I Can't Wait to See Jeff (S44: Episode 1)

We’ve got FIFTY SEVEN members in the league this season! That’s a new Vukelulu record, and a 10% growth increase from last season. We’d like to give a warm welcome to our league newbies, and a big shout out to all of our rockstar returnees. We are so glad you're here :)

The Idol Cage at Camp Vukelulu

Let's see how the draft shook out!

Our Season 43 league winner and our two Sia Award winners (Rachael, Maggie, and Cristina), all earned the opportunity to select their seed placement within the draft for Season 44. Rachael selected #18 seed. Maggie selected #10 seed. Cristina selected #1 seed. All other members were entered into a randomized generator to determine their draft placement. Based on the size of the league and the number of castaways remaining after Episode 1, each castaway could be drafted onto a MAXIMUM of 18 peoples’ tribes.

HOW SEASON 44 CONTESTANTS WERE DRAFTED

Our MVP draft pick this season was the ever so lovable, YAM YAM! He was fully drafted by the end of round 2, and is our second most popular draft pick in Vukelulu history after Jesse from last season. 37% of the league listed Yam Yam in one of their top 3 spots.

Our least popular pick this season was Jaime who was the only castaway to not be fully drafted. While all other castaways were drafted onto 18 tribes, Jaime made it onto 12 tribes. 35% of the league listed Jaime as their last round draft pick. But look... If history tells us anything, it's that the Vukelulu Tribe's predictions are not indicative of what the end game result will be. (For the past 4 seasons: Winners at War, S41, S42, S43, not a single Vukelulu member has correctly guessed the Sole Survivor winner, and last season, the lowest ranked player of the draft ended up winning the entire season).

Some other fun facts: Carson was only selected as the first round draft pick by two people, but he proceeded to be the second most popular pick of the season, and was fully drafted by the start of round 3.

And lastly, despite our warnings to NOT list the two castaways who already departed the game during Episode 1 on your draft submissions, we had multiple offenders this season. Maddy’s name was submitted 3 times and drafted twice. Bruce’s name was submitted 2 times and drafted once. We um... yeah....

IMPORTANT: Below are your tribes. Of the 5 contestants listed as your "TRIBE," please send us your SOLE SURVIVOR* pick and your MERGE BONUS pick. Your Merge Bonus will only (officially) join your tribe if they are still in the game post-merge and will not collect points for you (if) until they are added to the tribe.

You must submit your Sole Survivor and Merge Bonus before WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8th 8PM EST. If you do not, we will default pick your first drafted contestant as your sole and your last drafted player as your alternate. PLEASE EMAIL your selections to survivorvukelulu@gmail.com.

*Remember, your Sole Survivor pick is more important than ever this season! For the first time ever, the second half of the pot will be the "Sole Survivor Pot." Everyone who picks the correct Sole Survivor willl divvy up the "Sole Survivor Pot" evenly to each of their favorite charities.

Your Tribemasters,

Brian & Olivia