Joaquin's main role in this game was being the flipper and for that reason alone, it's evident why he was on the Pilikia tribe. Starting off the game, Joaquin found himself in a very messy spot when his tribe could not win an immunity challenge. Very early he found a connection in Rory, Tommy, and Jadyn, and also began to get close with Tanner to some extent. When his name was thrown around for the first vote, he sprang into action to make sure Liv, the person throwing his name around, had her coffin secured. He then played a crucial role in taking out Aria, as well as KiKi. At his fourth tribal council however, he was left blindsided when one of his closest allies - Tommy - was voted out in a 4-3 vote. When it seemed evident that him and Rory were both on the bottom, the luck aspect of Survivor came to save him when a tribe swap placed him on the nuHonua tribe. He went to work on making sure to get revenge on Tanner, so that Tanner would not be trusted by his new tribe mates after being blindsided by him at the Tommy blindside. However Joaquin would not need to fear at all, as his tribe went on to win the next immunity challenges up to the merge. At the merge, Joaquin realized winning individual immunity challenges would not ever work out for him. This did not affect his game in anyway though, as he used his social skills to latch onto many different sides. Alongside some of his fellow merged tribe mates, Joaquin helped exterminate Emerald from the game due to her cunning strategic abilities. After his seemingly closest ally in the game Rory left, Joaquin managed to find an in with Jay, Smiley, and Lizzy. One of his most notable moves in the game was the way he was able to make Alice comfortable in flipping over to his side, securing the numbers to take powerhouse Andy out of the game. This was one of his greatest abilities in the game, in which he made people feel comfortable with him even though they never had true reason to trust him. While he was left out of the vote to take Smiley out at the proceeding tribal council, the super idol used by Jay managed to allow him to come out on top. When it came down to drawing rocks, Joaquin risked his game in order to make sure he wouldn't fall on the wrong side of the numbers in the future of the game. Luck once again came to his rescue, as Alice drew the rock that would send her out of the game. At the final 7, Joaquin began to become very aware of how dangerous Jay was, especially when he had such a close ally in Smiley. This caused Joaquin to flip on his side, and joined forces with Jadyn, Char, and Richmond to blindside Smiley in a 4-3 vote. Joaquin's ability to flip back and forth while still not being directly targeted by some could be equated to how he was able to manage his threat level by keeping shields in front of him. He then attempted to assist in finally taking Jay down at the final six tribal, but an accidental Lizzy vote off due to Char left everyone blindsided. At the final five, Joaquin's and Jadyn's growing rivalry finally came to a head, when the two were the only names on the chopping block. In the end, Joaquin got his way when he capitalized on Richmond's fear of Jadyn winning the entire game. When Jay managed to win yet another immunity challenge, it was clear Joaquin was the only threat to winning the game. This led to a 3-1 vote off for him to go home, making him the tenth and final member of the jury. While Joaquin never won the game, had he made the end he truly had a shot at winning the game. His ability to flip constantly and managing his threat level would've been something he needed to own, which could've given him the title of Sole Survivor. He was a great strategic force in the game even though some never thought he was at all (which is a testament to how he was able to navigate through the game with a smaller target.)