When Rizo Velovic declared himself the “Rizgod” in the Survivor 49 trailer, a lot of people made fun of him. He looked like he’d be another overconfident kid who got ousted early, with that small snippet being his moment of fame in Survivor lore.
And that’s what the legends of the game saw of Rizo before heading out for Survivor 50, with the Rizgod joining them. So when Rizo put his toes in the sand at the Survivor 50 marooning, he was already behind the eight ball. It didn’t help when the fresh-faced Albanian from New York City got on the nerves of legends like Colby Donaldson, before ultimately winning him over.
It especially hurt that Rizo embodies what a new era player looks like. No camp life. No survival skills. Just gameplay. But that’s what Survivor has turned into now with the shortened, fast-paced 26-day seasons. And the Rizgod perfected it.
Well, almost perfected it.
History repeats itself for Rizo Velovic at the Survivor 50 live finale.
Of course, Rizo fell short again in Survivor 50, joining the history books as the first player to lose twice in the Final Four fire-making challenge. Not only that, but he went to the jury the exact same way in back-to-back seasons. He was up against one of the best remaining players—and fire-makers—in Jonathan Young, who had made fire every day he was on the island and studied under Boston Rob Mariano prior to flying out for the iconic season.
But before that, it looked like Rizo had carved out a nice path to the end for himself. He had a secret alliance with the best player to never win in Cirie Fields, and his night on Exile Island with her no. 1 Ozzy Lusth cemented the "Cirie’s Rizard of Oz" alliance.
He weaved through the game, besting Charlie Davis in a head-to-head blindside that drew a line in the sand before the merge. He was gifted the Billie Eilish Boomerang Idol, and held onto it until its expiration tribal—though no votes came his way—despite it being common knowledge once all the players converged on the same beach. In a different season, Rizo may have been able to be the one taken to the end at the Final Four, or he may have had a chance against someone other than Jonathan in fire making.
But I don’t think it would’ve mattered.
Rizgod was drawing dead in Survivor 50—here's why.
Jeff Probst has said himself that some players have no chance of winning the game from the second they set foot on the island. I believe Rizo fell into that category. Even if he had gone to the Final Three with two players who may not have deserved the win, he had rubbed people the wrong way and couldn’t have changed their minds in the end.
So, for as tragic a finish as Rizo had to his Survivor 50 game, it may have ultimately been his destiny given his route to get there. And in the end, Rizo proved that he deserved his "Rizgod" moniker, going from a fan to one of just a handful of multi-time players to never be voted out in just a few months.
This isn’t anything against Rizo. In fact, I’m a big fan of the Rizgod and would love to see him play again (and likely a fourth time after he’s deemed too big of a threat his third time around). It was just the way the cookie crumbled, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
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