John

John, also known as “Mandra”, is a castaway from Survivor: Guadalajara and Survivor: Cape Canaveral (All-Stars).

Survivor: Guadalajara
Name (Age, Pronouns): John (34, He/Him)

Tribe Designation: Zapopan

Outwit, Outplay, or Outlast: This is tough. I guess I'll go with Outlast. I think you need to do the first two to succeed at the third.

Skill you would demonstrate if given an opportunity to demonstrate a game still for a ranking like in The Hunger Games: Collectedness. I got praise from my fellow castaways in my last org for maintaining a cool head when things would blow up.

Pregaming, bueno or no bueno: I am against pregaming. I think you're naturally inclined to want to work with people you know, but I think you should be on the beach before you talk game.

Challenges most and or least hoping to take part in: Your challenges last season got pretty creative. I guess I'd like to play Battleship since it's been so long. I least want to do math challenges. The only FOILing I'm doing is with aluminum.

Particular good/bad vibes from other applicants: The entire cast hasn't been announced yet. I'll try to give a proper cast assessment based on my very limited knowledge of everyone once it fills up, but I can talk to you about those I am familiar with which I will do below.

Coke or Pepsi: Coke, duh.

Survivor: Cape Canaveral (All-Stars)
Name (Age, Pronouns): John (34, He/Him)

Tribe Designation: Gemini

Current Residence: United States

Applicant most intimidated to play with: It's hard to narrow this down to just one person. We are dealing with an incredible cast of players here, so everyone has some intimidating qualities. I think I'm most intimidated by those I'm least familiar with. That's kind of a lame answer but it's the truth. I'm a firm believer in 'the devil you know'. I'm more afraid of players I'm less exposed to.

But if I had to narrow it down to 1 person it would be Lukas. Lukas was the first boot on my first tribe ever. He was playing hard and got his torch snuffed early. I don't know there was much he could have done with the hand he was dealt, but I'm sure he hasn't forgotten. Even if he doesn't target me right away I don't think I'll be far from his line of sight.

Applicant with the highest chance of first boot: The cynic in me believes that I have the highest chance of being the first boot. I don't think I have the highest profile or anything among returnees. I think there will be others entering with bigger targets on their backs, buuuut you never know. I've never been voted out before so I think there is a certain joy one could take in eliminating me. Also Yankee's write up was rather complimentary. Never have I been less happy to hear people say nice things about me, hahaha.

That said, I think someone with few connections might be the first boot. I think the game is going to start with people playing it safe and falling back on pre-existing relationships while they gain their footing.

3 applicants you do want on your tribe: 1. Julia - Queen. If you were to ask me right now who I want to go to the end with, it's Julia. She seems to play a loyal game which is appealing. She is probably the best shield in the game aside from Wes, Will, and Ben. I think that her and I are going to have a similar mindset about linking up. Will Julia and John be the Cape Canaveral Stoner Power Couple? Time will tell, but I'm hoping for a yes.

2. Will - I am drawn to compelling narratives. Will and I turning our feud into a fruitful relationship is extremely appealing to me. I have such extreme respect for Will as a player. I think the only way Will and I get on the same page with close to complete trust is if we start on the same tribe. If I lie to Will he will know. I want the Mossad operative on my side. 3. Ben - I've specced Ben 3 times now. Dude is my co-host on Presquevivor. I mentioned earlier how there are Higher Profiles than me. Ben is absolutely one of them (so is Will, so is Julia). The man has one of the best heads for the game I have ever seen. He is aggressively logical. I've seen dude convince people to do things outside of their best interest because he frames it in a logical manner. Ben is also a loyal guy. Maybe he switches it up here. Maybe he plays a more cutthroat game. But I'd be willing to bet he stays in character. I don't think he would look at me as an end game option but this concerns me not, at least not now. Somehow of the 3 I have the least well developed personal relationship with Ben. I don't know we've ever had a truly personal conversation.

3 applicants you do NOT want on your tribe: So I went into the chat and tried to identify all of the prospective all-stars. I was largely just assuming things before today about who might be playing. I am still saddened I will not have a chance to bro down with Ammar. One day!!!

Looking at this list, once again I think the people I don't want on my tribe are the people I don't know or know very well. Pretty much anyone from New York, haha. But that's not really fair so I will answer with 3 names I am familiar with... 1. Lukas - I will never be able to think Lukas will not want me out first. Lukas being on my starting tribe would automatically set up a sense of fracture. I would rather not have to deal with that right away. 2. Mark - I don't think Mark is going to want to play with me. Also Mark has seen me play twice. Once up close, once as an active spec. I don't like people knowing things about me. It makes me want them out. Mark goes deep too. Mark always goes deep. He's a savvy player. 3. Bagels - I was going to complete the cycle here by listing Bryce, but I would actually like to work with Bryce if we ever play together again. Bagels seems like the most chaotic of the Youth Brigade. The youth scares me. Plus now I'm Keto. I avoid Bagels.

Real life All-Star your pre-season reputation most similar to: While I don't think I play like Sandra, I do feel like she is the best Real Life analog to myself coming into this season. I mean, I did take on the moniker Mandra during S4. Winners come into All Stars seasons with targets pre-attached. Being 2/2 increases that target size exponentially. Sandra was never winning Game Changers. Likewise, I think my odds at winning Cape Canaveral are only slightly better than Kass's at winning Cagayan. I'm still going to try my damnedest though. If through some unholy event I do nab that W I will chalk that up less to my skill and more to these other people just being dumb.

To expand on that - So much of this game is narrative. Through the virtue of my rep alone, if I sit at FTC I already have a compelling argument to win the game before I say a word.

Strategy will only take you so far without a story to tell.

Applicant besides yourself with the best shot at winning: Despite everything that I've said about how impossible my road is going to be because of my two-time winner status, I still think Julia has the best chance to win this game. Her social game is off the charts and she is so disarming. And despite how huuuge of a threat she is, I see other people just looking scarier in the moment.

Wes is a force of nature. Dude was born to play Survivor. But he's always going to draw fire before Julia. William is omniscient and knows what I'm typing in my cons my right. But he's always going to get the boot before Julia. My CC strategy: simp Julia.

5 applicants cut from the cast: What a mean fucking question.

Dembowski - Who? Really, I don't know NYC. Awesomeness - I have seen this person referred to as a real name before but I forget who that was. I know they are from NYC. So who? Donuts - I can't imagine there will be 7 people from Charleston playing. Ben - Honestly I think it's super possible Ben gets cut. He is already playing in an org now and I'm not sure he would want to double down. But if he does get cut it won't be because he doesn't deserve a slot. Bryce - Yankee and Jarrett are not going to make me play my third straight game with Bryce. Or would they? He's about to start up in Survivor: Texas so I have to imagine he is not playing here. But maybe he should. He's a reliable jury vote.

'''You are known by many as one of the most successful ORG players ever besides a winner here. How tough will it be to keep your threat level low?:''' It's gonna be super tough at first. I'm going to need to do SO much work when we maroon to ingratiate myself with my starting tribe. I think at the beginning of the game I am a big threat because of my reputation. I think as the game progresses I will become part of the background noise. I'm going to have to keep a low profile. Once the game organically creates its own ecosystem of threats/non-threats I will be able to get in that sweet middle ground.