Was just headed to post this... Initial thoughts:
-24 players is a lot. Wonder how many days they will play or how many dual elimination tribals will be needed to weed through that many. Also wonder if they have some kind of redemption island thing like they did in 40 which allows them another chance to get back in the game since they committed to playing a milestone season so an early out would suck
-Not too excited about Stephenie LaGrossa, she is a terribly over-rated player IMO
-I'm neutral on Cirie, not one of my favorite players but she is likable and played well
-I like Ozzy but he and Cirie have already played 4 times and not won so I would have been ok had both been left off too as we've seen them enough already
-I am not a fan of Coach but I am not shocked he is on the cast. Just hope he is past the annoying "dragon slayer" crap as he is probably one of my least favorite players ever on the show
-Angelina is probably not some fan's favorite player but I like the pick, she was a bit of a villain on her season
-I am THRILLED to see 3 from season 48 made it in Joe, Kyle, and Kamilla although I would have preferred someone like Shauhin David or Mitch over Kamilla
-Not a fan of "Q" but he'll make some good drama I am sure
-Lots of 2nd place finishers, glad to see Charlie back as he should have beat Kenzi in season 46 if the jury wasn't so stupid. 46 was probably one of the dumbest casts that I can recall
-Not surprised that a lot of the first season players are not on the cast as that was 25 years ago so some probably just aren't physically up for it or burned out. Plus fans probably don't want to see more Boston Rob, Sandra, Cochran, Tony, Parvarti, Tyson etc that have played a lot of days already
-Speaking of most days played, Ozzy and Cirie are #3 and 4 all time with 128 and 121 days played. Next closest are Aubry 111 Colby 98 Coach 96 Stephanie 75
-Would love to know who they asked to play that declined or who wasn't asked at all. We'll probably never know
Definitely a good mix of personalities that I think will be interesting to see who aligns with who. Have a few that tend to cause some drama and chaos but also a lot of really strong and experienced players too from different eras of the show. Hope the 2 from the upcoming 49 aren't disappointments once we know who they are. As I've always said when there is a season that has a returning winner, they should be the 1st targets out if everyone is playing to win so that should mean Dee and Kyle will be prime targets early if some of these players that came close before want the best chance of winning.