Ranking the FTC players 35th-1st

Through 35 seasons of Survivor we've had 35 different groups of either two or three players reach the Final Tribal Council and plead their case to the jury.  We've seen some seasons end with three amazing players, some seasons end with all weak players, some seasons end with had one amazing player and a couple of goats, and everything in between.  Here is a definitive ranking, 35th-1st, of the FTC combinations:

35th) Jenna Morasca and Matthew von Ertfelda (Survivor: The Amazon)

Jenna was the 31st best winner ever, and it could be argued that Matthew was the only end-gamer she could have beat.  Matthew was so unmemorable, and when we do think of him, it's for the times he polished machetes.  Needless to say, this Final Two was a disappointing end to a very good season.

34th) Aras Baskauskas and Danielle DiLorzeno (Surivor: Panama)

Another case of a bad winner (32nd best) and unmemorable goat at the FTC.  It's hard to believe that Danielle was brought back for Heroes vs Villains after a very lackluster performance in Panama.  She was, YES, definitely was, better than Matthew, but was a goat nonetheless.

33rd) Ethan Zohn and Kim Powers (Survivor: Africa)

Jenna's ex-lover's Final Two ends up in the bottom three of all time as well.  Africa was another fantastic old-school season with many great players but unfortunately, two of the least memorable made it to the end.  Kim wasn't a goat per say, but she and Ethan were both unbelievably boring.

32nd) Vecepia Towery and Neleh Dennis (Survivor: Marquesas)

Vecepia was a decidedly better winner than Jenna, Aras, and Ethan playing a brilliant social game, but Marquesas was a very early season and strategy had not evolved much by then.  Neleh was no goat and arguably played more strategically than Vecepia but had an awful social game, and this Final Two just does not stack up too well compared to many of the others.

31st) Tina Wesson and Colby Donaldson (Survivor: The Australian Outback)

Tina, like Vecepia, had a good social game but nothing more, and Colby had the potential to be a great player but made a very dumb move at the end which makes me remember him as a relatively weak player.  The Australia final two could have been so much better if the last few votes had gone differently, but alas, they didn't.

30th) Bob Crowley, Susie Smith, and Sugar Kiper (Survivor: Gabon)

And now we come to our worst ever Final Three in Survivor history!  Oh Gabon, oh Gabon, just where do I start.  Sugar was the strategic mastermind of the season and would have earned my vote at the FTC but had such a bad social game she was the no vote getter!  Arguably the other two were both goats with Bob winning and becoming the second worst winner ever, and had Susie won she would have been the worst winner ever.  However, Sugar's strategic game was good and Bob's social game wasn't bad, so they do edge out a few of the old school final twos, but not by a lot.

29th) Sandra Diaz-Twine and Lillian Morris (Survivor: Pearl Islands)

A truly excellent season (the best of the first 12 seasons) ended with a disappointing final two.  Sandra's game improved each time she played, but in the Pearls it was a fairly typical old-school game.  Lillian, like Sugar, was fairly strategic but very hated, and together these two are down low in the all time finals.

28th) Natalie White, Russell Hantz, and Mick Trimming (Survivor: Samoa)

Natalie is the worst winner ever and Russell should have won Samoa.  Natalie and Mick were both pretty much Grade A goats.  Mick is one of the least memorable Final Tribal members in Survivor History, and Natalie would be too, if she hadn't won.  However, Russell was such an amazing strategic player that I can't rank the Samoa Final Three any lower than this.

27th) Amber Brkich and Rob "Boston Rob" Mariano (Survivor: All Stars)

Amber wasn't the best winner (28th best ever) and Rob's social game sucked, but together they are decidedly better than many of these other FTC combos.  And isn't it cool to think that this Final Two is now a happily married couple.

26th) Brian Heidik and Clay Jordan (Survivor: Thailand)

Brian is far better than any winner below him on this list, but Clay was another Grade A goat and together they land 26th spot, because Brian wasn't that amazing.  Some people give him tons of love and he was decent (19th best winner ever, but c'mon, Clay Goat Jordan almost beat him because of his social game.

25th) Tom Westman and Katie Gallagher (Survivor: Palau)

Tom was actually quite a good winner but Katie was one of the very biggest goats in Survivor history.  Seriously, what did she do besides be annoying?

24th) Jud "Fabio" Birza, Chase Rice, and Sash Lenahan (Survivor: Nicaragua)

Fabio gets a lot of hate as a winner, but as described in my winner's rankings, I think he's very underrated.  Chase was a shrewd strategic player and in a 5-4-0 vote almost beat Fabio in the last truly close vote in Survivor history.  Sash was no goat either (just had a terrible social game), and any Final 3 with no goat has to be rewarded at least a little bit.

23rd) Danni Boatwright and Stephanie LaGrossa (Survivor: Guatemala) 

Danni was the last classic old-school "social game" winner, but was more strategic than many of them.  Queen Steph is so awesome and is the main reason I have this Final Two as high as I do, and it's a bit of a shame that she didn't pull out the win in Guatemala.

22nd) Earl Cole, Dreamz Herd, and Cassandra Franklin (Survivor: Fiji)

The Fiji final three is interesting in that it had an okay winner (25th best ever), a strategic but terrible social player, and a goat, but when thought of overall it seems like a "decent" final three.  One reason could be because it is so unique as the only all-African American final three ever, or maybe it's because Earl's just so doggone likable.  Whatever the reason, I just couldn't rank it worse than some of these other seasons.

21st) John Cochran, Dawn Meehan, and Sherri Beithman (Survivor: Caramoan)

Cochran was quite a good winner (14th best ever) and Sherri played a great strategic game pre-merge that I couldn't possibly rank this Final 3 lower than this.  However, Dawn was an unlikable goat and Sherri's social game sucked near the end, so I also couldn't rank it higher.

20th) Rob "Boston Rob" Mariano, Phillip Sheppard, and Natalie Tennerelli (Survivor: Redemption Island)

Boston Rob is the first Top 10 winner to appear here but his Final 3 barely makes the Top 20 because he was with one of the worst social players and one of the biggest goats ever.  Seriously, Nat Ten was such a huge goat that she could have taken Boston Rob out but didn't.  Silly silly silly.

19th) Sophie Clarke, Benjamin "Coach" Wade, and Albert Destrade (Survivor: South Pacific)

Sophie was a fairly weak winner (29th best ever) but had her moments to shine, Coach played an awesome South Pacific game and should have won, and Albert, well, he wasn't as bad as some of these goats, that's for sure.  Kind of an average but definitely not terrible, final three.

18th) Richard Hatch and Kelly Wiglesworth (Survivor: Borneo)

Just like the season and winner, this Final Two was arguably the hardest one to rank.  In the end, I gave Richard credit as a great winner for inventing alliances, and Kelly some credit for her immunity wins, and landed them a respectable spot on this ranking.

17th) Chris Daughtery and Twila Tanner (Survivor: Vanuatu)

I am currently in the process of rewatching Vanuatu and am at the Final 7.  Even though I've seen the show, it's hard to believe Chris really makes it to the end, and that's a testament to the truly great game he played.  Twila was also always thinking in game mode, and did the best she could to play socially.  A very fun and respectable Final Two.

16th) JT Thomas and Stephen Fishbach (Survivor: Tocantins)

You can say what you want about Tocantins, JT, and Fishbach, but there is no denying that these two were an incredible duo that dominated the season in every way.  They would be even higher if Fishbach had been slightly better socially, and if they had been up against a better competition.

15th) Natalie Anderson, Jaclyn Schulz, and Missy Payne (Survivor: San Juan del Sur)

This Final Three is actually one of the Final Threes that inspired me to do this ranking.  Natalie was a very good winner, Jaclyn was a very good runner up, and Missy was no goat and her moments.  In addition all three were fun to watch, and having our third ever all-female final three was too much fun.  If Natalie and Jaclyn had played slightly more well-rounded, better games, this Final Three would have been Top 10.

14th) Todd Herzog, Courtney Yates, and Amanda Kimmel (Survivor: China)

Like JT and Stephen, the players that reached the end in China, worked as a strong unit together all season long and dominated the game.  To me that speaks volumes.  No goats, a strong winner, and two runners up that returned in future seasons.  A good ol' classic Survivor Final 3!

13th) Tony Vlachos and Woo Hwang (Survivor: Cagayan)

Tony and Woo, my oh my.  Tony was the third best winner ever, and played possibly the most entertaining game in Survivor history.  Woo on the hand was one of the biggest goats in history.  This was one of the hardest Finals to rank as it had one of the best and one of the worst.  In the end, I could not, with due respect to Tony, rank it any lower than this.

12th) Denise Stapley, Lisa Whelchel, and Michael Skupin (Survivor: Philippines)

I have mad respect for Denise as a winner and neither of the other two were goats, though neither played brilliant games at all.  An appropriate 7-1-1 vote for Denise ended this season, but the Final Three as a whole was definitely not weak.

11th) Kim Spradlin, Sabrina Thompson, and Chelsea Meissner (Survivor: One World)

This Final Three is similar to JT and Stephen or the China Three in that these players were aligned the entire game but what makes this Final Three unique, is Kim's game.  The players in Tocantins and China worked together to get to the end, where Sabrina and Chelsea were goatish (not true goats, but goatish) and Kim used them like chess pieces to get herself to the end with two people she could beat.  Truly a spectacular winner (fourth best ever), and an awesome final three.

10th) Adam Klein, Hannah Shapiro, and Ken McNickle (Survivor: Millennials vs Gen X)

This is a unique Final Three in that the winner was average, but the two runners up were both very strong players, yet the winner won 10-0-0 (yes, it was all so odd I wrote an article on it).  When all the dust settled, you could not ignore how strong all three of these players were and they are very deserving of this Top 10 spot.

9th) Mike Holloway, Carolyn Rivera, and Will Sims (Survivor: Worlds Apart)

Mike is almost a Top 10 winner and Carolyn is one of our better runners up.  Both she and Mike were Triple Threats and it was an awesome FTC showdown where we didn't know who would win.  They'd be even higher if Will the goat hadn't been there with them.

8th) Tyson Apostol, Monica Culpepper, and Gervase Peterson (Survivor: Blood vs Water)

The BvW Final Three is very similar to Worlds Apart's Final Three in that it had two very strong players (male winner and female runner-up), and a goat.  Arguably, Monica was not quite as strong a player as Carolyn but this Final Three is slightly higher in that Tyson was a somewhat better winner than Mike and Gervase, although a goat, was definitely a less large goat than Will.

7th) Jeremy Collins, Spencer Bledsoe, and Tasha Fox (Survivor: Cambodia)

A truly legendary Final Three from our second best season ever where the winner was so good he won 10-0-0 over the Cagayan Underdogs who both played very good games (though, arguably less good than both their games in Cagayan).

6th) Michele Fitzgerald, Aubry Bracco, and Tai Trang (Survivor: Kaoh Rong)

This is literally everything you could want from a Survivor Final Three.  A good winner, an awesome runner up, a non-goat second runner up, two fan favorites, a social player, a challenge beast, and a strategic underdog.  These three players each have several unique, positive qualities, and I'm tempted to rank them even higher because collectively they're just so friggin' awesome.  But in the end I couldn't, because:

5th) Sarah Lacina, Brad Culpepper, and Troyzan Robertson (Survivor: Game Changers)
 
Sarah is, simply put, the best winner ever.  I've said it once and I'll say it again.  She played like I thought no one could play in Survivor.  For that reason alone, it would have been hard to rank the Game Changers final three lower than this, and fortunately I didn't have to, because, although his social game failed near the end, Culpepper played a formidable game as well.  Would be even higher if Troyzan had not been such a goat.

4th) Parvati Shallow and Amanda Kimmel (Survivor: Micronesia)

And now, our best ever Final Two!  Like a few other seasons, these two, along with last-boot Cirie, played together the entire game, and were both epic players.  It is my firm belief that Parvati is the second best player in Survivor history, and Amanda is one of the best non-winners.  A masterful duo.

3rd) Ben Driebergen, Chrissy Hofbeck, and Ryan Ulrich (Survivor: Heroes v Healers v Hustlers)

This, along with the SJDS ladies, was the Final Three that inspired this ranking.  Our latest season (18th best ever) ended with an AMAZING finale, Final Three, and winner.  Ben is the 12th best winner ever, Chrissy is the second best runner up ever, and Ryan would look better if he hadn't been in the end game with such high quality competition.  It was so refreshing to have a revitalizing final three with no clear winner.  And THIS, ladies and gentlemen, is why I #support the new Final 4 format.  Without it we would have had a Chrissy/Devon/Ryan Final Three, which I'm sorry, would not have been nearly as impressive.

2nd) Yul Kwon, Ozzy Lusth, and Becky Lee (Survivor: Cook Islands)

The second best winner, the best runner up, and a goat take the cake for second best Final Three in history.  That pretty much says it all.  It was the most on-pins-and-needles final vote ever (5-4-0 with two incredible competitors) and it would be the best Final Three ever if it hadn't included such a goat.  Oh well, instead the best Final Three ever IS....may we have a drumroll....

1st) Sandra Diaz-Twine, Parvati Shallow, and Russell Hantz (Survivor: Heroes vs Villains)

The HvV final three included the two best players of all-time, and one of the best non-winners.  It has been a Final Three talked about at length, with many including myself claiming that Parvati would have been the best winner ever had she won HvV.  Alas, that was not the case, but you cannot argue that this was the only Final Three to include three Survivor LEGENDS, and is very deserving of this Top Spot!

Brains vs Brawn vs Beauty -- The Magic Format?

For five out of the last six all-newbie Survivor seasons, production has divided the tribes based on "characteristics", age, type-of-work, or something similar, of the contestants (Brains vs Brawn vs Beauty x 2, White Collar vs Blue Collar vs No Collar, Millennials vs Gen X, Heroes v Healers v Hustlers).  Of these, the two best seasons, hands down, were the two Brains vs Brawn vs Beauty seasons (Survivor: Cagayan and Survivor: Kaoh Rong).  They were the 6th and 9th best seasons in Survivor history, and the 1st and 4th best all-newbie seasons, respectively.  So the big question is... Did both seasons' success have to do with the Brains/Brawn/Beauty format, or was it just a coincidence both times?

The answer is complex, but I think it's a bit of both.  I am usually one to say "the format doesn't matter" because it's all over by the tribe swap 1/4 of the way into the season, and is often very irrelevant even before that.  However, that said, of course it does matter at least somewhat and I do think that Brains/Brawn/Beauty is the best of the four formats.  Why?  It's hardly a format, and if it was up to me there would be NO gimmicky "format".  Survivor always cast challenge beasts, nerds, and attractive people, even if that's not how they divide them.  And it's a hard format to "run" with.  In both Cagayan and Kaoh Rong, you heard much less reference to the "format" than in Worlds Apart or MvGX where Jeff was constantly making references between the players' games and their "division".  Sure, we had some annoying moments where Jeff brought it up in the BvBvB seasons (most notably with Morgan in Cagayan and to a lesser extent Liz in Kaoh Rong), but it was relatively minor compared to Worlds Apart and MvGX).  The argument could be made that Triple H was similar to both BvBvB seasons in that there was not too much reference to the "format" but I still felt more "aware" of the format than I did in either Cagayan or Kaoh Rong. 

However, by NO means, is this why both BvBvB seasons are so good.  Cagayan would still be sixth if its "format" was as noticeable as Worlds Apart's, and Kaoh Rong would still be ninth if its format was as noticeable as MvGX.  The lack of awareness of the format just helped make Cagayan and Kaoh Rong even just a bit better. 

I believe that the real reason that Cagayan and Kaoh Rong were so much better than the other seasons is because of casting.  A large part of that does not have to do with the format at all.  However, some of it probably does.  True gems like Spencer and Aubry may have been specifically cast on BvBvB seasons because of how "brainy" they are.  Another example could be the two cops on Cagayan or Scot and Cydney on Kaoh Rong, highlighting the "brawniness".  On the flip side, some of our weaker players in other seasons (Dan in Worlds Apart, Chris in MvGX, Ryan in Triple H) may have also been cast to fit the "format" of their seasons.  Therefore the argument can be made that the formats helped contribute to better casts in Cagayan and Kaoh Rong, and worse casts in the other three seasons.

The takeaway: BvBvB is a great format for new school Survivor.  The sad truth is, production loves "formats", and we'll probably have them for almost every all-newbie season from here on out.  However BvBvB is not an in your face, gimmicky "format" that makes the season feel "weird".  It probably doesn't affect how good a season will be, most of the success of the two BvBvB seasons did not have to do with formatting, but it may occasionally bring us some extra fun cast members.  I'd take BvBvB 3 over Worlds Apart 2, MvGX 2, HHH 2, or most any new "format", any day.