Russell Hantz’s Top 100 Greatest Survivors Ever

2. Parvati Shallow (Cook Islands, Micronesia, Heroes vs Villains, Winners at War)

Prior to Winners at War, Parvati Shallow probably would have been number one on this list. It didn’t seem like Parvati would be a legendary player after she played a pretty mediocre game in Cook Islands, but Candice declining an invite for Micronesia led to Parvati getting asked back and well – The rest is history.

Parvati completely changed her style of play in her second season, adopting a more aggressive style and forming the best alliance in Survivor history known as the Black Widow Brigade. Forming this alliance was genius because it bonded all of the women together and that was the easiest way to get all of the strong men out of the game.

Her blindsiding Ozzy and Jason were fantastic moves and she was able to maintain control of the game throughout. She was a no-brainer to bring back for Heroes vs Villains and should have won that season, but unfortunately was met with a bitter jury who didn’t respect her alliance with Russell.

Parvati’s best move ever came in Heroes vs Villains when she played two Hidden Immunity Idols at the first tribal council at the merge when it was five Heroes against five Villains. She talked to Amanda and could tell her former buddy was lying to her, so she played the idols on Jerri and Sandra instead of herself. That alone would have been a big enough move to win her the game, but again, the jury didn’t want to reward her with another million bucks.

Parvati should have been the show’s first two-time winner, but she’s still one of the best to ever play the game. We came so close to her making the merge in Winners at War, but that darn swap put her on the wrong side of the numbers.

Parvati was always an early target in every season she returned in, but she managed to make it far every time. She’s easily on the Mount Rushmore of Survivor players.

1. Tony Vlachos (Cagayan, Game Changers, Winners at War)

Tony Vlachos had to be number one and it isn’t even up for discussion. He’d have been a top 20 entry for his Cagayan win alone, but then winning season 40 – a season filled with winners – without having a single vote cast against him and becoming the second only two-time winner solidified his spot as the best player of all-time.

While Sandra also won twice, Tony played two of the best games that Survivor has ever seen and as such, the true King of Survivor was crowned.

Tony’s win in Cagayan was a ruthless cutthroat one. He had no problem cutting members of his alliance if it benefitted his end game, but he managed to keep the alliance intact time and time again. One of his best moves that season was telling the other contestants that his special idol could be played at the final four when it actually expired at the final five.

Tony really shouldn’t have even been in a position to win Cagayan because Woo should have taken Kass to the end. Tony convinced Woo that he’d have a shot against him and that led to Woo wanting to face him because it was the honorable decision.

While Tony was eliminated second in Game Changers due to his aggressive style of play, he returned for Winners at War and played arguably the best game Survivor has ever seen. The fact that he was a huge target early on, but somehow made it to the end without getting a single vote cast again him really just shows how incredible of a player he is.

The only person who tried to take Tony down was Kim and when he caught wind of it, he took her out and from there, the victory was practically his for the taking. He played such a good game and it’s really hard to make a case for why anyone else deserves this number one spot.

If you have an argument for someone else, I’d love to hear it in the comment section.