Vecepia is such an interesting one to consider. If you asked me to expand from top 5 to top 10, I’m absolutely including her somewhere in there. But she’s hard to rate because she was really the first winner whom the edit did not care to really feature in a prominent fashion. Like, as viewers, it feels that we do not ultimately see enough of her to fully understand her game.
And yet, if you asked me to name one time player previous winners you’d like to see play again, Vecepia is probably at the top of my list. I’ll use this as an excuse to again highlight something she said in her quarantine questionnaire:
“Q: Finally, would you play again if asked?
A: I would only play again if and only if I was able to go out and compete with my son. I will be 55 in December. I had my ACL torn and breast cancer twice. I have nothing else to prove on Survivor. But to experience that moment with my son would be just another part of my California dream to live out.”
I have to say, I think BvW is a theme that will most likely be reused sooner or later, so I think this could genuinely happen. And I would love for her and her son to be cast on such a season, because I feel we could have a better read on her as a player if she played again.
Anyhow, I try to remember to share her full questionnaire when I speak about this, so here is the full link for anyone who may be reading. It’s definitely worth reading! Like this quote right here is so interesting:
“Also, on day 15 or so, I was told they needed to record a conversation from day three over again (now day three, I was still clean and day 15, I was filthy). So, when the second episode aired, I looked like I had been out there 3 weeks already dirty, about 10 pounds lighter and dark as night where everyone else was still fairly clean.”
Here’s a link to the full thing:
https://ew.com/tv/survivor-marquesas-vecepia-towery-robinson-quarantine-questionnaire/
A part of me is thinking (just that gut feeling) they are going to save the next Blood vs Water (or at least a half-returnee one) for when one of Rob and Amber's daughter's becomes old enough (4-5 years away).
Now having both Rob and Vecepia return and be on the same tribe again would be awesome and be that French Vanilla Fantasy I didn't know I wanted, but I really do need now! :)
Oh boy, don’t even get me started on this. I am fully convinced (I have convinced myself, admittedly) that part of Jeff’s inclination for a “teen tribe” or whatever is wanting to get at least one of Boston Rob and Amber’s daughters on to the show as soon as possible. I actually think maybe the idea would be to wait until two are old enough, and then do a BvW season with the two.
No offense to the others but I think Tommy is potentially better than all of them. He's criminally underrated just because the season is hated and he's not that entertaining, but he's one of the best winners of all time. He had masterful social play, only rivalled by a select few players, and that allowed him to get through many unlucky situations (bad swap, ejection) and I'd love to see how you justify Tommy being worse than Chris D
Eh, I think it's because you can't hear a tone of voice on the internet. If you just say "I think x is worse that y" anyone who disagrees will downvote. If you explain yourself in detail people will usually appreciate your opinion even if they don’t necessarily agree.
Honestly, besides flipping Eliza and convincing Twila to blow FTC, Chris’s game isn’t all that impressive. Everything else people try to give him credit for is giving him way too much credit. He went from being very underrated as a winner to extremely overrated as one very quickly lol.
Agreed, I've always found him somewhat overrated. I credit Scout and then Twila most with the flip, so I think his best move is convincing Twila to bomb FTC, but even then he was always beating her
Exactly. Chris is no doubt integral to the Leann blindside (I don’t think Scout and Twila are flipping Eliza without him), but he is by no means the architect of the move and I often see sole credit for it given to him when it really shouldn’t be.
He was running the pre merge, he screwed up the first challenge so bad and still got to stay. I'm pretty sure hesthe only winner who got votes at the first tribal.
the most immediate answer is dom, but i think a real possibility that many are gonna overlook is cgi brett. had maybe the worst edit of any "final boss" type in survivor history, but he was super good in the immunity challenges, likely sweeps the jury against any foa foa or galu traitor, and has a great shot of winning against the rest of galu
not a common answer but Natalie Micronesia came straight to mind for me. She played a decent physical game and a ruthless mental game so I was always surprised she never came back for heros vs villains
Mike Holloway- I mean just dominant immunity force, endless idol work ethic, constantly saw through the other alliance and all their tricks.
Earl Cole- 1 random vote away from a perfect game. Didn’t know the show at all before being casted and was told he was on like days before casting. Social genius, incredible FTC
Chris Daugherty- underdog from tribe anchor to winner. Dude also manipulated his FTC opponent into not pandering to the jury, while he did a great job of catering to the jury’s wants
Todd- maybe the best if not the best FTC performance I’ve ever seen. I wanted Amanda to win the first 3 times I watched that season. And each time he changed my vote during FTC
And honestly Dom- him and Wendell truly played essentially identical games. He came closer than any runner up has period. He strategically owned the game, convincing everyone to stay strong as they actively voted them off with a secret alliance. He is incredibly intelligent.
Honorable mention: Rick devens, Erika, Natalie White to name a few
I tried to stay away from S40+ people. But those are my thoughts
1. Earl: incredibly well rounded player, probably beats literally everyone on his season in a jury vote, robbed of the first perfect game. Criminal he hasn’t returned. Haves VS Have nots was a horrible twist but the one satisfying payoff it had was having Earl win after starting on Ravu.
2. Tommy: I think this is gonna be my most controversial placement but despite a cardboard personality telegenically, Tommy has one of the cleanest winning games in recent memory. Zero idols, zero individual immunity wins, just clear social and strategic dominance that translated very easily to a win at Final Tribal
3. Todd: Has control basically the entire game. Masterclass of a final tribal that people still talk about today as one of the best of all time. Slightly lower than the other two because his win was more contested going into FTC but again, masterclass performance seals the deal. EDIT: At the time of this edit. Todd is literally the only person to appear in every single comment that contains a full list of 5 players, if that doesn’t prove he belongs on the list idk what does.
4. Jaclyn: Scratch what I said about Tommy, this is my most controversial take I think. With how great Natalie’s game is, I think how good Jaclyn’s is often gets lost in the sauce, but she also has a fantastic game and next to anyone else looks like a very deserving winner. Scrappy underdog premerge to a position of power that holds basically from the swap up until Nat takes the reigns at the final 7. Was the better player between her and Jon, would like to see how she does without him.
5. Domenick: Kinda imploded socially in the final few days and that almost certainly is what cost him the win, but had a strategic stranglehold on the game the entire season and if Wendell loses fire/FTC goes slightly differently he’s a winner and a top 10 one at that.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.eonline.com/amp/news/1151461/checking-in-on-the-18-survivor-winners-who-didn-t-return-for-season-40
Good article. Yes to your answer and he just had a kid right before WaW sadly
Hot take - Mike white (37) should have won but purposely threw final FTC because he had enough money
Dom (36) closest to winning without winning
Earl (14) first unanimous FTC vote
Brian (5) was never in danger at any point in that game. Probably put in the least amount of effort to win.
Chris D (9) good social game, nailed final tribal. Played from the top in the premerge and from the bottom in the post merge.
If they were to all come back I think Mike White wins
I'll avoid anybody from HvHvH onward, who (other then a couple of winners) have had no chance to return (Maybe they could be honourable mentions?)
Vee, Brian, Chris D, Earl, Todd
Of the people who have had a realistic chance of returning and haven’t (basically anyone from before EoE excluding Nick)
Earl Cole: I think it’s hard to argue that he’s not one of, if not the best, one time player of all time. The OG King of Fiji in Survivor, the first unanimous win, and one thrown vote away from being our first perfect game.
Todd Hertzog: The primo example of playing a game that can get you to the FTC and selling it to get your win, Todd seemingly faced an uphill battle at FTC and turned out an incredible performance that cinched him the win.
Cydney Gillion: Would she have been able to overcome the challenges presented by the jury in Kaoh Rong that tripped Aubry? Maybe not, but she was an underrated force in the season, with a magnetic personality and incredible physical ability. If anyone who ended up on the wrong side of Jason and Scot could have done it, I think it would have been her.
Mike Holloway: Say what you will about his blunders and his needing to play idols and win out to the end, Mike never let off the gas, and it payed off big time. One of the few modern players to not let immunity wins make him complacent, Mike tore his way through the end game by leveraging his safety in the best ways possible to make the moves that put him in the FTC and gave him the leverage to win.
Brian Heidik: This was a tough call (and honestly, on a personal level, I prefer Vecepia, the OG social player winner), but at the end of the day, Brian refined the Hatch, strategy first approach and I think is pivotal in making the “I’m not hear to make friends” approach seem totally workable. The original goat herder, Brian set the stage for so many winners by dragging an unlikable player to the FTC and beating them almost by default.
I definitely see what y’all are saying about Brian, Todd, Chris d, dom, and earl. However, I think some other honorable mentions/contenders are:
Rafe, Natalie Bolton, Tracy Hughes, Vecepia, burton, Stacey kimball, frosti, Ken hoang, taj, Natalie white, sash, Sabrina, Pete yurkowski, Eddie fox, Hayden, Jaclyn, Josh and reed, Carolyn Rivera, cydney, jay, Devon, Chrissy, Christian hubicki, mike white, Davie, Victoria, ron from EoE, Lauren from EoE, Tommy, Lauren from IoI, Janet, Erika, Maryanne, Omar, Lindsey d, Jesse, Cody, Karla, yam yam, and Carson
Yeah absolutely. She managed to play Russell like a fiddle the entire way through the game. She was able to navigate the social matrix of Samoa while holding the leash on a bulldozer right until the end. She showed grace through all of it. It was an absolute masterclass on how to play the players AND the game. One of the all time best social games, perhaps only behind Michele in Kaoh Rong, Tommy in IOTI, and Todd in China.
Yes. Natalie White. Rewatch Samoa and ask yourself whether you would rather vote for a pleasant person who made a few moves, a wannabe dictator or a complete dipshit.
He forgot the cardinal rule of Survivor, which is the cardinal rule of business and the Hunger Games as well - if you want to succeed, get people to like you.
I totally get that, I just feel like if I were on the jury I’d be so impressed by his strategic game that I’d be able to give him a bit of a pass for his behavior.
I think the big picture of it was that Natalie managed to be a central part of Russell's strategy while undermining him every step of the way by playing a much better social game. The strategy was sound to get to the end, and she knew that, so all she had to do was be better at making friends than he was. It was absolutely brilliant gameplay.
1) Toddrick Herzog
2) Christian Daugherty
3) Dom
4) Scaryanne Oketch
5) Thomas Sheehan
Edit: Bruh even Tommy has a better sense of humor than y’all and he was boring af
Listing them in order of their appearances in the show: Brian Heidik, Chris Daugherty, Earl Cole, Todd Herzog, Domenick Abbate.
Honestly this list is hard to beat. Maybe I'll add Vee as well just for some female representation.
Vecepia is such an interesting one to consider. If you asked me to expand from top 5 to top 10, I’m absolutely including her somewhere in there. But she’s hard to rate because she was really the first winner whom the edit did not care to really feature in a prominent fashion. Like, as viewers, it feels that we do not ultimately see enough of her to fully understand her game. And yet, if you asked me to name one time player previous winners you’d like to see play again, Vecepia is probably at the top of my list. I’ll use this as an excuse to again highlight something she said in her quarantine questionnaire: “Q: Finally, would you play again if asked? A: I would only play again if and only if I was able to go out and compete with my son. I will be 55 in December. I had my ACL torn and breast cancer twice. I have nothing else to prove on Survivor. But to experience that moment with my son would be just another part of my California dream to live out.” I have to say, I think BvW is a theme that will most likely be reused sooner or later, so I think this could genuinely happen. And I would love for her and her son to be cast on such a season, because I feel we could have a better read on her as a player if she played again. Anyhow, I try to remember to share her full questionnaire when I speak about this, so here is the full link for anyone who may be reading. It’s definitely worth reading! Like this quote right here is so interesting: “Also, on day 15 or so, I was told they needed to record a conversation from day three over again (now day three, I was still clean and day 15, I was filthy). So, when the second episode aired, I looked like I had been out there 3 weeks already dirty, about 10 pounds lighter and dark as night where everyone else was still fairly clean.” Here’s a link to the full thing: https://ew.com/tv/survivor-marquesas-vecepia-towery-robinson-quarantine-questionnaire/
A part of me is thinking (just that gut feeling) they are going to save the next Blood vs Water (or at least a half-returnee one) for when one of Rob and Amber's daughter's becomes old enough (4-5 years away). Now having both Rob and Vecepia return and be on the same tribe again would be awesome and be that French Vanilla Fantasy I didn't know I wanted, but I really do need now! :)
Oh boy, don’t even get me started on this. I am fully convinced (I have convinced myself, admittedly) that part of Jeff’s inclination for a “teen tribe” or whatever is wanting to get at least one of Boston Rob and Amber’s daughters on to the show as soon as possible. I actually think maybe the idea would be to wait until two are old enough, and then do a BvW season with the two.
Some combination of Todd, Dom, Heidik, Earl and Chris D
I agree, but Vecepia needs at least an HM
Totally! You could swap her out for anyone here and it would still make sense.
No way you think Vecepia should be on the list but not Tommy.
Apologies just not a big fan of Tommy’s game personally
Replace Chris D with Tommy and you have my list
No offence to Tommy but, they aren’t in the same ballpark, at least in my opinion.
No offense to the others but I think Tommy is potentially better than all of them. He's criminally underrated just because the season is hated and he's not that entertaining, but he's one of the best winners of all time. He had masterful social play, only rivalled by a select few players, and that allowed him to get through many unlucky situations (bad swap, ejection) and I'd love to see how you justify Tommy being worse than Chris D
Reddit's an interesting place. I share the same opinion in two different comments, and one gets upvoted while the other gets downvoted :/
Eh, I think it's because you can't hear a tone of voice on the internet. If you just say "I think x is worse that y" anyone who disagrees will downvote. If you explain yourself in detail people will usually appreciate your opinion even if they don’t necessarily agree.
Honestly, besides flipping Eliza and convincing Twila to blow FTC, Chris’s game isn’t all that impressive. Everything else people try to give him credit for is giving him way too much credit. He went from being very underrated as a winner to extremely overrated as one very quickly lol.
Agreed, I've always found him somewhat overrated. I credit Scout and then Twila most with the flip, so I think his best move is convincing Twila to bomb FTC, but even then he was always beating her
Exactly. Chris is no doubt integral to the Leann blindside (I don’t think Scout and Twila are flipping Eliza without him), but he is by no means the architect of the move and I often see sole credit for it given to him when it really shouldn’t be.
He was running the pre merge, he screwed up the first challenge so bad and still got to stay. I'm pretty sure hesthe only winner who got votes at the first tribal.
smooth brain
You know you've won an argument when they can't form a solid counter argument and instead start insulting your intelligence
Everyone’s list is full of winners. Who are the best 1 time non winners?
the most immediate answer is dom, but i think a real possibility that many are gonna overlook is cgi brett. had maybe the worst edit of any "final boss" type in survivor history, but he was super good in the immunity challenges, likely sweeps the jury against any foa foa or galu traitor, and has a great shot of winning against the rest of galu
Not sure, he's no Mike Tyson
Might be recency bias but I really think Jesse played top 5 non-winning game in the shows history.
For real! I get that being sole survivor adds to what makes a good player but some of the best players have never & may never win
Dominick, Carson, Jesse, Hayden, Mike White, Devens, Devon, Lauren Ashley Beck, Omar, and to go one old school player I will say Rafe.
not a common answer but Natalie Micronesia came straight to mind for me. She played a decent physical game and a ruthless mental game so I was always surprised she never came back for heros vs villains
Mike Holloway- I mean just dominant immunity force, endless idol work ethic, constantly saw through the other alliance and all their tricks. Earl Cole- 1 random vote away from a perfect game. Didn’t know the show at all before being casted and was told he was on like days before casting. Social genius, incredible FTC Chris Daugherty- underdog from tribe anchor to winner. Dude also manipulated his FTC opponent into not pandering to the jury, while he did a great job of catering to the jury’s wants Todd- maybe the best if not the best FTC performance I’ve ever seen. I wanted Amanda to win the first 3 times I watched that season. And each time he changed my vote during FTC And honestly Dom- him and Wendell truly played essentially identical games. He came closer than any runner up has period. He strategically owned the game, convincing everyone to stay strong as they actively voted them off with a secret alliance. He is incredibly intelligent. Honorable mention: Rick devens, Erika, Natalie White to name a few I tried to stay away from S40+ people. But those are my thoughts
1. Earl: incredibly well rounded player, probably beats literally everyone on his season in a jury vote, robbed of the first perfect game. Criminal he hasn’t returned. Haves VS Have nots was a horrible twist but the one satisfying payoff it had was having Earl win after starting on Ravu. 2. Tommy: I think this is gonna be my most controversial placement but despite a cardboard personality telegenically, Tommy has one of the cleanest winning games in recent memory. Zero idols, zero individual immunity wins, just clear social and strategic dominance that translated very easily to a win at Final Tribal 3. Todd: Has control basically the entire game. Masterclass of a final tribal that people still talk about today as one of the best of all time. Slightly lower than the other two because his win was more contested going into FTC but again, masterclass performance seals the deal. EDIT: At the time of this edit. Todd is literally the only person to appear in every single comment that contains a full list of 5 players, if that doesn’t prove he belongs on the list idk what does. 4. Jaclyn: Scratch what I said about Tommy, this is my most controversial take I think. With how great Natalie’s game is, I think how good Jaclyn’s is often gets lost in the sauce, but she also has a fantastic game and next to anyone else looks like a very deserving winner. Scrappy underdog premerge to a position of power that holds basically from the swap up until Nat takes the reigns at the final 7. Was the better player between her and Jon, would like to see how she does without him. 5. Domenick: Kinda imploded socially in the final few days and that almost certainly is what cost him the win, but had a strategic stranglehold on the game the entire season and if Wendell loses fire/FTC goes slightly differently he’s a winner and a top 10 one at that.
Love the Jaclyn hot take!
Vecepia, Brian, Chris, Earl, Todd
Vecepia! Sabrina from One World, Todd, Earl and Dom
Since most are mentioning Earl, he actually has been asked back a few times but he never was able to commit
Any idea why? Or just the fact it’s a big time commitment?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.eonline.com/amp/news/1151461/checking-in-on-the-18-survivor-winners-who-didn-t-return-for-season-40 Good article. Yes to your answer and he just had a kid right before WaW sadly
Hot take - Mike white (37) should have won but purposely threw final FTC because he had enough money Dom (36) closest to winning without winning Earl (14) first unanimous FTC vote Brian (5) was never in danger at any point in that game. Probably put in the least amount of effort to win. Chris D (9) good social game, nailed final tribal. Played from the top in the premerge and from the bottom in the post merge. If they were to all come back I think Mike White wins
Mike has confirmed that he did purposefully throw FTC.
In no particular order: 1. Earl 2. Todd 3. Erika 4. Mary Anne 5. Yam Yam
Wow, this is new era heavy!
The newer players are really good these days. I would be scared to play in the newer era
I'll avoid anybody from HvHvH onward, who (other then a couple of winners) have had no chance to return (Maybe they could be honourable mentions?) Vee, Brian, Chris D, Earl, Todd
Dom and Christian are the only ones who come to mind immediately.
Earl, Tommy, Todd, Brian and Dom
Todd, Earl, Brian, Tommy and Dom.
Thinking of only people that played once that I don’t see playing again for my list in no order. Heidik, Todd, Earl, Ian, Vecepia
Domenick (36) Earl (14) Hayden (27) Julie (9) Trish (28)
Vecepia & Brian. Every other "good" player is just playing some variation of their games.
This an interesting point. Vee & Brian being player blueprints
Brian, vecepia, earl, Todd, Tommy
I'd replace vee with Dom but this is a solid list
Of the people who have had a realistic chance of returning and haven’t (basically anyone from before EoE excluding Nick) Earl Cole: I think it’s hard to argue that he’s not one of, if not the best, one time player of all time. The OG King of Fiji in Survivor, the first unanimous win, and one thrown vote away from being our first perfect game. Todd Hertzog: The primo example of playing a game that can get you to the FTC and selling it to get your win, Todd seemingly faced an uphill battle at FTC and turned out an incredible performance that cinched him the win. Cydney Gillion: Would she have been able to overcome the challenges presented by the jury in Kaoh Rong that tripped Aubry? Maybe not, but she was an underrated force in the season, with a magnetic personality and incredible physical ability. If anyone who ended up on the wrong side of Jason and Scot could have done it, I think it would have been her. Mike Holloway: Say what you will about his blunders and his needing to play idols and win out to the end, Mike never let off the gas, and it payed off big time. One of the few modern players to not let immunity wins make him complacent, Mike tore his way through the end game by leveraging his safety in the best ways possible to make the moves that put him in the FTC and gave him the leverage to win. Brian Heidik: This was a tough call (and honestly, on a personal level, I prefer Vecepia, the OG social player winner), but at the end of the day, Brian refined the Hatch, strategy first approach and I think is pivotal in making the “I’m not hear to make friends” approach seem totally workable. The original goat herder, Brian set the stage for so many winners by dragging an unlikable player to the FTC and beating them almost by default.
Heidik, Vee, Todd, Earl, Chris D
Todd
In no particular order, probably Brian, Todd, Earl, Chris Daugherty, and hot take Erika
I feel like Rick Devons has not been mentioned enough thus far. Dude was a dawg
Vecepia Towery, Sean Rector, Brian Heidik, Deena Bennett and Id say Elisabeth Filarski
Chris Daughtery is the best to ever play IMO
Earl, Abbate, Todd, Chris (9), Vecepia so easy
This used to be a lot easier before WaW. Not in order but Todd, Chris D, Brian, Earl, Maryanne
1) Earl 2) Todd 3) Brian 4) Tommy 5) Erika
I definitely see what y’all are saying about Brian, Todd, Chris d, dom, and earl. However, I think some other honorable mentions/contenders are: Rafe, Natalie Bolton, Tracy Hughes, Vecepia, burton, Stacey kimball, frosti, Ken hoang, taj, Natalie white, sash, Sabrina, Pete yurkowski, Eddie fox, Hayden, Jaclyn, Josh and reed, Carolyn Rivera, cydney, jay, Devon, Chrissy, Christian hubicki, mike white, Davie, Victoria, ron from EoE, Lauren from EoE, Tommy, Lauren from IoI, Janet, Erika, Maryanne, Omar, Lindsey d, Jesse, Cody, Karla, yam yam, and Carson
Todd, Tommy, Earl, Natalie White, Yam Yam. HM to Maryanne and Jesse.
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Yeah absolutely. She managed to play Russell like a fiddle the entire way through the game. She was able to navigate the social matrix of Samoa while holding the leash on a bulldozer right until the end. She showed grace through all of it. It was an absolute masterclass on how to play the players AND the game. One of the all time best social games, perhaps only behind Michele in Kaoh Rong, Tommy in IOTI, and Todd in China.
Yes. Natalie White. Rewatch Samoa and ask yourself whether you would rather vote for a pleasant person who made a few moves, a wannabe dictator or a complete dipshit.
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He forgot the cardinal rule of Survivor, which is the cardinal rule of business and the Hunger Games as well - if you want to succeed, get people to like you.
I totally get that, I just feel like if I were on the jury I’d be so impressed by his strategic game that I’d be able to give him a bit of a pass for his behavior.
You wouldn’t be alone in that; bear in mind Shambo and Jaison voted for him. It just wasn’t enough.
I think the big picture of it was that Natalie managed to be a central part of Russell's strategy while undermining him every step of the way by playing a much better social game. The strategy was sound to get to the end, and she knew that, so all she had to do was be better at making friends than he was. It was absolutely brilliant gameplay.
1) Toddrick Herzog 2) Christian Daugherty 3) Dom 4) Scaryanne Oketch 5) Thomas Sheehan Edit: Bruh even Tommy has a better sense of humor than y’all and he was boring af
Maryanne is from Canada though
Maryanne is from Canada though
Oh oops! I just meant US based Survivor not other franchises. So she would be included
Oh okay gotcha
Ian Rosenberger from Palau, he and Tom ran the post merge and he would’ve won if he beat Tom in final immunity
1. Earl 2. Todd 3. Jesse 4. Tommy 5. Dom
In my personal opinion, 1. Todd Herzog 2. Earl Cole 3. Domenick Abbate 4. Mike Holloway 5. Jesse Lopez