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Ranking the best new player casts in Survivor history

By Leigh Oleszczak

Photo: Robert Voets/CBS Entertainment ©2019 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Photo: Robert Voets/CBS Entertainment ©2019 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. /
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STUDIO CITY, CA – MAY 21: (L-R) “Survivor: Cagayan” winner Tony Vlachos, Spencer Bledsoe, runner-up Yung “Woo” Hwang and Kassandra “Kass” McQuillen attend CBS’s “Survivor 28” Season Finale at CBS Studios (Photo by Mike Windle/Getty Images)
STUDIO CITY, CA – MAY 21: (L-R) “Survivor: Cagayan” winner Tony Vlachos, Spencer Bledsoe, runner-up Yung “Woo” Hwang and Kassandra “Kass” McQuillen attend CBS’s “Survivor 28” Season Finale at CBS Studios (Photo by Mike Windle/Getty Images) /

Best Survivor Casts – Number 1: Cagayan (Season 28)

It was a tough choice between numbers one and two, but ultimately, for the best Survivor cast ever assembled, I went with Survivor: Cagayan.

We were officially out of the “Dark Ages” of Survivor by the time Cagayan aired, but season 28 signified the start of the next era, which was a better era of the show. The cast resembled that too, giving us these gems:

  • Tony (Winner)
  • Woo (Runner-Up)
  • Kass
  • Spencer
  • Trish
  • Tasha
  • Sarah
  • Morgan

Oh man, SO many good characters on this season and I could honestly list all of them in the bulleted section above. Even the lesser players like Jefra and L.J. were fun and a part of big moments in the season. The pre-merge boots gave us Lindsey, who quit because she thought Trish was going to beat her up. That’s a REAL thing that happened!

Of course, most will remember Cagayan for introducing us to two-time winner Tony and his Cops’R’Us buddy Sarah, who worked their fellow Winners at War castaways. Even with these two being the highlight of this cast, you can’t go wrong with ANYONE from this group and it’s the reason Cagayan is looked at as one of the best seasons of all-time.

Fantastic casting.

~~~

A great cast almost always makes for a great season of Survivor and most of the seasons on here reflect that.

Seasons like the Australian Outback and Marquesas landed on here because they truly had incredible casts even if the seasons didn’t live up to the hype with the cast (Marquesas had a lot of interesting people go home pre-merge/pre-jury, like Boston Rob). Island of the Idols is a lower tier season due to the Dan situation, but without him there, it’d have likely been a really good season.

The other six seasons are regarded as some of the best in the history of the show and their casts are a HUGE reason as to why they’re so popular amongst the fans.

Some might wonder why I limited this list to only new player seasons and for me, that’s simple. If I included all-returnee seasons, Heroes vs Villains would be one and Winners at War would be two because we knew those players already and what they could provide us with entertainment wise. New school seasons are an unknown in that department and it’s fun getting to know the new players.

Next. Worst Twists in Survivor History. dark

What do you think, Survivor fans? Which seasons do you think have the best newbie casts of all-time?

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