Voce Sparked a Theory That Yase Is Using a Risky Strategy in 'Survivor 41'

With only two episodes so far, one Survivor tribe in Season 41 is already on the losing end of the stick. After losing all three challenges so far, Yase is at the bottom of the pecking order, and it doesn’t look like things are going to get any better. And after Episode 2, one player is determined to out the losing tribe's strategy.

In Episode 2, David Voce is eliminated, despite Xander being the main target of the secret women’s alliance. Evvie seems to be taking the lead, and Voce ends up as Yase’s sacrifice. But in his exit interview with EW, Voce brings up the “intentional Matsing strategy,” but what exactly is that? Is the Yase tribe trying the “intentional Matsing strategy”?

The name of the “intentional Matsing strategy” refers to the Matsing tribe from Survivor: Philippines. For those who don’t remember, that season also begins with three tribes of six players each, and one tribe, Matsing, always loses. No matter what they do, Matsing can’t seem to get out of the tribal council. However, its two surviving members, Denise and Malcolm, end up doing very well.

Denise and Malcolm make it to the merge with two groups that have even numbers, and the other tribes see them as voting pawns rather than as threats until it’s too late. Thanks to this tactic, Denise wins Survivor: Philippines and both she and Malcolm are favorite Survivor underdogs for the fanbase. However, it might not be as successful as it seems.

Voce shares in his interview, “The other thing that I'll say that was delusional in this tribe is that everyone said, ‘Let's do an intentional Matsing!’ And I'm sitting there thinking, you have five people, you can't have all five people saying, ‘Let's do an intentional Matsing!’ because there are only two people by definition that are going to make it. That's not a strategy when there are five people left.”

It seems that Evvie is at the forefront of this strategy. However, it’s historically not a great strategy, whether intentional or not. The only time a tribe with lower numbers going into the merge produced a winner was in Survivor: Philippines with Matsing.

In other seasons that started with three tribes — All-Stars, Kaoh Rong, Worlds Apart, Cagayan, and Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers — none of the winners came from the tribe with the lowest numbers.

So whether Evvie is employing the “intentional Matsing strategy” or if Yase is just that bad at winning, Yase is definitely in trouble.

Evvie knows that if she sticks with Voce and Xander, and they are forced to get down to two people, she’s the one going home. So despite the move to vote out Voce not seeming too smart, it is the women’s best strategy.

Tune into Survivor Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.