The Challenge 40 Battle of the Eras Player Preview: Brandon Nelson
In a Challenge world filled with some of the loudest and craziest personalities, it takes a lot to carve out the respect of a fandom while remaining low-key. I think Brandon Nelson has achieved that.
Whenever there are discussion threads asking who the most underrated player in Challenge history is or who the most unlucky player is, Brandon’s name commonly comes up — out of love. There’s something about Brandon that resonates with fans; they want to see him get another chance and succeed. I think it’s because Brandon is inherently a very good and authentic person. Since I’ve covered the show, Brandon has always been someone willing to interact and converse with fans. He’s willing to take criticism on the chin yet also stands up for who he is. Brandon is a cool dude, and I’m happy to see him back in the fold for Season 40 following his All-Stars 4 run.
Brandon’s Cheat Sheet
Introducing Brandon:
Before being part of the crop of recruits dropped onto Fresh Meat 2, Brandon was an All-State high school football player and even went to play College Football at University Arkansas, where he was actually teammates with Darren McFadden. I don’t believe Brandon ever got to see the field during his time; regardless, being on the roster for a major SEC Football program is impressive.
Brandon made his Challenge debut on Fresh Meat 2, where he got saddled with Katelynn Cusanelli as a partner. Katelynn does not get talked about enough as one of the worst players in Challenge history — she was a powerful combination of arrogant and incapable. On this season, Brandon was one of the many numbers in Wes’s mega alliance. Their season came to an end after getting voted into elimination, where they weren’t allowed to compete because Brandon had drank a beer the morning of the competition, though I don’t blame Brandon because Katelynn had sustained an injury where she wasn’t going to be able to do the exile anyway. Still, it was a weird exit. Brandon’s most notable moment this season was fighting with Danny after Danny stole Pete’s special potatoes and mistreated his partner (Sandy). Although Brandon wasn’t the biggest personality, he seemed to be friends with everyone from the original Fresh Meat crop.
We got to see Brandon get a second shot to compete on Cutthroat. Brandon got drafted to the Red Team, where he was voted in multiple times simply because he was the “Rookie” of their squad. While having to repeatedly go into elimination sucked, Brandon gained the respect of fans and TJ by winning three eliminations, defeating Derek, JD, and Ty. Brandon had a bit of a beef with Ty this season, and they had one of the more bizarre eliminations ever, where Ty “passed” out once Brandon tied the score in their elimination. Ultimately, Brandon’s time ended after facing Derrick in elimination, to which, if you’re going to go out, losing a 3x Champ is the best-case scenario.
Brandon went back for Rivals 1 and got Ty as a partner. Having Ty as a partner was not great; he put a target on them with his grating personality and wasn’t amazing in the challenges. They got thrown into the second elimination of the season against Wes & Kenny, where the four players competed in a rope climbing contest. Brandon beat all three men in Round 1, and if Ty had beaten Wes, they would’ve pulled off a significant elimination upset. Unfortunately, they had to go to a sudden death round, where Brandon slipped up, and Wes sent them home. Again, if you’re going to get knocked out, it’s better to lose to a legend like Wes.
Following Rivals, we’d see Brandon a year or two later for Battle of the Seasons, where he was given two strong partners with Camila and Cara Maria. The three of them should have been a powerhouse team with a real shot of dominating a Final. Except, Big Easy was a gigantic anchor weighing them down, and that’s not a fat joke; it’s a statement of fact that Big Easy was dogshit in the daily challenges. Brandon & Cara were out by Episode 3 after getting outworked and outsmarted by Sarah & Chet in Knot So Fast.
We wouldn’t see Brandon again till Free Agents, where he got to play as an individual again. In Episode 4, Brandon got voted into elimination, and Zach pulled the Kill Card for Oppenheimer (a Hall Brawl variation). It was seriously bad luck for Brandon. I will say it’s a testament to Brandon that after five seasons, he had never made it farther than Episode 6, yet still had the respect of fans.
Almost a decade later, we got Brandon back for All-Stars 4. He won a Star in the opening challenge, and he looked to be in great shape. For years, I thought he played too passively of a game where he didn’t devote enough time to the social or political game. On All-Stars 4, we saw a much more active version of Brandon, who was willing to make big political moves to increase his chances of winning. The targeting of his long-time friend Cara made many people mad, but Brandon’s goal was to win, and Cara was pretty clearly looking like the top dog in the house. Brandon went into an elimination against Leroy, where they battled for a Star, and Leroy won. I will say, I liked the version of Brandon that we got on All-Stars 4 and am glad he’s getting another shot here on 40.
Skills and Physical Strength:
Through virtue of him never making it super far into any season, Brandon has much less daily challenge experience than most players on this cast. Plus, it’s hard to find a rhythm when you compete with teammates like Katelynn, Big Easy, and Ty.
In terms of weaknesses, Brandon’s never had much of a knack for the carnival-game daily challenges, and he’s a very weak swimmer. When it comes to strengths, Brandon is quick on his feet and is great with physical contact as a former football player. His cardio seemed pretty solid on All-Stars 4.
Skill-set-wise, Brandon reminds me of players like Kyle Christie and Nelson Thomas. They are strong physically but don’t have any part of the game where they have an overwhelming strength or skill that allows them to dominate daily challenges.
SSMP (Social, Strategic, Mental, and Political) Game:
Socially, people love Brandon. He just doesn’t make the connections politically where they look out for him actively in the game. Typically, Brandon goes into season outgunned politically. I fear that may be the case again this season. There are so many people on this cast who Brandon has never played with or hasn’t played with in over a decade. We don’t know where he and Cara stand after All-Stars 4, and if she’s looking to get some payback, that will be a major issue for his game. The only strong connection that I know Brandon has is to Leroy. Leroy is a great friend ; however, he’s not sticking out his neck for anyone that isn’t named Kam or Bananas.
Edit: I do think he is close with Derek.
Regarding the mental game, Brandon seems like an intelligent, level-headed guy, but he’s never really shown great prowess for puzzles or memory games. He and Cara had no strategy in their Knot So Fast elimination years ago, and if you can’t think on your feet, you don’t have a shot at winning.
Eliminations & Winning Potential:
Including All-Stars, Brandon’s elimination record is 3–5. All three wins came on Cutthroat against players I’d rate as inferior/on the same level as Brandon. The five losses have all come against very strong players. Suffice it to say, I want to see Brandon beat a quality opponent in elimination so that I can raise my expectations for him. Right now, he feels like a below-average to an-average competitor based on his track record. It would be great to see Brandon expand his skill set as well. His wins on Cutthroat were all physical eliminations. I’d like to see him kill a carnival game or win a game of skill.
Can Brandon win? No. He’s never seen a Final before, and he’s going against a stacked cast. Brandon does not have the experience to beat people who know what it takes to win. I am actively rooting for Brandon to go farther than he has ever before, and if he made the Final, that would be awesome.
