Survivor Island of the Idols: Ranking the top 5 players of the season

4) Elaine Stott

Elaine proved that she was more than simply a likable personality. There was certainly strategy and social prowess behind her game, making her into a clear threat the rest of the players had no choice but to vote out. I found it remarkable that she was able to overcome that strong initial Day 1 target for being too likable. She turned a target into a strength, by playing a good enough social game to be accepted into a few alliances.

Christian Hubicki from David vs. Goliath comes to mind when I think of Elaine. They both had those rootable personalities that no one wanted to sit next to at the end, but they were both smart enough to weasel their way deep into the game. It’s funny that they also got voted out at the same point; in seventh place.

What made Elaine different from Christian is that no one expected her to be a strategic threat on top of a social one. After the swap when Vokai and Lairo both had four members on a new tribe, the Vokai members painted Elaine as the target and didn’t think she was smart enough to make something happen. How wrong were they!

Her composure enabled Elaine to grab the Block a Vote advantage mid-challenge without anyone noticing. At Tribal Council, she played the Vote Blocker perfectly, shocking the Vokai tribe and keeping her Lairo group intact. Elaine also played a key role in taking out Missy, who was one of the biggest threats in the game.

The reason why Elaine isn’t higher on this list has to do with the fact that she had very little control over a majority of the votes during the merge. She didn’t make good use of her idol either. That said, she played a solid game and moved millions of fans including Sia to root for the class clown of Survivor: Island of the Idols.