With the Final Four fire-making challenge a Survivor standard now, the castaways from Edge of Extinction detail their abilities, or lack thereof, to start a fire.
Ever since Survivor: Palau, the fire-making challenge has been a part of this game as the classic tiebreaker. However, that Final Four rule changed in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers when this tiebreaker challenge changed into a mandatory one. The winner of the Final Four Immunity Challenge now gets to pick one person to bring with them to Final Tribal, leaving the others to duke it out over fire. Whether you like it or not, this new twist is now a part of Survivor, making it even more crucial for castaways to practice this skill.
How has the Edge of Extinction cast prepared for the Final Four twist? ET Canada released a fun video of each contestant expanding on their abilities to make fire. With there being only 18 players this season, that means there’s an 11% chance for each castaway to face the fire-making challenge. If I have those odds, I’m definitely going to be practicing!
The four returning players all feel confident in their ability to make fire. I understand that they have played before, but from their pre-game interviews, it feels that they are leaps and bounds above the newbies in terms of physical and mental preparation. It’s not even close, which is one reason why a returning player has always made Final Tribal when they’re up against first-timers. In fact, David confidently feels that it will only take him 20 seconds to make a fire!
As for the new castaways, it’s quite a mixed bag. There’s a handful that believes they are good but not great at making a fire. Several others don’t envy their odds at winning a fire challenge at all, while Wendy professes that she has the drill down in just one minute.
However, I still feel that if any returning player makes the Final Four, they’re going to win out in fire. Not only have these four prepared for the situation, but they’ve also built fires in Survivor before, they are familiar with the materials. Either way, this Final Four twist has given many of these castaways a better opportunity to take their fate in their own hands to get to Day 39.