Every week, I’m going to rank the players based on their impact in the episode. These rankings are going to be completely subjective (so please don’t spend too much time critiquing them) based on my feelings of how entertaining the characters were, how they did competitively/politically, and how the episode impacted their overall game.

I’m going to keep running totals to determine who has the best season on War of the Worlds 2. The winner of this prestigious championship will be awarded the grand prize of nothing.

On that note, let’s get to it.

RANKINGS

13. Nany- As I predicted last week, this episode was Nany’s swan song. As much as I don’t like Team US, more than anything this season I just wanted Nany and Leroy to get a win.

It was honestly amazing Nany made it all the way until the last mission before seeing an elimination, considering she’s been the obvious worst girl on the US team since Faith left (doesn’t that seem like years ago?).

Losing to Ashley is nothing to be embarrassed about (or surprised about), but this was probably the only chance Nany was ever going to have to win, so to see her come up short is still extremely disappointing.

With just one finals appearance and eight seasons, Nany is just never going to break out of the good-but-not-great competitor tier.

12. Ninja- She was a non-factor this episode other than when she received a vote by CT to go into the proving ground.

With Ninja making the final, she becomes the first female to make it to the final in their first two seasons since Nicole Zanatta.

She’s one of the best new female competitors in recent memory. Having said that, I hope we never see her again after this season.

11. Paulie- He had a bunch of moments being a tool this episode. What else is new?

After he felt betrayed by CT saving Tori, he focused his anger on Rogan, because of course he’d never have the balls to call out CT.

He had the most (unintentionally) hilarious moment of the episode when he showed Rogan how serious he was by taking off his sunglasses, which he was for some reason wearing inside.

I mean seriously, wearing sunglasses and a beanie when you’re inside and in Thailand is straight of out of the “How to Be a Tool” handbook.

Paulie also said this week, “I don’t think anyone’s ever done what I’ve done in three seasons.”

Paulie’s supposed to be a big fan of the show, but apparently he doesn’t know his history that well. Here’s Paulie’s resume — two finals, no wins and a 3–3 elimination.

Darrell and Jamie Murray won their first three seasons. Wes won The Duel, won five exiles to make the Fresh Meat final, and racked up an 8–1 elimination record. Alton made three finals, had a 4–0 elimination record and won Gauntlet II. Jordan made two finals, including winning Exes II, and had a 4–1 elimination record.

Do I need to continue? Paulie’s not even in the top five for best starts to a career, and if it wasn’t for the ridiculous Redemption House format on Final Reckoning this would be his first final.

I’m not taking away from Paulie being one of the best competitors currently on the show, but he has a long way to go before he can start comparing himself to the greats.

As badly as Paulie wants to win a championship, I just as badly want to see him fall on his face in the final.

10. Cara- What a weird season this has been for Cara. Georgia said it best about her earlier this season when she said it’s like Cara doesn’t even have a soul anymore.

It’s just been kind of a slog watching her for the last couple seasons now, but you can’t argue with the results.

Her ability to stay out of elimination is just unbelievable. For the second season in a row Cara stayed out of elimination for the entire season, and it’s the fourth time in five seasons she’s pulled that feat.

At this point, Cara Maria’s resume is absolutely ridiculous. This is her ninth final, which is the most by anyone in Challenge history — male or female. And it’s her fifth final in five seasons, which no one has ever done (Kenny made six finals in a row, but they weren’t in consecutive seasons).

If she gets this victory — it’ll tie her with Evelyn, Veronica and Ashley M for most wins of all time for a female with three. Plus, Cara also earned an impressive win on Champs vs. Pros.

With all her accolades, it’ll be hard to argue against her being the female GOAT if she gets the win.

9.Kam- I got a lot of shit when I ranked Kam as the 18th greatest female in Challenge history in the offseason, but she’s only going to move up my rankings after this season.

While Kam sort of just got lucky to find herself on the right side of the numbers this season, she’s still one of the best political players on the show. She had Kayleigh as the puppet on her string this season, getting her to throw Georgia in twice. She also helped coax Leroy over to the Paulie side of the numbers.

Making her second final in four seasons (and first since her rookie season on Vendettas), Kam has had an impressive start to her career. She has a 7–2 elimination record, and while her War of the Worlds campaign wasn’t that impressive, she won three eliminations on Vendettas and had an excellent run on Final Reckoning, going 3–1 in eliminations with a below-average partner.

A victory could solidify Kam as one of the best young female castmembers on the show.

8. Leroy- It’s now or never for RoyLee.

He played a savvy political game this season, joining sides with Paulie and Cara and going against the side that has people he has a longer history with, like Nany, Zach and Jordan.

He went the whole season without seeing an elimination (which isn’t that impressive in itself, given that seven other players never went in), and clinched his fourth finals appearance.

But at this point, it’s win or bust for Leroy. Who knows if he’ll ever get back into this position again, and being in a team final is definitely the best chance he has to win.

He won’t be relied on to do anything mental, all he has to do is provide strength, not suck too much in the swimming and cardio portions and hope that other people can help him pick up the W.

7–6. Drogan- Maybe the most unlikely power couple in Challenge history, these rookies (by Gauntlet rules) were somehow able to get a free pass to the final without really proving much of anything competitively.

I give more credit to Rogan for his political game than Dee, as he was really the one calling the shots for Team UK throughout the season (although CT was kind of the one pulling his strings).

Rogan is the first guy to make a final in his second season after getting eliminated in his first since Johnny Bananas himself.

I don’t think Rogan is the next Bananas, but there’s no denying that he was an excellent addition to the cast this season, and it was a great move by production bringing him back after being on Vendettas for all of five seconds.

Dee had a relatively quiet rookie season on War of the Worlds in Wes’ shadow, but was one of the biggest stars of the season — for both good and bad reasons.

She had several emotional blowups, but also was impressive in standing up for herself and not taking shit from anyone (although it was a bit disappointing to see her run back to Rogan’s arms so quickly after he tried to throw her under the bus).

If Dee and Rogan get their first victory, they’d be the most random winners since Ashley M won her second season on Invasion (which doesn’t seem as random now).

They’re still completely unproven as competitors, but as characters they’ve shown this season that they should be around for awhile.

5. Zach- Who would have thought that Zach would be the most likable person of the season?

Seeing him giggling when CT saved Tori was one of my favorite moments of the season, and he was just on fire with his one-liners throughout the season.

This was by far the most I’ve ever enjoyed Zach. Not only was he fun to watch, but he played a solid game, hanging in the background and not getting on Paulie and Cara’s bad side, letting Jordan become their whipping boy.

Zach has made four finals in nine seasons. So why does it still feel like his career is a disappointment?

As weird as it is, I think Zach’s legacy is one of the most on the line in this final. He hasn’t won since his rookie campaign on Battle of the Seasons, which was against a very weak cast.

A second win will give him a lot more credibility after having so many letdowns throughout his career.

4–3. Jori- It’s been the season of Jordan and Tori, so it’s only fitting that they get a chance to win in the final.

Despite having both teams against them, they were able to make the final and were arguably the most impressive male and female competitors of the season (as Jordan single-handedly won the mission for Team UK this week).

They both have a chance to cement themselves as two of the all-time greats. While Tori is still early in her career, having a victory, another finals appearance and a 3–1 elimination record at least puts her in the conversation as a top-20 female of all time.

I had Jordan ranked number eight in my rankings headed into the season, and this season has likely earned him a spot in my top five. As a competitor, he’s on my Mount Rushmore now alongside CT, Landon and Alton.

With three wins in five seasons in the most competitive era in Challenge history, it would be hard to deny Jordan as one of the all time greats.

2. Ashley- It wouldn’t be a Challenge season without an Ashley meltdown, and that’s what happened when she was thrown into elimination.

I’ll give her credit though, she was able to compose herself and calm down before the elimination. Even when she got lost on the trail, she kept herself together and was able to demolish Nany in the puzzle.

Ashley is one of the most underrated smart players ever. As easy as it is to figure out the puzzle in hindsight, seeing Ashley do it in 30 seconds after a grueling run just shows why she’s one of the best competitors on the show.

It’s unbelievable that she’s just one step away from tying the record for most wins by a female.

I’ll be honest, I used to think Ashley’s wins were a bit of a fluke, but at this point there’s no argument against Ashley being one of the best overall female players the show has ever seen.

She’s one of the best political players ever, she’s one of the smartest players ever, and she is close to cementing her legacy as one of the best players ever.

1 CT- The Christopher Tamburello we all know and love finally showed up this week.

CT took some heat this season for choosing to value numbers over keeping his team strong, but in the end he made the decision to go against his alliance and bring Tori to the final.

While CT made some head-scratching decisions this season, it’s hard to argue with the end result.

He made the final without going into an elimination (this is the sixth time he’s made a final without going in, which is a Challenge record), and he has what looks to be a strong team beside him.

I hope CT doesn’t pull a Big Easy in the final, but as long as he can keep up his leadership is going to give Team UK a big edge.

Stray Thoughts

How weird is it going to be if Team UK wins? Their team consists of three Americans, one Australian and just one Brit. Can you really call them Team UK when 80% of their team isn’t from the UK?

The teams look to be pretty even headed into the final, but if I had to handicap it I’d give Team UK about a 65 percent chance of winning. They have less people, which is usually an advantage in the final. Dee and Rogan know their roles and will hang in the background during the mental stuff while CT, Jordan and Tori do all the work. I would imagine Paulie, Ashley and Kam will take the reigns during the mental stuff for Team US, which is fine in theory but they’ll have more backseat drivers trying to chime in. Plus, Ninja could be a huge anchor during a swimming portion.

As much as I’m rooting for Leroy to pick up his first win and even though this is the most I’ve ever liked Zach and Ashley, I’ll be rooting for Team UK in the final. Jordan and Tori are the most deserving of a win this season, and CT should have more than two wins at this point. Dee and Rogan being champions would be kind of weird but I’m all for having new champs, and I’m even more in favor of Paulie and Cara not winning this season.

This might be the first time I’ve ever fast-forwarded through a mission. The set up for Mine the Cart was so ridiculously dumb. Jordan getting to swim all three times while the US had to have two of their women swim rendered the entire mission pointless.

As for the elimination, I don’t know why it was hyped up to be a “Super Elimination” when it was basically just an easier version of a Fresh Meat exile. Run For Your Life wasn’t anything special, but for some reason they felt the need to have it done in secret. Maybe it’s just because this season didn’t have any twists and they wanted to have something to drum up excitement, but it did nothing for me.

Episode Grade: C+

Season Standings

32. S̵e̵a̵n̵ (1)

31–30. F̵a̵i̵t̵h̵ ̵a̵n̵d̵ ̵Z̵a̵h̵i̵d̵a̵ (6)

29. B̵i̵g̵ ̵T̵ (32)

28. N̶i̶c̶o̶l̶e̶ (67)

27. W̵e̵s̵ (76)

26. L̶a̶u̶r̶e̶l̶ (97)

25. E̶s̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ (103)

24. B̶a̶n̶a̶n̶a̶s̶ (131)

23. I̶d̶r̶i̶s̶ (138)

22. T̶u̶r̶b̶o̶ (168)

21. K̶a̶y̶l̶e̶i̶g̶h̶ (176)

20. B̶e̶a̶r̶ (181)

19. K̶y̶l̶e̶ (197)

18. J̶o̶s̶s̶ (198)

17. J̶e̶n̶n̶y̶ (189)

16. T̶h̶e̶o̶ (214)

15. Ninja (217)

14. J̶o̶s̶h̶ (254)

13–12. G̶e̶o̶r̶g̶i̶a̶ and N̶a̶n̶y̶ (256)

11. Cara (258.5)

10. Kam (277)

9. Zach (293)

8. Leroy (297)

7. Paulie (300.5)

6. Ashley (314)

5. Tori (317.5)

4. Dee (333.5)

3. CT (348.5)

2. Jordan (349)

1. Rogan (349.5)