Winner Rankings

Here it is the long awaited Community Survivor Winner Ranking, until the next season rolls around we can spend the time ranking the previous winners of this game we geek on.

This is the questionnaire that you will use to rank the Forty-Three winning games of Survivor:

https://forms.gle/rfMCP3gEJrRgDqp96

These are the Criteria:

Character: Although we'd like to analyze a winner mostly exclusively from their gameplay alone, it still important to consider their character as it was shown during the show. Was their personality pleasing? Was their story great? Did they give great confessionals? Anything that shows who this winner is as a person and not just a player, is part of this criteria.

Outwit: This is the social-strategic aspect of a winner's gameplay. How good were the social bonds, relationships and alliances made by this winner? How well did they use or misuse these relationships? Survivor is a social game at it's core, so did they do a great job at this?

Outplay: This is the physical-strategic aspect of a winner's gameplay. This includes the survival aspect, the challenges, advantages, the twists and turns thrown at them. Did they use these events and objectives to their advantage? or did they just luck out?

Outlast: This one is the most incoherent part, as all of these people have made to Day 39 (or 26, or 42) but regardless, this portion could also mean their journey to get there; How was their "Road to Victory"? Did they put the right people in the jury? and/or in the right way? And let's just put it here, how great were their Final Tribal Council Performance? They may all have made it to the end, but did they end the season great?

Personal Score: Like our previous Rankings, we'll have this last criteria just for you. This can cover the subjective parts of the winners' games, how you liked them overall, and other miscellaneous things you'd like to add or take from their score and ranking here.

The ranking will work the same way as the previous Rankings, wherein you are to rate 1-10 in 5 criteria for each Winner (Tony and Sandra will each have two spots here). Consider how they played during their Winning Season(s). This Form is Divided into 9 sections, each section having 5 Winners in chronological order. Don't let the very long form Intimidate you, take your time and all will be well. In the end of 8 days the scores will be tallied and ranked in the channel community page.

Thank You!

https://forms.gle/rfMCP3gEJrRgDqp96

At #43, with a score of 25.63, we have Chris Underwood from Survivor: Edge of Extinction!!

Scores:

Character: 5.19

Outwit: 4.77

Outplay: 6.09

Outlast: 4.75

Personal Score: 4.83

Final Score: 25.63

Unlike his win, I think we all saw this ranking coming, while I can't fault him on his gameplay when he came back into the game, it was really good and it was exactly what he needed to do to win the game (i.e. just get rid of Devens and Victoria, and do it flashy). He still still got voted out third, came back through the Edge, just needed to win one challenge to return, even got an idol to use for the final five, he was able to build social bonds with the jury in a not-so strategically hostile setting, and he got information from the jury bench or from players on the edge, which all really doesn't feel fair. I believe that Chris isn't a bad winner, it is just how unfair the twists in his season turned out, and it is good for him for taking advantage of all of those and doing everything he had to do to win, but it still does take away from the fairness and validity of his entire win.

At #42, with a score of 27.70, we have Brian Heidik from Survivor: Thailand!!

Scores:

Character: 3.68

Outwit: 6.72

Outplay: 6.51

Outlast: 6.22

Personal Score: 4.57

Final Score: 27.70

Thailand just can't catch a break can't it? It was dead last in both our Season and Tribe rankings, and here it is now only at second to the last in the winner ranking. I am actually surprised at this result, considering that Brian is a dominant winner, with great connections and sly deals with each of his alliance members, and was a decent challenge beast too, I thought he'd end up slightly farther down the road at around 25-30, but I guess likability is 40% of the criteria, and no matter how dominant he was, he still almost lost to Clay in a 4-3 jury vote... which says something about his game.

At #41, with a score of 27.81, we have Bob Crowley from Survivor: Gabon!!

Scores:

Character: 5.79

Outwit: 4.91

Outplay: 5.96

Outlast: 5.87

Personal Score: 5.28

Final Score: 27.81

I think Bob really has a really odd road to victory... such as the way of Gabon, but when comparing all the survivor winners to each other, I think Bob stands out like a sore thumb. Everyone else have strategic moves or subtle reasons to have won their games, but Bob... doesn't? He is for sure likable among his cast and won a bunch of challenges which is impressive for his age, but everything else is just unconventional compared to the rest, and he's certainly a messy player, and his final tribal council is troubling too. But because of that he's a perfect a winner for the messiest season of Survivor.

At #40, with a score of 28.52 we have Natalie White from Survivor: Samoa!!

Scores:

Character: 5.41

Outwit: 5.75

Outplay: 4.92

Outlast: 6.91

Personal Score: 5.53

Final Score: 28.52

I think it's pretty indicative of her treatment in the show with how I had to use her alternate cast photo than her default. But regardless I am a firm Natalie defender, no matter what people say about Russell Hantz, he unnecessarily burned too many bridges and burned too many people at that point, Natalie knew to let Russell build his ego, ruining his chances and that's how she won. The edit is very much biased toward Russell in order to hype him up for HvV, but it really cost Natalie (and pretty much everyone else in that cast) their necessary editing to tell a decent narrative. She's still a under the radar winner, but you could only really see her in the purple lens.

At #39, with a score of 28.79, we have Jenna Morasca from Survivor: The Amazon!!

Scores:

Character: 5.44

Outwit: 5.25

Outplay: 6.26

Outlast: 6.53

Personal Score: 5.31

Final Score: 28.79

Yeah... I don't have much to say about her. You know what aside... she's pretty unremarkable as a winner, and it doesn't help that many of us would rather see Rob C win that season, but she was able to steal Rob's goat in Matt and took him to the slaughterhouse with a 6-1 vote, I'd like to say that she was a good social player, but she's really strategically lacking, case in point; the Tribe Swap mishap, however her surprise physical prowess and late game win streak was insane and she was able to put that wrench in Rob's plans. Which is all pretty amazing for one of our youngest winners.

At #38, with a score of 29.58, we have Amber Brkich from Survivor: All-Stars!!

Scores:

Character: 5.86

Outwit: 5.89

Outplay: 5.30

Outlast: 6.59

Personal Score: 5.94

Final Score: 29.58

It is quite a coincidence that Idoled Out just released a Bitter Juries video, and here we have Amber. The video pretty much explains all of my thoughts on her controversial win, the Survivor Community at that time were really close with each other and so when it came to backstabbing each other in the All-Star season, genuine feelings were hurt, friendships were damaged, and the jury was indeed bitter at both Rob and Amber, but at Rob more for being the head of their alliance and the one making the sly deals with everyone else. I said it before in the Natalie W. segment, but you can't simply just get to the end, but you also have to earn the jury's votes while doing so, and making them like and/or respect you or your gameplay is all part of the game. Rob also had a bigger edit than Amber, and it hid the subtle social moves that Amber was making throughout the season, contrast to Rob who played loudly, which made the audience also bitter at the show. So it's all a bunch bitterness all throughout. But kudos to them for dominating the very first All-Stars season.

At #37, with a score of 30.05, we have Ben Driebergen from Survivor: Heroes vs Healers vs Hustlers!!

Scores:

Character: 6.18

Outwit: 5.16

Outplay: 6.67

Outlast: 6.38

Personal Score: 5.66

Final Score: 30.05

Is it much of a Ben Bomb that he's this low? While I'd like to believe that he genuinely hustled to find those idols, I understand the speculation that the season was rigged for him, most evidently the last minute Final Four Forced Fire Making twist, which is really unfair for all parties involved. But taking these controversies aside, he was playing a great game, up until he started bombing everything up, he was in the center of his alliances, had decent relationships with most people, had a great story to tell, and could hold his own in challenges, even if he didn't win one. But once he did start Ben Bombing, he really had no other option but to hold out defensively using idols, as everyone just didn't trust him to have their best interest in mind. But regardless, the jury found his explosive game worthy of the win, even if most of the audience did not.

At #36, with a score of 30.35, we have Mike Gabler from Survivor 43!!

Scores:

Character: 6.45

Outwit: 5.69

Outplay: 5.66

Outlast: 6.69

Personal Score: 5.86

Final Score: 30.35

Our most recent winner, and one that Gabler'd a lot of us. I personally think that I should've given this winner ranking a few more weeks just to allow people to be able to digest and comprehend his game, but his game is still quite a peculiar one, as it really was hidden in plain sight, too hidden that we couldn't really see it at all, as most of the strategy talk were towards Jesse, Karla, and Cody, leaving Gabler to be a simple number for them, and that's really all there is to his game, stay hidden, be social and likable, throw out Elie's name for the sake of throwing out Elie's name, open himself up to be a number to be used while the big dogs eat each other, while managing his own threat level, and then take out Jesse in fire as a feather in his cap. And the way he was presented as a character is very polarizing to some and his gameplay is very unconventional too for the New Era of the show, and it made people underestimate him, and it made for a very Gablering winner.

At #35, with a score of 30.42, we have Fabio Birza from Survivor: Nicaragua!!

Scores:

Character: 6.95

Outwit: 4.86

Outplay: 6.56

Outlast: 6.38

Personal Score: 5.67

Final Score: 30.42

I think Fabio has a very similar game to Jenna M., both were really young at the time, very social and likable to their casts, found themselves in a large majority alliance, but wasn't at the core of it, was put in the bottom after the minority has been picked off, but held out due to immunity wins, and won over the jury from their social games and underdog status, both winners were equally deserving of the win against their fellow finalists, but it really they really could've done more. But what separates Fabio for me is how he was portrayed, he was portrayed as a dumb blonde and he wore it all throughout the season, even when NaOnka is bickering at him, he's still charismatic. Sources said that he was just playing the role so that he was underestimated, but really he just wanted to have fun and he did, the audience and I loved him for it. But it's not enough to pull any anywhere but the bottom half of this ranking.

At #34, with a score of 30.65, we have Tommy Sheehan from Survivor: Island of the Idols!!

Scores:

Character: 5.42

Outwit: 6.77

Outplay: 5.79

Outlast: 6.79

Personal Score: 5.88

Final Score: 30.65

I'm not sure how much the season and the controversies, had anything to do with Tommy and his ranking here, but 34 is too low, I personally would put him in the mid-20s, as he's a very underrated winner with a very underrated road to victory. His Old School gameplay in a very New School season is not getting the credit it deserves, as it shows that no matter how many twists and advantages production throws at the show as time goes on, Tommy shows that it doesn't really matter as a simple great social game is all you need to win the game. Sure, he's not the most appealing or compelling character or strategist, and we're all still trying forget this season exists, but he's able to get the job done.

At #33, with a score of 30.81, we have Aras Baskauskas from Survivor: Panama!!

Scores:

Character: 5.63

Outwit: 6.17

Outplay: 6.32

Outlast: 6.75

Personal Score: 5.94

Final Score: 30.81

I also don't have much to say about this guy, as he's also a pretty unremarkable winner, or maybe I'm just not that knowledgeable in his game in that season, so feel free to correct me down in the comments. But regardless, he is able to strategically control the Casaya alliance alongside Cirie, which is quite a feat with how chaotic that group is, he's still lacking in strategic agency as he's more regarded as Cirie's second in command, and he still chose to vote to let her stay in final 4, instead of cutting her loose. He is also the only one putting the effort to attempt to stop Terry from winning another immunity and formed quite an entertaining rivalry between them. And with how neither Cirie nor Terry are there at the end, he is able to take the win with a 5-2 vote.

At #32, with a score of 32.03, we have Danni Boatwright from Survivor: Guatemala!!

Scores:

Character: 5.60

Outwit: 6.81

Outplay: 6.46

Outlast: 7.07

Personal Score: 6.09

Final Score: 32.03

Here we have the Stealth Bomber herself, Danni is another underrated winner in my opinion, though I can't fault you as much, due to her intentional edit in her original season, and her lackluster performance in season 40. But regardless, she's another peculiar winner with how she's intentionally purpling herself a bit to not give away information to the producers, but also limiting the audience immersion of her character and strategy, when's she a really great survivor player, with her worming her way into the Nakum Alliance structure, manipulating them to cannibalize each other rather than targeting her, getting some clutch immunity wins and really beating the radar. It's reasonable for her ranking this low, but I do wish she's a little higher.

At #31, with a score of 32.36, we have Erika Casupanan from Survivor 41!!

Scores:

Character: 5.83

Outwit: 6.71

Outplay: 6.14

Outlast: 7.29

Personal Score: 6.39

Final Score: 32.36

Our very first winner from the new era, the lamb turned lion, I honestly thought Erika would be lower from all the controversies she had and with all the other controversial winners being on the bottom of this ranking, but I'm glad to see she's this high at the very least. As she is definitely a smart player who had a lot of agency and control post-merge, from the Naseer and Shan blindsides, to being the swing vote a couple of times, managed her threat level well, and having some clutch immunity wins as well, she's a good winner, only really hindered by her pre-merge purple edit and the Hourglass controversy, tainting her image as a deserving winner to some.

At #30, with a score of 32.83, we have Vecepia Towery from Survivor: Marquesas!!

Scores:

Character: 6.05

Outwit: 7.07

Outplay: 6.20

Outlast: 7.17

Personal Score: 6.34

Final Score: 32.83

Another underrated winner, (I think you can start to see a pattern here...) Vecepia was a clever winner, she really is the pioneer of the "anybody but me" strategy before Sandra made that her mantle, as she helped Rob take over the Maraamu tribe, quickly integrated herself into the Rotu Four after being swapped screwed, then flipped back and joined in the very first massive power shift in the show. Not to mention her strong but duplicitous endgame, of the her challenge hack, allowing her to force the first ever rock draw, then swiftly betraying Kathy. She was regarded as a unremarkable winner back then, but I'm glad she's slowly making a comeback and getting the respect she deserves.

At #29, with a score of 33.25, we have Tina Wesson from Survivor: The Australian Outback!!

Scores:

Character: 6.65

Outwit: 7.01

Outplay: 5.56

Outlast: 7.43

Personal Score: 6.60

Final Score: 33.25

An icon of the game and one that set a precedent that being strategical isn't entirely "villainous" as she showed her kind and motherly nature as she got people's torches snuffed. She showed absolute social-strategic control from the Mitchell vote onward with a under reported move that shifted the Ogakor power structure to her favor, she also made great relations with a few Kucha members that helped her pull apart certain players and keeping those who are loyal and willing to bring her to the end, where she proved to be a worthy competitor.

So about these Winner Rankings... I understand how controversial they are, even I when I first sat down and calculated the results, I couldn't believe what I was seeing, I crunched the numbers a few more times just to make sure I didn't make a mistake and its all the same outcome.

But now that we're two weeks from the end of the poll, (and from reading all your comments) I've come to realize that this ranking is really superficial, as we are ranking the best of the best, proven players who have won the game of Survivor, they all have a reason to have won and be on this ranking, it is just unfortunate that half of these people will have to fall on the lower half of the ranking, and as many of you would say in comments, even these lower tier winners have claims and arguments to be put higher, and the same thing for certain players who haven't been ranked yet to be lower. Which all plays out to what we have in real life, every time a season ends, the entire survivor community goes into a month to year to still present long discussion over debating which finalist or player should have won the season, and it really makes for a divisive list of winners that we are currently ranking, as they all have pros and cons that have to be put in consideration.

From the statistics point of view, the lowest score in this ranking is Chris Underwood with 25.63, while the highest is only 43.96. Which meant every winner's scores fell in between those two, some very close to each other. Which implies that all of these winners already have a great score, some just only slightly scoring higher, and getting a higher rank, and it doesn't mean the lower ranked winners are bad, they still won and if this were a tier list they'll all be in A, but the others just edged them out for one reason or another. And with 215 people voting, each with their own ideas on what makes a deserving or great winner, it's bound to be a messy ranking.

A comment made by Aron Puma puts it best, the flaw in the ranking is that there is not really any bad winners out there (maybe 5... but that differs from person to person) and you wouldn't really know who to put down a rank for another player to go higher. Much like in Survivor, particularly in winners at war, where we saw 20 winners duke it out, it was disappointing to see some players get voted out in the pre-merge, but that is just how the nature of the game is, people have to lose, for others to advance, all the same for a ranking. Seeing these great winners be ranked low is disappointing, but that's just how the cookie crumbled.

At #28, with a score of 34.03, we have Chris Daugherty from Survivor: Vanuatu!!

Scores:

Character: 6.12

Outwit: 7.20

Outplay: 6.78

Outlast: 7.62

Personal Score: 6.31

Final Score: 34.03

While his early game is not exactly the most exciting thing to watch, his endgame really is what elevates him (well the same thing can be said for the entire season) The moment the women underestimated him, he took his shot and flew high and above with it. From blindsiding Leann and Ami, his brutal betrayal of Julie, masterfully picking off the remaining women so that he could gaslight Twila into butchering her final tribal, it's all wonderful and amazing to behold such bullcrappery to come out from this son of a gun.

At #27, with a score of 34.46, we have Mike Holloway from Survivor: Worlds Apart!!

Scores:

Character: 6.58

Outwit: 5.59

Outplay: 8.13

Outlast: 7.55

Personal Score: 6.61

Final Score: 34.46

Now we have Mike, another quite interesting winner who many believe to have won strictly from his physical game, but he does have some social and strategic merits, him turning the tables on Rodney and Joaquin wanting to throw a challenge, him keeping tabs on Rodney's alliance and him simply being a likable person and getting Dan to accept his apology at final tribal cements that he isn't just a challenge beast. Granted, his Final 9 auction play is very dumb and he really couldn't recover from it, resorting to him having to stay winning immunity through challenges and an Idol, and it really is one of the dumbest moves a winner could make, but he's still able to bounce back and come out on top.

At #26, with a score of 34.59, we have Wendell Holland from Survivor: Ghost Island!!

Scores:

Character: 6.56

Outwit: 7.20

Outplay: 7.06

Outlast: 7.18

Personal Score: 6.59

Final Score: 34.59

Another ranking that I really don't agree on... was Ghost Island that bad of a season, did people prefer Domenick, or was his villain edit in WaW really soured his reputation, either way he and Domenick really dominated their season (to an irritating degree) but credit to where it's due, they played amazingly and controlled the majority of the votes, resulting in the first and so far only Jury Vote Tie in Survivor History, but what sets Wendell apart was truly his social game, he made genuine relations and friendships with the majority of the cast, from simple acts of kindness like giving Sebastian his shell back, and not being the one to burn bridges through flashy cutthroat moves. Both Wendell and Domenick deserved the win, but Wendell went further to cement his relationships to the cast.

At #25, with a score of 34.63, we have Adam Klein from Survivor: Millennials vs Gen X!!

Scores:

Character: 6.91

Outwit: 7.09

Outplay: 6.34

Outlast: 7.49

Personal Score: 6.80

Final Score: 34.63

Adam is quite an interesting winner to rank, due to the unique style of edit he received in the show, where a large chunk of his screen time was devoted to his story, which is honestly heartwarming, but some people found tedious for whatever reason. But his strategy is also quite unique, as his ups and downs were actually shown and fleshed out, from finding idols, getting himself in trouble at final 12, getting repercussions over the reward steal, and being on the wrong side of the numbers several times, which makes for an unconventional winner, as most winners at this point are portrayed to be strategic masterminds, social manipulators, who made big flashy moves, won immunities and overall was dominant in the season they played, specially in modern seasons, but Adam was still able to pull off a great although subtle strategy of keeping meat shields ahead of him on the pecking order, leaving himself to be the biggest threat left once final tribal council came, and for that he makes for a one of a kind winner.

At #24, with a score of 34.99, we have Richard Hatch from Survivor: Borneo!!

Scores:

Character: 6.66

Outwit: 7.81

Outplay: 6.30

Outlast: 7.80

Personal Score: 6.42

Final Score: 34.99

The original Survivor winner, the one who set the precedent on what it takes to be a Sole Survivor. He was surely leaps ahead of the cast in the first season, being one of the few with an actual strategic mind in the game, even Jeff Probst had zero idea on what this game was at that point, but Hatch already did, as we saw at the final immunity challenge. Hatch was the first to showcase the playbook that everyone else will be implementing in future seasons. It may be simple nowadays, but him creating the first functional alliance is tantamount to the development of the game as we know it and set forth 20+ years of this game that we are all still geeking on.

At #23, with a score of 35.04, we have Sophie Clarke from Survivor: South Pacific!!

Scores:

Character: 6.11

Outwit: 7.46

Outplay: 6.97

Outlast: 7.60

Personal Score: 6.90

Final Score: 35.04

I'm not sure how much her Winners at War appearance affected her ranking here... but I am glad she's getting more recognition now than ever before, as she was a lowkey great player, but was severely under edited to give way for other players. But she was the glue that held the Upolu... cult... together, even when Albert or Coach wanted to do something, she made sure that they stay five strong, and kept those two to the end, where she demolished them in possibly one of the best final tribal council performances ever. And she's a underrated challenge beast too, winning three immunities, beating several strong players out there, one of which being Ozzy in that final immunity challenge, cementing herself and officially recognized to be the new dragon slayer.

At #22, with a score of 35.15, we have Maryanne Oketch from Survivor 42!!

Scores:

Character: 7.70

Outwit: 6.90

Outplay: 6.08

Outlast: 7.56

Personal Score: 6.91

Final Score: 35.15

Here's Maryanne!!! While she is more regarded to be a fun character, and a bit of an enigma throughout the first two phases of the game, where she coasted by through her relationships with the Taku Four, her breakout moment was truly... Omar's blindside. An unprecedented feat of using an extra vote to cause a plurality was amazing, and as she pointed out at her final tribal council, that one move allowed her to be able to navigate multiple alternate scenarios in the finale, where she's mostly guaranteed to be a finalist. Where all she had to do was to explain to the jury how she did it.

At #21, with a score of 35.17, we have Sarah Lacina from Survivor: Game Changers!!

Scores:

Character: 6.02

Outwit: 7.78

Outplay: 6.98

Outlast: 7.59

Personal Score: 6.80

Final Score: 35.17

Here's the one ranking that I actually disagree on the most, as I believe that Sarah played one of the best modern games that's deserving of a top 10, but I guess people don't like the season as much, so that puts her down for some reason. But she really came around to be a great survivor player, masterfully acquiring advantages and using them for cutthroat blindsides, and even without those advantages, she's still a great social player having ties with a lot of people, allowing herself to be the swing vote at multiple instances, taking out threats down the line as she ping pong from one alliance to another, and as we saw on WaW, she has the capacity to do that all over again. She's a masterclass winner, truly honing the title of "Game Changer"

At #20, with a score of 35.25, we have Nick Wilson from Survivor: David vs Goliath!!

Scores:

Character: 6.64

Outwit: 7.20

Outplay: 7.10

Outlast: 7.41

Personal Score: 6.90

Final Score: 35.25

He is possibly one of the most ingenious winners out there, from making personal one on one alliances, to the minority split, to forcing the Goliaths' hands to turn on each other, to fake finding an idol, and even fake playing one, he is truly a clever player, using every single item at his disposal to get through the game. Although he didn't exactly start off great, but he was able to come right back and swinging hard. He helped the Davids overcome a 7-5 deficit through flashy plays, but they were soon crushed by their own success as he became the last David left, of which he was able to clutch the last few immunities to get crowned as the king.

At #19, with a score of 35.68, we have Michele Fitzgerald from Survivor: Kaôh Rōng!!

Scores:

Character: 7.08

Outwit: 6.84

Outplay: 7.04

Outlast: 7.59

Personal Score: 7.13

Final Score: 35.68

I don't really want to reignite the Michele vs Aubry debate with this post... but knowing you guys... yeah, I'll let you all fight each other in the comments. Anyhow Michele is another underrated and under edited winner, while Aubry got to be the strategic mastermind that season, like Russell and Domenick, she burned too many bridges as she voted people out, and made them very bitter at her, likewise for Tai, leaving Michele who wasn't as cutthroat or disloyal as the other two were thought to be, to get the jury votes. Michele is a great social player, creating close bonds with people and being able to read the dynamics of the tribe to know when she's in trouble. She's also clever and skilled in challenges, winning a few clutch immunities, and the juror removal advantage, which she used to vote out the one jury member who was bitter at her, further increasing her chances, and ultimately winning the game, through her genuine gameplay.

At #18, with a score of 35.89, AND at #17, with a score of 36.44 for her other game, we have Sandra Diaz-Twine from Survivor: Pearl Islands and Survivor: Heroes vs Villains!!

Scores (Pearl Islands):

Character: 8.07

Outwit: 7.43

Outplay: 5.11

Outlast: 8.16

Personal Score: 7.67

Final Score: 36.44 (#17)

Scores (Heroes vs Villains):

Character: 8.03

Outwit: 7.14

Outplay: 5.16

Outlast: 8.04

Personal Score: 7.52

Final Score: 35.89 (#18)

The Queen of Survivor herself, and surprisingly both her winning games are ranked back to back, so I'm just gonna take the creative liberty and talk about both in one post. First of all, her Pearl Islands game is honestly underrated, people often forget how well she played the first time, because she was louder and... uh... louder at her second time when she crowned herself the queen. But with that said, she really played into the "Anybody but Me" strategy, utilizing the flip floppy nature of Fairplay to squeak by vote after vote, despite being a physical liability. Then her allies are taken out, she really opened herself to be a free vote for others, and then her biggest move by far in both her winning season was getting the women to turn on Burton at Final 5, which allowed her to maneuver her way through the last few rounds and get Lil to take her to the end where she beat her handily.

Coming back into Heroes vs Villains, she was initially sitting pretty with the villain majority, up until Russell and Parvati wreck that whole ordeal, and she then found herself to be the last one standing, but not before convincing Russell to vote out Coach, allowing her to make it to the merge, where she tried to flip the Heroes, found that ship to be sinking fast, stuck with the villains, and let Parvati and Russell burn their jury votes, and then beat them both at final tribal council and become the first two-time winner. She's a great winner in both her winning seasons due to how scrappy she can be, she knew how get her way by allowing herself to be a free agent, and get more agency. She may not have won any immunity, or performed well in challenges, but she proved to be quite a strategic force to be reckoned with. She's still the Queen in my Book, and so the Queen stays Queen, Adios.

At #16, with a score of 36.54, we have Ethan Zohn from Survivor: Africa!!

Scores:

Character: 7.94

Outwit: 6.75

Outplay: 6.96

Outlast: 7.42

Personal Score: 7.47

Final Score: 36.54

Our final Classic Era winner, good ol' Ethan. The first winner that was and still is universally beloved by all, he is a very kind, charismatic and charming guy, both in the show and out, and he stood the test of time as we still loved him in his short time in winners at war 18 years later. Strategically however, he's not really anything special, he was the first player to successfully throw a challenge to take out Silas and it paid off come the merge, but his key move is really when he made a critical alliance with Lex and Big Tom in the beginning, and their bond enabled them to control the game, and get their way to the final four, where Kim won out and voted for Ethan to join her, while his Final Tribal Performance was not the best... his social game and genuine likability got him the votes he need.

At #15, with a score of 36.99, we have Denise Stapley from Survivor: Philippines!!

Scores:

Character: 6.98

Outwit: 7.37

Outplay: 7.02

Outlast: 8.34

Personal Score: 7.28

Final Score: 36.99

Denise is one remarkable winner, being the only player to have attended every single tribal council, and survived each and every one, as she was able to be part of the plans, rarely the target until the end game where it was too late. Not to mention she was part of the Ill-fated Matsing tribe, who lost every immunity, and she found herself to be the swing vote taking her tribemates out until it was only her and Malcolm. When she found herself absorbed into Kalabaw, she would've been the swing vote once again if not for an player quitting, and she was kept over the other women for being a valuable challenge competitor, which she is, she's incredibly strong for her size and age, despite her tribes still losing, but she was still able to win individual immunity at the merge, where she reunited with Malcolm and together they helped vote out the other two tribes, until they were forced to target each other at final four, where Malcolm lost, and Denise went on to take the spoils.

At #14, with a score of 37.39, we have John Cochran from Survivor: Caramoan!!

Scores:

Character: 7.04

Outwit: 8.03

Outplay: 7.39

Outlast: 7.82

Personal Score: 7.11

Final Score: 37.39

Cochran had a lot of things go wrong for him in his time around, but he sure came back swinging in this season. As he and Dawn absolutely controlled all the Strategic aspect of the season, from being the swing vote at Bikal's first tribal all the way to having a great final tribal performance (or rather average, compared to the other two finalists). But he's proven himself to be a force to be reckoned with, being able to lead the majority alliance after Phillip left, and then taking out and blindsiding big threats that were on his way, the Andrea and Brenda votes are possibly some of the best moves in the 20s seasons, and he can take credit for them. He also became a surprise challenge beast, being able to hold his own in challenges and even winning several individual challenges that help him dominate the season further.

At #13, with a score of 37.46, we have Earl Cole from Survivor: Fiji!!

Scores:

Character: 7.33

Outwit: 7.76

Outplay: 6.98

Outlast: 8.00

Personal Score: 7.39

Final Score: 37.46

The King of Fiji himself, Earl was a nice character in an honestly not-so-great season, he and Yau-Man carried, both in entertainment value and the strategy. From controlling a dysfunctional and self-destructing Ravu, to getting Dreamz to flip at the merge, to the Edgardo safe vote, to the car deal. Earl played a major part in all of that, but was safe from any repercussions or consequences, due to his subtle social maneuvering. And without much blood at his hands, and through his genuine likability, he was able to get all 9 jury votes, the first unanimous winner, and would've been a perfect game if not for a single stray vote in the pre-merge.

At #12, with a score of 37.54, we have Tom Westman from Survivor: Palau!!

Scores:

Character: 7.00

Outwit: 7.06

Outplay: 8.37

Outlast: 7.96

Personal Score: 7.15

Final Score: 37.54

There is no denying that Tom was a dominant winner top to bottom. Sure, Ulong ulonging itself played a great part for him and Koror to essentially be the merge tribe as they were, but he was the leader of Koror and he played a pivotal role for them to get into that success. Strategically he's on point, he's able to put himself into a majority five that had him at the core of it. He's also the first winner to have won 5 individual immunity challenges, so he was safe at all but three tribal councils the whole season. And in the times he wasn't safe, he was able to get the target off his back through his social connections. And him getting Ian to give up at the end, after they've both sat on a pole for 12 hours was the cherry on top. Overall a great winner that's deserving to be high on this ranking.

At #11, with a score of 38.14, we have JT Thomas from Survivor: Tocantins!!

Scores:

Character: 7.43

Outwit: 7.21

Outplay: 7.92

Outlast: 8.29

Personal Score: 7.29

Final Score: 38.14

Before his diminishing returns, JT was the Golden Boy, he played the First Perfect game, and what a game it was. His social game is possibly his best aspect, using his charisma to bond with quite a lot of people, but the most important was with Stephen and Taj, these three ran the tables on Jalapao, and then they proceeded to run the tables on Timbira at the merge even when they had a 6-3 deficit, successfully infiltrating the cracks of Timbira and having their pick of who goes home. As we saw in future seasons, he's not exactly the best strategist, but in this season he didn't need it as he used his charm and aligned with the right people to strategize for him, and at the end he's found to be more likable and the jury awarded him with a perfect win.

At #10, with a score of 38.85, we have Todd Herzog from Survivor: China!!

Scores:

Character: 7.53

Outwit: 8.51

Outplay: 6.84

Outlast: 8.19

Personal Score: 7.78

Final Score: 38.85

Cracking in our top 10, we have Todd! His game in China was phenomenal in my opinion, as he was the strategic head of Fei Long, and everyone kind of trusted him to have their best interest in mind, when he was going to blindside them a few rounds later. His post-swap game is probably his rising point, when he was able to give James both the idols and set up a plan to counter Zhan Hu's challenge throwing, which didn't play out exactly like he wanted... but just having that play put him in a win-win situation, with numbers at the merge and assurance that his side will have at least 1 idol. Post-merge he was able to strategically peel off Jean-Robert and James for being threats, pagonged the remaining Zhan Hu and left himself with Amanda and Courtney who both actually had a solid chance to win at the end, but Todd was able to sell his case better than both of them, beating them with a 4-2-1. Most winners would take a goat with them at the end, but he did not and that speaks how great of a player Todd is.

At #9, with a score of 39.20, we have Natalie Anderson from Survivor: San Juan del Sur!!

Scores:

Character: 7.35

Outwit: 8.04

Outplay: 7.97

Outlast: 8.22

Personal Score: 7.62

Final Score: 39.20

Natalie arguably had the strongest endgame of any winner. But before that she was still playing a solid game, although she first lost her twin at the first tribal council, she consistently found herself in the majority alliance, and then after losing Jeremy through a blindside, she was still socially integrated well within her Fab Five alliance. But at final 7 everything changed when she feigned ignorance and got Alec out instead of Keith who has her number, and that enabled her to get revenge and blindside Jon in the next round. She then proceeded to make one of the best idol plays at Final 5 when she idoled out Baylor, and securing herself a strong endgame that the jury liked and respected enough to grant her the win.

At #8, with a score of 39.31, we have Tyson Apostol from Survivor: Blood vs Water!!

Scores:

Character: 8.00

Outwit: 7.70

Outplay: 7.93

Outlast: 8.03

Personal Score: 7.65

Final Score: 39.31

Tyson is a winner who I'd like to believe lucked out a bit, first of all the rock draw, he had an idol and could've used it to prevent himself from going home that night, and that his two main allies are frankly not good at survivor, and caused their fourth person to flip on them. But up to that point he was playing a great game, was on the majority on Galang, formed the singles alliance on Tadhana, found two idols, took out his threats early on at the merge, convinced Ciera to vote out Laura to ensure Aras or Vytas don't come back through redemption island, and only then things start to go wrong as Hayden started the coup against him, but Tyson was able to match him by getting Gervase, Monica and Ciera (for that one tribal) to stay loyal to him and garner him the numbers and time he needs to keep himself alive and bring Gervase and Monica along, who he handily beat at Final Tribal. Does his mistakes make him a bad winner? Not really, outside of the final six, he was able to control every vote, and won handily. But his personality sure was entertaining and it did probably carry him a bit in this ranking.

At #7, with a score of 39.49, we have Boston Rob Mariano from Survivor: Redemption Island!!

Scores:

Character: 7.33

Outwit: 8.45

Outplay: 8.35

Outlast: 8.17

Personal Score: 7.19

Final Score: 39.49

While I personally find Boston Rob a bit overrated, even I can't deny he played possibly the most dominant game in Survivor in this season, he got the only two people in Ometepe who posed a threat to him immediately out, he fully controlled the remaining six through the buddy system, and even poor Matt wanted to stay loyal to him at the merge and that only bought him a one way ticket back to redemption island, which was a massive, masterful and cold move on Rob's part, so kudos to that. But with five other loyal members, he's able to pagong everyone and anyone to get himself to the end with the two biggest goats. Was he a good winner? When he's playing for the fourth time against newbies? and that there's a safety net in redemption island and he's a decent challenge beast? I don't know. But it made for a bad and boring season entertainment wise, but one that was for sure a dominant showing of a Survivor Legend.

At #6, with a score of 40.63, we have Jeremy Collins from Survivor: Cambodia!!

Scores:

Character: 7.89

Outwit: 8.32

Outplay: 7.91

Outlast: 8.46

Personal Score: 8.05

Final Score: 40.63

Jeremy is an all around great survivor player and a deserving winner, especially with how chaotic his season was. With 20 second chancers all hoping to redeem themselves, one way or another, it made for a very intense and strategy heavy season, and Jeremy masterfully navigated himself through all of that through his Meat Shield strategy. While he was not the first person to utilize it, he was the first to be vocal about it and it worked him wonders in this season, as his more threatening allies were taking the bullets instead of him, and he had no blood on his hands, while everyone else tore each other apart to fulfill their second chance. Jeremy was also a lowkey great social player bonding with quite a lot of people, and not just his shields, earning him plenty of friends to vote for him at the end, where he told more about his story with his family, that along with his dominant gameplay, earned him a unanimous win. He played an amazing top tier game, and like Earl, just had one asterisk preventing him from having a perfect game.

At #5, with a score of 41.55, we have Tony Vlachos from Survivor: Cagayan!!

Scores:

Character: 8.51

Outwit: 8.37

Outplay: 7.84

Outlast: 8.45

Personal Score: 8.38

Final Score: 41.55

The first of Tony's crown claiming games, Tony's Cagayan Game was definitely a wild ride. Initially at the bottom of Aparri, then building leeway with Trish and Sarah, finding an idol, lying a lot, blindsiding Cliff and Lindsey, getting Woo to be a goat, finding more idols, getting his bag of tricks, building spy shacks, flip flopping, even more lying, and of course llama speaking. This mad man was so chaotic many thought he was going to lose, but many more were pleasantly surprised to see him win. While there are flaws in his game here, like not having deep personal bonds with much of the cast, as he relegated Trish to do that, and that some of his lies were so bold, that its a miracle they worked. Tony played an amazing and very chaotic game that exuded through our screens, and it was only a taste of what's to come.

At #4, with a score of 41.62, we have Kim Spradlin from Survivor: One World!!

Scores:

Character: 7.27

Outwit: 8.86

Outplay: 8.72

Outlast: 8.72

Personal Score: 8.06

Final Score: 41.62

Kim, is Kim. She dominated her season top to bottom, and she had many more options to take to still win. Kim was a controlling figure, but unlike Rob or Tony, who ruled with fear and paranoia, she ruled with genuine social relationships with her alliance members, to the point where everyone trusted her, made her part of their plans, and Kim just has to make a choice. She's also a great challenge beast, being the only other female winner to have the female record of four immunity wins, which further contributed to her dominance, making her untouchable at the endgame. And while the swap was kind of lucky for her, she's likely to be still able to build new relationships and still find her way to the merge with numbers and still dominate throughout.

At #3, with a score of 42.00, we have Parvati Shallow from Survivor: Micronesia!!

Scores:

Character: 8.34

Outwit: 8.68

Outplay: 8.14

Outlast: 8.52

Personal Score: 8.32

Final Score: 42.00

At our top 3 now, we have Parvati, while she was not exactly a favorite in her original season, she more than definitely proved herself to be great player and one to watch out for in future seasons. Parvati played a lowkey game in the pre-merge, joining up with Amanda, James and Ozzy, and later Cirie to get the majority on the Favorites tribe. And then at the post-swap, building key relationships with Natalie and Alexis from the fans. But the post-merge is where everything spun out, masterfully getting the numbers to blindside Ozzy with an Idol, doing the same thing to Jason a round later, helping Amanda Idol out Alexis, and then... you know what happened. That whole stretch of blindsides and big moves, all orbiting around her and her Black Widow Brigade made her a Survivor Legend, spawning a bunch mindless Parvati clones, due to how much threatening she was. Her win was a slight to behold and one that shift the course of Survivor Forever.

At #2, with a score of 42.37, we have Yul Kwon from Survivor: Cook Islands!!

Scores:

Character: 8.23

Outwit: 9.01

Outplay: 7.93

Outlast: 8.62

Personal Score: 8.58

Final Score: 42.37

This is actually the biggest shock for me in this ranking. I know that Yul is popular, and played a great calculated game in Cook Islands, but I was not expecting him to rank this high, and it's honestly awesome to see him here, as he played a great strategic game, initially in control of Post-Swap Aitu, he then found himself down in numbers at Final 12 because of the mutiny, this whole arc of the Aitu Four managing clutch wins, and then Yul getting Penner to flip back, to eliminate all the Raro members and making them the final four of the season was legendary. While his idol and the final three twist potentially have made him immune this whole season, but when it came down to it, he never had to use it, specially when his back was against the wall at the merge round. He played a calculated game unlike other winners before, and he set the precedent that Survivor is a strategic game and opened the door for more calculated players to have their spotlights.

And finally... At #1, with a score of 43.96, we have Tony Vlachos' second winning game from Survivor: Winners at War!!

Scores:

Character: 8.76

Outwit: 8.82

Outplay: 8.73

Outlast: 8.89

Personal Score: 8.76

Final Score: 43.96

Here he is, ranking over all others, the champion of champions, Tony!! It's no surprise that he's got this spot, considering the simple fact that he won over 19 other champions, each with their tried and tested strategies that have won each of them their games. Tony showed complete mastery over the game, learning from his past mistakes and staying cool and behaved in the early game, actually making bonds with the likes of Sarah, Ben, Nick and Jeremy, and then when the time was right, unleash the mad man within him, with the crazy blindside of Sophie, his new spy nest, and then putting out all coup attempts against him. He and Sarah ran this game, and it was beautiful to see both of them have to face each other at final fire making, of which he won, and then proceed to get 12 jury votes, 2 million dollars, and the title of the "King of Survivor"

Thanks for tuning in Daily for these rankings, it's been a bumpy ride along but here we are now. And we finished just in time for the Survivor 44 premiere!! Definitely watch out for that!

A lot of you wanted me to make a "summary" of sorts for the Winner Ranking, being who ranked better at specific categories or just wanted to see certain data point to possibly compare and contrast, and this post is exactly that.

You can see the rankings visually in these pictures, or if you prefer looking through a spreadsheet, here it is: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18YCEMNmxmIKD1n-7zhr4N4XEpZlEwcisgNQAR3tAE7o/edit?usp=sharing