With Survivor's ever-evolving 25-year history, some twists are now just standard gameplay for our castaways, but even so, you never know just what to expect when they happen!
Though it's predicted Survivor 49's tribe swap will take place in episode 4, with the numbers down after Jake Latimer's shocking exit, our castaways have to be prepared for anything to happen. And as us fans at home try to guess just what game-changing surprise Jeff Probst has in store for them, I can't help but dig through the archives to see if the past can predict the future by looking back on the most important tribe swaps in Survivor history.
Survivor: Africa
Season 3 of the show gave us the first ever tribe swap in the most surprising of fashions. On Day 13, when both tribes were down to six players each, they were instructed to send three of their members on a quest. What they didn't know was that they would ultimately meet Jeff at the starting point of the season and switch places with the other castaways who had also volunteered for the quest and return to the opposing tribe's camp with new buffs. It's safe to say everyone was shocked by the switch, and it definitely turned the game on its head.
Survivor: Amazon
In season 6, the initial twist of the game came when Jeff announced starting tribes would be divided by gender—eight women on Jaburu and eight men on Tambaqui. Once the game got both tribes down to six people, they were instructed to send their youngest members on a journey. The two castaways met and were instructed to have a "get to know you" where they shared information about their tribes—one more than the other.
The next morning, they enjoyed a breakfast together when Jeff reappeared and told them they now had to conduct a schoolyard pick altering gender with each round to create the new tribes. They each returned to camp and informed their old tribe mates who had to report to their new tribe, where the information learned on the journey was used to break alliances and cause a major blindside.
Survivor: Phillippines
Similar to this season's Kele tribe, season 25 saw the Matsing tribe get absoluted decimated until they were only down to two—Denise Stapely and Malcolm Freberg.
When the time came for a swap, rather than truly mixing up the tribes, Jeff had the complete tribes absorb the two remaining Matsing players. At the bottom of their new tribes, fans expected they might have been the next two to go, but both Denise and Malcom utilized their position as a swing vote to keep themselves in the game until the merge. It'll be very interesting to find out if history repeats itself tonight in Survivor 49!
Survivor: Game Changers
Season 34 was truly game changing! The second episode saw the two tribes of 10 were divided into three tribes of six players only to once again be shaken up again during the fifth episode when the tribes were yet again swapped back into two tribes of seven—leaving one player buff-less and exiled.
That player was the iconic Debbie Wanner, and rather than being isolated on a island, she was secretly taken to a yacht where she spent the afternoon in luxury, talking strategy with Survivor: Caramoan winner John Cochran, who also gifted her a choice of one of three advantages. After the next castaway was voted out, Debbie took their spot on that tribe and convinced everyone she had really been in the worst place, even though she now had a full belly and an extra vote.
Survivor 48
Last season we watched as the ship of Vula crashed week after week until only 3 players remained. At episode 4's tribe swap, we were left we a completely new Vula—not a single original member remaining.
But even that wasn't enough to stop the unlucky streak as the green tribe lost another challenge sending a new group of cursed players to Tribal Council where future winner Kyle Fraser saved himself with his hidden immunity idol (and the help of his stealthy ally Kamilla Karthigesu) and changed the fate of his entire game.