Overview[]
The Sapphire Idol was the first was a few Hidden Immunity idols used in Tumblr Survivor that has special powers and it's own set rules that doesn't exist in the canon Survivor universe. This idol was created by Laure Winter when she was hosting Sapphire Isles. Like a regular Hidden Immunity Idol it could only be used once, and had to be played before the vote. However, unlike a regular Hidden Immunity Idol it was special and strategic for you took a risk to get a big reward since it doesn't guarantee its user any safety.
It's namesake obvious comes from a precious gem stone, which is used to give the Idol its powers. Laure, when creating a brand new idol, believed that the ones which are most powerful and prone to cause the most damage should be named after a gem stone showing just how dangerous it could be.
Format[]
Despite having a lot of power the playing of this Idol had to follow the same format as a regular Hidden Immunity Idol.
Before the Votes are Revealed[]
Players must use the Idol after the votes are cast and before the votes are read. This gesture will force castaways to become more cautious on possessing it and/or divulging information about possessing one. With this format, it is crucial for players to use his/her idol at the right time. The best time to play the Sapphire Idol, much like a regular Idol, is when a player knows they are going to receive a majority of the votes. Unlike a regular idol, however, it's much harder to waste it always will guarantee multiple players safety.
Rules[]
- As mentioned above this Idol must be played before the votes are read
- This Idol guarantees safety for the two players that have received a majority of the votes. It doesn't matter who played the Idol. Unless they are one of the two that received a majority of the votes it won't have an affect on them as far as Tribal Council goes.
- Once the Sapphire Idol as been confirmed to be authentic the host reveals the two players that are now immune by showing all the votes they received.
- It is possible for more than two players to become immune if other players also have the same amount of votes cast against them. For example if the vote is 3-3-3-2 all the players who had three votes cast against them are immune.
- Once the immune players are revealed the player with the third highest amount of votes cast against them at the Tribal Council will be voted out. If the vote was only between two players (or more see above) a revote will happen allowing players to vote for anyone as long as they aren't immune by either Individual Immunity, a regular idol play, or became immune due to the Sapphire Idol play.
- If there is a tie on the re-vote time will be allotted for another re-vote between the two players involved in the tie. (a third re-vote is allowed since these players were not targets for the original vote prior to the Sapphire Idol play) There is another tie following this re-vote it will go rocks. In the case of the Sapphire Idol play in Riau Islands where the vote was 6-4-1-1, and there was a re-vote between the third and fourth voted for players that weren't protected by the Sapphire Idol, it would have gone to rocks if a decision wasn't made between the two since the players had their names written down during the original vote.
- It's acceptable for this Idol to have the same expiration date as a regular idol (the Final 5 tribal council being the last time it can be used), but it's not recommended as it's pretty overpowered and since Newfoundland has been altered to expire after the Final 6 Tribal Council. This decision is up to the individual host that decides to use it in their season.
Getting an Idol[]
Each season had a different way of getting the Sapphire Idol.
Tumblr Survivor: Sapphire Isles
Much like the process to find a regular Hidden Immunity Idol players had to use clues received on Exile Island to search Tumblr tags to find a blog, which had the idol hidden on a page of the blog. However, for the Sapphire Idol there was two more steps involved. Once the idol was found a combination lock had to be solved, and the only way to get the numbers to unlock it was to find out information from other players or trivia knowledge. Once the lock was solved and the idol was found the player then had to make a choice. They could either have the Sapphire Idol or a regular hidden immunity idol at the risk of the one they didn't pick being randomly generated to another player in the game.
For this season all Idols and other special items were found by picking a number and a location on the map. Each tribe had their own Hidden Immunity idol scattered on the map somewhere, but the Sapphire idol was up for grabs for anyone that had the clues as it was randomly hidden on in the map in the beginning of the game.
In Tumblr Survivor: Egypt, the only way to acquire any type of idol was to find it in the Idol Tomb. The Sapphire Idol was in a certain spot in the tomb and if a player looked in that spot, they would find it. There were clues to the location of the Sapphire Idol. One of them was "If you look in Room Number 1, you're bound to find a gem."
TBD
Owning History[]
Jack: Tumblr Survivor: Sapphire Isles
He used this Idol during the 11th episode titled "#Outfoxx'd" before it was revealed he was playing it fellow alliance members Jessica and Wan played regular hidden Immunity Idols. The votes were were 4-1 between Mikey and Jessica meaning they were safe. Since Jack had Individual Immunity and Wan was immune due to his idol play Foxx was the only non-immune player in the game and left with 0 votes cast against him at both that Tribal and the game over-all.
Dustin: Tumblr Survivor: Newfoundland
He used his idol during the 11th episode titled "Dustin's 2 Strokes of Luck and the Sapphire Idol" in a strategic way to eliminate a member from an opposing alliance that had been targeting him. A majority of his alliance put votes on Josh while the opposing alliance put votes on him. Predicting this outcome instead of voting with his alliance he voted for Scott along with fellow alliance member Sam sending Scott out of the game with only two votes against him that Tribal Council.
It is known that Jenna possessed the Sapphire Idol during this season as well as a regular idol, but it never got played as she was voted out with it in her possession in the 16th episode titled "When You Try to Be Parvati and End Up Being James".
Erin: Tumblr Survivor: Riau Islands
TBD