‘Survivor 50' Power Rankings: Who's Most Likely to Win Before Episode 8
‘Survivor‘ is promising one of the biggest twists in the show’s history for its 50th iteration on Wednesday, and that could mean the hierarchy of the favorites to win might drastically shift.
Last week, we saw our final winner cast member, Dee Valladares, voted off as the first juror to decide the new champion at the end of the season.
With 13 players left, here’s my ranking from least likely to most likely to win from the edit presented to us so far through the first seven episodes.
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13. Tiffany Nicole Ervin
I love Tiffany as a character and confessionalist, but having three episodes where she didn’t get a single confession is a death knell in her chances to win. She’ll continue showing her strategic chops the next few episodes, but a win seems impossible after an invisible pre-merge.
12. Chrissy Hofbeck
Very similar to Tiffany, Chrissy was just painted over during the first half of the season to be the winner of such a gigantic season. Plus, with her consistently calling out production on social media, it’s hard to see her being that outwardly upset if she were in the final three or the winner.
11. Joe Hunter
After being Superman in the 48th season, Joe is now coming across as a foil to the bigger characters or a sidekick to the likes of Benjamin “Coach” Wade and Jonathan Young. He might get to the end, but with his gameplay and how he’s been edited this season, Joe isn’t winning.
10. Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick
Stephenie got a lot of content in the seventh episode, but that’s only because they had to, since she went on a single-person journey and had to narrate her own mission. Overall, Stephenie comes off as a supporting character more so than someone who can win the game.
9. Benjamin “Coach” Wade
Coach is one of the most entertaining players in ‘Survivor’ history, but it almost seems impossible that he can win with what we’ve seen so far. Players are laughing in his face in confessionals, and we’re seeing him crack as a strategist even when he got his way with Dee going home last week. He’s getting set up as a dragon for another one of the contenders to slay in upcoming episodes.
8. Emily Flippen
Emily is one of the more fun characters on the season, always causing chaos with her loose lips and aggressive gameplay, but what is her overall story? Although she’s on our screens, she’s causing rifts in other players’ narratives rather than building her own path to the title.
7. Rick Devens
Similar to Emily, Rick is an awesome character and shows why he was cast on such a historic season, but his narrative feels like it’s propping up Christian Hubicki more than his own. If they make it to the end, the edit points to a Christian win over Rick. With the hidden fake immunity idol still Chekhov’s Gun waiting at tribal council, we need to see Rick come into his own as a character in the next episode or two if he wants to win.
6. Aubry Bracco
As a game player so far this season, Aubry might be at the bottom of the rankings. Her original tribe wanted her out. Her swapped tribe wanted her out. And after she didn’t play her hidden immunity idol during the triple elimination, Rick confessed that if she was going to do that, they should have just voted her off.
But Aubry is always present. She hasn’t gone an episode without a confessional, which is rare this season. And every time she fails, the edit makes a point of having her tell the audience she’s going to change the direction of her game. While it might not be a winning game, it feels like there are more legs than Aubry’s story, or why else keep randomly focusing on her?
5. Christian Hubicki
Everyone loves Christian, but he’s gone from the main character of the season in the first few episodes to a bit directionless as the story has opened up with the merge. He’s still a contender to win, but he, like Rick and Aubry, needs something big in the next episode or two to begin their coronation as the winner.
4. Cirie Fields
We’re now down to the final four, which are a tier above everyone else in terms of winner equity at the moment. Cirie is a part of the trio with Ozzy Lusth and Rizo Velovic that the show wants you to know is running the show behind the scenes.
So why do I have the legend behind her two peers? Because, similar to a Rick and Emily with Christian or Chrissy and Joe with Jonathan, Cirie is somehow being edited as the one propping up her two companions. And if Cirie was winning the biggest season of Survivor ever, I feel like they wouldn’t have her continually talk up a new legend like Rizo or a fellow old hero in Ozzy.
3. Ozzy Lusth
Ozzy, along with Christian, has gotten the most confessionals on the season, but unlike the robotics expert, his narrative hasn’t been stunted. Whereas Christian’s story has waned in the last few episodes, Ozzy’s has continually evolved. He’s moved from being frustrated in the early game to now showing his growth as a mature, more strategically savvy player alongside Cirie and Rizo.
2. Jonathan Young
The past three episodes have been about drawing a line in the sand, and Jonathan has been one of the central characters.
If one of the players in Coach’s honor-and-integrity-themed alliance is going to win the season, it’s Jonathan. He’s been built as the best strategist of the bunch, has shown positivity even when things aren’t going his way, and has planted seeds early in the season about how he’s grown as a player between seasons, even if others don’t see it.
1. Rizo Velovic
Who would have thought that the scrawny kid who did Fortnite emote dances during the 49th season would turn into the main character of the 50th, playing arguably the best game on the island alongside legends who respect him in Cirie and Ozzy?
It’s been a gigantic glow-up for Rizo, who was humbled earlier in the season by his elders for the better, and has turned into the ideal version of himself: still personable, but sharper and carrying himself like a threat that can get jury votes in the end.
Regardless of whether he wins or goes down in a blaze of glory, Rizo is establishing himself as one of Survivor’s new era legends who can be one of the main faces of the franchise moving forward.
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This story was originally published April 15, 2026 at 8:00 AM.