Survivor is a complex game, and its winners have employed a wide variety of tactics to ensure their victories. The beautiful thing about Survivor is that there is no "right" way to play the game. Some people excel at physical challenges, others at strategy, others at socializing, and others at things like jury management and simply staying out of the way.
As such, each winner of Survivor came about their win in different ways. One strategy is not better than another - the $1 million prize is all that counts in the end. Getting it is tricky, and it requires brains and brawns in equal measure.
10 Sandra Diaz-Twine: Make Friends With The Jury
Sandra Diaz-Twine became the first two-time Survivor winner by winning Heroes vs. Villains. While the season was mostly dominated by Russell Hantz and Parvati Shallow, it was Sandra who was eventually crowned with the victory. And that's because she was smart enough to realize how the game was going (that the Villains would dominate the merge) and ingratiated herself with the Heroes.
In the end, the jury was made up mostly of Heroes, and Sandra walked away with an easy 6-3-0 vote.
9 Natalie White: Stay Out Of The Way/Ride Coattails
Russell Hantz is a fantastic strategist, but he is also his own worst enemy. Hantz absolutely dominated Samoa, and his cunning strategy allowed the Foa Foa Four to come back from a major numbers disadvantage.
However, Hantz is notoriously untrustworthy, callous, and unfriendly, and his jury management is quite poor. Natalie White realized that Hantz was shooting himself in the foot with his abrasive personality and decided to ride his coattails all the way to the end. There, her "in the shadows" gameplay and easygoing personality awarded her a 7-2-0 winning vote.
8 Tom Westman: Steamroll Your Way To The Finals
Tom Westman employed a deceptively genius strategy throughout Palau - be the fittest and the strongest and simply steamroll your way to the ending. Tom served as the undisputed leader of Koror, but his physical domination made him a major threat in the post-merge.
The other contestants constantly wanted him out, but Tom never allowed it. He won five individual immunity challenges, forcing the others to turn on and eliminate each other. He fought his way to the final Tribal, and the jury awarded his determination and physical prowess with an easy 6-1 vote.
7 Tony Vlachos: Backstab Everyone
Tony Vlachos is one of the most famous winners in Survivor history. Cagayan is widely touted as one of the show's greatest seasons, and it's mostly due to Tony's unbelievable gameplay. One of his greatest strengths was his complete lack of heart, as he didn't get bogged down in potentially disastrous alliances.
He frequently double-crossed and blindsided his own allies, and he essentially manufactured the destruction of his own alliance to ensure himself a better place in the camp hierarchy.
6 Ben Driebergen: Find Lots Of Idols
The hidden immunity idols are a divisive element of modern Survivor. But an element they remain and taking full advantage of them is well within the rights of a potential winner.
The player to take the most advantage of them is undoubtedly Ben Driebergen. Ben found himself quite low on the totem pole owing to his controlling personality, and he was the constant target of post-merge elimination. However, he found and played three hidden immunity idols in a row, and he eventually won Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers in a 5-2-1 vote.
5 Yul Kwon: Gain The Allegiance Of Others
Cook Islands was filled with some great (and now iconic) Survivor players, and Yul Kwon is undoubtedly among them. Yul and the Aitu Four alliance made a stellar comeback, with the key move being the switch of Jonathan Penner.
Penner agreed to the switch owing to Yul's hidden immunity idol, and they conspired the elimination and blindside of Nate Gonzalez. It allowed the Aitu Four to make the final four, and Yul ended up narrowly winning the season owing to his incredible and respectable strategy.
4 Todd Herzog: Eliminate Threats
China is often regarded as a fantastic season, and that is mainly due to its incredible cast of characters. The eventual winner was Todd Herzog, who won 4-2-1 over Amanda Kimmel and Courtney Yates. One of Todd's greatest rivals was Jean-Robert Bellande, a professional poker player.
Like all poker players, Bellande was a strategist, and Herzog saw him as his primary strategic threat. So he manufactured his elimination. It's one of the biggest rules of Survivor - eliminate threats when the opportunity arises.
3 Parvati Shallow: Blindside, Blindside, Blindside
Amanda Kimmel returned for Micronesia, but it was Parvati Shallow who dominated the season and emerged victorious in a 5-3 vote. Parvati proved her social and strategic dominance by forming the famous Black Widow Brigade.
Widely known as one of the greatest alliances in the history of the game, the Brigade orchestrated numerous blindsides, including that of James Clement and Ozzy Lusth (both of whom part of the Malakal Couples Alliance) and Erik Reichenbach (perhaps the show's "dumbest" blindside of all time).
2 Kim Spradlin: Keep Them Guessing
Kim Spradlin's win in One World is often considered one of the most dominating wins in the history of the game. While Spradlin initially kept a low profile, she eventually emerged as a strategic mastermind.
She never allowed others to get a read on her gameplay or allegiances, resulting in numerous blindsides (including that of allies Jonas Otsuji and Michael Jefferson). And, like Tom Westman, her dominating performance in individual immunity challenges allowed Spradlin to coast to the finals.
1 Ethan Zohn: Be Friendly
One of the most genius strategies is also its most deceptively simple - be friendly. Of course, this isn't nearly as simple as it sounds in a game that requires backstabbing and keeping secrets.
However, it was this strategy that allowed Ethan Zohn to win Africa. It was Zohn's likability - not a massive strategic move or physical dominance - that ensured his win over Kim Johnson, and he emerged victorious in a 5-2 vote.
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December 31, 2020 at 04:30AM
