Survivor Winners at War episode 9 power rankings: Challenging times

2. Kim Spradlin

Quietly sitting in the shadows (albeit in a less vote-steering way) is Kim Spradlin, a player who spent the penultimate episode of Survivor: Winners at War before the merge explaining how she was building options ahead of that fateful day. Now that it has arrived, she’s got social shields aplenty while remaining close with those in power.

Having a Hidden Immunity Idol is a huge leg up, especially for a player like Kim, who hasn’t done what likely would have others targeted before her. While Sophie had Yul for the pre-merge as her nerd shield, the bonding they shared over her split idol will likely give her the option to play it on Sophie as a big move should she need saving (an eventuality becoming increasingly possible) or hold onto it and play it for herself if a vote split happens.

She also still has the poker-playing names in the game like Tyson and Jeremy to go to as social bonds to further deepen or use as protection should her name ever come up. It seems like she bounced back from being on the outs, as all the old-school players who wanted to replicate her pristine winning game have been cast to the wayside.