Chris Daugherty went from worst to first, literally, in his season Vanuatu-Islands of Fire, he began game as his all male team's achillies heel, when he failed to cross the balance beem upwards of twenty times, the younger men of the tribe agreed that Chris, the "Weak Link" would be the first to go, buts the older majority banded together to oust the young bucks in a survivor first, where the athletes, typically safe until around merge-time were the early targets.Chris was the last male standing, and would later team with, Twila, Scout, and Eliza, to take out the head of all women alliance Ami, the Lesbian Locust. Chris set the standard for lying your way through the game and took the gameplay of Survivor hall of famer's Rob Cesternino and John Dalton (Fairplay) to new heights, managing the social aspects of the game well enough to earn the votes of those he'd betrayed (Juli & Eliza), and making bold strategic moves in the game, such as taking Twila arguably the most disagreable personas to ever play the game, as well as the unorthodox move of weakening you tribe to make yourself stronge, a strategy Cirie would later employ, to make himself the biggest athletic threat for immunity, secures him the title of Ultimate Survivor.
Stats:
Strategy A+
Social A+
Strengh -A
#2.Todd Harzog: Winner China
Todd Harzog of Survivor China comes in a close second to Chris. I think what put Chris over him was that Todd didn't overcome the sort of odds that Chris had to, they both won the money and the title of soul-survivor so, they were both brilliant in stratigic and social aspects both moderately physical, thus I was forced to go to secondary options to determine placement. The top four in this poll are especially difficult to rank, because frankly they all have multiple reasons for them to be sitting on the top spot. Anyhow, Todd played probably the best social game ever, and was able to earn the trust of strangers with ease, he recieved every clue to the hidden immunity idols because he was deemed trustworthy by his competitors, he orchestrated the first ever cross tribal alliance, and made bold moves like giving the immunity idol to James a member of the opposite tribe. He would later be the mastermind in the plot to oust James and his two immunities, a legendary Survivor moment. What Todd giveth he taketh away. Todd as Chris before him surrounded himself with weak players such as Courtney the physical weakling and Amanda the social pariah, to minimize his own short comings, his abililty to think outside the box
earns him the spot of second greatest survivor of all time.
Stats:
Stragegy: A+
Social: A+
Strength -A
#3.Yul Kwon: Winner Cook Islands
The smartest player to never win the game may well be Rob C. as most people would argue or maybe Fairplay as he would have it, but the smartest player to ever actually win the game is Yul Kwon, hand down. This Lawyer turned entrepreneur, now FCC deputy chief, was originally recruited to be on the show (meaning he didn't apply, thus probably not a fan.) Production must have thought him a good fit for the show and boy were they right. His was a controversal season due to the fact that the tribes were chosen based on ethnicity, thus there were the Asains, the Caucasians, the Hispanics, and the African Americans all segrogated and set to battle for ethnic superiority. It was a risky concept, and Creator Mark Burnett caught alot of flack, but regardless of any of the initial criticism the Cook Islands recieved, this twist plus a truly dynamic cast of characters made for great television and a great season of survivor. The Cook Islands featured an All-Star cast, who could forget: Ozzy, Parvati, and Candice all of whom would return in subsequent All-Star seasons (Oz & Parv in Micronesia and Parv & Candice in Heroes vs. Villains.) Other notable personalities were Johnathon Penner, Cowboi the hippy asian healer, and the love struck Billy Garcia, who was smitten with Candice.
Yul had a politian type gameplay that rarely offended, and the physical prowess to match anyone who ever played. His rivalry with Ozzy was foreshadowed as early as episode 2, where both men already leaders on their respective tribes were able to catch chickens. Later, after the tribes assimilated he was smart enough to keep Ozzy and allign with him whereas a more insecure player would have eliminated the fiercest competiton to the detriment of their tribe. Episode 2 was huge for Yul not only did he provide sustanance for his tribe but it was then that he alligned with Becky an alliance that would last the duration as the two with Ozzy would be the eventual final three, and also when he found the hidden immunity idol on exile island. Episode 3 brought the tribal integration, where four tribes became two. Yul and Becky stayed together through the shake-up and quickly pulled in Candice and Penner. He then lobbyed successfully for Becky the new tribes first target and got Cowboi and Flicka to change their vote, thus firing the first strategic shot in his season long war against Ozzy by orchestrating the oust of his closest ally the sexy Cecillia (the angels wept as did I), this weakened his foe tremendously early in the game. Candice and Penner mutinied to the other tribe to reunite with Parvati and Adam in episode 8 leaving Yul, Becky, Ozzy (the eventual final three) and Sundra Oakley in the minority against a nine member competing tribe. Yul's risky move to keep Ozzy paid off as the two jugernauts led their team to four straight immunity wins going into the merge.
At the first post-merge tribal council Yul's plan to muscle the traitor penner with the hidden immunity idol paid off as Penner defected back to Yul's alliance. Only to be cut once the numbers were in their favor, the four person, "little alliance that could" marched to the final four, where the morally intune foursome thought the honorable thing to do was force a tie between Becky and Sundra, which Becky would eventually win, making the final three a showdown between Ozzy, Becky, and Yul.
Both Ozzy and Yul were physical power players and socially savvy, what put Yul over in the jury's mind was his strategic ability, he was called the Puppetmaster by his opponents and that is what ultimately led him to survivor gold.
Stats:
Strategy A+
Social A-
Strength A+
#4. Earl Cole: Winner Fiji
Earl was another recruit, he claimed to have never watched a single show before becoming a contestant on Survivor.
Proving one needn't be liar nor snake to win the game, his sucess was bred of pure social skills, without ever telling a single lie. (Trust me I just watched the entire season over the weekend and the camera ne'er caught glimpse of falsehood. Fiji is one of my favorite seasons. It had everything an addict could ask for: a truly eclectic cast of charecters, hidden immunity idol shenanigans, betrayal and deceit. One doesn't soon forget people like: Yau Man the crafty trickster from Borneo, Boo the injuy prone threat to himself, Dreamz the homeless cheeleading coach, or Anthony the self-loathing winy type, who was constantly bullied by the memorable Rocky with the Boston accent, and my personal favorite Michelle, sweet little Michelle. Rounding out this cast is Earl, maybe the most likable person to ever win the game. Strategically he formed solid alliances to propel himself through the game, and made it to the finals on wit alone. He never won a single immunity challenge, yet was never on the chopping block, only recieving one vote against him the entire 39 days. He was smart enough to allign with Yau Man, one of the most strategically minded players ever. When the tribes were mixed up Earl found himself in a position of power, he retained Michelle, and Yau Man through the swap and was able to secure the allegance of a disgruntelled Cassandra (who had thus far been alienated from her tribe) gaining a majority in the new tribe. Cassandra would later bring in Dreamz after the merge setting up the eventual final three alliance of Earl, Dreamz, and Cassandra. Earl would further increase his power by providing a distraction to allow Yau enough time to discover an immunity idol hidden in the center of camp, Yau would later return the favor and help Earl attain a second hidden immunity idol, through his time spent (the most time of any contestant) on Exile Island that season, he controlled access to the clues to these idols and though he never needed to use one he allways was ready. He also made the smart move of playing the idol at the last oppertunity he had knowing though assured of his safety, unlike Russell Hanz, who arogantly wore his around his neck in taunt, this no doubt hurt Russell socially, whereas in Earls case by playing the idol, he earned respect from the jury, giving them confirmation, if they were still unaware, that Earl was playing the game. His strategy early on was, "Keep people thinking that I'm not thinking." So this was a good play to the jury that said hey Ol' Earl he's a playin da game too. While remaining under the radar he was able to make power moves to propel his alliance, but his one strategic mistake in the game was not intentionally throwing the immunity challenge that could have saved Michelle his closest ally. Aside from that blunder his play was impeccable. The move that won him the game was voting out Yau Man the day before final tribal, this could be seen as a betrayal, but not through these eyes, he chose rather to take Cassandra a non-threat with Dreamz the person who lied to every person in the game and who had just recently, very publiclly stolen the a F-350 from Yau Man by riniging on their "gentelmens agreement" it all paid off as hev unanimously swept the vote to become the sole-survivor. His quick thinking, diplomatic gameplay earns him the fourth spot on our poll.
#5. Rob Mariano
Boston Rob has really come of age on reality television, three appearences on Survivor, two runnings of the amazing race, and the first ever reality wedding show. Yet try and try again as he might it so far all he's managed is a second place. On both All-Star Survivor and the Amazing Race he scored the silver, but let him tell it, he was the real winner of Survivor (see his prize in the picture above) and who can argue with him he took home the girl and the money, talk about doing whatever it takes to win this guy lives it. From his first appearance on season 4 Marquesas, where he was a bumbling strategist with potential, to his iron fist dominance of season 8 All-Stars, to his more mature and socially concious strategy currently being employed on Heroes vs. Villains, one thing is certain, Rob gets better each time he plays, the social game was all he lacked in All-Stars, he couldn't quite get a handle on securing the vote of the person you eliminate.
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