survivor philippines: palau: why vlad lost

vlad is definitely is a survivor in his own right. he overcame his insecurities and made it an inspiration to improve himself. he later on made himself look good and even became a model. he was also a former swimming varsity, so he has an edge on water challenges.

but unfortunately, he was voted out in the fourth tribal council by a vote of 5 - 2 from his fellow airai tribemates. but more surprisingly, he gave up before even going into the challenge with justine in isla purgatoryo.

so why did vlad lost?

first, vlad became too focused on playing the game rather than focusing on how to get the hearts of his tribemates. his competitive spirit got the more of him. he was playing the game too hard even though he has not won the trust of his tribemates. in this game, trust of your tribemates is the most critical thing to gain.

second, he is not a strategist at all. yes, he plans on how to go about the voting process and how to get further in the game. but he is too hasty. he is too clumsy. when he approached charles after they lost the immunity challenge, he did not see that mika was on their back. it was the critical point, i think if he got charles' votes, he could have stayed in the game.

third, he was prepared physically but not mentally. he did not anticipate that survivor is a mental a game and it is definitely a hard game to play. he has said this before he left the game, that the game is starting to affect him mentally and he needs to call it quits.

lastly, he did not exploit the fact that the original airai tribe has the advantage in numbers. he could have gathered the original airai tribe first before having talks with louie and charles. they could have voted off an original koror and try to sway the vote and eliminate cris. but the fact that they planned to vote off cris first and align with louie and charles, and he calls to vote off louie lateron; he definitely would look like a traitor rather than an ally.

but what surprised me was when he quits before even challenging justine. knowing his competitiveness, it is very uncharacteristic of him to just say it's over. you can't always have a second chance in everything and he decided to let it go away just like that. that makes him so much less of a survivor...

image is from:
http://blogs.gmanews.tv/survivor-philippines/index.php/the-castaways/4-castaways/15-vlad-the-metrosexual