We're officially down to the Finale 5 of Survivor 50 after the epic double elimination in episode 12. The winner of Survivor 50 will be one of these players: Aubry Bracco, Tiffany Ervin, Rizo Velovic, Jonathan Young, and Joe Hunter.
Heading into the final, it feels like it's basically anyone's season to win. And, remember, thanks to Rick Devins and MrBeast, the winner of Survivor 50 will win $2 million, tying Survivor: Winners at War for the biggest prize in Survivor history.
The Survivor 50 winner will be announced during the season finale on Wednesday, May 20, beginning at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+. For the first time since season 39, we're also getting a live reunion, so make sure you stick around for all the drama after the season, including the announcement of the Sia Award. Jeff Probst also revealed the fans will vote on their favorite player of the season, and the player with the most votes will win $100,000 from Sia!
With only one episode left to go on the biggest season of Survivor history in many ways, I ranked the five remaining players based on who is most likely to win.
5. Tiffany Ervin
Tiffany Evin has played a great game in Survivor 50. She's had her back against the wall more than a few times, and she's found a way to stay in the game. Part of that has been a little bit of luck that the vote moved off of her and on to somebody else, but she's more than held her own in challenges. She's also been a key part of a number of big moves this season.
Overall, Tiffany will have the hardest time of the remaining players, I think, to state her claim why she deserves the $2 million should she make it to the end. She doesn't have that signature moment that she can show how she swung the game in her favor... yet. There's still time for that to happen with a few more challenges and big moments to come in the finale.
Of the remaining players, Tiffany had one of the most troublesome edits of any player. While she's become more of a main character and had her confessional count rise, she was largely absent from the confessionals in the first few episodes. I don't think she's going to win based on that.
4. Joe Hunter
Joe Hunter has played a very similar game to Tiffany in terms of big moves. Joe has basically been part of key alliances that made moves, but he hasn't really earned that signature moment yet. Again, there's still time for that to happen.
For the second season he's played in a row, Joe can lean on a few things at Final Tribal Council, should he make it there. In challenges, he's been the biggest threat of the season. He's won three immunity challenges, and he almost won a fourth, but he couldn't figure out how to spell "Inconceivable" on both sides of the puzzle.
Joe is probably going to break the all-time individual immunity record if he plays again. He still has a chance to tie Boston Rob's record if he wins the final two challenges of the season.
3. Jonathan Young
Jonathan Young is in an interesting spot in Survivor 50. He hasn't performed in challenges the way we expected he would, although he did win the biggest challenge of the season, which allowed him to participate in both Tribal Councils with the smaller groups. Those votes did shift the game, but it wasn't exactly Jonathan's moves that shaped those Tribal Councils.
I think Jonathan has played a good game, but my fear with him is that I think he thinks he played a better game than he actually did. No one ever actually tried to take him out, as far as I can remember, and that, to me, is the biggest indicator that these players don't think he's a threat.
If he gets to the end, Jonathan will likely claim that he was in control of the game, which could backfire and open the door for another player to make a compelling case.
Of the jury members, I think Jonathan has a chance to get Stephenie, Coach, Chrissy, and Joe to vote for him. I struggle to see anyone else voting for him.
2. Rizo Velovic
I have Rizo Velovic higher on my ranking than a lot of people, I think, and that's fine by me. Look, Rizo and Savannah Louie were the wild cards on this season. Everyone knew that Savannah won, but no one knew about Rizo or how he played. I can't believe he wasn't voted out so early in the game. He won a lot of these players over, and somehow, he convinced two absolute legends, Ozzy Lusth and Cirie Fields to trust him. That counts for something.
Rizo has also dangled this idol for vote after vote just like he did on Survivor 49, but he's done it more subtly than he did the first time he played. Ultimately, Rizo still doesn't have that many big moves that he can call his own. He has more claim to the Ozzy blindside than Jonathan because he could have told Ozzy to play his idol, and then it probably would have been Aubry going home.
Rizo has an incredible story to tell these players if he makes Final Tribal Council, too. He has played back-to-back seasons and nearly reached the end, and it looks like it has come at great personal cost. If Rizo gets to the end, he can talk circles around anyone. He has the story; he has the skillset required to win at Final Tribal Council. He just needs like one or two big moves to get there and make it happen in my opinion.
1. Aubry Bracco
Aubry Bracco is so close to winning $2 million. She's been a player that has had a good edit, a good narrative arc in the game. She went from the bottom on a tribe planning to lose on purpose to vote her out to slaying the giants of Survivor 50 in order.
I know I just mentioned Rizo can claim Ozzy's elimination, but that was Ozzy's mistake and Aubry seizing the moment to make it happen. She probably gets the most credit for Ozzy's elimination. Then, she went toe-to-toe with Cirie Fields in episode 12 to take her out of the game. It seems like, from the edit, Aubry has had to work the hardest in the game so far to stick around. She has had to convince other players multiple times that she isn't the threat and that another player is the bigger threat basically since the merge.
Now, you can say that's not a winning strategy, but I think it is in the new era. Usually, the player who has had their back against the wall more than the rest of the group and turned it around is the player that wins that season.
In Survivor 49, Savannah Louie was in control of the game until the merge. She was blindsided and looked like she was on the outs before she totally turned that around and won the season. Rachel LaMont did the same thing in Survivor 47. She was outside the group with her back against the wall, and she totally turned it around to win. You can say the same thing about Kenzie Petty in Survivor 46.
Aubry has that same chance. If she can make a big move in the next few votes and then present her case to the jury, she has the most connections of any of the other players left. I think she has the respect of both the new era players and the old school players. I'd be very surprised if Aubry, should she make Final Tribal Council, get the votes of Rick, Christian, Emily, Cirie, and Ozzy.
We'll find out the winner of Survivor 50 on Wednesday, May 20. Don't miss out on all the fun!
Add us as a preferred source on Google