Survivor winners: Ranking all 45 Sole Survivors by season

Best Survivor Winners No. 8: “Boston Rob” Mariano (Survivor Redemption Island)

There are differing opinions when it comes to naming the best winners. If you look at the player’s ability to win once in five tries, I certainly wouldn’t have him as my third-favorite winner. If you look at each winner on a season-by-season basis, it’s hard to argue that “Boston Rob” Mariano didn’t hold a titan-like grip of control on Survivor Redemption Island.

Boston Rob, in a short time period, turned the players of Ometepe into his own personal cult, controlling the flow of information, social behaviors of his tribe, and even eating patterns post-merge.

Nobody questioned Boston Rob, as he was willing to cut the throat of strong players within his alliance that he personally liked (Grant comes to mind) just because he knew they would eventually be threats.

Winning four individual immunity challenges, Boston Rob kept Ometepe strong enough while Zapatera was taken out systematically.

While it made for an utterly unpredictable season that introduced the worst gimmick in the show’s history (Redemption Island), Boston Rob, as a winner, was never in doubt. He created a loyal following that was bested by just one other.