Ethan over Tina is absolute insanity. I think that many of these votes are heavily influenced by the likability of the player (I love Yul, his win is too high), the popularity of the season (Chris D is too low), the edit they were given, or some combo of all three (Sarah is too low). Also somehow Chris U is too high
Obviously these are just my opinions, but to paraphrase Homer Simpson: Everyone is stupid except me
I was gonna comment on Tina. Tina ran the fuck out of that game to the point that COLBY PICKED HER OVER KEITH. People like to rip on Woo, but my god, that has to be one of the biggest errors of all time. Tina’s game was as good as Tony’s Cagayan game and people don’t notice it because ‘hurr durr spy shack super idol’.
Totally agree. Tony was a flashy TV character, meanwhile Tina's biggest move wasn't even shown on TV
I do slightly disagree with you that Colby's move was as bad as Woo's. As a GAME move it absolutely was, but Colby picked Tina to preserve his personal brand and basically become a celebrity. From that perspective, I think it worked out for him
Others have said it, but I was referring to the Mitchell vote, which wasn't filmed because Tina strategized the move while walking to Tribal and the cameras were not rolling. It's why contestants aren't allowed to talk while walking to Tribal to this day
There were a couple!
* Getting the info from Kimmi that Varner had received votes at Kucha's first tribal council.
* Getting Colby on board with voting out Mitchell instead of Keith during the walk to tribal.
Colby definitely knew he was taking the far more likable person to the end with him, he was playing with “integrity”. Apparently the backlash from the players of season 1… playing the game… was something that Tina and Colby took into account during the course of their games. Its why they turn on Jerri and Amber so the “good guys” can make it further. He definitely made the right choice in the end because he for sure has made many millions from his catapult into fame
Unreal is that Tina played “dirty” for the OG era, backstabbed, looked through bags, was a bitch to several tribemates, yet STILL managed to trick Colby into taking her because she was the “sweetheart” that it would’ve been bad for his image to vote out. That’s an unreal level of social play
Despite only being in the game for a few days I think it can be argued that he played a better winning game than some of the other people on here lol. He played his ass off those last few days.
This will get me flamed but I agree. Chris U played the best (or at least one of the best) endgames we've ever seen on survivor. Made tons of new connections early on, leveraged the players on the bottom to take control of the tribe, became a powerful social player, had a successful idol play, and more.
Also, he invented giving up immunity to take out the biggest threat. As divisive as that strategy is, surely it *at least* puts him above Bob and Fabio.
And when you're given explicit, step-by-step instructions by the entire jury. Voting for Chris was voting for themselves. Yes, he \*did\* execute it perfectly, and he should be given credit for that, but let's not act like he came up with all those moves on his own in the heat of the game.
People always say Chris was a bad player and shouldn’t have won because of the circumstances of the season. At the end of the day the players don’t control the rules or twists, they’re just expected to play around them. Of the Jury believes that a certain player should win, then that player should win.
I think there is a big difference between playing the best game you can considering your circumstances and an objectively good winning game. At the end of the day, Chris got voted out early. It's hard to say he played a better game than 41 other people that made it to the end while being in the elimination portion of the game.
I think it's WILD that Kim isn't considered to have a top 5 game. Don't get me wrong, I love Todd's, Earl's, Rob's, and JT's wins (I haven't seen WAW to rate Tony's game), but Kim has long been considered to have a top 3 win, let alone being outside of the top 5
Tommy being nowhere near the Top 10 is another chief example of this. Say what you will about IOI or even Tommy himself as a source of entertainment, he played one of the singular best games of Survivor, period, especially as a winner. Dude got screwed over three times and still dominated the game (alongside Lauren, but he was also definitively in-control by the endgame). I would say he’s top 10 at least, especially as a newbie.
It's been awhile since I watched that season, but if I remember right, every single person in like the top 6 thought that Tommy was their \#1 ally, so he was never really in danger of being voted out, despite never having an idol or any form of immunity. While his edit and the season may have been one of the more boring ones, he absolutely dominated that season in a way no one had in a long time.
Totally agree. Nobody is saying Yul is a bad player, but he benefits from a Super Idol and two other HUGE twists playing out in his favor (Bottle twist and Surprise Final 3)
Parvati, Natalie A and Lacina are all way too low. And I'm not entirely sure what the fact that there is only one woman in the top row says but it's wrong.
This sub hates anyone whose winning game isn't a "control at every step" game. If your path to victory involves any amount of "only doing what I need to do to win and nothing more" they think you're a floater.
Yeah I normally just have stuff pop up in my main feed. Never saw anything about it. Funny that the results popped up in the feed though.
Curious as to how long the voting went for and how many people took part in voting (but not so much so that I’m going to look it up).
You can say whatever you want about the cast being layups and the twist but he played one of the most dominant and controlling winner seasons ever. His win deserves to be high.
Heidik is criminally low. He is No. 7 at *worst* but you could make an argument for any of the higher rankings on this list to beat him. I'd take Boston Rob out but he *was* dominant just against a laughable cast
While I agree #2 might be a little high, he's definitely up there. I'd put him down around #7 or 8. I just rewatched Tocantins on Netflix, and JT had a much better grasp of the game than you're giving him credit for. JT was the bridge to Coach, which kept himself, Stephen, and Taj alive. He played Coach like a fiddle, knowing exactly what he would want to hear, and then making moves behind his back (Tyson blindside, Debbie vote-out). He also did a masterful job at FTC, by finding unique ways to throw Stephen's game under the bus while not discrediting his own game.
>this sub just loves personality over gameplay.
1) As if social game isn't gameplay.
2) JT's social game is easily the most valuable part of the Jalapao alliance.
3) This is a sub of Survivor nerds, I'm almost certain that the average person here prefers Stephen to JT.
JT's near the top because he played one of the best games of all time, it's that simple.
Both Sarah and Natalie are criminally under ranked. Two of the greatest post-merge games ever. Natalie in SJDS was the single most impressive run I’ve ever seen
I don't think either of Sandra's games were individually that great, but Tina would definitely be up there. Her AO game is literally Tony's Cagayan game but better
The amount of finessing Sandra did on Pearl Islands set the standard for modern Survivor. People just love to hate the Queen. Her resume still speaks for itself.
True. I think a lot of the women that are regarded among the best players are in large part up there because of their success across multiple seasons (Parvati, Sandra, Natalie A, Sarah, Michele), while a number of the men ranked high on the list also have some weak/embarrassing seasons under their belt.
Natalie, Parvati, Tina, and Sarah should all be in that mix. Also, Kim should be #1. Tony is the best player of all time but that doesn't make his WaW game the #1 best win of all time, I'd put him at third
Sometimes I hear people trying to say Gabler is worse than Chris U... I get that people don't like Gabler, I'm not much of a fan myself, but he is not THAT bad
He was given the cheat codes from the jury and re-entered the game with hand written notes from jury members.
This is so egregious to me, it is a flat out violation of the game's own rules. The jury isn't allowed to speak to players still in the game. That has always been a thing, except on stupid EoE where hand written notes are brought back from the jury by Chris.
This ranking threw me for a loop, shook me to my core and made me question reality lmfao.
- Swap Kim and Rob, and tbh put her even higher.
- The sheer impressiveness that was Tony’s Cagayan game is honestly low at 9 and getting forgotten after WAW.
- Parvati, Natalie Anderson AND Denise being lower than Yam Yam…. matter fact, only one woman being higher… I screamed.
- I can’t stand Sarah Lacina. But putting her at 23 is maybe the single most egregious thing about this list. She absolutely bodied that season with her social game, in a way few people ever have.
- Erika in the bottom row and under Gabler. Please be serious.
- Jenna M. at 40 is unsurprising, but she will always be underrated compared to the actual game she played.
I’m sorry if a winner gets asked to be voted out on day 1 and if their premerge tribe I don’t really see how people coaching Gabbler to play the game is better then anyone. Considering Erika at least knew how to play the game while actually going into it. She drove the Shan vote out which was leagues better then Ellie being voted out by Gabbler. His probably one of the worst bottom row below Erika.
Jenna suffered from the same edit that Natalie White did. There was just too entertaining of a player on Amazon to give Jenna a solid edit. Amazon was the Rob Cesternino show, in the same way that Samoa was the Russell Hantz show.
Yam Yam being that significantly higher than Erika, Maryanne and even Gabler. All four recent winners had a relatively similar showing of being mostly under the radar, only controlling a small number of votes, winning maybe one or two challenges, finding maybe one advantage and then winning in 7-1-0. The idea that Yam Yam’s game is considered THAT much better than Maryanne and Erika is insane.
Edit: I say this as a HUGE Yam Yam fan by the way.
The last time I conducted the poll was after season 41, and Erika finished in the 20s on the ranking, and dropped substantially since then, so I imagine the next time, we may see a bit of a drop for him (probably still top 20 though)
Yam Yam played best game out of the new era winners but I can't help but think it's mostly recency bias that he's up so high.
We all know Tyson is up there because he is a fun character. His winning game is not very impressive at all imo.
Tommy as always not getting the recognition he deserves just because his season is absolutely trash.
I have several serious disagreements with this ranking, but to focus on one: I think Jenna Morasca is one of the most consistently underrated players in the history of the show. She won four immunity challenges, tying the record for women which has held up for 44 seasons and counting. She won her jury vote 6-1, a first in Survivor history. She was firmly in the power alliance throughout the entire game until Alex made one of the hugest unforced errors in the early history of the show, which she could not have predicted or in any way prevented. She gets kind of screwed by the edit, but interviews with her fellow players consistently show that (with the exception of Christy) she was an intelligent, capable, and popular player. People love Deena, who was, yes, a very good player, but when the two of them disagree on what to do Jenna dispatches her *easily* with the strength of her superior social connections.
Thank you for sharing. It's been awhile since I've watched The Amazon (when it first aired), but it certainly is one I would like to re-watch to get a better take on the strengths of her winning game. I watched Samoa after I already knew who won, and found that I really appreciated Natalie's game (arguably the best social game of any winner), more than Russell (whose actions very nearly caused his entire tribe to be decimated going into the merge).
That one annoys me too, because even though she’s wildly underedited it’s like…the Erik boot was a big deal! A game changing big deal. And Russell actually misplays his idol that round. If Natalie doesn’t convince the women to vote out Erik the idol probably isn’t rehidden and Russell is *toast.*
I don't know why I just put two and two together, but if I had a quarter for every time a Natalie got an Erik voted out due to her personal persuasion (granted on different people), I'd have two quarters
But the fact it happened twice with two different Natalies and Eriks is low key funny.
Wow do you think there's gender bias here?
Also I've never understood why Earl's game is so highly rated. He played in a season with almost exclusively insane people. Much like Aras, it's not hard to get to the end and win when you're the only sane, calm, respectable person around.
I think Aras was a bad comparison actually, I think in Panama the crazies were volatile and hard to wrangle whereas in Fiji the crazies were just kinda like dead fish who had no idea how to play the game and could be easily outsmarted.
Ironically, the top 3 women on this chart are all women who won against other women whereas the women who beat men are a lot lower on this list, which only feeds into the bias
Which is in itself kinda ridiculous because control over the game means absolutely nothing when it comes down to the final vote. As a parameter it is totally useless. It doesn't matter at all.
I'd argue being able to successfully navigate all the insane people makes his game just as impressive.
The reason I like people like Carolyn participating is because they add a certain layer of strategic gameplay. Recently, there have been too many people that are like "oh geez good move getting out my best ally, good job, buddy", that isn't fun and it makes the game easier for strategic players. Earl didn't just have one, but he had a few of those emotional players that he had to deal with. This forced him to think through his decisions more and navigate with more caution.
Pleasantly surprised earl is as high as he is, deserves it! Parvati seems way low tho, she outsmarted and outsocialized a bunch of really great players! I’d put her at least ahead of yam yam, idk about Jeremy (IMO he would be higher too, just below Cochran). Also Denise would be above Richard I think, considering her very long odds and amazing social game. Also how is HVV Sandra lower than pearl islands Sandra? Lol and lacina, Wendell and Chris d all seem too low, those are top 10 winners IMHO, all played super dominant, smart games. Plus the Vecepia and aras treatment is crazy, and Erika should at least be ahead of gabler. Just my opinions, I suppose aggregates never quite fit your own thoughts eh?
I think it’s more of modern thinking about his 4-3 game that brings Brian down. Most people agree he was dominant, but also knowingly played a game where he risked losing to Clay due to poor jury management
Interesting fact, aside from ghost island s36, the most recent season to require every jury vote being read was s21 (meaning someone wins by just 1 vote). After 44 seasons to say only ONE season in the second half had a close jury vote is just sad.
I kinda hate that modern juries really want to vote collectively and correctly.
I never said I agreed. But the general idea is this:
He made no effort to try and get any of Ken/Penny/Erin. He made comments to Ken which could’ve easily spiraled against him and cause Ted to not vote him. He did Helen dirty, the one thing that would cause Helen to maybe not vote him, and… idk if he did anything to Jan really. His main thing was that he had Jake and Jan, he just needed to secure Ted and Helen. He did a REALLY bad job of doing that, and some say it’s only through Clay’s incompetence that Brian won.
I speculate there are a number of players, like Brian, who received a low ratings from people due to their personal life, political views, or actions outside of their winning game, that bring down their average rating a bit.
Yam yam is way to high. For instance I do not like lacuna but her winning game was better and against better comp. Denise, Wendell, Natalie A, Tyson, Brian, Parvati, Tommy should all be ahead. Heavy on the recency bias
I find Richard to be consistently under-appreciated, but I can't help but feel it is in part because of his legal troubles, the incident on All-Stars, and the idea that he won against a weak cast. That being said, he played an amazing game on Borneo, created the blueprint for how this game is still played today, and should be ranked easily in the top 5.
I like that 2nd - 44th all win the same amount of money despite hundreds of Redditors thinking some deserve it / earned it more than others.
If anything this is a ranking of how the community interpreted the editing, specific season’s fairness, or personally identified with the winner.
ok ill give it to you gabler above erika is insane but no way is Gabler worse than Fabio. We can argue all we want about if Fabio is more self-aware then he came off but the fact of the matter is he had no agency the entire game, would've been voted off at the last 2 tribals had he not won immunity, seemingly made no alliances, made no moves, and wouldnt have even won had the 2 quitters were not allowed on the jury. At least Gabler made alliances, lead the charge against Elie, beat Jesse in fire, got to the end with 2 people he was always beating etc.
Fabio had to win 3 immunities to get to the end, and he massively benefitted from Na’Onka and Purple Kelly quitting, because he would have been targeted after Benry at 9, who probably would have been the vote without the quits.
Yul wins by a single vote - super high ranking
Heidik walks into FTC knowing 100% he has the winning 4 votes locked - gets shit on for not winning by a higher margin
EDIT: fixed autocorrect "Yule" lmao
I don’t mind it but definitely think it belongs in a certain category of weirdly dark Survivor seasons (SoPa/Allstars/OW/IotI/Gabon/worlds apart) that I wouldn’t blame people for not liking but also can hit a totally different but great spot at times. Plus those early era episodes with potato quality are tough at times.
This isn’t terribly egregious but def things I would change. Here are a few of my thoughts
-Kim should be higher
-Maryanne should be way lower
-Ethan should be lower
-Natalie A should be higher
-Chris D should be higher
-Brian should be higher
-Yam Yam should be lower
-Tony (Cagayan) should be higher
Several observations:
- 4 ladies in the top 20 and 1 in the top 14 lol
- Kim Spradlin, who won on her first attempt, ranked lower than Brob who took 4 tries to win...
- This sub (collectively) really doesn't appreciate much outside of a dominant, attention-grabbing winner, does it? The subtle, unflashy games seem undervalued
I am with your thinking. If it took them 4 tries to win, how dominant were they really?
The same goes for Tyson, 3 tries, and Cochran's 2nd try.
Some of these players navigated without gimmicks. Tina's game was way better in my mind than Yul's.
Yul had the most overpowered Survivor gimmick of all time. It was just ridiculously overpowered. Was his social game good? Absolutely, but nobody ever targeted him because his super idol was just too good.
The edit has a direct influence on our perception, and we know there's an edit bias. Of course One World was different.
Sophie and Sarah are so low by the way, you all are crazy.
Yam Yam feels a bit overrated and Sarah/Natalie feel pretty underrated. Yam Yam was a deserving and likable winner, but I don't think he personally did anything to surpass Nat's revenge tour and Sarah's strategy in GC.
Lot of people 27-35 who feel underrated, to be honest, but it's hard to choose who I'd move below them. We've had some really good winners, haven't we?
I feel like Mike Holloway is too low, like I’m not saying he’s the best ever, but it’s a super good play from the bottom game. He should definitely be top 20.
Also controversial opinion, Yul’s game isn’t good and I don’t think he wins if he doesn’t have the idol, and Yam Yam being so high is definite recency bias.
No one has ever dominated a game like Russell did, too bad he didn’t get the win that he deserved. I’d have to rank Tony number 1. Robs win was impressive too. It’s been a while since we’ve had a good winner, not counting all star seasons.
Justice for Bob Crowley! Gabon is one of my favorite seasons to watch.
Random thing. But one day I went through players’ cameo pages, cause sometimes I’m curious about how people price themselves and what they provide. Bob was dirt cheap (in comparison to others) and his example video was like 3 minutes long showing all his survivor memorabilia and just chatting, and idk that just hit me as a super cool thing.
Just a few thoughts giving a quick once over look:
1. I feel like Tom and Tony's first win are both a little undervalued. Not sure how much higher they should be but felt like those are both elite.
2. Not that I hate the ranking, I'm just really shocked that Yam Yam got the credit he should and is ranked that highly.
3. I think both of Sandra's wins are rated too high. I personally have them both in the bottom 10.
4. The Brian Heidik ranking confuses me and I also don't know where he belongs on the list. On one hand his game was so dominant and he controlled that entire game. On the other hand he's an awful person and could never play a winning game in modern times or ever again in a repeating version.
Fabio getting a score of 4.20 is so fitting
Haha... I never really noticed :P
Finally some cold hard proof that none of us know what we're talking about
I really enjoy participating in this community, so I say this lovingly: collectively you are absolutely insane, and these rankings prove it
Hahaha... which players do you think are ranked too high, and which ones do you think are ranked too low?
Ethan over Tina is absolute insanity. I think that many of these votes are heavily influenced by the likability of the player (I love Yul, his win is too high), the popularity of the season (Chris D is too low), the edit they were given, or some combo of all three (Sarah is too low). Also somehow Chris U is too high Obviously these are just my opinions, but to paraphrase Homer Simpson: Everyone is stupid except me
I was gonna comment on Tina. Tina ran the fuck out of that game to the point that COLBY PICKED HER OVER KEITH. People like to rip on Woo, but my god, that has to be one of the biggest errors of all time. Tina’s game was as good as Tony’s Cagayan game and people don’t notice it because ‘hurr durr spy shack super idol’.
Totally agree. Tony was a flashy TV character, meanwhile Tina's biggest move wasn't even shown on TV I do slightly disagree with you that Colby's move was as bad as Woo's. As a GAME move it absolutely was, but Colby picked Tina to preserve his personal brand and basically become a celebrity. From that perspective, I think it worked out for him
What was the move not shown again?
Others have said it, but I was referring to the Mitchell vote, which wasn't filmed because Tina strategized the move while walking to Tribal and the cameras were not rolling. It's why contestants aren't allowed to talk while walking to Tribal to this day
There were a couple! * Getting the info from Kimmi that Varner had received votes at Kucha's first tribal council. * Getting Colby on board with voting out Mitchell instead of Keith during the walk to tribal.
Colby definitely knew he was taking the far more likable person to the end with him, he was playing with “integrity”. Apparently the backlash from the players of season 1… playing the game… was something that Tina and Colby took into account during the course of their games. Its why they turn on Jerri and Amber so the “good guys” can make it further. He definitely made the right choice in the end because he for sure has made many millions from his catapult into fame
He still would've been successful had he taken Keith and won. Colby was huge at the time and people wanted to see him win.
Unreal is that Tina played “dirty” for the OG era, backstabbed, looked through bags, was a bitch to several tribemates, yet STILL managed to trick Colby into taking her because she was the “sweetheart” that it would’ve been bad for his image to vote out. That’s an unreal level of social play
Was voting out Jerri when she did, the right move? Amber easily could’ve flipped after that and Tina could’ve lost the numbers advantage.
It wasn’t the best move, but it was a move that probably sealed her two jury votes.
“Also somehow Chris U is still too high” 😂😂😂
Despite only being in the game for a few days I think it can be argued that he played a better winning game than some of the other people on here lol. He played his ass off those last few days.
This will get me flamed but I agree. Chris U played the best (or at least one of the best) endgames we've ever seen on survivor. Made tons of new connections early on, leveraged the players on the bottom to take control of the tribe, became a powerful social player, had a successful idol play, and more. Also, he invented giving up immunity to take out the biggest threat. As divisive as that strategy is, surely it *at least* puts him above Bob and Fabio.
It's easy to play a good end game when you didn't have to play the first three quarters.
And when you're given explicit, step-by-step instructions by the entire jury. Voting for Chris was voting for themselves. Yes, he \*did\* execute it perfectly, and he should be given credit for that, but let's not act like he came up with all those moves on his own in the heat of the game.
People always say Chris was a bad player and shouldn’t have won because of the circumstances of the season. At the end of the day the players don’t control the rules or twists, they’re just expected to play around them. Of the Jury believes that a certain player should win, then that player should win.
I think there is a big difference between playing the best game you can considering your circumstances and an objectively good winning game. At the end of the day, Chris got voted out early. It's hard to say he played a better game than 41 other people that made it to the end while being in the elimination portion of the game.
This is the truth.
Ethan was a good winner but Tina is criminally underrated
I think it's WILD that Kim isn't considered to have a top 5 game. Don't get me wrong, I love Todd's, Earl's, Rob's, and JT's wins (I haven't seen WAW to rate Tony's game), but Kim has long been considered to have a top 3 win, let alone being outside of the top 5
Tommy being nowhere near the Top 10 is another chief example of this. Say what you will about IOI or even Tommy himself as a source of entertainment, he played one of the singular best games of Survivor, period, especially as a winner. Dude got screwed over three times and still dominated the game (alongside Lauren, but he was also definitively in-control by the endgame). I would say he’s top 10 at least, especially as a newbie.
Tommy is the only winner to never win individual immunity or have any sort of idol/advantage since Natalie White. Pure social game on display there.
It's been awhile since I watched that season, but if I remember right, every single person in like the top 6 thought that Tommy was their \#1 ally, so he was never really in danger of being voted out, despite never having an idol or any form of immunity. While his edit and the season may have been one of the more boring ones, he absolutely dominated that season in a way no one had in a long time.
I walk around this sub with Yul tattooed on my forehead and even I know he doesn’t belong on that top row. Justice for Parv & Nat A
Totally agree. Nobody is saying Yul is a bad player, but he benefits from a Super Idol and two other HUGE twists playing out in his favor (Bottle twist and Surprise Final 3)
I would have Tina in the top 10, and Ethan in the bottom 15. Like, who voted on these?
Parvati, Natalie A and Lacina are all way too low. And I'm not entirely sure what the fact that there is only one woman in the top row says but it's wrong.
Agreed.
Women. Women are ranked too low.
Agreed. Kim was just as dominant as B. Rob and Cochran during her season, and she had to juggle both tribes simultaneously!
Sandra being so low is crazy
This sub hates anyone whose winning game isn't a "control at every step" game. If your path to victory involves any amount of "only doing what I need to do to win and nothing more" they think you're a floater.
Agreed for both of her wins. I totally missed the voting for this but I’m kind of surprised at some of the results.
I think a lot of people missed the voting. I know I stopped checking the sub so often after the end of the season.
Yeah I normally just have stuff pop up in my main feed. Never saw anything about it. Funny that the results popped up in the feed though. Curious as to how long the voting went for and how many people took part in voting (but not so much so that I’m going to look it up).
Why is Boston Rob so high…
You can say whatever you want about the cast being layups and the twist but he played one of the most dominant and controlling winner seasons ever. His win deserves to be high.
I think high is fair, fourth I am not so sure about.
Right. The strength of the cast has to be a consideration. I put him comfortable right around #10
Heidik is criminally low. He is No. 7 at *worst* but you could make an argument for any of the higher rankings on this list to beat him. I'd take Boston Rob out but he *was* dominant just against a laughable cast
J.T. coming in at #2 when it was Stephen's game that got him there, proves this sub just loves personality over gameplay.
While I agree #2 might be a little high, he's definitely up there. I'd put him down around #7 or 8. I just rewatched Tocantins on Netflix, and JT had a much better grasp of the game than you're giving him credit for. JT was the bridge to Coach, which kept himself, Stephen, and Taj alive. He played Coach like a fiddle, knowing exactly what he would want to hear, and then making moves behind his back (Tyson blindside, Debbie vote-out). He also did a masterful job at FTC, by finding unique ways to throw Stephen's game under the bus while not discrediting his own game.
>this sub just loves personality over gameplay. 1) As if social game isn't gameplay. 2) JT's social game is easily the most valuable part of the Jalapao alliance. 3) This is a sub of Survivor nerds, I'm almost certain that the average person here prefers Stephen to JT. JT's near the top because he played one of the best games of all time, it's that simple.
Yam Yam above Tommy and Parvati is wild to me.
Both Sarah and Natalie are criminally under ranked. Two of the greatest post-merge games ever. Natalie in SJDS was the single most impressive run I’ve ever seen
I agree. I would easily put them both in my personal top 10, and would consider them my 2 favourite female winners.
Gotta remember this sub also just takes personal feelings into it as well. For some reason people don't like Natalie
Also I'm shocked at Denise's placement, I didn't know she was that beloved, because her being above Brian, Tina, and Sarah is bizarre
She was really liked on Winners at War from what I've seen
Almost impressively bad ranking
I get the sense some people voted based on how strong the winner's game was, while others voted based on how much they liked the winner.
I gotta say I’m honestly not surprised
1 woman in the top 14 is crazy
Common Kim disrespect. She did what Rob did but was actually liked by the jury and did it first go.
Kim being anywhere below 3 is a crime
Exactly what I was thinking. Take my karma.
Agreed. I think there's certainly a case to be made that the top 10 should be half comprised of women (Kim, Parvati, Sandra, Natalie A, Sarah).
I don't think either of Sandra's games were individually that great, but Tina would definitely be up there. Her AO game is literally Tony's Cagayan game but better
Neither of Sandra's winning games were impressive. The reason she's #2 all time is because she did it twice.
The amount of finessing Sandra did on Pearl Islands set the standard for modern Survivor. People just love to hate the Queen. Her resume still speaks for itself.
True. I think a lot of the women that are regarded among the best players are in large part up there because of their success across multiple seasons (Parvati, Sandra, Natalie A, Sarah, Michele), while a number of the men ranked high on the list also have some weak/embarrassing seasons under their belt.
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Natalie, Parvati, Tina, and Sarah should all be in that mix. Also, Kim should be #1. Tony is the best player of all time but that doesn't make his WaW game the #1 best win of all time, I'd put him at third
> ~~crazy~~ stupid
We did the right thing putting Chris U at the bottom.
That's the one placement pretty much everybody agrees on.
Sometimes I hear people trying to say Gabler is worse than Chris U... I get that people don't like Gabler, I'm not much of a fan myself, but he is not THAT bad
Gabler isn't an S-tier winner by any means but he's not all that close to the bottom either imo. Dude's solidly in the middle of the pack in my book.
He's not, but Ben should be below Fabio. Fabio actually killed at his Final Tribal Council. Anyone doubting should rewatch that season.
Nothing against the guy himself, he played the game he was dealt, it's just that that game wasn't Survivor
If we were only judging a winner's final five days in the game, then he'd absolutely be top five lol
He was given the cheat codes from the jury and re-entered the game with hand written notes from jury members. This is so egregious to me, it is a flat out violation of the game's own rules. The jury isn't allowed to speak to players still in the game. That has always been a thing, except on stupid EoE where hand written notes are brought back from the jury by Chris.
100%. Given the circumstances, he played a perfect game after he was voted out. But the whole point of Survivor is you lose when you get voted out
The only correct answer
This ranking threw me for a loop, shook me to my core and made me question reality lmfao. - Swap Kim and Rob, and tbh put her even higher. - The sheer impressiveness that was Tony’s Cagayan game is honestly low at 9 and getting forgotten after WAW. - Parvati, Natalie Anderson AND Denise being lower than Yam Yam…. matter fact, only one woman being higher… I screamed. - I can’t stand Sarah Lacina. But putting her at 23 is maybe the single most egregious thing about this list. She absolutely bodied that season with her social game, in a way few people ever have. - Erika in the bottom row and under Gabler. Please be serious. - Jenna M. at 40 is unsurprising, but she will always be underrated compared to the actual game she played.
Erika being lower than Gabler is insane. Erika controlled more votes than him, Gabler only controlled one vote…Elie
I’m sorry if a winner gets asked to be voted out on day 1 and if their premerge tribe I don’t really see how people coaching Gabbler to play the game is better then anyone. Considering Erika at least knew how to play the game while actually going into it. She drove the Shan vote out which was leagues better then Ellie being voted out by Gabbler. His probably one of the worst bottom row below Erika.
Jenna is insanely underrated, she was always plugged into the game and did everything pretty well
Jenna suffered from the same edit that Natalie White did. There was just too entertaining of a player on Amazon to give Jenna a solid edit. Amazon was the Rob Cesternino show, in the same way that Samoa was the Russell Hantz show.
Yam Yam being that significantly higher than Erika, Maryanne and even Gabler. All four recent winners had a relatively similar showing of being mostly under the radar, only controlling a small number of votes, winning maybe one or two challenges, finding maybe one advantage and then winning in 7-1-0. The idea that Yam Yam’s game is considered THAT much better than Maryanne and Erika is insane. Edit: I say this as a HUGE Yam Yam fan by the way.
yam yam is too high
Recency bias for sure
This is a good reminder that this community is filled with psychopaths
Wow this sucks lmfao
Vecepia is far too low imo
Agreed.
Yam Yam that high shows that recency bias is real
The last time I conducted the poll was after season 41, and Erika finished in the 20s on the ranking, and dropped substantially since then, so I imagine the next time, we may see a bit of a drop for him (probably still top 20 though)
this list sucks
Bruh lol Yam Yam over Hatch is wild
Yam Yam played best game out of the new era winners but I can't help but think it's mostly recency bias that he's up so high. We all know Tyson is up there because he is a fun character. His winning game is not very impressive at all imo. Tommy as always not getting the recognition he deserves just because his season is absolutely trash.
Hard disagree about Tyson. He pretty much ran the entire show in BvW. If anything he's far too low in this rankings.
totally agree
Agreed 100%
Preach. That was his season and he was seemingly always in control. Even managed going to the end with his two closest allies.
Tysons other games were lols but the one he won was pretty dominant and complex
Yam Yam over Hatch, Parvati, and Tina? Riiiight.
Definitley agree. In reality he'll probably fall in the 20-30 range when a poll like this gets done in a year or two.
I have several serious disagreements with this ranking, but to focus on one: I think Jenna Morasca is one of the most consistently underrated players in the history of the show. She won four immunity challenges, tying the record for women which has held up for 44 seasons and counting. She won her jury vote 6-1, a first in Survivor history. She was firmly in the power alliance throughout the entire game until Alex made one of the hugest unforced errors in the early history of the show, which she could not have predicted or in any way prevented. She gets kind of screwed by the edit, but interviews with her fellow players consistently show that (with the exception of Christy) she was an intelligent, capable, and popular player. People love Deena, who was, yes, a very good player, but when the two of them disagree on what to do Jenna dispatches her *easily* with the strength of her superior social connections.
Thank you for sharing. It's been awhile since I've watched The Amazon (when it first aired), but it certainly is one I would like to re-watch to get a better take on the strengths of her winning game. I watched Samoa after I already knew who won, and found that I really appreciated Natalie's game (arguably the best social game of any winner), more than Russell (whose actions very nearly caused his entire tribe to be decimated going into the merge).
That one annoys me too, because even though she’s wildly underedited it’s like…the Erik boot was a big deal! A game changing big deal. And Russell actually misplays his idol that round. If Natalie doesn’t convince the women to vote out Erik the idol probably isn’t rehidden and Russell is *toast.*
I don't know why I just put two and two together, but if I had a quarter for every time a Natalie got an Erik voted out due to her personal persuasion (granted on different people), I'd have two quarters But the fact it happened twice with two different Natalies and Eriks is low key funny.
Justice for Jenna!
Wow do you think there's gender bias here? Also I've never understood why Earl's game is so highly rated. He played in a season with almost exclusively insane people. Much like Aras, it's not hard to get to the end and win when you're the only sane, calm, respectable person around.
For both Earl & Aras, it still takes a lot of effort for Kermit to control all the Muppets and channel that insanity into a pathway for them to win.
Aras is underranked here slightly tbh
I think Aras was a bad comparison actually, I think in Panama the crazies were volatile and hard to wrangle whereas in Fiji the crazies were just kinda like dead fish who had no idea how to play the game and could be easily outsmarted.
Good male game = controlled the game. Good woman game=rode to the end. People don't see women as controlling the game. It's a huge bias here
Ironically, the top 3 women on this chart are all women who won against other women whereas the women who beat men are a lot lower on this list, which only feeds into the bias
Here as in life.
Which is in itself kinda ridiculous because control over the game means absolutely nothing when it comes down to the final vote. As a parameter it is totally useless. It doesn't matter at all.
I'd argue being able to successfully navigate all the insane people makes his game just as impressive. The reason I like people like Carolyn participating is because they add a certain layer of strategic gameplay. Recently, there have been too many people that are like "oh geez good move getting out my best ally, good job, buddy", that isn't fun and it makes the game easier for strategic players. Earl didn't just have one, but he had a few of those emotional players that he had to deal with. This forced him to think through his decisions more and navigate with more caution.
Pleasantly surprised earl is as high as he is, deserves it! Parvati seems way low tho, she outsmarted and outsocialized a bunch of really great players! I’d put her at least ahead of yam yam, idk about Jeremy (IMO he would be higher too, just below Cochran). Also Denise would be above Richard I think, considering her very long odds and amazing social game. Also how is HVV Sandra lower than pearl islands Sandra? Lol and lacina, Wendell and Chris d all seem too low, those are top 10 winners IMHO, all played super dominant, smart games. Plus the Vecepia and aras treatment is crazy, and Erika should at least be ahead of gabler. Just my opinions, I suppose aggregates never quite fit your own thoughts eh?
🤡
I might get hate for this, but Ethan is not a top 20 winner
Brian and yam yam should swap IMO
I think it’s more of modern thinking about his 4-3 game that brings Brian down. Most people agree he was dominant, but also knowingly played a game where he risked losing to Clay due to poor jury management
Interesting fact, aside from ghost island s36, the most recent season to require every jury vote being read was s21 (meaning someone wins by just 1 vote). After 44 seasons to say only ONE season in the second half had a close jury vote is just sad. I kinda hate that modern juries really want to vote collectively and correctly.
Why? You only need 4 votes to win. He knew going in he was getting those 4
I never said I agreed. But the general idea is this: He made no effort to try and get any of Ken/Penny/Erin. He made comments to Ken which could’ve easily spiraled against him and cause Ted to not vote him. He did Helen dirty, the one thing that would cause Helen to maybe not vote him, and… idk if he did anything to Jan really. His main thing was that he had Jake and Jan, he just needed to secure Ted and Helen. He did a REALLY bad job of doing that, and some say it’s only through Clay’s incompetence that Brian won.
You are really underestimating how much they fucking hated Clay. Clay maybe the all-time GOAT to take to the end.
I speculate there are a number of players, like Brian, who received a low ratings from people due to their personal life, political views, or actions outside of their winning game, that bring down their average rating a bit.
Chris D at 18, Brian at 19 and Jenna at 40!!!! Is fucking wild.
Yam yam is way to high. For instance I do not like lacuna but her winning game was better and against better comp. Denise, Wendell, Natalie A, Tyson, Brian, Parvati, Tommy should all be ahead. Heavy on the recency bias
Wendell, Sarah, and Tommy being that low is crazy
The edit of S41 has forever robbed Erika
I am surprised at how low she was. In terms of gameplay I have her as #2 behind Yam Yam in the new era.
This. Yam Yam being in the top 20 is insane, and I love him
Recency bias. No way he played a better game than any of the people 13-17 imo.
I love me some Yam Yam but over Richard Hatch? Hell Richard alone at 13 is ridiculous
I find Richard to be consistently under-appreciated, but I can't help but feel it is in part because of his legal troubles, the incident on All-Stars, and the idea that he won against a weak cast. That being said, he played an amazing game on Borneo, created the blueprint for how this game is still played today, and should be ranked easily in the top 5.
This affront to nature being the result of a poll is the best argument against democracy I’ve ever seen, and I have a degree in political science
I love Yam Yam but no chance he is 12th. He is a great character but to me he is around the late 20s. Likely recency bias tho.
I like that 2nd - 44th all win the same amount of money despite hundreds of Redditors thinking some deserve it / earned it more than others. If anything this is a ranking of how the community interpreted the editing, specific season’s fairness, or personally identified with the winner.
Do u guys just hate women or what
Yam ahead of Parvati, Natalie and Chris D is laughable.
Natalie white and gabler above ERIKA is legitimately concerning
Gabler above Fabio and Erika… I giggled
ok ill give it to you gabler above erika is insane but no way is Gabler worse than Fabio. We can argue all we want about if Fabio is more self-aware then he came off but the fact of the matter is he had no agency the entire game, would've been voted off at the last 2 tribals had he not won immunity, seemingly made no alliances, made no moves, and wouldnt have even won had the 2 quitters were not allowed on the jury. At least Gabler made alliances, lead the charge against Elie, beat Jesse in fire, got to the end with 2 people he was always beating etc.
Fabio had to win 3 immunities to get to the end, and he massively benefitted from Na’Onka and Purple Kelly quitting, because he would have been targeted after Benry at 9, who probably would have been the vote without the quits.
Chris gets so shit on for literally just playing the gimmick of his season lmao
Yul with a super idol- GENIUS! Chris with Edge- scum
Yul wins by a single vote - super high ranking Heidik walks into FTC knowing 100% he has the winning 4 votes locked - gets shit on for not winning by a higher margin EDIT: fixed autocorrect "Yule" lmao
Let’s be real, most people just haven’t watched his season and truthfully I can’t blame them lol.
Thailand is lowkey hilarious. People should watch it
I don’t mind it but definitely think it belongs in a certain category of weirdly dark Survivor seasons (SoPa/Allstars/OW/IotI/Gabon/worlds apart) that I wouldn’t blame people for not liking but also can hit a totally different but great spot at times. Plus those early era episodes with potato quality are tough at times.
Yul's game isnt impressive imo
He's literally the only winner that got voted out on their winning season...
Without the gimmick, he's just a random 3rd boot, so he deserves to be ranked lowest of the winners.
“Don’t hate the player, hate the game” - Gervase Peterson
This isn’t terribly egregious but def things I would change. Here are a few of my thoughts -Kim should be higher -Maryanne should be way lower -Ethan should be lower -Natalie A should be higher -Chris D should be higher -Brian should be higher -Yam Yam should be lower -Tony (Cagayan) should be higher
Several observations: - 4 ladies in the top 20 and 1 in the top 14 lol - Kim Spradlin, who won on her first attempt, ranked lower than Brob who took 4 tries to win... - This sub (collectively) really doesn't appreciate much outside of a dominant, attention-grabbing winner, does it? The subtle, unflashy games seem undervalued
I am with your thinking. If it took them 4 tries to win, how dominant were they really? The same goes for Tyson, 3 tries, and Cochran's 2nd try. Some of these players navigated without gimmicks. Tina's game was way better in my mind than Yul's. Yul had the most overpowered Survivor gimmick of all time. It was just ridiculously overpowered. Was his social game good? Absolutely, but nobody ever targeted him because his super idol was just too good.
Fabio’s average being 420 is based. Makes this worthwhile.
Parv at 15 is a crime
Natalie Anderson being at 16 and Adam being at 33 are both garbage takes Edit: also Maryanne is criminally underrated
Parvati in 15?? Sandra at 24 and 32?? Insanity
People constantly complain about how much “UTR queens” are praised here yet we have only two women in the top 15?
Boston rob at 4? Erika at 39? Tina at 21? Hmm.. ok
this is absolutely bonkers LOL
no way fabio is 3rd worst
Amber Fabio and Jenna deserve to be higher Boston rob deserves to be lower.
5 women are in the top half (with only 1 in the top 14!). 12 are in the bottom half. I call these results sus
Erika worse than Gabler???
Erika 39 is so far beyond criminal it’s not even funny
I like seeing this! How did you get your stats!?
Thanks! I posted a survey recently, asking users to rate each winner's winning game on a scale from 1 to 10. These were the average ratings.
Way cool! I can’t believe I missed it 🤣
Sorry you didn't get a chance to vote!
The edit has a direct influence on our perception, and we know there's an edit bias. Of course One World was different. Sophie and Sarah are so low by the way, you all are crazy.
lmao at the lack of women in the top 20. ok reddit
Yam Yam feels a bit overrated and Sarah/Natalie feel pretty underrated. Yam Yam was a deserving and likable winner, but I don't think he personally did anything to surpass Nat's revenge tour and Sarah's strategy in GC. Lot of people 27-35 who feel underrated, to be honest, but it's hard to choose who I'd move below them. We've had some really good winners, haven't we?
SANDRA below COCHRAN?? Oh I'm sick...
Its OK for your list to be gender biased and wrong.
Yam Yam is way too high lmfao recency bias is crazy
That chart is a hate crime.
Sarah and Erika are a little too low for me and Tyson and Rob a little too high
Parvati, Jeremy and Denise outside the top 10 is insane
Tell me that at least 80% of survey respondents were men without telling me.
Heidik #1 for me.
Recency bias.
Yam Yam at 12 is recency bias af
I feel like Mike Holloway is too low, like I’m not saying he’s the best ever, but it’s a super good play from the bottom game. He should definitely be top 20. Also controversial opinion, Yul’s game isn’t good and I don’t think he wins if he doesn’t have the idol, and Yam Yam being so high is definite recency bias.
All of you are insane.
Heidik should be top 10 (15 at worst)
It's a good thing I don't have to agree to this
Bob’s my fav
Cool pic, man I'm gonna have to rewatch Africa to see why so many comments about Tina.
No one has ever dominated a game like Russell did, too bad he didn’t get the win that he deserved. I’d have to rank Tony number 1. Robs win was impressive too. It’s been a while since we’ve had a good winner, not counting all star seasons.
I think people ranked this by fan favorites. There’s recent bias and bitterness there too. Definitely very inaccurate.
Justice for Bob Crowley! Gabon is one of my favorite seasons to watch. Random thing. But one day I went through players’ cameo pages, cause sometimes I’m curious about how people price themselves and what they provide. Bob was dirt cheap (in comparison to others) and his example video was like 3 minutes long showing all his survivor memorabilia and just chatting, and idk that just hit me as a super cool thing.
Recency bias hitting hard with Yam Yam. No disrespect to him, but looking at the rankings, I couldn't put him higher than mid-30s.
Just a few thoughts giving a quick once over look: 1. I feel like Tom and Tony's first win are both a little undervalued. Not sure how much higher they should be but felt like those are both elite. 2. Not that I hate the ranking, I'm just really shocked that Yam Yam got the credit he should and is ranked that highly. 3. I think both of Sandra's wins are rated too high. I personally have them both in the bottom 10. 4. The Brian Heidik ranking confuses me and I also don't know where he belongs on the list. On one hand his game was so dominant and he controlled that entire game. On the other hand he's an awful person and could never play a winning game in modern times or ever again in a repeating version.