Top 15 Tribal Councils Of All Time

Tribal Council.  It's so legendary in Survivor.  It's where the game is truly played.  Where players are voted out, idols are played, and, especially in recent seasons, where last-minute moves are made to change outcomes.  An exciting Tribal Council can make an episode amazing.  Here are the Top 15 Tribal Councils of all time (note I am not including FTCs here.  They are a different beast.):

15th) Tyson Apostol voted out (Survivor: Heroes vs Villains)

 This was a fantastic tribal because it helped some fantastic gameplay come full circle.  Tyson, who was seen as a bonehead his first two seasons, ended his second season voting himself out, practically.  He trusted Russell, didn't keep to the split vote plan, and then there was that awesome moment where "gentleman" Russell gave his idol to Parvati (a gutsy play, and you know I LOVE gutsy plays!) and the plan worked to perfection.

14th) Andrew Savage idoled out (Survivor: Cambodia)

I loved this tribal so much.  So, so much.  Why?  Because it set the tenner for the rest of Cambodia, the second best season in history.  Yes, it was incredible in itself, but the fact that everyone was so desperate for a "move" and then this came, and was followed by move after move after move, made it even so much sweeter.  We've seen many successful idol plays, but this one more than most others, was so satisfying, primarily because Wentworth was such a fan favorite underdog, and had done such a great job keeping the idol secret, even from her closest allies.  Oh, and because it resulted in Savage going home, and he was arrogant, borderline a jerk, in Cambodia.

13th) Malcolm's double idol play (Survivor: Caramoan)

It's no secret that I'm not a Caramoan fan, but this was definitely the highlight of said season.  Everyone was ready to count the Three Amigos out, but Malcolm made sure that didn't happen, and in an odd turn of events, ALL THREE amigos were safe!  And, like the Savage blindside, some added sweetness about this idol play is that it resulted in ultra-unpopular Philip going home (although, it would have been a much better move to send a real threat like Andrea or Cochran home).

12th) Erik gives up immunity (Survivor: Micronesia)

This was an epic tribal for many reasons, not the least of which is that it was one of the first times in Survivor history that we truly saw the game "alive" at tribal.  The Black Widow Brigade was a strong powerhouse of four and when Erik won immunity they literally realized he would go home.  But thanks to queen Cirie, they convinced him to give it up.  It's amazing he didn't realize they'd promptly vote him out, and it truly was one of the best tribals in history.

11th) Lauren idoled out (Survivor: Heroes v Healers v Hustlers)

This was such an incredible tribal because it seemed that the game had turned against one of its best players, eventual winner Ben Driebergen.  He looked out of options and truly a lone man against a trust cluster of six.  And then he became the first person in Survivor history to cast the only vote to eliminate someone when he played his idol and single-handidly voted out Lauren.  Before that happened, we also had one of the craziest moments in history this tribal, when Dr. Mike made the dumb move to THROW HALF AN IDOL INTO THE FIRE!!!  All around a tribal for the record books, no doubt.


10th) Laura M. voted out by her own daughter (Survivor: Blood vs Water)

This tribal was amazing for a whole different reason.  Survivor was struggling in the mid-20 seasons and needed something fresh.  When they came up with the Blood vs Water twist, many people said it would make or break the show.  It certainly made it, and no doubt was this tribal an important part of helping to make it the best season in history, to that point in time.  Ciera, now a Survivor legend, did the unthinkable, and voted out her own mom.  With many emotions from both of them, and other players, that moment truly became a Survivor great.


9th) Varner outs Zeke (Survivor: Game Changers)

Yet another, completely different, but amazing tribal. The tribal started like any other amazing but normal tribal with one player clearly on the outs (Varner) desperately trying to stay in the game.  And it looked like it was working. But then he took it one step WAY too far and outed Zeke as transgender.  It was a horrific moment, but the tribal ended so beautifully with people standing up for Zeke and in the end inspiring transgender people.  And it also gave us a beautiful moment where the eventual winner, a conservative midwestern police officer, found true growth within herself too.


8th) Two idols incorrectly played (Survivor: Cagayan)

This was a crazy tribal where, for the only time in Survivor history, we saw someone play an idol for another player, only to have that player turn around and play an idol for him!  It was nuts, and the craziest part about it, was that neither one got votes.  Instead, their alliance partner Jefra did, and it looked like she was doomed, but then Kass made her legendary flip and Sarah was ousted.  So much high quality gameplay with entertaining players.  It became a legendary tribal.


7th) Scot Pollard ousted by close ally (Survivor: Kaoh Rong)

This tribal was so friggin' sweet for multiple reasons.  Scot, Jason, and Tai were clearly on the bottom but were fighting to stay in the game.  And they were fun to watch, with Tai whipping out an idol and then Jason's legendary "The idol's got a brother!" moment.  And then to cap it all off, Scot was voted out and looked to Tai for the other half of the super idol, and Tai wouldn't do it.  Like the Savage and Philip blindsides, it was so rewarding because Scot was a bully this season and someone everyone wanted to see go.

6th) Third ever rock draw (Survivor: Millennials vs Gen X)

The mid-jury portion was arguably the best part of MvGX and the excitement peaked at the Final 10.  Amid all the "trust clusters" there was definite trust when no one would vote their "allies" out.  It resulted in the third ever, second modern, rock draw, in Survivor history where Jessica, someone many people were picking to win, drew the wrong rock.

5th) Two tribes vote off one person (Survivor: Game Changers)

KABOOM... Game Changers strikes again.  The new school Survivor era is full of twists, and you can say what you will about them, some work, some don't, but there is no question in my mind that this one worked to PERFECTION.  I really hope producers do this again, and SOON!   I also believes it only works post-swap as there are multiple layers of relationship.  We literally got so many incredible moments out of this tribal from the Survivor first in itself, to the constant talking, to JT's dumb move, to the idol play, to one of the biggest threats getting ousted.  It was epic.

4th) Parvati's double idol play (Survivor: Heroes vs Villains)

HvV lands its second spot on this list with an epic idol play by Parvati.  This play, and the one already mentioned on this list by Malcolm six seasons later, are the first two of three times one player has played two idols at one tribal in Survivor history.  Parvati's was markedly more notable than Malcolm's not because it was the first but because it took out one of the game's biggest threats, Tocantins winner JT, and because one of them was originally JT's idol that he gave to Russell (one of the dumbest moves in history)!

3rd) First modern rock draw (Survivor: Blood vs Water)

Here is BvW's second spot on this list when at the Final 6 (it is interesting to note that the Top 3 spots on this list all occurred at the Final 6) Ciera realized she was on the bottom of Tyson's power alliance and Hayden convinced her to flip and force the first of two modern rock draws in Survivor history.  This was an ultimate gutsy play by Ciera, and you know me and gutsy plays, so that makes it even better.

2nd) Five of six people immune, Cirie eliminated by default (Survivor: Game Changers)

Game Changers has established itself as not only the best season ever but the best in terms of tribal councils as well, with this coming in as its third entry on this list.  At the GC F6 Culpepper had Individual Immunity, Troyzan played his idol (he had votes), Sarah played her legacy advantage (she would have otherwise been eliminated as she had more votes than Troy and they were the only two with votes), Tai played an idol on himself, and Tai played another idol on Aubry.  This left Cirie the only person immune and eliminated by default, despite not having a single vote cast against her all season.  Probst, the players, and the jury handled the tribal excellently giving Cirie a round of applause for her amazing Survivor career. 

1st) No valid votes then a deadlock (Survivor: Cambodia)

The second best season had the best tribal at their F6.  Spencer had Individual Immunity, Wentworth played an idol, Jeremy played an idol.  They each had three votes, all canceled out.  On a revote there was a 3-3 deadlock Kimmi-Tasha.  That left Keith the only person able to be voted out, in Cirie-esque style, but before that happened the group unanimously named Kimmi for elimination.  In many ways this was a similar tribal to the F6 in Game Changers but this one takes the grand prize as it combined multiple things (alliances, a deadlock, idols, etc) rather than just idols and advantages getting played.