2. Domenick Abbate
For most of Survivor Ghost Island, Domenick Abbate has been the one in control. Sure, he plays things off as though he was reserving his energy and focus purely on Chris Noble and getting him out of the game, but he’s strategically employed that rivalry as a cloak to make him look less like a dictator and more like an everyman player.
Sure, he wasn’t able to vote out Angela back on Day 9, but he did whip up a plan that would have been employed were it not for the cunning mind of James Lim seizing a rare opportunity to take out a member of the majority. Since that mistake, the Navitian efforts to take care of Malolo first instead of going after the overall big targets has given Domenick the opportunity to slink back into the shadows.
With Wendell being the assertive, positive face for the core four alliance, Domenick was seen as someone to pitch voting ideas to in the episode after the merge, not coming up with the plans himself. As long as he can bite his tongue for an episode or two and then start kicking things into a higher gear at Final Eight or Final Seven, he could go deep in this game thanks to his idol.