Board 8 > Inviso and AdmiralZephyr Rank Survivor Winners!

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@AdmiralZephyr Top 5!

5. Ethan Zohn (Survivor: Africa)

I’m not sure exactly how to describe my feelings about Ethan as a winner. I went into this ranking thinking he was so-so at best, but as I wrote-up my reasons for ranking other players, I just kept appreciating Ethan more and more. While Ethan wasn’t a LEADER in Africa, he was definitely in the power core of his alliance all season long, so he serves as kind of a transitional winner between the pure leaders and the underdogs. That being said, holy shit am I impressed by Ethan as I look more closely at his win.

I won’t dock points from Ethan’s win for the first swap, because that just sped up the inevitable. Either Samburu continues losing and enters the merge with a tie at best (in which case the remaining elder flips to Boran), or Boran loses twice more and both elders flip to Boran rather than work with the brats. The end result is Boran winning either way. And since Ethan was at the core of Boran, he would likely benefit the same way that he did in reality. The fact is that Ethan is one of the winners that I honestly think had the game locked up SUPER early (earlier than anyone else, honestly), so the swap isn’t that big of a mark on him positively or negatively.

That last bit is why Ethan ranks so high. While Lex made some questionable moves at the merge, targeting Clarence and Kelly, I won’t hold that too much against Ethan because Samburu was still a goddamn trainwreck at that point, and Lex had at least managed to secure Brandon prior to the vote. And THAT, my dear readers, is the move that won Ethan the game. That’s right. Ethan Zohn won Survivor: Africa the SECOND Brandon decided to betray Samburu rather than work with Frank. Think about it. That move effectively fractured Samburu beyond repair. Brandon wouldn’t work with Frank and Frank/Kim P. wouldn’t work with Brandon. Barring an immunity win, that effectively negated the tribe as a whole.

With Samburu out of the picture as early as the final 9, that puts Ethan in the final four. And if you look at the relationships among the Boran four, Ethan is guaranteed a win no matter what. Lex didn’t trust Tom, Tom knew Lex didn’t trust him, the Boran boys hated Kim, and Kim hated Tom. That meant Ethan was 100% safe at four, barring a Tom immunity win. And even then, Kim might still gun for Lex if it means protecting herself. Similarly no matter who’s in the final 3, the same rules apply. If Lex wins over Ethan/Tom or Ethan/Kim, he’s taking his buddy Ethan more than likely. If Tom wins over Ethan/Lex or Ethan/Kim, he’s taking his buddy Ethan for sure. If Kim wins over Ethan/Tom or Ethan/Lex, she’s taking the person she could respect losing to more, which is Ethan.

So yeah, Ethan had the game locked up at NINE. That’s DAMN impressive to me. Again, the only reason I don’t rank him higher is because again, I respect winners more who have to overcome a LITTLE more adversity. I would’ve liked Ethan to prove his skills more than just riding a wave of power to a victory. Still, this placement is not bad by ANY stretch of the imagination.
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Is Ethan really a lock to beat Lex/Tom in the jury vote? I've always felt like Ethan would have been the underdog against either of them, but it's been a long time since I watched Africa.
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Xeybozn posted...

Is Ethan really a lock to beat Lex/Tom in the jury vote? I've always felt like Ethan would have been the underdog against either of them, but it's been a long time since I watched Africa.

Well I think Ethan was definitely the beloved golden boy while Tom was crass, and Lex was a paranoid dick at times. It might've been close, but I think Ethan at least sweeps the girls' votes, plus whichever of Lex/Tom were on the jury, which would've been enough. Against Tom, he probably gets Brandon too.
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I think it all depends if old Samburu respects Lexs game enough to give it to him over Ethan or if it is just Brandon.
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18. Ethan Zohn (Survivor: Africa)

Ethan was the first person to win primarily by being a nice person as opposed to being a big strategic player. In a way he was a precursor to J.T., right down to aligning himself with a much more aggressive strategic player to take all the jury hatred, but I think he was a better player than J.T. because unlike J.T., who just had this natural charm to him that made like 5 people on that season play the "let's give J.T. a million dollars" game, Ethan, while still an inherently and genuinely nice guy, made more active moves in trying to play a social game. I will say that the biggest knock against Ethan, though it didn't really matter, was that just moments before the final tribal council, he hypothesized that Brandon would be the swing vote, and yet he outright insulted Brandon in his own jury question. Like I said, it didn't matter, Ethan won comfortably without Brandon and all he did was turn a 6-1 into a 5-2, but for thinking he was going to be the swing vote he should have answered that question a LOT better.
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I don't really know what Ethan himself actually did besides being nice? I guess being so socially adept minimized his target and guaranteed he would be in the F2 of any combination of Big Tom/Lex/Kim, but did he really consciously do anything? Evidently he was involved in all group decisions despite Lex getting the edit's credit for calling the shots, but it's not like Africa was a particularly strategy-oriented season, even less so than Australia. He found an alliance in which he was at the top basically on day one and rode it the entire game. I guess I'd have to watch the finale again to get a clue as to why he decided to vote out Big Tom alongside Kim, although for Kim it feels logical to toss Big Tom into the jury since they reeeeeally didn't get along and there was zero chance they'd take her over him, and Ethan doesn't gain much by forcing a tie at that point.

Not to take away from his win because it was a solid clean-up in which he was never in trouble whatsoever, but above people like Richard, Earl, Jeremy or even Tina feels... massively wrong. darkx's mid-tier position for him feels much more appropriate.
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Ethan orchestrated the Brandon boot, undercutting Lex and forcing Lex into a corner with regards to his loyalties. This also helped him with Frank and T-Bird on the jury.
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Let's get down to the final 3, @AdmiralZephyr !

4. Denise Stapley (Survivor: Philippines)

Denise Stapley was present for every single elimination in the entire season. She attended fourteen out of fourteen tribal councils (and made it to the finals, so fifteen out of fifteen), and she was on NuKalabaw when Dana got medevaced. That’s impressive. Equally impressive is the fact that she only had immunity for ONE of those fourteen tribal councils. And all of this came from a player who fit neatly into one of the WORST demographics imaginable at the start of a Survivor season. Seriously, I think older women have the ROUGHEST starting hand on this show, and Denise managed to overcome that to win the game. That’s bad good on her part.

There are really three stages of quality in Denise’s game. Pre-swap, she wound up on the worse tribe of the three and they attended four straight tribal councils. It’s important to note that, on a six-person tribe that attended three tribal councils, Denise managed to be the ONLY person to never receive a vote. Despite being a demographic that is often automatically dismissed as weak or an easy target, and despite the tribe’s composition not especially benefitting her archetype, Denise managed to keep the target off her back even at the Matsing final 3 (when there was fear of Russell Swan having an idol.)

Stage two of Denise’s game was the swap. Now, it’s KIND OF unfair for Matsing to get dissolved, with one member ending up on each of the unchanged opposing tribes. However, I think it would be equally unfair to split Tandang and Kalabaw in half and have them fight with Malcolm/Denise in the middle, given that Matsing were the losers that fucked up four straight immunity challenges. That’s a little bit of a rant, but I’m just setting the stage. The point is that Denise got placed on a tribe of six players that had spent the entire game together. Despite this, she was never seriously targeted, and in fact she managed to have two factions fighting for her vote. Again, this is with the stigma of being an older woman on a tribe with NO comparably older women to begin with. I’m pretty sure she went from obvious 7th place up to 3rd in the Kalabaw pecking order. That’s good gameplay on her part.

Stage three is the merge, which is when Denise kinda turned low-key. She didn’t put herself at the forefront and allowed the game to move around her. Things worked in her favor, sure, but other players definitely made mistakes that benefitted her. Still, she tried to play with the majority until that became too dangerous and she flipped. The first time failed, but the second time did not, and from that point on her majority alliance ran the game. And more importantly, despite Malcolm having an arguably closer relationship with Michael/Lisa, Denise convinced them that she was less threatening than him, which is exactly what you need to do with your figurehead. Get them out right before the end so you reap the benefits.

Would I have liked a little more proactivity at the endgame, rather than letting Malcolm dictate her fate? Yeah, but still, Denise played a damn good game for someone who never truly held the power of life in her hands.
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INVISO'S LIST

??? TIER:

1. ???
2. ???
3. ???
4. Denise Stapley (Philippines)
5. Ethan Zohn (Africa)

DOMINANT LEADER TIER:

6. Jeremy Collins (Cambodia)
7. Earl Cole (Fiji)
8. Kim Spradlin (One World)
9. Richard Hatch (Borneo)
10. Tom Westman (Palau)

ONE FLAW FROM PERFECTION TIER:

11. Todd Herzog (China)
12. Sandra Diaz-Twine (Pearl Islands)
13. James "J.T." Thomas, Jr. (Tocantins)
14. Tina Wesson (Australia)
15. Tony Vlachos (Cagayan)
16. Yul Kwon (Cook Islands)
17. John Cochran (Caramoan)

ONE IN A MILLION TIER:

18. Vecepia Towery (Marquesas)
19. Aras Baskauskas (Exile Island)
20. Brian Heidik (Thailand)
21. Tyson Apostol (Blood vs. Water)
22. Rob Mariano (Redemption Island)
23. Parvati Shallow (Micronesia)
24. Adam Klein (Millennials vs. Gen X)

"BITTER JURY" TIER:

25. Natalie White (Samoa)
26. Sandra Diaz-Twine (Heroes vs. Villains)
27. Sophie Clarke (South Pacific)
28. Amber Brkich (All-Stars)

SEMI CHALLENGE WHORE TIER:

29. Jenna Morasca (Amazon)
30. Michele Fitzgerald (Kaoh Rong)

PURE CHALLENGE WHORE TIER:

31. Bob Crowley (Gabon)
32. Judson "Fabio" Birza (Nicaragua)
33. Mike Holloway (Worlds Apart)
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6. Denise Stapley (Survivor: Philippines)

Denise is this high for one very big reason. She is the only player in history as far as I am aware to attend every single tribal council in their season as a player (there may be some others who attended every single one counting observations or on the jury, but I'm not sure on that). That's Goddamn impressive, made even moreso by the fact that she only had immunity once and is a woman in her 40s, already someone who is highly likely to be voted out at any given time. Beyond that, she played a solid game and pretty much ran the show as half of a tight duo with Malcolm who only turned on each other at the very end pretty much because they were each other's biggest jury threat. So yeah, hats off to her.
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darkx's tier list

??? Tier
1. Richard Hatch (Survivor: Borneo)
2. ???
3. Kim Spradlin (Survivor: One World)
4. Todd Herzog (Survivor: China)
5. ???

Great Players/Extremely Solid Games Tier
6. Denise Stapley (Survivor: Philippines)
7. Earl Cole (Survivor: Fiji)
8. Jeremy Collins (Survivor: Cambodia)
9. Tina Wesson (Survivor: The Australian Outback)

??? Tier
10. Tony Vlachos (Survivor: Cagayan)
11. Sandra Diaz-Twine (Survivor: Pearl Islands)
12. ???
13. Brian Heidik (Survivor: Thailand)
14. Yul Kwon (Survivor: Cook Islands)

Asterisk Tier
15. Rob Mariano (Survivor: Redemption Island)
16. Parvati Shallow (Survivor: Micronesia)

Good Game, No More, No Less Tier
17. Tom Westman (Survivor: Palau)
18. Ethan Zohn (Survivor: Africa)
19. James "J.T." Thomas, Jr. (Survivor: Tocantins)
20. John Cochran (Survivor: Caramoan)
21. Tyson Apostol (Survivor: Blood vs. Water)
22. Sandra Diaz-Twine (Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains)
23. Aras Baskauskas (Survivor: Exile Island)

UTR Social Game Tier
24. Amber Brkich (Survivor: All-Stars)
25. Natalie White (Survivor: Samoa)
26. Vecepia Towery (Survivor: Marquesas)
27. Sophie Clarke (Survivor: South Pacific)

Still Not Entirely Sure How They Won Tier
28. Adam Klein (Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X)
29. Michele Fitzgerald (Survivor: Kaoh Rong)
30. Mike Holloway (Survivor: Worlds Apart)
31. Judson "Fabio" Birza (Survivor: Nicaragua)
32. Jenna Morasca (Survivor: Amazon)
33. Bob Crowley (Survivor: Gabon)
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Average Rankings Thus Far:

Denise Stapley - 5
Richard Hatch - 5
Kim Spradlin - 5.5
Earl Cole - 7
Jeremy Collins - 7
Todd Herzog - 7.5
Sandra Diaz-Twine (PI) - 11.5
Tina Wesson - 11.5
Ethan Zohn - 11.5
Tony Vlachos - 12.5
Tom Westman - 13.5
Yul Kwon - 15
James "J.T." Thomas, Jr. - 16
Brian Heidik - 16.5
John Cochran - 18.5
Rob Mariano - 18.5
Parvati Shallow - 19.5
Tyson Apostol - 21
Aras Baskauskas - 21
Vecepia Towery - 22
Sandra Diaz-Twine (HvV) - 24
Natalie White - 25
Amber Brkich - 26
Adam Klein - 26
Sophie Clarke - 27
Michele Fitzgerald - 29.5
Jenna Morasca - 30.5
Judson "Fabio" Birza - 31.5
Mike Holloway - 31.5
Bob Crowley - 32
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I'm guessing darkx has Natalie 12th, Danni 5th, Chris 2nd.
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Darkx definitely has the superior list imo
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Denise was awesome. I had her locked as the winner from as early as her conversation with Zane when it became clear that her social game was top notch. The only time I was ever not exclusively rooting for her was at final 7 when it was between her and penner because I didn't want either to go. She would probably be my #2 if I was ranking as well.
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Eddv posted...

Darkx definitely has the superior list imo

Well I think Inviso has the superior list. So hmph.
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@AdmiralZephyr

3. Danni Boatwright (Survivor: Guatemala)

For a long time, I would’ve said that Danni was the best winner of all time from a strategic standpoint. While I still stand by the statement that she is an amazing winner (and in fact I would say she is the winner most likely to win if she played 100 times), I’ve come to respect a few other winners more, and I feel like it’s only fair I rank Danni a LITTLE lower, if only because of her timely immunity wins. That’s not to say she NEEDED immunity at the final six, because it’s entirely possible she didn’t…but I’d feel like a hypocrite if I praised Danni while bashing Michele and Jenna for their late-game wins. So ultimately, while Danni played a great game and didn’t need EVERY late game immunity, she needed enough to keep her from the overall one spot.

One of the biggest reasons as to why I respect Danni’s win is because she’s a player who started out the game as a leader, and then through no fault of her own fell into the position of an underdog. Pre-swap, she had her alliance going with Margaret, Brooke, Bobby Jon, Brandon, and Blake, and they had a good thing going, and even though she got swapped down in numbers, she still controlled her majority alliance on NuYaxha. I say with confidence that Danni was the leader, because A. if you look at the composition of that alliance, the guys are worker bees and the girls were easily targeted on NuNakum, and B. the guys deferred to Danni’s judgment on multiple occasions.

On NuYaxha, Danni formed a solid group and despite being a mixture of two original tribes, they bonded as though they’d always been NuYaxha. More importantly, going into the merge at a numerical disadvantage, Danni systematically eliminated the weak, setting herself in a position where she was be the last NuYaxha standing, barring an immunity win. She kept her head down, played nice, and outlasted Brandon, Bobby Jon and Gary to make the final 6, even managing to outlast Jamie in the process. At this point, she had Gary singing her praises to NuNakum (which they took to heart, since they respected Gary), and the seeds began to take root in the minds of NuNakum’s leadership.

The final six, people like to say that Danni was fucked without her advantage, and while yes, the advantage boosted her chances INCREDIBLY…it’s also important to note that NuNakum didn’t really give a shit about Danni winning it at the auction. This wasn’t like modern Survivor, where everyone held their money. No, Danni bought food and could EASILY have been outbid, yet NuNakum just didn’t care. So I believe she was at the very least POTENTIALLY safe at the final 6. After all, she was safe the two rounds after, and worked her way into Rafe’s inner circle…so anything is possible.

Speaking of Rafe’s inner circle, a lot of underdogs pick up outsiders to take a shot at the big dogs. Danni did the opposite. She ingratiated herself with Rafe and Steph to the point where she became the third member of their alliance, effectively supplanting Judd, Cindy and Lydia. This is despite the fact that Danni had several NuYaxha allies on the jury, and obviously pissed off NuNakum players that hated Steph and Rafe. THAT takes some skill, because Steph/Rafe had power and could’ve done whatever they wanted. Yet they kept Danni despite all signs that it would be a bad idea. Sure, Danni NEEDED that final immunity win…but at the same time, she earned that final three challenge through her gameplay, so I’m willing to go easy on her there.
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Basically, Danni dominated her tribe with an iron fist, then toned it back when her swapped tribe fell into the minority. She got in good with the people in power to the point where they willing damaged their own games in order to keep her around. That’s the kind of skillful social gamer that I think would do well nine times out of ten, and it’s why I want to see her back again if only to see another master class in how to win Survivor.
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Chris and Natalie as top 2? Looks good to me.
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Lolnatalie. Get real.
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That Nat Anderson game is great but top 2? Eh. Probably top 10.
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i hope natalie's #1.

she'd probably be outside my top 5 but she's probably the most underrated survivor winner of all time
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Still waiting on @AdmiralZephyr
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12. Danni Boatright (Survivor: Guatrmala)

Danni gets as high as she does because from the second the merge happened, she was in the minority for the entire rest of the game and, despite being great at challenges and extremely likable, she managed to make herself never be a target when she really should have been. Lack of major strategic moves aside from voting out Rafe at the very end prevents her from being higher.
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INVISO'S LIST

??? TIER:

1. ???
2. ???
3. Danni Boatwright (Guatemala)
4. Denise Stapley (Philippines)
5. Ethan Zohn (Africa)

DOMINANT LEADER TIER:

6. Jeremy Collins (Cambodia)
7. Earl Cole (Fiji)
8. Kim Spradlin (One World)
9. Richard Hatch (Borneo)
10. Tom Westman (Palau)

ONE FLAW FROM PERFECTION TIER:

11. Todd Herzog (China)
12. Sandra Diaz-Twine (Pearl Islands)
13. James "J.T." Thomas, Jr. (Tocantins)
14. Tina Wesson (Australia)
15. Tony Vlachos (Cagayan)
16. Yul Kwon (Cook Islands)
17. John Cochran (Caramoan)

ONE IN A MILLION TIER:

18. Vecepia Towery (Marquesas)
19. Aras Baskauskas (Exile Island)
20. Brian Heidik (Thailand)
21. Tyson Apostol (Blood vs. Water)
22. Rob Mariano (Redemption Island)
23. Parvati Shallow (Micronesia)
24. Adam Klein (Millennials vs. Gen X)

"BITTER JURY" TIER:

25. Natalie White (Samoa)
26. Sandra Diaz-Twine (Heroes vs. Villains)
27. Sophie Clarke (South Pacific)
28. Amber Brkich (All-Stars)

SEMI CHALLENGE WHORE TIER:

29. Jenna Morasca (Amazon)
30. Michele Fitzgerald (Kaoh Rong)

PURE CHALLENGE WHORE TIER:

31. Bob Crowley (Gabon)
32. Judson "Fabio" Birza (Nicaragua)
33. Mike Holloway (Worlds Apart)
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Average Rankings Thus Far:

Denise Stapley - 5
Richard Hatch - 5
Kim Spradlin - 5.5
Earl Cole - 7
Jeremy Collins - 7
Todd Herzog - 7.5
Danni Boatwright - 7.5
Sandra Diaz-Twine (PI) - 11.5
Tina Wesson - 11.5
Ethan Zohn - 11.5
Tony Vlachos - 12.5
Tom Westman - 13.5
Yul Kwon - 15
James "J.T." Thomas, Jr. - 16
Brian Heidik - 16.5
John Cochran - 18.5
Rob Mariano - 18.5
Parvati Shallow - 19.5
Tyson Apostol - 21
Aras Baskauskas - 21
Vecepia Towery - 22
Sandra Diaz-Twine (HvV) - 24
Natalie White - 25
Amber Brkich - 26
Adam Klein - 26
Sophie Clarke - 27
Michele Fitzgerald - 29.5
Jenna Morasca - 30.5
Judson "Fabio" Birza - 31.5
Mike Holloway - 31.5
Bob Crowley - 32
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darkx's tier list

??? Tier
1. Richard Hatch (Survivor: Borneo)
2. ???
3. Kim Spradlin (Survivor: One World)
4. Todd Herzog (Survivor: China)
5. ???

Great Players/Extremely Solid Games Tier
6. Denise Stapley (Survivor: Philippines)
7. Earl Cole (Survivor: Fiji)
8. Jeremy Collins (Survivor: Cambodia)
9. Tina Wesson (Survivor: The Australian Outback)

Great Players/Flawed Games Tier
10. Tony Vlachos (Survivor: Cagayan)
11. Sandra Diaz-Twine (Survivor: Pearl Islands)
12. Danni Boatright (Survivor: Guatemala)
13. Brian Heidik (Survivor: Thailand)
14. Yul Kwon (Survivor: Cook Islands)

Asterisk Tier
15. Rob Mariano (Survivor: Redemption Island)
16. Parvati Shallow (Survivor: Micronesia)

Good Game, No More, No Less Tier
17. Tom Westman (Survivor: Palau)
18. Ethan Zohn (Survivor: Africa)
19. James "J.T." Thomas, Jr. (Survivor: Tocantins)
20. John Cochran (Survivor: Caramoan)
21. Tyson Apostol (Survivor: Blood vs. Water)
22. Sandra Diaz-Twine (Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains)
23. Aras Baskauskas (Survivor: Exile Island)

UTR Social Game Tier
24. Amber Brkich (Survivor: All-Stars)
25. Natalie White (Survivor: Samoa)
26. Vecepia Towery (Survivor: Marquesas)
27. Sophie Clarke (Survivor: South Pacific)

Still Not Entirely Sure How They Won Tier
28. Adam Klein (Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X)
29. Michele Fitzgerald (Survivor: Kaoh Rong)
30. Mike Holloway (Survivor: Worlds Apart)
31. Judson "Fabio" Birza (Survivor: Nicaragua)
32. Jenna Morasca (Survivor: Amazon)
33. Bob Crowley (Survivor: Gabon)
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Also done, @AdmiralZephyr !

2. Chris Daugherty (Survivor: Vanuatu)

Chris is very much in the same vein of winner as Danni. He was a leader pre-merge but entered the merge down in numbers. Granted, that’s more his fault for booting John K. than Danni’s deficit was, but at the same time, he also needed immunity less. They’re both extremely close for me, and I give Chris a SLIGHT edge over Danni. But yeah, despite the narrative that Sarge was the boss on Lopevi, it’s pretty clear he was just a figurehead. After all, Chris was the one who kept the group from targeting Rory, and if Sarge had his way, no way is Brady the Lopevi tribe’s third boot. Chris saw a threat and got him out while he had the chance.

Post-merge, Chris lost the numbers, and one by one, every other man in the game was voted out by an aggressively feminist alliance. However, I’d argue that Chris, like Danni, positioned himself the best of his male tribe mates. Rory was annoying, Sarge was outwardly the leader of the men, and Chad just wasn’t as tight with the women as Chris was. Chris, despite being actively pissed at the women, kept his cool and maintained working relationships with as many of them as he could. He kissed ass when he needed to, and it paid off when they let their guards down for a second, deciding that good guy Chris deserved to stick around over Eliza.

People criticize Chris for just following Scout/Twila’s lead in the Leann blindside, but the fact is, Chris was an integral part of that decision. Eliza’s not gonna join forces with Scout/Twila of her own free will. She hates those two. But they NEED her vote to ensure that Scout/Twila don’t finish fourth and fifth. It’s only because of Chris’ social game that the connection got made, and those four managed to take control of the game. From there, Chris continued playing all sides, staying friendly while the women bombed each other from within. Because he positioned himself so well, Chris was able to set up his ideal endgame: a final immunity challenge where he stood his best chance at beating Scout or Twila, and thus winning the season. That social game and positioning allowed his strategy to pull him from the bottom of the tribe.

It’s also important to note that, despite losing the majority at the merge and only holding immunity at the very end of the season, Chris only got votes at his very first tribal council. The women never managed to target him even though by all logic, he was the biggest threat. And finally, he gave one of the greatest final tribal council performances, both puffing up his game and sabotaging Twila’s in the process. For whatever shortcomings Chris may have, he took that underdog storyline and ran with it to an amazing victory.
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2. Chris Daugherty (Survivor: Vanuatu)

As I've said so many times in this list, I very, very seriously considered putting Chris at #1, and if I were to redo this list I just might. Chris had to overcome so many odds and escape so many situations where he should have been voted out it was incredible. Between singlehandedly blowing the first immunity challenge and then being the last guy standing against a strong alliance of six women at the final seven, there should have been no way he won that season. And yet he did, and he did it by playing quite possibly the best (and simultaneously most bullshit) social game we've ever seen. And amazingly he didn't need to be an immunity whore to do this. Yes, he won three immunity challenges, but the only one he NEEDED was the final one because Twila and Scout take each other to the finals for sure. Otherwise he could have not won immunity at 6 and 4 and I'm certain that Ami and Eliza still go home on those votes (unless of course they were the winners). He then gave what I consider to be the best FTC performance of all time, telling Twila not to take any of their crap and give it right back to them, then he capped off his social game by kissing so much ass to the jury it was incredible.
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Lol typical visopinion incoming.
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Chris is pretty amazing though. In terms of comeback win of the century, I'd put his win right up there with the Patriots Super Bowl this year.
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And let's finish this off, @AdmiralZephyr

1. Natalie Anderson (Survivor: San Juan Del Sur)

Cards on the table, Natalie is one of my favorite characters in the history of the show. But that’s not why I give her this high ranking. Believe me, if this were based on my enjoyment of a character, Sandra would assuredly be up here too. No, Natalie encompasses all the best qualities that I look for in a winner. Yes, she played a lot of the season from a position of power. But she got blindsided on several occasions as well, and she wound up in a precarious position after the tribe swap as well. Plus, this was very much a season where the men were set to dominate (look at how the jury assumed KEITH had masterminded the Jon blindside), so Natalie had to overcome inherent gender biases as well.

Let’s break Natalie’s game down into two halves: pre-Jeremy boot and post-Jeremy boot. Pre-Jeremy boot, she was very low-key and under-the-radar, which is understandable, given that she won 5/6 of the pre-merge challenges (and it would likely have been 6/6 had Drew not unilaterally thrown the challenge in episode 4.) Despite her twin sister getting booted first, I think Natalie played a solid pre-merge game. She bonded with Jeremy over their equal footing without loved ones, and despite being a female on a male majority tribe, she harnessed the women on the tribe together (admittedly, with Missy’s help) to take control of the tribe.

This is where Natalie’s game first begins to shine. She’s not fat, but she’s also not the kind of girl who comes across as a skinny, weak, beauty queen. She worked hard and this allowed her to integrate with the boys (much like I feel winners like Danni or Kim could do). When Drew threw the challenge and warned of an all-girl alliance, he said this TO NATALIE. Whether he was just stupid and had a brainfart, or he legitimately considered Natalie one of the guys, Natalie used this information to her benefit to get Drew out of the game. That was NATALIE’S decision. Keep that in mind, because Jeremy (the alpha male who would typically be thought to be calling the shots) wanted Keith. But nope, not gonna happen.

The swap hurt Natalie. It took a three man alliance from Coyopa (Josh/Alec/Wes) and put them on a tribe with Josh’s boyfriend, creating a majority. Still, despite this, Natalie was better positioned than Julie, and she also tried to work her magic on Alec (noting that all the other partnerless pairs were stuck together.) It’s important to note that this wasn’t like the first BvW, where having pairs still together late in the game was hurtful. No, the solid pairs were extremely powerful, and Natalie never had that power like most of her eventual alliance.
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Speaking of that alliance, Natalie took a bullet and went to Exile Island both to search for the idol AND to shore up an alliance with Baylor/Missy. This, combined with Jeremy and eventually Jonclyn, was a powerful combination. Sure, Jeremy wound up getting blindsided (AFTER Josh, mind you), but that worked out even better. Much like Sandra when Rupert went out in Pearl Islands, Natalie could no longer be accused of riding coattails. And like Chris, Natalie was extremely pissed at the blindside, but she kept her emotions in check and continued playing the smartest game she could. She helped save Jon at nine and continued with the all-male alliance’s Pagonging while keeping her head down.

Final seven is when she made her move. She knew Jon would be perceived as the leader, so she needed to take him out. But Jon won immunity. So what? Keith/Alec were still around as easy targets. Well, Jonclyn were clearly courting Alec as a back-up plan, so Natalie realized “Hey, NO ONE is looking at Keith. He can be MY back-up plan.” So she fucks with the split vote and pins it on a brain fart, continuing to keep Jon in the dark and keep the target on her back as small as possible. At the final six, she roped in the girls and Keith to blindside Jon, who was her biggest threat at the time.

In modern Survivor, however, you need a résumé to win a jury vote (bleh), so when Keith won immunity, rather than go with the obvious Jaclyn boot (which would put Natalie in a very bad position come final 4), Natalie allowed Missy/Baylor/Keith to go forth, but pulled Jaclyn aside and made a big show of idoling her to safety. In one fell swoop, she locked up Jaclyn as an ally, broke up the last pair in the game, and showed the jury who was really calling the shots. Keith’s boot was an obvious choice, but once again, Natalie avoided receiving a SINGLE vote because she’d already built Missy up as a huge threat (hence booting Baylor instead.)

Natalie is a player who was adaptable and dominant at the same time. She made big moves, but only when they were most advantageous to her game. And she made sure that she was never the biggest threat on anyone’s radar, either by pushing the danger of the pairs, or pushing the danger of the all-male alliance. Did she always control the vote? No. But I feel like a good player should be able to roll with the punches and let other people call the shots once in a while. That’s how you avoid getting targeted, and damn if Natalie wasn’t good at avoiding getting targeted. Hell, the only reason she didn’t score a perfect game was because Jon and Baylor were always gonna vote their loved ones, and Reed didn’t want Missy to tie for second place. That’s still a damn fine win if you ask me.
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INVISO'S LIST

MASTER-OF-ALL-TRADES TIER:

1. Natalie Anderson (San Juan Del Sur)
2. Chris Daugherty (Vanuatu)
3. Danni Boatwright (Guatemala)
4. Denise Stapley (Philippines)
5. Ethan Zohn (Africa)

DOMINANT LEADER TIER:

6. Jeremy Collins (Cambodia)
7. Earl Cole (Fiji)
8. Kim Spradlin (One World)
9. Richard Hatch (Borneo)
10. Tom Westman (Palau)

ONE FLAW FROM PERFECTION TIER:

11. Todd Herzog (China)
12. Sandra Diaz-Twine (Pearl Islands)
13. James "J.T." Thomas, Jr. (Tocantins)
14. Tina Wesson (Australia)
15. Tony Vlachos (Cagayan)
16. Yul Kwon (Cook Islands)
17. John Cochran (Caramoan)

ONE IN A MILLION TIER:

18. Vecepia Towery (Marquesas)
19. Aras Baskauskas (Exile Island)
20. Brian Heidik (Thailand)
21. Tyson Apostol (Blood vs. Water)
22. Rob Mariano (Redemption Island)
23. Parvati Shallow (Micronesia)
24. Adam Klein (Millennials vs. Gen X)

"BITTER JURY" TIER:

25. Natalie White (Samoa)
26. Sandra Diaz-Twine (Heroes vs. Villains)
27. Sophie Clarke (South Pacific)
28. Amber Brkich (All-Stars)

SEMI CHALLENGE WHORE TIER:

29. Jenna Morasca (Amazon)
30. Michele Fitzgerald (Kaoh Rong)

PURE CHALLENGE WHORE TIER:

31. Bob Crowley (Gabon)
32. Judson "Fabio" Birza (Nicaragua)
33. Mike Holloway (Worlds Apart)
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5. Natalie Anderson (Survivor: San Juan del Sur)

There are three consecutive boots that I need to point to to explain why Natalie is so high. The Alec/Jon/Baylor string of blindsides all masterminded by Natalie was incredible, and in doing so she kept the bumblefuck alive, got rid of her biggest jury threat, then got rid of a potential voting pair that could have kept her out of the final three. Not only that, but two out of those three blindsides she performed unilaterally, which is a fucking feat in and of itself.
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i don't think there's a single other winner who was part of the majority alliance, got blindsided by other members of that alliance, and then rejoined that alliance, took over in orchestrating the majority of the big moves, and dominated the rest of the game. that natalie managed to recover so astoundingly after jeremy was voted out, and that she did it without other players' alliances blowing up on themselves (like ami's group in vanuatu or steph's crew in guatemala) speaks volumes.

i still consider the dominant winners (kim/earl/jeremy) to be my top picks, with maybe richard (because it's hard to overstate his contributions to the game) as #4. after that? i think natalie should be right there, which is higher than (before inviso's list) i had ever seen her placed. glad to see both rankers gave her due respect.
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Naye745 posted...

i don't think there's a single other winner who was part of the majority alliance, got blindsided by other members of that alliance, and then rejoined that alliance, took over in orchestrating the majority of the big moves, and dominated the rest of the game. that natalie managed to recover so astoundingly after jeremy was voted out, and that she did it without other players' alliances blowing up on themselves (like ami's group in vanuatu or steph's crew in guatemala) speaks volumes.

i still consider the dominant winners (kim/earl/jeremy) to be my top picks, with maybe richard (because it's hard to overstate his contributions to the game) as #4. after that? i think natalie should be right there, which is higher than (before inviso's list) i had ever seen her placed. glad to see both rankers gave her due respect.

Going by your first paragraph, I don't understand how that's not more impressive to you than the gameplay of someone who, while dominant, never had to overcome any real obstacles to their dominance.
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darkx better list imo
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Average Rankings Thus Far:

Chris Daugherty - 2
Natalie Anderson - 3
Denise Stapley - 5
Richard Hatch - 5
Kim Spradlin - 5.5
Earl Cole - 7
Jeremy Collins - 7
Todd Herzog - 7.5
Danni Boatwright - 7.5
Sandra Diaz-Twine (PI) - 11.5
Tina Wesson - 11.5
Ethan Zohn - 11.5
Tony Vlachos - 12.5
Tom Westman - 13.5
Yul Kwon - 15
James "J.T." Thomas, Jr. - 16
Brian Heidik - 16.5
John Cochran - 18.5
Rob Mariano - 18.5
Parvati Shallow - 19.5
Tyson Apostol - 21
Aras Baskauskas - 21
Vecepia Towery - 22
Sandra Diaz-Twine (HvV) - 24
Natalie White - 25
Amber Brkich - 26
Adam Klein - 26
Sophie Clarke - 27
Michele Fitzgerald - 29.5
Jenna Morasca - 30.5
Judson "Fabio" Birza - 31.5
Mike Holloway - 31.5
Bob Crowley - 32
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So Chris is really well liked on our board. How is he perceived every where else?
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eaedwards6400 posted...

So Chris is really well liked on our board. How is he perceived every where else?

Certainly not on the pedestal that Inviso, Sanity, and myself put him on (Sanity may no longer post here but he was another very vocal supporter of Chris being one of if not the best winner), but I think he's generally considered above average.
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AdmiralZephyr posted...

eaedwards6400 posted...

So Chris is really well liked on our board. How is he perceived every where else?

Certainly not on the pedestal that Inviso, Sanity, and myself put him on (Sanity may no longer post here but he was another very vocal supporter of Chris being one of if not the best winner), but I think he's generally considered above average.

I think Chris has entered a bit of a renaissance period. I mean, most fans probably fall into the "Boston Rob/Kim are the best players ever!" category, but for a winner who wasn't really promoted as being great back in the day? Chris is developing more and more respect.
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Chris is my favorite winner/castaway of all time
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IIRC, Chris was a nobody winner for the majority who screwed over the female alliance until the Funny 115 sainted him, and showed just how amazing his gameplay was.
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I think the most underrated part of chris's social game is to track who all ended up wearing his hat.

It was subtle but he had worked his way into all of their ears despite there being NO reason for that to work.
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ImTheMacheteGuy posted...

Chris is my favorite winner/castaway of all time

I agree with this. Like a buddy of mine is really getting into Survivor and I keep overhyping Vanuatu cause of Chris
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eaedwards6400 posted...

ImTheMacheteGuy posted...

Chris is my favorite winner/castaway of all time

I agree with this. Like a buddy of mine is really getting into Survivor and I keep overhyping Vanuatu cause of Chris

Vanuatu is just a really great and underrated season all around. Great final four (Scout was a weak link for sure but Chris/Twila/Eliza more than made up for her), plus other great characters and blindsides. If I had to pick a top five for that season I'd go Eliza > Chris > Twila > Rory > Sarge.
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Still seems weird to me to penalize someone for being outright dominant and never being in danger.
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Still seems weird to me to put Natalie over Chris's outright masterful jury performance and lone man in a sea of WIMMENZ, but whatever.
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JetJaguar posted...

Still seems weird to me to penalize someone for being outright dominant and never being in danger.

It's not PENALIZING anyone. I just find it more impressive if someone had to overcome not-always-self-inflicted hardships rather than someone who just got in line early on and maintained that position. It just shows a higher degree of versatility, and I respect that.


Pokewars posted...

Still seems weird to me to put Natalie over Chris's outright masterful jury performance and lone man in a sea of WIMMENZ, but whatever.

I ranked him higher than her, but what exactly makes Chris' win any more impressive? He beat a group of women that outright hated each other, while Danni beat an alliance that was united and crumbled anyway. Both are impressive, and while Chris' final jury performance was great, that's one of those factors I all but don't give a shit about given how most juries have their minds made up going into the FTC.
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