Board Thread:Season 24 - Cape Verde/@comment-7785749-20150216042746/@comment-9755360-20150216231339

After tonight, only twelve contestants will remain in the game. There's been no news of a swap or a merge so far, but is it on people's minds? How would the game change if the tribes were to merge immediately after this, or if they were to swap? How do you see the game going if nothing happens and it remains two members of Zaranha versus a tribe with double your members and a tribe with triple your members?

You've really stepped up the questions, nice job on that! To the questions:

Yes, swaps have been on everyone's minds. I personally have been prepared for a swap at T15, T14 and now T12, and basically everyone I've talked to have agreed. The merge won't come yet, but wait until 3 more contestants are out and we'll start talking!

Immediate merge: this one is interesting. We'd be 12 to merge, and as you very well know all tribes are different in numbers. The biggest change would of course be that you'd need to start strategizing and talking with people you may not have talked to before. You'd also have to be on the edge all the time, since anyone can go home at any time. Immunity Challenges would also be harder. Cross-tribal alliances would also get to fulfill their purposes, and some people would get much more experience with tribals (no Corvo, I'm not speaking about you :P).

Immediate swap: I'm expecting this one to be honest. This one would also require people to step out of their comfort zones, interact with other people and probably also try harder in challenges. It could also be challenging in more ways than one - if you're on a tribe with people that hate you, you'd have a real struggle, but is the struggle less if you're in a tribe with only people you like and care about, and have to vote one of your closest out (Zaranha today)? The game would also be much more serious, with people resorting to their bad sides just to stay in the game.

No merge or swap: this one would probably be hardest for us in Zaranha. Since we've decided to draw rocks, anyone can go out, so I'll do three scenarios here:

1. Laure's out: the tribe would move on. We would have a chance to win again, but we'd have a fairly large chance of losing too. At a merge, Zaranha would probably not make it so far.

2. Nathan's out: the tribe would move on. We'd have a fair chance of winning, but it'd depend more individually on the challenges themselves. Some would be great, some would be horrible. In a merge, Zaranha would probably make it pretty far, but not to the end.

3. I'm out: the tribe would move on. They'd have a fairly low chance of winning, and most likely a one-man tribe would enter the merge, if any tribe at all. Zaranha would go out very early in this scenario.

Being at a numbers disadvantage could be really destroying. I want everyone to look at Kamchatka though. Pobeda were down to 3 when any of the other tribes lost a member (Slava). Slava themselves then became only 3 when the merge came, and Pobeda were down to 2. Even though Uspekh were unbeatable, Ivan still managed to grab the sixth place. I see it as if we (Zaranha) are a Pobeda, just not as extreme, Alto are some kind of Slava, and Uspekh are the Corvos. What would happen at a merge? Most likely Corvo would try to take out Alto before small, little Zaranha, and that could bring us Zaranhans further into the game. So yeah, being the "worst" tribe is bad, but being the "middle" tribe can be even worse. The numbers aren't in our favor, but they would definitely not be against us either.

Another loss. After tonight, Zaranha will be down to two. What do you think happens to your tribe moving forward?

I fully expect a swap next. Either 4-4-4 tribes, or 6-6 tribes. The second would mean Zaranha was to be dissolved though, a horrible thought, but probably a realistic thought too! I just hope whoever takes care of Zaranha from now on does a great job in taking care of it!