Eliminated from contention: 11. Sophie S: Got more focus this episode but it still didn't even feel like a great look for her. It's almost like the editors were pulling a fake Genevieve on us, just for laughs and nothing else.

3

Also eliminated but I can at least see the argument for them not being so: 10. Kristina: Weird edit with some solid pros but seemingly fatal cons. 9. Jawan: His storyline with Savannah is something, but it's clearly coming to a head soon with him as the loser. In the most danger next episode. 8. MC: If she were the winner, we would have gotten pre-merge content about her being an alternate and also technically pulling off the best pre-merge challenge run of all time.

2

Unlikely winners but without any truly fatal flaws: 7. Sage: I don't really know where her story is going after the Shannon boot. The only thing we have any real setup for is Uli wanting revenge on her right away. However she could also just get a new storyline. 6. Steven: I don't think it's impossible for the only person with a good edit from their tribe to win, but I don't see it happening this season. 5. Alex: Has a lot of content but it's dry and lacks a season long narrative or theme.

1

Secondary contenders: 4. Rizo: Honestly he hasn't popped as much as I thought he would after the premiere but that might be because of 50 bias. Obviously he makes some impact moving forward to get on 50 but I don't know what that will be. 3. Nate: He's seemingly been playing the most dominant game yet most of the strategic content goes to Savannah. Seems a little weird for a dominant winner.

1

Two horse race: 2. Savannah: I think people are kinda sleeping on how unusual of a winner edit this would be. If it weren't for everyone knowing she's on 50 I think there would be a lot more vocal doubters. If I'm really just basing this on the edit then she probably shouldn't just be at #1 the whole season. 1. Sophi B: I feel like we always know where her head is at in the game and we're meant to root for her, but she also never comes off as too over the top in any direction.

1