With Savannah Louie being crowned the winner of Survivor 49, the New Era officially has nine winners in the books. The New Era has truly changed Survivor, with the cast having to find new adaptive ways to play and make it to the end of the game. Winners from the New Era differ from those of the Old Era, as they played a completely different game. While some New Era champions are considered to be Survivor legends, others haven’t made as big of an impression on viewers.
The New Era of Survivor has crowned nine diverse winners
The nine New Era champions all played unique games and secured their wins in different ways. While some of the winners were very well-rounded, others excelled in certain aspects of the game. Every player that wins deserves it; however, some winners did more to earn the million dollars than others. Here is our definitive ranking of Survivor New Era winners, from lowest to highest.
9. Mike Gabler – Survivor 49
Mike Gabler was one of the most surprising victors of the New Era. He won in a landslide and decided to donate all of his winnings in a historic moment. In terms of gameplay, however, Gabler fell short. He didn’t make many strategic moves of his own and was instead brought in on votes. Gabler even voted wrong on one occasion. While he played a decent social game and won immunity once, he didn’t play an out of the ordinary game. His biggest move was his win in fire, although many of the New Era winners have done that. Gabler was a great player, but his Survivor resume falls short in comparison to the other New Era champions.
8. Kenzie Petty – Survivor 46
Kenzie Petty won Survivor 46, although her game was weak compared to most of the New Era winners. While she excelled at a social game, the other components of her game lacked. Kenzie was constantly brought in on votes and never really made any key strategic plays. The strongest part of her game was the fact that everyone liked her and wanted to work with her. She did win immunity once, but only with the assistance of Liz Wilcox whom she later beat in fire. While Kenzie was a fun player to watch, her strategic resume fell short.
7. Maryanne Oketch – Survivor 42
Maryanne Oketch played an interesting game on Survivor 42. She didn’t emerge as a key player in the game until the Merge. Maryanne didn’t win immunity challenges, but her strategic game helped her to win. Her key move of the season was using an extra vote to blindside Omar Zaheer, who was a big threat. Maryanne didn’t show herself to be a threat until the end, which is a strategy in itself. Overall, however, Maryanne didn’t have as many big resume moves as most of the New Era winners.
6. Erika Caspunan – Survivor 41
Erika Casupanan was the first winner of the New Era. While she didn’t play a super aggressive game, she did what she had to in order to get to the end. She did strongly influence a few votes and won individual immunity twice. However, her main strategy was concealing her threat level in order to get to the end. Erika played a decent game, but she didn’t do anything that made her stand out above. Nonetheless, her game was well-rounded, making her one of the middle-ranking winners of the New Era.
5. Rachel Lamont – Survivor 47
Rachel LaMont had a difficult journey to the end on Survivor 47, where she was ultimately crowned the Sole Survivor. Throughout the majority of the game, Rachel found herself at the bottom. She survived mainly by becoming a challenge beast, as she won four individual immunities. However, Rachel had a lot of assistance getting to the end. She was saved by Sol Yi when she went to Tribal Council with the Tuku Tribe, where they admitted that they planned to vote her out. She also found an immunity idol in her fries at the Auction, which was pure luck. While Rachel was a great player, she more so survived until the end rather than playing her way to the end.
4. Yam Yam Arocho – Survivor 44
Yam Yam Arocho played a low-key game compared to many of the New Era winners, but it worked in his favor. Throughout Survivor 44, Yam Yam did a good job of not establishing himself as a threat. He was likable, however, and excelled at the social game. Yam Yam was also quite strategic and worked to turn votes the other way when he heard his name being thrown around. On top of that, Yam Yam got to the final four with his original trio alliance, despite being on the bottom for the majority of the game. While he didn’t control the game like the top three winners, he nonetheless played an excellent one.
3. Savannah Louie – Survivor 49
Savannah is the most recent Survivor winner, who has already earned her spot as one of the best New Era winners. While Savannah was perceived as a villain for a majority of the season, she did a lot to earn her win. She won four immunity challenges, as well as fire. Savannah played aggressively and managed to avoid elimination even without immunity, despite her name being thrown around. She also had a tight alliance of three that never betrayed her and helped her to get to the end.
2. Dee Valladares – Survivor 45
Dee Valladares won Survivor 45 after playing an impressively dominant game. She was a challenge beast, but also thrived in her social and strategy games. Dee was able to get to the final six with her alliance of four from her starting tribe, which is no easy task on Survivor. She also consistently controlled the vote and avoided being sent home on more than one occasion by smart strategic play. Dee was an incredibly well-rounded player and was able to openly control the game and still make it to the end.
1. Kyle Fraser – Survivor 48
Kyle Fraser arguably played the best game of any winner from the New Era. After the Merge on Survivor 48, Kyle essentially worked with everyone. He was a key member of the Strong Alliance, while also maintaining an undercover alliance with Kamilla Karthigesu. Kyle won several challenges and helped to sway the vote on more than one occasion. While he used an Idol to save himself before the Merge, Kyle was never a target post-Merge. He excelled strategically, physically, and socially. While Dee controlled the game openly, Kyle was able to do the same undercover, which makes his game just a tad more impressive.
Survivor is available to stream on Paramount+.
TELL US – WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE SURVIVOR NEW ERA WINNER?
