Survivor Season 41 episode 1 power rankings

Survivor 41 is finally here. With the first week in the books, we can finally do some true power rankings based on a wild premiere episode. It’s only the first week and we’ve already seen blindsides, changing alliances, and a live tribal. If the premiere was anything to go on, we’re in for a wild season. Hopefully, our power rankings can keep up.

As always, we’ll include where players ranked in our last set of rankings, though do remember that those were made during the pre-season. Now that players are actually on the beach, expect to see some big swings.

Survivor 41 episode 1 power rankings

Out) Eric Abraham (Last: 16) – We said in our last assessment that Eric was tough to rank because his bio didn’t give too much away. However, we had him lower in the rankings because of his age, which turned out to be the correct placement even if his age didn’t really factor in. Instead, it just came down to other players wanting to keep Tiffany in the game longer.

Out) Sara Wilson (Last: 10) – In the preseason we said Sara was a little too perfect for Survivor. That’s been a recipe for an early exit several times in the past and we weren’t too surprised to see that happen here. That said, it really did feel like she didn’t actually do anything wrong outside of not being a “strong” guy on a small tribe.

16) Brad Reese (Last: 8) – Brad shot up our rankings in the preseason after not being too impressed with him when the cast was first leaked. However, he quickly demonstrated that he doesn’t really get Survivor strategy. Plus, we saw him racing around the beach in the preview for next week, which has us worried for his future.

15) Naseer Muttalif (Last: 12) – Consider us firmly on the Naseer bandwagon. That said, his spot was immediately blown up by Sydney last night after he tattled on Danny and Deshawn. And,  we heard on the preview for next week that the tribe is actively looking to get rid of him. Much to our chagrin, things don’t look rosy for Naseer.

14) Heather Aldret (Last: 17) – Nothing against Heather, but we got almost nothing from her in the first episode. That could mean she’s going far, but it also tells us she probably isn’t going to be a major character in the season.

13) Jairus “JD” Robinson (Last: 11) – JD came into the game like he was shot out of a cannon. It’s hard to remember seeing someone play so hard, so fast, and not get voted out early on in the season. Maybe JD takes a second to slow down and turn himself into the Survivor player he has the tools to be. For now, he’s on boot watch.

12) Genie Chen (Last: 18) – Genie has settled into this slot in our rankings because she seems completely out of her tribe’s strategy. That’s far from a good thing, but it also means she likely won’t be targeted at this point. She’s just not a threat to them and could ride that for a few votes depending on how the power dynamics shake out.

11) Xander Hastings (Last: 13) – Xander didn’t have a bad episode, but he was certainly less visible than most of the rest of his tribe. That tells us that he might not be one of the big players and could get voted out soon if things don’t go his way. He does have that extra vote and doesn’t seem to be in any immediate danger. However, he needs to show us something in episode two if he wants to move up.

10) Erika Casupanan  (Last: 15) – Like Xander, Erika didn’t show us much in the premiere. Granted, her tribe was the only one safe, so it’s not too surprising that she only got two confessionals. She’s not in severe danger just yet, but her spot isn’t one we’d want to be in.

9) Tiffany Seely (Last: 3) – Tiff has to drop because she’s potentially the next boot up on the Yase tribe. Evvie seems untouchable at this point and her closest allies on-screen appear to be Voce and Liana. Yes, she wants to work with Tiffany, but we see her strategizing with other players first. That leaves either Tiffany or Xander, which means we can’t keep Tiff as high on our rankings even though we continue to love her. Though, it should be noted that her getting that Russell Swan edit when looking for an advantage probably isn’t a good sign.

8) Deshawn Radden (Last: 6) – Deshawn is fine. He probably wouldn’t have even dropped if his tribe had gone to tribal council. But they didn’t and other players have jumped him because of good gameplay. It’s hard to see Deshawn being the first boot from the Luvu tribe.

7) David Voce (Last: 14) – Voce makes a big jump up with a surprisingly great premiere episode. Instead of being the arrogant jerk he came off as in the preseason, he’s been edited as a brainy gamebot. That’s not the best edit for a winning game, but he’s probably sticking around for a bit.

6) Liana Wallace (Last: 9) – Was Liana overly impressive in the first episode? No, but she didn’t do anything wrong. We expect her to comfortable skate through to the merge. Then, we’ll see what kind of chops she really has.

5) Sydney Segal (Last: 1) – What was that edit? Sydney is so hard to read right now. On one hand, she’s smartly blowing up Naseer’s game to make sure she’s not the target. On the other, she’s not very good at crab catching. Look, Sydney is funny. She’s going to have a good time on the island, and we’re happy to sit back and enjoy it alongside her. Even if that only lasts for a few more weeks.

4) Danny McCray (Last: 4) – Danny was the dominant force on the Luvu tribe. Not only did he help beast the competitions, but he also got through the “Risk Your Vote” twist with everyone seemingly believing his story (which we’ll grant, was true). Plus, he had double the number of confessionals of anyone else on his tribe. He’s going to be a force.

3) Evvie Jagoda (Last: 5) – Like Danny, Evvie was the boss of their tribe. The tribe’s strategy seems to run through even and they have several allies that should have the early game well controlled. If they can continue to build relationships as we move forward, this could your winner.

2) Ricard Foye (Last: 2) – Ricard stays in the second slot because he looks to be solidly in the numbers on Ua. That said, he doesn’t seem to have complete control like the person above him does. We can’t see him going anywhere for at least a few weeks.

1) Shantel “Shan” Smith (Last: 7) – Shan had an episode, y’all! What a showing. She’s in everyone’s ear and wasn’t left out of any plans. We saw her strategizing with several groups, signifying that she’s completely ingrained herself into just about every single alliance on Ua beach. She didn’t dominate confessionals or competitions, but she has the social and strategic game on lock. There’s no chance she’s the next boot.