Survivor 46 power rankings heading into the season finale

Then there were five. The Survivor 46 season is coming to a close and for all that it has lacked in strategic play, two people have controlled the game since the merge, and that hasn't really happened to this extent in the modern post-COVID era of the game.

It didn't seem likely, or even possible, but for the fourth straight tribal council, someone went home with an idol in their possession. This time it was Q, and he even kept it secret from everyone but Maria. Q placed his game in her hands in hope that she would be able to rally enough votes to take out Charlie. It wasn't to be. Q, despite his confidence, was sent to the jury.

Survivor 46 final power rankings of the season

No. 5: Ben

Last week - 6

If this were based strictly on a social game, Ben might be higher on this list, but he will have a very hard time selling himself to a jury. He hasn't made a single move in this game that wasn't following someone else's lead.

The lack of food seems to have adversely affected him more than anyone else, even Liz. He seems to be beset by anxiety and night terrors, and outside of his winning personality, he seems unequivocally ill-suited for the game of Survivor.

His only chance is to go to final tribal with Liz and Kenzie and he would have had to do something personally to get there, other than being pulled there by someone else.

No. 4: Liz

Last week - 5

Liz finally got her wish and was able to dismiss Q from the game. She allowed herself to be convinced by Maria and Charlie to keep using Q as a vote, but she'd had enough. Q had been in her sights for a while now, ever since he blew up her only big move in the game, which was to vote out Tevin.

She pulled the move off, but with his shenanigans at tribal, it completely overshadowed this key move. If she makes it to the final tribal council, this will be her biggest argument. It could be enough to beat Ben, and maybe Kenzie, but not enough to beat Charlie or Maria.

Unlike Ben, she's at least been trying to make moves, but no one really knows how the jury regardless her in general. She seemed high maintenance around camp, and fairly annoying, but that could just be the edit.

No. 3: Kenzie

Last week - 4

Kenzie has tried to make moves in this game, but she never got to the point where she did. It may work in her favor, if she makes it to the end, that she was on the wrong side of the vote that sent Tiffany to the jury, but it could be negated if Tiff knows Kenzie tried the previous vote to make that happen anyway.

She's been an interesting player, and it doesn't seem the audience got to see her full potential. After the merge, she, Tiffany, and Q kind of had to stick together for protection and vote as group, but Q quickly took whatever thunder that was available. It always felt as if she was on the cusp of making a game-changing move, but she never did.

If she, Liz, and Ben can somehow block Charlie and Maria from making the final three, it will be a toss-up between her and Liz.

No. 2 - Maria

Last week - 2

For the first time in the game, Maria tried to make a big move without Charlie's help, and it failed. Of course, it was to take out Charlie, her partner in crime since the very beginning. That it failed tells you why she is ranked second, rather than first.

She did such a great job pulling Q into her voting block and convincing people like Venus and Liz to vote out people who might be bigger threats. That confidence pushed her into making her biggest mistake of the game.

She should have realized at some point that everyone was going to vote for Q. No one wanted him in the game. She believed everyone when they agreed with her that Charlie should go next, and she passed that confidence along to Q, who then didn't play his idol. She's played a great game, but that was a big misstep, and you could see on her face she knew it as Jeff read the votes.

No. 1 - Charlie

Last week - 1

Charlie is one of the more subtle players Survivor has featured in a while, and it has worked out for him thus far. He's been in on every move Maria has made, and he survived Maria's attempt to take him out. It will basically come down to the next immunity challenge.

If either Charlie or Maria can win immunity, the other will go home. They are the most likely candidates to win the remaining challenges, but you just never know.

If one or the other makes it to the final tribal council, it should be a blowout. There is just one tiny thing that could possibly bite Charlie in the rear end. Was he too subtle? He often deflected to credit to others to keep attention off himself. He used everyone he could as shields.

Even in the last episode, he invited Kenzie and Liz on his reward and let one of them bring up Q. Will the jury give him credit for that? Will they know how well he played the game from the shadows and how far he was looking into the future throughout the game after the merge? He is very convincing when he is talking, so it will be interesting to see if he can make the jury see the truth of things.

If by some miracle both Maria and Charlie make it to the final three, Charlie probably loses head-to-head with Maria. It seems like the other players love Maria and have considered her the alpha of the two. Maria even thinks that. It is imperative that Charlie win the next immunity. If one of the other three wins it, he might be able to convince them Maria is the bigger threat, but it is no sure thing.

If anyone other than these two win Survivor 46, it will be a travesty. They've been the only two playing an effective game. One of them deserves the title of Sole Survivor.