It’s always great reading others’ opinions of the very best Survivor winners of all time.  Weirdly, I’m also curious about who ends up on the bottom of their lists.  When making MINE, I wanted to take a different approach to determine who was the best winner and how the other 31 performed in comparison.  These rankings you’ll see below are the result of looking back on all 32 seasons of Survivor objectively, using a stat-based system for all of the winners.  Instead of using the “eye-test” to ultimately decide if Kim played the best game or Sophie was better than Denise, I am strictly using tangible, individual statistics.  The only subjective part of this are the point values, as I weighed each category based on my own opinion of importance.

The first section of data was comparing circumstance, which I considered to be the fixed “difficulty” level each winner had to start their respective season with.  Difficulty doesn’t necessarily mean WHO they competed against (although that played a small role in one particular category), but rather HOW MANY other castaways they were competing against, how many they had to sit next to at the final tribal council, and how many seasons they had already played.  The maximum a player could receive from this section was 25 points (relatively minimal) if they won on their first try in a 20-person season with a final three.

# of Players – I decided that contestants who had to compete against more opponents should earn more points, as it’s obviously tougher to make it to the end against 19 other players than it is against only 15.

20 = 10 points
19 = 7.5 points
18 = 5 points
16 = 0 points

# of Finalists – Likewise with the tribe size, it’s slightly harder to get the votes you need at FTC when you have two people sitting next to you, rather than just one.

3 = 5 points
2 = 0 points

Experience – Playing the game a second, third, or even fourth time definitely gives you an advantage over others, UNLESS it’s in a case such as Amber or Jeremy who each won on their second try but everyone else on their seasons were playing for a second time too, so there was no advantage there.  When you look at the winning seasons for players such as Tyson, Cochran, Parvati, etc. it’s clear that being a veteran and playing against rookies gives the veteran an unfair advantage.  Because of this, I awarded more points to first-time players.  Boston Rob gets zero points in this category because he won on his FOURTH try against almost all rookies.

First season = 10 points
Second = 5 points
Tyson = 3 points
Rob = 0 points

The social game factors (section #2) that I used to score each winner were things like: how many more final tribal council votes did they receive than the other finalist/s, how often were they on the wrong/right side of the vote (post-merge only), and how many times did they personally receive votes after the merge.  These also show the quality of game control, which I determined to be the most important factor when ranking the winners:

Final vote % – Not the number of votes, but the amount of votes compared to the total possible votes.  This evened out the playing field since total jury votes varied from season to season.

1 point for every % point received (100%= 100 points, 57% = 57 points)

Post-merge Voting – I only used votes after the merge, due to the large imbalance of pre-merge tribal councils between each winner.  Some didn’t have any, some had a lot (and one attended every single one throughout the entire season).  Controlling the game in the early going is also less important than controlling the game after the merge (winning team challenges is way more crucial pre-merge).

Zero incorrect votes = 80 points (+5 additional points for each correct vote over six)
One incorrect vote =  50 points (+5 additional points for each correct vote over six)
Two incorrect votes = 40 points (+5 additional points for each correct vote over six)
Three incorrect votes = 30 points (+5 additional points for each correct vote over six)

*I also counted a split vote as a correct vote if the split ended up working.  This only applied to Earl, Kim, and Denise.

Votes Against – If nobody voted for you all game, that says something.

No votes against = 50 points
No votes against after played idols = 40 points
1 vote against = 40 points
2 votes against = 35 points
3 votes against = 30 points
4 votes against = 25 points
5 votes against = 20 point
6 votes against = 15 points
7 votes against = 10 points
8 votes against = 5 points

Lastly, I awarded rare bonus points for what you could call record-setting feats (25 points each), which is described under each individual.  There isn’t a separate category for individual immunity wins, as I felt that winning one or two ultimately would have no effect on the quality of their end game speeches.  However, I did award bonus points to two men and two women who each hold the record for the most individual immunity challenge wins for their respective gender.  Mike and Tom each won five in their winning season, and Jenna and Kim each won four.  It’s such a significant achievement that it warranted some attention in these rankings, and they did use it to support their arguments to the jury.

After adding up all the numbers, I ranked them, starting with the winner who earned the least amount of points (meaning least impressive win, statistically).  I want to avoid saying the “worst” winner because they all played good enough to win the game.  But…

#32 Aras (S12, Panama) – 136 pts

…someone’s gotta be in last.  Even though he was one of my favorites due to his personality and his ability in challenges, I can understand why he ranks at the bottom.  He was a target through much of the game, receiving eight votes (many from rival Terry), but was able to stay in the game thanks to his dysfunctional, yet loyal alliance.  Aras was also fortunate enough to be brought to the end in a final two.  If it had ended with a final three, Terry would have easily won the season.

#31 Vecepia (S4, Marquesas) – 142 

Vecepia was on the winning side of a 4-3 FTC vote, just edging out her opponent, Neleh.  She didn’t have anything significant on her resume.  She was also on the wrong side of two TC votes after the merge, and received a couple votes herself along the way, which knocked her score down.  Not an impressive win, but a win nonetheless.  There were others that had very similar games, but she ranks the lowest mainly due to being on an earlier season where she only had to compete against 15 players, and win in a final two.

#30 Bob (S17, Gabon) – 142

Tied with Vecepia in points, Bob made it to the end of his season mainly by winning immunity challenges.  He didn’t have control during much of the game.  As his alliance was getting decimated, he was on the wrong end of the vote three times after the merge.  It was Sugar who ended up deciding to keep Bob at final four instead of her ally Matty, forcing them into a firemaking challenge which Bob did win.  And in the end, he barely edged out Susie in a 4-3-0 FTC vote.

#29 Fabio (S21, Nicaragua) – 156

I think Fabio ranks towards the bottom of most lists that I’ve seen.  His game stats are almost identical to Vecepia (was voted against twice, was wrong on two votes, won in the end by just one FTC vote), only Fabio was able to win his season against 19 other players and a final three.  Therefore he ranks higher than her.

#28 Michelle (S32, BvBvB2) – 171

The newest addition to this club, Michelle only had to endure six tribal councils throughout her season.  And she was on the wrong side of two of them.  But she did avoid getting votes cast her way from everyone except Tai one time (who actually voted for her twice, but I only count one as it was his advantage that he played and it ended up being completely worthless).  She also snagged five of the final seven votes in the end to win.

#27 Amber (S8, All Stars) – 172

Some argue that Boston Rob should have won this season, and Amber was just along for the ride.  Fortunately for Amber, a bitter jury set against awarding Rob with the million dollars decided to give it to a very loyal Amber, who was less abrasive in her gameplay, with a 4-3 FTC vote.  What can’t be argued is the fact that Amber was on the right side of 100% of the votes.  But she was targeted with five votes against her after the merge.

#26 Natalie A. (S29, BvW2) – 173

This one was a bit surprising.  The eye test might tell you that Natalie played a very impressive game.  She was good, but there were a couple flaws, one not even being her fault.  She only received 63% of the FTC votes even though she was clearly better than the two she sat with at the end.  However, there were two votes on the jury she was never going to get:  Missy’s daughter and Jaclyn’s fiance.  I couldn’t award points based on an otherwise scenario because who knows where those two votes go if they are anybody else.  Now if she had actually convinced one or both of them to actually vote for her, she would have been awarded mad bonus points.  But Natalie did manage to avoid getting any votes cast against her the entire season.

#25 Chris (S9, Vanuatu) – 176

On the all-male tribe, Chris almost went home after just day 3.  But his strong social game kept him in it.  Chris’ endgame is similar to Bob’s in that his tribe was decimated, and he ended up having to win some immunity challenges to make it to the very end.  However, Chris did earn more final votes than Bob, and Chris used his social game with the female tribe to create better relationships, as evidenced by not receiving any votes against him after the merge.

#24 Todd (S15, China) – 177

Todd won in China with solid control over his alliance, being on the right side of the votes 100% of the time.  But he ranks in the bottom third because he had to go up against two strong players in the end (Courtney and Amanda) who each received votes from the jury.  And he wasn’t able to avoid getting votes during the game, receiving a total of five.  He also won in a season of only 16 players.

#23 Danni (S11, Guatemala) – 181

Another early-season winner, Danni received all but one vote in the end (six out of seven).  Other than that, it was very average statistics for her.  She voted wrong twice, and got one cast against her.  She did have to beat 17 other players but only had to win a final two.

#22 Yul (S13, Cook Islands) – 181

In one of the most unique themes of any season, Yul doesn’t get points for having the all-too-powerful hidden immunity idol almost the entire game.  That arguably gave him an unfair advantage actually.  Yul did stay on the right side of every single vote, but he barely edged out Ozzy in the end, and was voted for five times after the merge.  He gets the edge over Danni on this list because of the number of players in his season (20).

#21 Sandra (S7, Pearl Islands) – 186

Sandra’s first Survivor victory wasn’t as impressive as her second, according to the numbers.  But she did win in a season that had a few unprecedented twists to it.  And during that, she was able to go the entire season without receiving a single TC vote.  She also won convincingly in the end, with a 6-1 final.  She lost points because she got a couple of votes wrong during the game, and only had to win in a 16-player season with a final two.

#20 Denise (S25, Phillippines) – 190

Denise was able to win her season after having to attend (and survive) every single tribal council in the game, which won her bonus points here.  The fact that she was only “immune” at one of those just shows what kind of social game Denise played, making sure she didn’t become a big enough target for any tribe to vote out (though she did receive five votes against her).

#19 Richard (S1, Borneo) – 192

Richard gets props (points) for winning this difficult game without any prior knowledge of how to actually play it.  He needed those points too, because otherwise he would be even lower on this list.  The reasons why aren’t necessarily a knock on his own personal gameplay, rather a product of the overall gameplay/voting strategy by the entire cast of that first season.  Richard was smart enough to form an alliance and stick with it, AND his postmerge voting was 100% spot on.  However, he still barely edged out Kelly in the end (which apparently could have gone either way thanks to Greg), and he received several votes against during postmerge play (six).

Richard got those extra points for being the first to win.  This isn’t because the win itself was any more convincing, but every Survivor winner had a template or strategy to work with or learn from except Richard.  The fact that he had to learn the basics of this game as he played it means winning it was that much more impressive.  You could argue that all of those other Borneo contestants were in the same situation as Richard, and that’s true.  But playing without a template, he was the one to figure out how to actually make it to the end, AND get enough votes to win.

#18 Parvati (S16, Micronesia) – 193

This one was a bit surprising.  Technically, it’s not the bottom third but it’s close.  Parvati was in full control of this game throughout, but you could argue that so was Amanda, and in some cases Cirie.  Parvati was another winner to have voted every single person out after the merge.  She did receive a couple of votes during the game though.  She had to compete against a larger cast (20 players) but she also had the advantage of being among the first returning players to compete against rookie competition, which lost her some points.  Ultimately, she was fortunate enough to be surprised with a final two at the end instead of the expected final three, in which Cirie may have been the favorite to win.  In the end, Parvati beat Amanda, but not by much (5-3).

#17 Jenna (S6, Amazon) – 196

Many of the FTC votes in the early seasons were very close, the majority of them ending 4-3 (when there were only seven jury members).  Jenna is the first winner to receive almost all of the votes (6-1).  She is also one of four former winners to receive extra points for having the record for the most individual immunity challenges in a season (tied with Kim with four, which is the women’s record).

#16 Brian (S5, Thailand) – 197

Brian won with a strong control game throughout his season.  This is where the eye-test tells you that Brian really should be ranked higher than this, but according to the numbers, it wasn’t as dominant as one would think.  He did have solid control, having a hand in voting out every single player after the merge, winning immunity challenges, and even receiving no votes during TC, but the jury wasn’t entirely happy about the way he played, and so he only won by one vote over Clay, 4-3.

#15 J.T. (S18, Tocantins) – 200

We’re making our way towards the best of this list, and as you can already see many of these winners are separated by a mere point or two.  J.T. managed to be the first winner to play a “perfect game,” coined simply because he received no votes throughout, but then won unanimously in the end.  The only setbacks were that he competed against the smallest amount of players (16), and he wasn’t in full control the whole way, having been on the wrong side of the votes at least twice.  He also didn’t have to go up against two others in the end, just his major ally in Stephen.

#14 Cochran (S26, Caramoan) – 200

Cochran is the second on this list to have won EVERY SINGLE vote by the jury in the end.  He is also the second on this list to play the perfect game like J.T.  What he lost points on was how many times he was wrong at tribal council after the merge, which was three.

#13 Jeremy (S31, Cambodia) – 200

It’s funny how this three-way tie includes all three winners who technically had no votes cast against them during their respective games.  Jeremy also was counted as having no postmerge votes cast against him (but only after he played an idol).   Jeremy also played the perfect game, earning all the votes in the end.  He gets the edge here because it was a 20-player season, AND Cochran won over rookies, whereas Jeremy won against all returning players.

#12 Tyson (S27, BvW) – 201

Similar to Boston Rob’s winning season, it just looked like this was Tyson’s game to lose, at least once the merge hit.  He did win in a season of 20 players and earned all but one FTC vote, but he drops out of the top ten because this was his third try.

#11 Tina (S2, Australian Outback) – 202

People say Tina won in a very different way than Richard did after the first season.  The one difference that my numbers revealed was the number of votes each received during the game.  Richard was a target often, Tina was not at all.  She is one of a handful of winners to have never received a vote against her before FTC.  But like Richard, she barely won in the end, beating Colby 4-3.

#10 Natalie W. (S19, Samoa) – 203

We are now at the top ten.  The best of the best.  And we start with someone whom many might think would be towards the bottom of these rankings.  Natalie did well in every category except one.  She received a whopping EIGHT votes cast against her during the postmerge game.  But she managed to stay in control with her partner Russell, going 100% in voting every person out.  She also received 78% of the final votes in the end, against a final three in a 20-person season.  That’s why she made the top ten.

#9 Mike (S30, Worlds Apart) – 205

Another one of our more recent winners, Mike was on the outs for most of the second half of his game.  He lost the trust of his alliance, and became a huge challenge threat.  Normally that would drop him way to the bottom of these rankings.  But it showed you can win this game in a different (and more difficult) way.  He tied the individual immunity challenge record for men, winning five times, which gave him bonus points.  He needed every single one of those wins in order to make to the end, along with his hidden idol.  In his position, he only had two votes wrong at tribal.  AND, he ended up earning six of the eight FTC votes to win against two other finalists.

#8 Sandra (S20, HvV) – 207

Sandra is awarded extra points in her second season for simply winning the game again.  Do you realize how incredible that is?  Sure, she was sitting there at the end with another prior winner in Parvati, and the villain-of-all-villains in Russell Hantz.  But she still gets props for being the one to convince enough of the jury to award her with a SECOND million dollar prize.  Including Sandra, there have been nine previous winners to come back and play again (Richard, Tina, Ethan, Jenna, Tom, Aras, Parvati, J.T.) and she’s still the only player in 32 seasons to win twice.  I believe that takes a lot of skill.

#7 Sophie (S23, South Pacific) – 212

Sophie won with a very quiet, controlled game.  She stayed on the right side of the vote every single time, and not only that but she is one of just two winners to go 10 for 10 in tribal council voting!  She was voted against four times, but she earned two-thirds of the FTC votes, and it was against Coach who had already played this game twice before.  That’s not bad.

#6 Boston Rob (S22, Redemption Island) – 214

A solid player throughout, Boston Rob absolutely dominated this season.  Looking at that alone, you could argue that he was the best winner of them all.  But you have to keep in mind that this was his fourth try.  He loses out on a lot of points because of that.  Not only that, but he wasn’t even competing against other vets (besides Russell, who got eliminated early).  He was going up against a cast of first-timers, whom he knew exactly how to control.  It was almost unfair.  Ok, it was unfair.  Rob did get a lot of votes thrown his way from the rival alliance, and he did manage to lose one FTC vote to Phillip for some ridiculous reason.  But, like Sophie, he went 10 for 10 in tribal voting after the merge, and earned all but that one vote in the end.  So even though he’s the only winner to need four tries to do it, he still earned his place in the top ten.

#5 Tony (S28, Cagayan) – 214

The top five is a good mix of old seasons and new.  Tony made it here the most chaotic way we’ve seen.  He’s the third in a row on this list to have gone 100% in postmerge voting, AND like Boston Rob he earned all but one FTC vote.  He was voted against five times, and only had to win in a final two.  But I gave the edge to Tony over Rob because Tony won on his first try.

#4 Ethan (S3, Africa) – 216

A huge surprise to be seen here at #4, Ethan was the best winner of the very early seasons.  Similar to Tina’s game, it’s hard to find faults.  Ethan was never voted against, and he stayed on the right side of every postmerge vote.  The difference (and as you can see, the difference between being #4 and #11)  is that Ethan earned more votes in the end, getting five of seven.

#3 Tom (S10, Palau) – 231

Not surprising that we see Tom in the top three.  He started out by winning a season with 20 players, then earning bonus points for breaking (and still holding) the record for most individual immunity wins (five), then never seeing  a vote cast against him, and finally earning all but one FTC vote in the end.  He lost just a few points by only having to win in a final two, and being wrong at tribal council once.  Other than that, a nearly flawless game by Tom.

#2 Kim (S24, One World) – 248

Kim has a similar resume to Tom.  She also received bonus points for holding the individual immunity record for females (four).  She earned 78% of the final votes, in a final three.  She also was on the right side of every single postmerge vote (including a split vote that her alliance was successful in).  Kim is someone many believe played the absolute best game of all the winners.  They wouldn’t necessarily be wrong.  It’s just that one person has better stats than her:

#1 Earl (S14, Fiji) – 252.5

For someone who claimed to have never seen the show before playing it, Earl did one heck of a job.  He didn’t accomplish much when it came to immunity challenges, but Earl was closer to playing a flawless game than any other winner in any other season.  He didn’t technically play the “perfect game” like J.T. or Cochran, because he received one vote against him prior to the merge.  But when it comes to this scoring, we only look at postmerge voting.  Therefore, Earl received zero votes, while also receiving 100% of the votes at FTC.  He also went 100% on his own voting during the game, and won in a cast of 19 and a final three.  Pretty impressive.

**UPDATE** Adam Klein, the winner of Survivor season 33, was ran through these numbers and ended up with 190 total points, tied with Denise at #20.