣0️⃣ Setsu/manalord - Waka/Waka/Kupe - Day 6 (6-4) #TeamLiv#TeamJake
LIV lost the final Coaches' Challenge, which resulted in her exiting the game. ROBBY joined #TeamJackson and SETSU joined #TeamJake. The tribe appeared to be divided down the middle with #TeamJake and #TeamBrady on one side and #TeamJackson and the remnants of #TeamLiv on the other. When the votes came in, JIMMY flipped his vote and sided with the opposing alliance by voting out SETSU.
0️⃣9️⃣ Ethan/Ethan000 - Ao Tea/He Ao/Kupe - Day 7 (4-3-1) #TeamBrady
With ANTHONY exiled after the Auction, the tribe saw a prime opportunity to split up the pair between him and ETHAN. #TeamJackson was all on board, and JIMMY flipped back to his original team to vote out ETHAN and send him to the jury.
After trying to vote out ROBBY in the previous round, #TeamJake did not want to miss a second time. FELIX and JIMMY flipped back to #TeamJake and voted out ROBBY.
0️⃣7️⃣ Daniel/DanielKennedy111 - He Ao/Waka/Kupe - Day 8 (4-2-1) #TeamJackson
In the Fast Forward, ANTHONY looked to make his push towards coming out on top, so he went against his team and coach to flip with Felix, Jimmy and Ty to vote DANIEL out.
0️⃣6️⃣ Felix/CharlieBibi - He Ao/He Ao/Kupe - Day 9 (3-3/2-2/Rocks) #TeamJackson
In the Final 6, Jimmy held the immunity necklace, Allie had the Legacy Advantage played on her, and Anthony played his idol, making three people safe from the vote. In a split vote, Patrick and Ty received three votes each. If the revote tied, Felix would go as he would be the only one eligible to draw rocks. Despite knowing this, Felix kept his vote on Ty, allowing the vote to tie (see what I did there?) and sending him to Ponderosa.
0️⃣5️⃣ Allie/AllieBoBallie - Roa/He Ao/Kupe - Day 9 (3-2) #TeamJake
With ANTHONY officially on his own, he teamed up with JIMMY and TY to vote out ALLIE.
0️⃣4️⃣ Patrick/Patrick319 - Roa/He Ao/Kupe - Day 9 (3-1) #TeamJake
After ANTHONY won the Final Immunity Challenge, PATRICK became the final member of the jury as the biggest threat to win.
--- Final 3 ---
0️⃣3️⃣ Jimmy/BB5Lover - He Ao/He Ao/Kupe (0 votes to win) #TeamJackson
0️⃣2️⃣ Anthony/iYBF - Roa/Waka/Kupe (2 votes to win) #TeamJake
0️⃣1️⃣ Ty/J0K3R - Ao Tea/Waka/Kupe (5 votes to win) #TeamBrady
In the Final Tribal Council, the jury and coaches harbored bitter feelings towards ANTHONY and JIMMY for their flips between alliances, and five players voted for TY, most of whom voted him simply to vote against ANTHONY and JIMMY. Nonetheless, a win is a win and TY became the sole survivor.
This season was one of the most difficult seasons to host. The coaches being able to recruit their own players created somewhat of a group mentality and many were very vocal about my disdain with my hosting. Nonetheless, it's been a year and a half since the season and there are no negative feelings towards anyone from this cast -- players and coaches.
The season is probably most known for its ending, which was slightly unfortunate. ANTHONY and JIMMY both played strong games and are probably more deserving of the win based on strategy and physical game. However, the game comes down to the jury's votes and TY claimed the most. Therefore, he's the rightful winner of the season.
Rating: 4.5/10
Ranking: 17/20
Returnees: Ty (Henan), Setsu (Valley of Victors), Jackson (Flops vs. Tops, Valley of Victors), Liv (Valley of Victors)
