The 10 Greatest Survivor Winners of All Time
We’re just days away from the Survivor: Edge of Extinction premiere, which means it’s time to take stock of the greatest winners of the show’s first 37 seasons.
10. Todd Herzog (China)
The gay flight attendant controlled the game from start to finish, leading his Fei-Long tribe to a decimation of Zhan Hu. Although Todd made some dubious decisions like being obvious about finding the idol, he was never in trouble and only received five votes throughout the game.
He sealed the deal by giving one of the greatest tribal council speeches in Survivor history, completely owning his deviousness and at one point leaving the loudmouth Jean Robert speechless.
9. JT Thomas (Tocantins)
Has it ever felt like players were handing someone a win as much as the castaways were for JT? At one point, Brendan actually said a win for JT is essentially a win for Brendan. As far as I know, JT didn’t share any of his million dollars with Brendan.
Despite JT’s Jalapaos being at a 6–3 disadvantage after the merge, JT and his pal Stephen were able to weasel their way in with Coach’s “Warrior Alliance” to blindside Brendan with the idol in his pocket. When the dynamic duo flipped the script to take out Tyson at the next vote, it put them in the position to completely control how the endgame played out.
JT played a perfect game, receiving no votes and earning a 7–0 shutout as he buried Stephen six feet under at final tribal. JT played an excellent game but he was attached at the hip with his top ally more than most winners, which downgrades him slightly for me. Not to mention his subsequent appearances in Heroes vs. Villains and Game Changers, which makes a lot of people question how this guy ever managed to win.
8. Natalie Anderson (San Juan del Sur)
In Survivor, it’s important to pick the perfect time to make your move. That’s exactly what Natalie did, choosing to stay tight with her allies until final six.
After Natalie was blindsided by her friend Jeremy going home, she seethed in silence and waited to take revenge. At final seven, Natalie brilliantly played dumb and acted like she was confused in her vote to “accidentally” send Alec home instead of Keith.
But she knew exactly what she was doing, and at final six she made her best move to blindside kingpin Jon with the idol in his pocket. After making a flashy move by saving Jaclyn with her idol at final five to boot Baylor, Natalie reached final tribal council and won in a 5–2–1 vote over Jaclyn and Missy.
7. Tyson Apostol (Blood vs. Water)
After a pair of shaky games in his first two seasons (including one of the biggest blunders in Survivor history in Heroes vs. Villains), the king of sarcasm Tyson returned in Blood vs. Water with his girlfriend Rachel.
Rachel’s time in the game didn’t last long, and her boot at the second tribal council lit a fire under Tyson’s ass that was sustained throughout the rest of the game.
At the merge, Tyson took out the former winners Aras and Tina (along with Aras’ brother Vytas), and began a slow march to the final three with his minions Gervase and Monica.
Other than the rock draw at final six, he faced almost no adversity throughout the game and easily won in a 7–1 vote.
6. Tony Vlachos (Cagayan)
If this was a ranking of the most entertaining winners in Survivor history, Tony would clearly have the top spot.
The Tasmanian devil of Survivor, Tony played balls to the wall from day one, finding three idols throughout the game, including the infamous “Tyler Perry idol.”
After his “top-five baby” alliance went into the merge down in the numbers, Kass flipped to Tony’s side to give him power throughout the rest of the game. He blindsided his allies LJ and Jefra along the way, but was always able to recover in large part due to his top ally Trish putting out his fires.
Tony had no business making the final two, but Woo’s blunder to take him to the end instead of Kass allowed for one of the most unbelievable wins ever.
5. Sarah Lacina (Game Changers)
After getting a first-hand look at Tony’s game in Cagayan, Sarah returned in Game Changers to rectify her own mistakes and play an improved version of Tony’s game.
Sarah flipped and flopped her way between alliances throughout the post-merge, blindsiding Ozzy, then Debbie, then taking out her good friend Zeke.
Sarah’s best move came at final nine, when she played dumb at Sierra’s boot, leading to Sierra willing Sarah the legacy advantage.
Sarah was a ruthless player, getting almost everyone to believe they were her number one ally. Nobody realized Sarah wasn’t to be trusted until they were out of the game.
4. Tom Westman (Palau)
Leading the biggest decimation of another tribe ever in Survivor, Tom’s Koror tribe won every immunity challenge in the pre-merge, dwindling Ulong down to one member.
His alliance with Ian, Katie, Gregg and Jenn dominated after the merge, until Tom sniffed out a plot to take him out at final six and turned the tables against Gregg. He won the next three immunities to make it to the end, including Ian giving up in the epic 11-hour final immunity challenge to make amends for wanting to target Tom.
Tom won five immunities throughout Palau and was only eligible to be voted out three times, making him one of the most dominant winners of all time.
3. Boston Rob Mariano (Redemption Island)
Sometimes, the fourth time is the charm. After barely losing All-Stars, Rob was able to finally capture the million dollar prize in season 22.
Rob completely brainwashed his tribe into doing exactly what he said, employing the buddy system to keep his Ometepe tribe from turning on him. The strategy worked, as he received only one vote against him by a fellow Ometepe the entire game.
Rob knew he needed to take Phillip and Natalie to the final three with him if he was going to win, and he was able to thread the needle to get the result he wanted. It was arguably the most dominant win in Survivor history at the time, until two seasons later when someone managed to play an even better game.
2. Kim Spradlin (One World)
Nobody has ever played a more dominating game than Kim. While Rob only had a narrow path to get to the end, Kim had numerous ways in which she still could have found a way to the end.
At the merge, Kim had the option of staying with her all-women alliance or joining up with the Salani alliance, which included Jay and Troyzan. When Kim got word that Troyzan was planning on playing her idol to take her out, she changed the original plan of a split vote to blindside Jay.
From there, her alliance continued to take out the rest of the guys, and then her tight trio with Sabrina and Chelsea picked off Alicia and Christina to make the final three.
Kim won four immunities (tied for most by a female in Survivor history), only had two votes cast against her the entire game and ultimately won in a 7–2 final vote.
1. Sandra Diaz-Twine (Pearl Islands and Heroes vs. Villains)
How can the only two-time winner not be number one?
While Sandra’s wins individually aren’t the most impressive, paired together they make Sandra the greatest winner in Survivor history.
Sandra’s “anybody but me” strategy started in Pearl Islands, as she was able to recover from her allies Rupert and Christa getting booted. She was able to integrate herself with Lil and Darrah at final five, pulling off the blindside of Burton. At final three, she was able to convince Lil to bring her to the final two instead of Jonny Fairplay, where she was rewarded with a million dollars.
Despite being one of four returning winners in Heroes vs. Villains, Sandra was able to fly under the radar for most of the game. Although she wasn’t able to pull off her ultimate goal of taking out Russell, she was badly underestimated by the other players and was taken to the end as a perceived goat.
However, she was able to capitalize on the Heroes’ bitterness, and they voted for her as an honorary member of the tribe. Sandra beat Parvati and Russell in a 6–3 vote, making her the first and only two-time winner.
The queen stays queen. Adios.
