Winning Survivor is no small task, and winning in the new era has been even more unpredictable. When you're more than 40 seasons into a show, it's nearly impossible to replicate a previous winner's strategy because everyone will be able to predict your next move and then...you're out.
All of these winners had to carve their own path to the $1 million prize, creating their own definitions of outwit, outplay, and outlast along the way. But who takes the crown as the best new era Survivor winner, and who didn't live up to the rest?
1. Kyle Fraser (Survivor 48)
From day 1, Kyle came out of the gate swinging and immediately failed. But he used his ability to connect socially to begin course correcting and properly played a hidden immunity idol after a tribe swap put him on the bottom. After that, there was not a single second that he was not in control of the game. Despite what every future jury member told him, he played the game he knew would be best for him, and it worked.
This was especially impressive considering Survivor 48 was loaded with incredible players from the very beginning. So much so that it was the first season in the new era where all three players sitting at Final Tribal received votes.
2. Rachel LaMont (Survivor 47)
The gameplay of the new era really started to heat up with Survivor 47, and if you look back at all the defining moments of the season, Rachel was a key player in almost all of them. Her socially strategic game really started to become noticeable when she found herself at the bottom of a split Tribal Council and was gifted Safety Without Power to save herself.
From there on, she kept her hands on the wheel of her own game at all times—navigating a path around some tricky gameplay set up by her fellow tribe mates—driving herself directing to the Final Three for a nearly unanimous vote.
3. Dee Valladares (Survivor 45)
Dee set herself up as a great socially strategic player from day 1, aligning herself with others who she knew she could maintain control of without them suspecting she was actually at the wheel. She held onto that core four and utilized their votes to get rid of anyone targeting her before they had a chance to write her name down.
Plus, her confident winner's pitch at Final Tribal helped her secure just enough votes to beat out her show-mance ally Austin Li Coon and rightfully take the title of Sole Survivor.
4. Maryanne Oketch (Survivor 42)
Maryanne approached the game like none other, displaying genuine joy for every moment she experienced throughout her journey to her tribe mates while keeping all her strategy a secret until the very end. But that social play did not start her on the right foot and it took time for both her fellow castaways and the audience to accept her personality style.
By the end, it was clear that she was the rightful Sole Survivor of the season, with a stellar display at Final Tribal Council calling out her multiple hidden immunity idols and advantages that landed her a nearly unanimous win.
5. Yamil "Yam Yam" Arocho (Survivor 44)
Another extremely social-focused game, Yam Yam built bonds from the very beginning that got him through to the end. His Tika Three alliance with Carolyn Wiger and Carson Garrett helped change their fate in an unfavorable merge and ultimately took control of the game, moving them together to the Final Four.
And when Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt chose to give Yam Yam a spot in the Final Three and beat out Carson at fire, he was the most strategic of the original allies to make it to the end, allowing him to claim the $1 million with a 7-1-0 vote.
6. Erika Casupanan (Survivor 41)
As the first winner of the new era, Erika was setting the pace for those to come. But because of all the new format changes to the show that came with the inaugural new era season, Erika's win was overshadowed by odd production-introduced gameplay—we'll never forget the hourglass—and a poor quality winner's edit.
Since the show didn't set her up as a narrator for the season, her social game and under-the-radar strategy were not well documented, making her win seem like a little out of nowhere to fans. But she did in fact play hard and deserve her win.
7. Kenzie Petty (Survivor 46)
While there's no question Kenzie was a great social player who connected with her tribe mates in ways that transcended the game, with the controversy surrounding her Final Five immunity win, it's hard to say if she would have even made it to Final Tribal Council had Liz Wilcox not forfeited her chance to win in order to help Kenzie secure the necklace.
There was definitely strategy in her game, but it often fell to the wayside, which landed her and her alliance members on the bottom more often than not. But in the end, the jury felt her social game was a better display than Charlie Davis' strategic game and she squeaked out a 5-3-0 win.
8. Mike Gabler (Survivor 43)
The Final Tribal Council of season 43 is still by far the most controversial of the new era, and with it, Gabler is considered one of the most puzzling winners. Based on the facts, his win stems from a strong social game, building connections to get to the end and secure an overwhelming seven jury votes. But a deeper look shows those votes weren't necessarily for Gabler, but more so against Cassidy Clark.
Because of this, it's hard to compare his game against other new era winners since the game he played didn't really contribute to the reason he won due to a bitter jury. Overall, I think most fans view the results of Survivor 43 as a blip in the system that we try not to talk about because it still confuses us.
Now we wait to see how our Survivor 49 winner will compare to the rest of our Sole Survivors before the tables turn for Survivor 50! It's going to be a whole new game and I can't wait to see what's in store!