It's been an interesting start to Survivor 48! A few days into the game, we have a good read on who the top players are in each season, but it's a much more difficult challenge in Survivor 48.
Across the board, these players are finding or winning advantages and hidden immunity idols. The Vula tribe can't seem to catch a break, but we're not ready to rule out any of these players. It's truly as wide-open of a season as I can remember on Survivor, and these players are ready to play.
Still, there are some bigger threats in Survivor 48 that we should talk about, heading into episode 3. After this episode, we'll be about a quarter of the way through the season. There's still a lot of game left to play. For now, let's take a look at the seven biggest threats remaining in Survivor 48.
Mitch Guerra
Mitch Guerra is one of the players I'm watching early in Survivor 48. While Mitch doesn't have a tight alliance on the surface, he is a super valuable art of the Civa tribe. It'd be a huge mistake to get rid of Mitch before the merge simply because he's so incredible in challenges. After getting out to a slow-ish start in the last challenge, Mitch stepped up and knocked down four or five shots in a row to win immunity and reward for the Civa tribe. If he's able to provide that challenge support and keep that going in the individual portion of the game,
Plus, Mitch rolled through that Journey puzzle and picked up a huge Block A Vote advantage. He's playing to win early in Survivor, but he's not playing too hard or too aggressively.
Thomas Krottinger
Speaking of advantages, we have to mention Thomas Krottinger and his Steal A Vote advantage that he picked up after solving the puzzle on the Journey. Thomas and Mitch walked away with advantages, while Mary Zheng lost her vote. Thomas is in a super strong alliance, the California Girls Alliance, with Joe Hunter and Shauhin Davari.
On top of that, Thomas is diabolical. He is the first villain of Survivor 48, and it will be really interesting if that hurts his chances in the long run. Overall, he's doing everything it takes to get ahead early in the game, but he might have slipped up by suggesting a ruthless move to stop Star Toomey from solving the codex and getting an immunity idol.
Kyle Fraser
Kyle Fraser made a misstep early in the game when he smashed the water jug he was meant to fill to win supplies for the Civa tribe, but he's more than made up for that mistakes. He's been solid in challenges so far, and he found the Beware Advantage, which led to Kamilla Karthigesu solving the puzzle for him and revealing the hidden immunity idol. Kyle has a lot of power in the game right now, but he has to use it wisely and be very careful who finds out he has an idol. I'm guessing most of the Civa tribe by now, which is not a good thing.
Does Kyle have the smarts and acumen to stay alive in this game? That's the big question for me. Is he savvy enough to make the moves he needs to make to win. I think he's going to go far in the game unless he's blindsided by his tribe.
Shauhin Davari
Shauhin Davari has been awesome in challenges so far this season, but his social game is on another level. It seems like he's connected with every single person on his tribe so far. While the Lagi tribe has a lot of action going on for a tribe that's been this dominant, I still think Shauhin is in a good spot. He's playing the long game, and he's trying to figure out what gives him the best path forward in Survivor 48.
Like Kyle, my only question about Shauhin comes down to strategy. Does he have what it takes from a strategic perspective to make the moves necessary to win? We don't know yet, but based on challenge performance and his social game, it's going to take a blindside to knock Shauhin out of the game. He seems very persuasive when he needs to be.
Mary Zheng
There's something about Mary... that seems like she's going to go far. Most people have her on the shortlist of players who should be going home in Survivor 48 episode 3, "Committing to the Bit." In the new clip from the episode, we see her running around the jungle and searching for the hidden immunity idol while Sai Hughley follows. I don't think Mary has done anything in the game to deserve the threat level so far. She's missed out on the opportunity for an advantage, and she's seen her two allies voted out in back-to-back Tribal Councils. I just have a feeling she's going to make a deep run in Survivor 48. She's still playing when other players might have folded.
Sai Hughley
Speaking of Sai, she has to be mentioned among the biggest threats in the game so far. From a challenge perspective or even a strategic perspective, she's not a huge threat yet, but her social game is amazing. I know the tribe is dysfunctional, but Sai has basically made the most out of a bad situation. She already found and played an immunity idol. She's focused on the long game, which is a good thing.
If Sai can vote out Mary and go forward with Justin and Cedrek, that's a pretty solid three-person alliance. No, they probably won't win any challenges, but there's a chance they could make a run just based on loyalty. I also think Sai just has a presence about her that really works for Survivor. She can get people to move in one direction, as we've seen in the first two episodes when she could have been voted out.
Kamilla Karthigesu
Last but not least, Kamilla Karthigesu deserves a spot on this list. She might be the smartest player in the game. Her main ally, Kyle, has a hidden immunity idol, which she helped solve. I just think she has a lot of things going her way in the game so far. She's on a strong tribe, in a strong alliance, and her top ally has a hidden immunity idol. Five days into the game, most players couldn't want more than that.
The issue with Kamilla is that everyone probably knows how smart she is. No one is going to want to face her late in the game when puzzles come into play in every challenge. She'll blow them out of the water, so that could be problematic. Right now, she's a huge asset to the Civa tribe because she's so smart. Will she keep the target off her back? We'll just have to wait and see.
So, those are the players who are the biggest threats in Survivor 48 through two episodes. We'll probably see players move to the front of the pack as the season progresses, but this is a strong group of players this season!