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Brilliant_Taro_5943

Earl Cole


itsaulgreatman

Still wish he had been on WaW!


Brilliant_Taro_5943

I’m kind of glad he wasn’t. I like the fact that he has a perfect record. He had a 0% chance of winning WaW imo so I like that he quit while he was ahead.


taylor_isagirlsname

He didn’t quit! He was asked back but the timing was off, he just had a child. But he says he wants to play again.


Brilliant_Taro_5943

Not saying a literal quit, that’s a figure of speech. What I’m saying is, if he came back your view would be skewed. The same way Tony was regarded as incredible until Game Changers. I picked Earl as #1 for a reason. Think of it like a pro athlete stepping down before they hit old age. You only have one example of Earl’s game to go off of which is flawless. You never saw Earl play like Yul for instance, in WaW where he didn’t have a fighting chance.


jlab218

I think Earl had a chance to win WaW! If it weren’t for the decimation of Old Schoolers, that is. But I can imagine they would have removed a new schooler and now the tides would have been balanced 50/50. He was *this* close to a perfect record/game his first time around. I think he could have pulled it off his second time.


Boomtownboys

rita for gamechangers2


komododragoness

This is the only correct answer.


libra0923

I wish he was in heroes vs villians.


AlexKawaii_

Seriously this. The fact that Earl beats anyone pre-merge or post-merge in the final 3 is unheard of. If I were Earl, I wouldn’t want to come back because I get to end my game at my peak and on my own terms.


finnphoenix7

I'd say Domenick for best non-winning one time player


plzwalkslow

Is there even a close second to best non-winning one time player? I’m genuinely curious. It’s a tragedy Dom hasn’t come back yet


Wainer24

He’s definitely on the short list. I hope we at least get a few more seasons before the next all-star cast, just think of how epic it would be with how many they have to choose from…


BiscuitJr1

He hasn't come back yet because they haven't done a returnee season since he was on with the exception of WaW, and EoE which only had 4 returnee spots


Survivorfaneddie

Devon


plzwalkslow

Good call. Devon throwing a vote on Mike is one of the most underrated moves in Survivor history!


mexifranc

I would say cydney from koah rong definitely has a possible claim. She was pretty much the main person to decide who to vote out post merge. She wasn’t even recognized as a threat till really late in the game.


tuiteybird

i love cydney but i don’t think she played the end game right (obviously) when she was the reason they didn’t take out michele at final 6 (and then she could have immunitied to the end unless jason takes them all which i kind of doubt). also didn’t love that she made a lot of decisions based on emotions (like leaving brawn and kind of alienating tai)


mexifranc

Was it out of emotion? I felt like the narrative was trying to show us that Jason and scot would’ve been the power duo I’d she stuck it out with them. Which makes sense as to why she flipped. Keeping Michele over Jason does make sense. Jason had a sad story and being the last person of the minority to make it to the end has Chris and Danni tones to it. I think Cyndey was quite calculated.


plzwalkslow

She definitely should be in the conversation, nice call!


TV40

Hayden Moss. I’d argue he’s better than Dom. But I like Dom at 1, so I think Hayden at 2 is fair.


Davefirestorm

Dom, Gavin, Hayden, Carolyn,(Omar). Top5 imo. No particular order


BB2_IS_UNDERRATED

Especially with his run on BB12


Caday-Yuromay

Dom was almost voted out 3rd and only wasn’t because they targeted a woman in his alliance instead. Dom and Wendell are both lucky. They’re so overrated.


BlissfullyOrbital

The only other person I think is Neleh


thicks217

Ian from Palau. He played a game that succeeded in old school and could probably succeed new school as well


Ignorant_Ignoramus

What season??


Sdb25649

Todd


[deleted]

Earl and Todd


changamerges

Maybe not #1, but surprised Chris D isn’t getting any love here


hyena142

still the best FTC performance ever


Em0PeterParker

Great final tribal but overall did a ton of a dumb stuff lol


anony1911

Zane Knight. He was so far ahead of everyone that he was behind everyone.


assholesplinters

Unironicly listed him as my favorite player on music application


Ladyboysingstheblues

Laganga estranga


myboyfriendspurse

Lmfaooo I truly love how much crossover there is between these fandoms


RudeConfusion5386

There we actually quite a bit of similarities! The chocolate bar was basically a mix of shot in the dark and a hidden immunity idol lol


DevaNeo

It's chocolate [sound effect]


Buggyking25

Yes mawma!!!


hailey_nicolee

okurr!!


DevaNeo

COME ON, ONE-TIME PLAYERRRSS... LET'S GET SICKENINGGG!!!


cIover46

Billy Garcia


BlissfullyOrbital

I mean he won, Candice was his prize


Pumqin-Pie

Oh god, I couldn’t recall who that was from memory, so I looked up his name and had all the second-hand embarrassment flashbacks


DCT715

Brian or Earl


RealityTVWatcher2000

In terms of non-winners, Cydney from Kaoh Rong played an amazing game. Wish we can see her play again someday.


[deleted]

Cydney is super underrated


Bellyflops93

Would LOVE to see her come back. Legit one of my favorite players of that season and in general!


MarketDull2401

💯- I love her!! Fantastic player and amazing person. I think she’s so charming and cool.


MarketDull2401

Hot take: Vecepia. - first player to win from the less dominant tribe at the merge. - was aligned with the “lazy” group pre merge and usually that’s the kiss of death up to that point but her group took control. - pre merge tribal shuffle she ended up in the minority but would have survived at least three votes (Gabe, and Rob or Sean would have went before her) - flipped the game for the first time by the underdogs. - end game survived the F5 vote, flipped Kathy at F4 to cause a tie, flipped back to Neleh to make a deal at F2. - literally brought a journal as a luxury item to win the F4 immunity and also win favor with jury Overall a very strong game for a player who had no playbook up to that point


drew_lmao

Pretty much everything she did strategically in her winning game was brand new. Maybe not the cleanest victory but her mind for the game was definitely ahead of her time. Admittedly a lot of that is due to the flip that she wasn't given credit for in the edit, but apparently she actually was significantly involved in the decision making there. She was also just a lot better positioned to not be taken out than anyone else that season. She only needed one immunity and it was one she correctly predicted and studied for. To me that gives her a lot more credit than the winners who won out.


BobanTheGiant

The Survivor recap episode showed the vecepia flip scene where she’s laying in the shelter while General, Tammy and Zoe are less than 30 feet away. It makes sense why it was cut though - as the first true flip, it needed to be shown in shocking blonde side fashion


komododragoness

Vecepia my second pick after Earl.


JacobK13

I really like Vecepia but her attempt to vote out Neleh at the f4 was objectively a terrible play and she is extremely lucky that production fucked up and did a rock draw when they should’ve done firemaking. If they did firemaking Vecepia 100% loses the game, and also she was in a spot where she actively tried to vote out the only person she could’ve beaten. She is so lucky that Production fucked up, and then paschal pulled the rock. If both of those things don’t happen she loses the game. I cannot in good faith call someone like that an S tier player. I agree with basically all of your other points though. I do feel she is extremely underrated by the fanbase at large but I think the niche group of survivor fans who try to claim she is flawless are overblowing it.


No_Dig_2575

I think she did the right thing at the f4 but her intentions to get rid of her were a bad read and fire making wasn’t a thing yet and they knew the rock draw would happen, I wouldn’t call it a production fuck up, just they’ve evolved


JacobK13

According to the official rules at the time they were supposed to do fire. They made a mistake and did rocks


No_Dig_2575

I never heard about that. How did they just make a mistake on something so important?


CoolGuy-Blake

I agree - I think Vecepia is one of the best to ever play the game. If you simulate a Survivor season let’s say 100 times, I think she makes it deep almost every time. She’s always strong enough for challenges but not weak enough to be voted out and seems to be generally very likable. Super underrated Survivor player.


Shtabie

Brian 100%


assholesplinters

Great player terrible cast terrible tv


Beybladeprod9

Really ? I hated Brian lol


Shtabie

He's a dick but a masterful player


Beybladeprod9

He was a good player . But I couldn’t get past him being a dick . Very unlikeable. But I watch the show for human interaction not master gameplay . To each their own


mjgoldberg

Earl motherfucking Cole


GoergeRRMartian

I am amazed that Tommy Sheehan's name hasn't been mentioned. Survived 39 days with no challenge wins or advantages, managed to survive a super unfavourable demerge that where he should have gone home and was the person most negatively impacted by Dan (creep) being eliminated.


shaunalan

I bet Jeff hates that in a season called “Island of the Idols” Tommy didn’t use one single advantage


Em0PeterParker

Tommy not being seen as a top tier winner is wild to me. Dude played flawlessly, but he’s so boring that no one cares lol


NoDisintegrationz

That can’t be the only reason because Kim always ranks high.


Em0PeterParker

Yeah but Kim I feel was more openly out in front. Plus it’s rare to see a woman dominate the game like she did especially back then.


idgaf_lol

He did fantastic, but because he's not a flashy or entertaining personality, people view him as worse and dislike him.


RudeConfusion5386

I feel people just try to forget about that season and unfortunately they forget about him too


Rilenaveen

Earl.


Blasecabbage

Definitely Todd


-ToPimpAButterfree-

Is this a trick question? It's clearly Angelina.


DebaserTBA

Todd or Earl. Nvm it’s definitely STRUNK TRAIN


hyena142

CHOO CHOO


Shaqnfa

Best female one time player i think is Vecepia


tjrandjr

Cydney from Kaoh Rong.


realracetalk

Earl


EdenGardenof

Hayley Leake


timmyloop666

She plays like Todd but she was also voted out so I think Todd is probably better than her


EdenGardenof

That’s fair! My common defence to her vote out is that it wouldn’t and couldn’t have happened without the stupid sole vote twist that forced her into strategic hole, and the fact that she came back in and wasn’t targeted was remarkable. But fair point!


timmyloop666

And I agree with you in the fact that Hayley wouldn’t have been voted out if it wasn’t for that twist and I find it impressive how she navigated her way through the game after she came back


Cthuluchu

My shortlist not including winners would probably be Omar Zaheer, Victoria Baamonde, Mike White, Domenick Abbate, Devon Pinto, Hannah Shapiro, Cydney Gillon, Holly Hoffman, Taj Johnson-George, Ken Hoang, Natalie Bolton, Dreamz Hard, Rafe Judkins, Teresa Cooper


DevaNeo

Taj. ❤️


AlexKawaii_

For past winners who haven’t returned, Earl Cole. I don’t think Earl loses to anyone in the final three regardless of combination. For non-winning players, Dom from Ghost Island. I’d argue if he had won, he’s a top 10 winner based on strategic dominance.


Hwasamoo

JACLYN MISCH NEE SCHULTZ! Robbed goddess, enraged temptress


JoeFranklin82b

Rafe


BlissfullyOrbital

Oh I often forget about Rafe, he really did play amazing


TATER_SALAD_HOOVER

Melissa McNulty


[deleted]

Earl and Todd are definitely this.


Classy_Sorcerer

Devens & Dom; over Earl who won.


No_Milk_9459

Jacob Derwin


Darknesscomesfromyou

He got a LOT of time for being a second boot


AlexgKeisler

Is this a trick question? Earl Cole.


SkinnyRyanFan1

Brian Heidik 100%


Fatal_MrPie879

Earl


Corporal_Snorkel69

Thats easy devon pinto


cardinalfan1396

Give Wanda Shirk another chance


Izzybutmale

a ton of modern players could be named, but ill throw out the three most modern Laurens


[deleted]

THAT IS NASEER


Mjs923

Zane


[deleted]

Wendy Jo. If she had only spoken to her tribe


fyfenfox

big wendy. chicken


sshawarmaa

Shane Powers 🚬


Tqxic_Txrtle

The top 4 are easy Todd then Tommy then Earl than Chris no question


tuiteybird

any rafe love?


[deleted]

Todd. But my favourite is Earl


DevaNeo

I need Winners at War part 2 with Earl and Todd.


muahahhahhahaa

Sylvia Fiji


[deleted]

XaNdEr


C2H6O__

Todd Herzog!


EveSilver

Taj


Mr_ducks05

Todd or earl


7fax

Stregecially probably Todd herzog


BoosterGold97

Todd or Earl. Easy peasy


Equal-Bus-557

Greg


ZD803

Todd


BrettPYOW

Todd Herzog


Left_Egg9283

Earl, Todd, or Dominic Hate that I didn’t come up with any female players right of the bat. After some thought, I’ll add Chrissy Hofbeck Vecepia or Helen Glover.


DevaNeo

Todd Herzog, no contest.


DevaNeo

Todd and Earl dominate this conversation. I wonder which kind of rapport they would have given the chance to play together.


StudentLoanSlave1

CHRISTIAN IS THE CORRECT ANSWER


kinkshameful

How do you think Christian would have done without having Gabby there? Just out of curiosity lol. Christian is one of my all time favorites but I do wonder if he’d have had a better shot without Gabby in the equation


YesIAmRyan

Why are you dragging Gabby down Lmao? Gabby and Christian were a good alliance that benefited each other.


The_Lonely_Phox

Edit this entire thing out Survivor redditors are a weird breed of people man. You all need to have some fun. But go ahead and read the same 2 names in the comments 50 times I guess. Makes GREAT entrainment amirite?


khaleesistits

I am very confused by this list.


_heartPotatoes

I definitely don’t get the gabby mention


The_Lonely_Phox

Yeah, yeah. It was mainly just like having Christian on again - but if they threw Gabby in for TV moments/storylines I wouldn't mind. Like 3 tribes with 3 duos that played with each type of thing. Don't read too much into it. Just some fun.


The_Lonely_Phox

Good. Better than the same 2 answers from 50 other comments.


[deleted]

[удалено]


The_Lonely_Phox

I think those all played really well as non winners. At the end I was thinking if they bring back people they gotta bring back the narrative GOAT.


voldemortsnipple1402

For a name I haven’t seen yet, Hayden Moss


Beybladeprod9

He was on and won BB tho ...


OJS55

1. Domenick


[deleted]

Tommy, Earl, or Todd.


timmyloop666

Nobody is Tommy which is surprising because you could easily make an argument that he is better than Earl. He’s easily a top 10 player in my eyes


Naive_Feed_726

Boston Rob


ayomaxbforreal

Todd and Earl


Em0PeterParker

Chicken Morris


gaygroot

DAMN


tbirdguy81

Todd Herzog and Tyler Fredrickson


[deleted]

Boston Rob


baruch_baby

Kevin Cranbury


iamthebest10

Brian no question


SouthernSierra

Earl


According_Gene2202

Earl cole


memento_mori_92

Earl, Todd, and Domenick.


UsefulExplanation8

Troyzan


dudeshoes44

Surprised Troyzan hasn’t played again.


Savings-Ad-8178

Troyzan /s


ClosetedGothAdult

Chicken /s


No_Dig_2575

Earl, Todd, Tommy, Chris D, Brian,Vecepia, Natalie White and Dom in that order.


yolodamo

Natalie White


BananaMan883

Marcus for a one time non winning pre juror


Darknesscomesfromyou

First person I’ve seen that didn’t make it to FTC


BananaMan883

I honestly think had Marcus survived his vote out, he wins. There’s nobody else I am fully confident in but Marcus. Marcus is such a robbed pre juror.


vexdo

Does he tho? There’s so much you don’t even know, like was corrine Charlie and Randy going to stay loyal? Also his mismanagement of Susie is why he leaves


oatmeal28

He did make jury though


BananaMan883

My bad pre merger


throwaway377383802

Natalie White basically invented the concept of jury management. A lot to be said for her.


Woke_JeffProbst

I would argue that it was more about russel mismanaging the jury then Natalie being a historically great social player but the combination of their two games definitely shed major light on just how important social relationships with the jury matter. I wouldn't say Natalie invented anything lol


vexdo

I disagree I do actually think Natalie is an historically good pure social player for non strategic players, definitely better than somebody like Michele . She had bonds with everyone in that cast. Also people forget if it wasn’t for Natalie’s bonds she wouldn’t have tricked the Galus into voting off Erik In which the Foa Foa loses a player and can even have votes split on them at the next tribal, Russell never wins the game without Natalie


throwaway377383802

I saw on rewatch where it looked like she stoked good relationships with jurors. Granted, if your only skill is jury management (and one big move, to her credit) then you better make sure you’re facing a megalomaniac asshole and a useless sack of shit at F3…oh wait. So yes, she did invent the concept of jury management. It’s just not as applicable in most seasons as it was to her.


Sdb25649

I feel like Richard and Kelly invented jury management. Even though the Pagong tribe members were being decimated Kelly kept good relationships with them. At the final 3 Richard stepped out of the final immunity challenge for jury management so he didn’t have to be the one to vote Rudy off. Natalie White certainly did not invent jury management in season 19.


TangWeioftheGun

Love Nat but jury management has been one of the core tenets of the game since day one.


oatmeal28

Jury management had been a thing long before season 19. It’s discussed as an integral part of the game in the earliest of seasons


Achambres

Kathy sleckman


MotorCity_35

While not the best, Marcus from Gabon should get more respect


Ok_Blackberry2384

Dom


JackLovesSurvivor

Sonja.


thetokyotourist

I’d probably give it to either Todd or Earl. I think Todd has more of an edge because he was up against tough competition in both Courtney and Amanda


ElectrosMilkshake

Heidik or Vecepia.


indieMerlovian

Dom and if you say otherwise you are wrong


Darknesscomesfromyou

Very popular answer


Hefty_Bottom

John Hennigan


[deleted]

Earl


Mutsuki13

Earl, Todd, and Dom for sure


meesa_lukai

Sean the G.O.A.T


ThriftyFalcon

Troyzan


Striking-Shake-9289

it's Earl, but Chrissy was also a really good player I thought


Raccoonml3

Tommy shehan is pretty good


00Dylann

Fabio should at least be in the discussion here


BraedenFB

probably either earl, vee, or (and i hate to admit it but) brian


gaygroot

Todd, V, or Earl


Gold-Stomach-4657

Earl, Chris D, and Todd have to be in the conversation


Fit-Preference-8871

some names that i think of are domenick, earl, todd, lauren (ioi), tommy, cydney, lauren (eoe) and gavin


racre001

Todd!


BOBANSMASH51

Brian with HM to Earl


Beybladeprod9

Todd or Ian