Matsing was a tribe from Survivor: Philippines.
Marred by failure and poor leadership, the tribe suffered a lengthy losing streak, losing every Immunity Challenge they competed in, quickly dwindling the tribe down to two members before being absorbed by the other two tribes of Tandang and Kalabaw. Despite losing every challenge, after Matsing disbanded, remaining members Denise Stapley and Malcolm Freberg made it to the final four, with Denise being crowned the Sole Survivor of the season.
Their tribe color is blue.
Members
| File:S25 angie t.jpgFile:S25 denise t.jpgFile:S25 malcolm t.jpg File:S25 roxanne t.jpgFile:S25 russell t.jpgFile:S25 zane t.jpg |
- Angie Layton, a student from Provo, Utah.
- Denise Stapley, a sex therapist from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
- Malcolm Freberg, a bartender from Hermosa Beach, California.
- Roxanne Morris, a seminary student from Brooklyn, New York.
- [[Survivor: Samoa|»]] Russell Swan, from Samoa, remembered for being pulled from the game after collapsing due to severe dehydration.
- Zane Knight, a tire repairman from Danville, Virginia.
Tribe History
Before going down as the most fractured of the three competing tribes, Matsing started somewhat on a higher note, having shelter and fire one hour after reaching their camp. Russell Swan, the tribe's returning contestant, known for his superb leadership which helped his former tribe dominate, declared he will not step in the leadership position. But to the annoyance of the tribe, he continued to bark orders anyway. This prompted Malcolm and Angie to keep Russell in their sights. Wanting to play with Russell's hunger for leadership, Malcolm fed Russell's ego by guiding him to make a fire and give him the full credit of doing it.
The next day, Zane confides to Denise about the back-story of his tattoos as part of his strategy. Zane continued charming his tribe mates to gain their favor. Seeing through Zane's plot, and their mutual admiration towards each other, Malcolm and Denise formed a secret alliance. Later, Russell found a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol underneath the tribe's rice basket. Zane caught Russell, and leaked the information to his tribe mates.
At the inaugural Immunity Challenge on Day 3, Russell poorly delegated his members to the tasks at hand to make sure he would not do the puzzle part of the challenge. The move proved costly, as Matsing lost the challenge, sending them to their first Tribal Council. Back at camp, Russell's controversial move put him in line for elimination. Meanwhile, Zane, who also performed weakly at the challenge, tried to gain sympathy by asking his tribe to vote him out, but in truth, he was hoping that his move will turn the tribe against Russell. At their first Tribal Council, Zane, who admitted his abrupt nicotine withdrawal (which he only did the day before he left for the Philippines), was voted out unanimously. Not wanting to repeat the same mistake at future challenges, Russell vowed to change his ways.
After the first Tribal Council, Russell and Roxanne were alarmed by Malcolm and Angie's seemingly growing closeness, cuddling at night to warm themselves up throughout the rainy night. After losing the second Immunity Challenge on Day 6, Roxanne and Russell targeted Angie. At their second consecutive Tribal Council, Roxanne called out Angie and Malcolm for their constant cuddling, while the two fired back by stating that Roxy barely worked at camp and the pair were only friends. For her aggression and laziness around camp, Roxy paid the price after a 4-1 vote.
The demoralized Matsing foursome went back to camp, where Russell encouraged his tribe to do their best. Russell, knowing that Malcolm had connections with both Denise and Angie, felt that he was in trouble. Malcolm and Angie declared they are only friends, with Malcolm telling Denise he was is willing to vote Angie out if Matsing loses again. It turned out at the Day 8 Immunity Challenge, Matsing came up short from victory once again, when Russell and Angie struggled at the swimming portion of the challenge, sending them back to Tribal Council (even though Malcolm and Denise excelled in the challenge). At their third straight Tribal Council, Russell and Angie accused each other for lack of life experiences and giving up, respectively. Angie fought back at Russell by telling him he kept talking down and underestimating her. In the end, Angie was sent home after a 3-1 vote.
Down to a paltry roster of three, Malcolm, Denise, and Russell struggled during another rain, losing their fire in the process. Despite this, Malcolm still hoped to win even just one challenge. The three agreed to continue fighting hard for their survival. Uncomfortable with the idea of going home before the merge for a second time, Russell tried to find the idol. Meanwhile, Malcolm lamented on keeping Russell for the sake of muscle mass, but the returning contestant had yet to prove anything to them. After losing for the fourth consecutive time in a closely-contested challenge, and unable to locate the Hidden Immunity Idol, Malcolm and Denise voted a visible disappointed Russell after a 2-1 vote.
The Dismantling of Matsing
On Day 11, down to two members, Malcolm and Denise anticipated that they would be absorbed by the other two tribes, so they wasted no time to look for Matsing's Hidden Immunity Idol. With Russell having the clue with him when he left, the two scoured the entire camp for the object. Malcolm then noticed the token on top of the rice container, and it turned out to be the Hidden Immunity Idol, to their delight. Because Malcolm found the idol, it was his to keep, leaving Denise vulnerable. Later that day, Malcolm and Denise's speculations of them being absorbed by the other two tribes proved correct. After a draw of buffs, Malcolm and Denise were sent to the Tandang and Kalabaw tribes, respectively, putting an end to the ill-fated tribe that was Matsing, making them a dissolved tribe.
Matsing Reunited
On Day 17, the eleven remaining castaways were merged into the new Dangrayne tribe. They lived the remainder of their days at the old Matsing camp. Matsing's only remaining members, Malcolm and Denise, were reunited.
Gallery
Trivia
- Matsing is the first tribe to never win a challenge, losing all four challenges it competed in.
- Matsing is pronounced "Mat-ching." However, this pronunciation has never been adapted by Jeff Probst nor the contestants.
- Blue is one of the three colors represented in the Philippine flag. The blue stripe on the top symbolizes justice, truth, and peace. If the Philippine flag is viewed horizontally and is in its default position (where the blue stripe is shown above the red stripe), it means the Philippines is at peace.
- Matsing is the third tribe to be absorbed and have the winner of the season, following Viveros and Puka Puka.
- Matsing is the fourth starting tribe to go down to three players before the merge, following Maraamu, Sook Jai, and Ulong, followed by Luzon.
- Matsing is the second starting tribe to go down to two players before the merge, following Ulong.
- In addition, there were only two remaining members of the original Saboga, Manihiki, and Puka Puka tribes and one remaining member of the original Aitutaki tribe before their seasons' respective merges. However, the tribes themselves were not reduced to those numbers as their seasons had the tribes dissolved and the remaining castaways were scattered among the remaining tribes.
- Matsing is very similar to the Saboga tribe of Survivor: All-Stars,
- Both tribes lost the first two Immunity Challenges.
- Both tribes were dissolved, leaving the remaining two tribes with seven members each.
- Both tribes had two people, a man and a woman enter the merge.
- The merged tribe stayed at the dissolved tribe's former camp.
- Both members that entered the merged made it to the final four with the male member placing 4th and was unanimously voted out.
- Matsing holds the record for most days without having a tribe member voted out with 28 between Russell Swan on Day 10 and Malcolm Freberg on Day 38.
- Matsing lived on Catanawan Island, the same island where Tandang and Gota lived.