In keeping with tradition, Entertainment Weekly asked our latest cast of returning players who their first vote off the island would be regardless of tribal lines and immunity status. And the Survivor 50 cast certainly delivered. Not only dropping names, but also definitive hints into how these 24 castaways are going to approach their return to the game.
While some gave out-of-game, humorous answers as to not truly give away any strategy before day 1—Jenna Lewis-Dougherty chose Benjamin "Coach" Wade because she reads romantasy books and likes dragons, so doesn't want the self-proclaimed "Dragon Slayer" around while Survivor 45 winner Dee Valladares voted out Colby Donaldson because he, "took the stairs instead of the escalator" at the airport—most of the responses offered real insight into what type of gameplay our players view as the most deadly going into the season.
There were four players who received the most votes with a clear pattern forming among them.
Of the 24 players participating, 50% of the votes went to four players with the rest distributed amongst eight other players. So before the game even begins, half of our castaways have already raised red flags with their fellow tribe mates and half will be keeping their eyes on the following four people.
Kyle Fraser (Survivor 48 Winner)
To no one's surprise, the most recent winner of Survivor prior to season 50 filming has a target on his back. Not only did Kyle play a masterful game, winning him the $1 million, but he's also entering Survivor 50 with two of his closest known allies right next to him. There's no doubt people would view him as a threat. Especially past social strategic players like Cirie Fields, Ozzy Lusth, and Mike White, all of whom voted for him.
Ozzy declares he "played too good of a game" by being a challenge beast as well as savvy, very similar to how Ozzy has previously approached the game himself. Mike and Cirie are both decided that he's too recent a winner with too much to prove, making him too big a threat.
Dee Valladares (Survivor 45 Winner)
And of course, if people are on alert for one known winning, they're going to be gunning for the other one as well. Quintavius "Q" Burdette, Rick Devens, and Savannah Louie (who the others had only heard rumors about winning Survivor 49 by this time) all voted her out for slightly different reasons that still add up to a potential larger tribe concern.
Devens notes that he was the On Fire with Jeff Probst podcast co-host during the season Dee won, which means he paid very close attention to how she played, going so far as to say she's "easily the best winner of the new era." Claiming she's well-liked by everyone and just better at Survivor than him, he needs her to go. And Savannah has similar feelings as she shares she wants to be her friend in real life, even modeling her original strategy after Dee's season 45 gameplay, which means she needs her out before she can win again. And according to Q, Dee's, "already won."
Rizo Velovic (Survivor 49)
Just as anticipated, our Survivor 50 castaways are fearful of the two newest members of the returning Survivor family due to the fact that they know nothing about them or how they played their game. And with how naturally charismatic Rizo is, it's clear that he'll likely be the first target of our two season 49-ers with no one wanting to lose their potential allies to him. Joe Hunter, Tiffany Nicole Ervin, Coach, and Kyle are all agreed that its the unknown about him that makes him a threat.
All three new era players declared "I don't know you" as the reason for them voting out the self-proclaimed "RizGod" while Coach went as far as to compare Rizo entering the game to his experience with Russell Hantz in Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. Due to filming schedules, Russell's appearance in Survivor: Samoa didn't air until after they finished filming his return for Heroes vs. Villains, so no one knew who he was or how he played going into the game where he ultimately made it to the Final Tribal Council. Coach is worried about history repeating itself with Rizo.
Benjamin "Coach" Wade (Survivor: Tocantins, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, Survivor: South Pacific)
While Jenna, Rizo, and Colby's votes against the "Dragon Slayer" were all placed rather humorously, it is fair to see Coach as an early target in the game. His previous runs demonstrated social strategy that embedded him deep enough in other player's games that he made it onto the jury twice before claiming second place in his last appearance.
While this season's returning players likely have a good enough read on him that they can see through the cult-like leadership strategy he used in Survivor: South Pacific that gained him enough favor to make it to Final Tribal Council, that doesn't discount the fact that he loves engaging people with a good story and no one's ever really been able to know whether he's telling the truth or not. That's a scary skill to have in an ally and not someone you necessarily want around.
Who else was on the chopping block?
The other eight players who had their names written down were Charlie Davis, Colby Donaldson, Genevieve Mushaluk, Joe Hunter, Jonathan Young, Q Burdette, Rick Devens, and Savannah Louie. And comparatively, if you had to put all the above players in a box, they'd really easily fit into a category of people who know how to easily build out-of-game relationship bonds without jeopardizing their ability to vote you out at the next Tribal Council.
The name of the game for Survivor 50 may very well be brains and brawn over buddy-buddy. People are coming for the social players this season. The ones who like to talk like you're in charge. The ones who know how to persuade a jury. The ones who manage to say just the right thing to get the target off of them and onto someone else. Their game is being clocked and our strong and strategic-first castaways are not going to allow any of that to happen.
Only a few weeks left until we see if our players hold true to their pre-game plans or if a game shake-up hits the marooning beach and leaves everyone wondering what their next move needs to be. Survivor 50 premieres Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+!