As we head into Survivor: Game Changers, it’s prudent to look at what records may fall. A lot of the records we’ll look at are those that resulted from the castaways playing in multiple seasons. Game Changers will be the eleventh season in which returning players have participated. The exciting thing about having so many seasons with returning players is that it leads to these types of records.

Hopefully, the thirty-fourth season of Survivor will see some of these records being surpassed because as the saying goes, “records were meant to be broken.”

Most Individual Immunities in All Appearances

Boston Rob Mariano (Marquesas, All-Stars, Heroes vs. Villains, Redemption Island) 9 Ozzy Lusth (Cook Islands, Micronesia & South Pacific) 7 Joe Anglim (Worlds Apart & Cambodia) 6 Spencer Bledsoe (Cagayan & Cambodia) 6

“Most Individual Immunities Won” is, in my opinion, one of the biggest stats outside of winning the game. Boston Rob Mariano’s nine wins come from three of his four appearances (he didn’t win immunity in his first season). You may be saying, “Boston Rob didn’t make it to the merge in Heroes vs. Villains”, however, individual immunity was up for grabs for each tribe pre-merge in a double tribal council episode (“Banana Etiquette”), and yes, Boston Rob did win it. Ozzy Lusth has the only realistic shot of beating this record in Game Changers; currently on seven wins, Ozzy would need just two immunity wins to match Rob and a third to surpass him (which knowing Ozzy is certainly possible!).

JT Thomas enters Game Changers with three individual immunity wins to his name, so would need three wins to get into the table alongside Joe Anglim and Spencer Bledsoe (four wins to surpass them). Malcolm Freberg comes in with two individual immunities, so would need four wins to get into the table. The same goes for Andrea Boehlke, also entering Game Changers with two individual immunity wins to her name.

Most Days Played in All Appearances

Rob Mariano (Marquesas, All-Stars, Heroes vs. Villains, Redemption Island) 117 Parvati Shallow (Cook Islands, Micronesia & HvV) 114 Amanda Kimmel (China, Micronesia & HvV) 108 Ozzy Lusth (Cook Islands, Micronesia & South Pacific) 104 Rupert Boneham (Pearl Islands, All-Stars, HvV, Blood vs. Water) 104

“Most Days Played” is a stat that Jeff Probst has brought up to castaways during the game. In HvV, Jeff verbally announced when Parvati Shallow and Amanda Kimmel surpassed 100 days played. Ozzy will have to play only one day to no longer be tied with Rupert Boneham, so unless he suffers a pre-game Ponderosa injury, then this one looks like a sure bet. If Ozzy manages to survive 14 days, he will surpass Boston Rob’s record of 117 days. If you are in the boat of viewers who wouldn’t like to see Ozzy hold that record after seeing him voted out three times and returning to the game two times in one season, you have a couple of options. The first option for those Boston Rob fans out there would be for Ozzy to be taken out before day 14 with Cirie Fields also departing early.

If you do not want Boston Rob or Ozzy to hold that record, your ONLY hope is Cirie. Coming into Game Changers, Cirie has played 85 days and thus would need to play 33 days to surpass Boston Rob in addition to knocking out Ozzy early. It helps that they are on the same tribe to start the game. It should be noted that Sandra Diaz-Twine can tie Boston Rob’s record by playing 39 days once again, which no one should put past her.

Other castaways who could move into the top five include Andrea (70 days), who would need to make it to day 39 to surpass Amanda Kimmel (108), and Malcolm (68) and JT (66) who could surpass Rupert (104).

Most Tribal Councils Visited in All Appearances

Parvati Shallow (Cook Islands, Micronesia & HvV) 32 Rob Mariano (Marquesas, All-Stars, HvV & Redemption Island) 31 Amanda Kimmel (China, Micronesia & HvV) 31 Russell Hantz (Samoa, HvW & Redemption Island) 29 Sandra Diaz-Twine (Pearl Islands & HvV) 26 Ozzy Lusth (Cook Islands, Micronesia & South Pacific) 26 Cirie Fields (Exile Island, Micronesia & HvV) 25

“Most Tribal Councils Visited” is an interesting record that Boston Rob doesn’t own and will be one that could be hotly contested throughout Game Changers. Sandra, Ozzy, and Cirie will all have the opportunity to surpass Parvati’s record. This one will come down to which castaway makes the merge as it is unlikely that all three, or even two for that matter, will make it that far given how big of a target each of these players are. If one of the three were to make it to the merge, it is likely that by the time they are voted out (or possibly not), they would have sat at the seven or eight tribal councils needed to surpass Parvati on this list. Unless they make it to the merge having never attended tribal (Michele Fitzgerald style) due to a pre-merge tribal winning streak.

Note: the tally includes Final Tribal Council appearances.

Most Wins in All Appearances

Sandra Diaz-Twine (Pearl Islands & HvV) 2 31 other folks including JT Thomas & Tony Vlachos 1

There will be three former winners returning for Game Changers. This is unique because the two previous all-star seasons that had winners return had four winners, respectively. When the Game Changers cast was leaked on Inside Survivor prior to the airing of Millennials vs. Gen X (with the MvG cast members not shown), I thought there was an outside chance that one of the MvG returnees was the winner. We now know that is not the case. Accordingly, that means that only JT and Tony Vlachos will be able to match Sandra’s record of two wins (King & Queen of Survivor, anyone?). Of course, anyone that wants to win the game of Survivor while being in the game with Sandra will have to beat her, which hasn’t happened in both attempts. Sandra, the lone person to hold the title of two-time Sole Survivor, will have a huge target that may be very difficult for her to overcome.

Most Times Voted Out in All Appearances

Ozzy Lusth (Cook Islands, Micronesia & South Pacific) 4 Rupert Boneham (Pearl Islands, All-Stars, HvV, BvW) 4 Tina Wesson (Australia, All-Stars & Blood vs. Water) 3 Cirie Fields (Exile Island, Micronesia & HvV) 3 Andrea Boehlke (Redemption Island & Caramoan) 3 Candice Cody (Cook Islands, HvV & BvW) 3 Jerri Manthey (Australian Outback, All-Stars & HvV) 3

Ozzy has the chance to take back a record that he once solely owned but quickly gained company as a result of Blood vs. Water. Being the threat that he is in challenges, Ozzy has an excellent chance of earning his fifth vote out in four attempts. Rupert doesn’t have to be sad that Ozzy will be departing his company as they will likely gain two additions if Andrea (twice in Redemption Island and once in Caramoan) and/or Cirie (Exile Island, Micronesia, and HvV) see their torch put out. If you don’t count redemption island seasons, Rupert is at the top with 4 with Cirie looking (or not looking as the case may be) to tie that record.

Note: Rupert switching places with his wife in Blood vs. Water after she was voted out on day one is counted as a vote out.

Votes Received in All Appearances

Ozzy Lusth (Cook Islands, Micronesia & South Pacific) 27 Johnathan Penner (Cook Islands, Micronesia & Philippines) 24 Laura Morrett (Samoa & Blood vs. Water) 24 Ciera Eastin (Blood vs. Water & Cambodia) 23 Jerri Manthey (Australian Outback, All-Stars & HvV) 23 Andrea Boehlke (Redemption Island & Caramoan) 22 Phillip Sheppard (Redemption Island & Caramoan) 22 Rupert Boneham (Pearl Islands, All-Stars, HvV & Blood vs. Water) 21

Who would have thought that after he received only ONE vote in Cook Islands that Ozzy would have the record for “Most Votes Received in All Appearances”? This is a record that Ozzy, whose first of three vote outs in the South Pacific was one that he literally asked for, would hope to pass along to another castaway. It wouldn’t make much sense for any tribe that he is on to vote him out before the merge considering what he offers in challenges and providing for the camp. With his past of winning individual immunities, it is definitely a possibility that there might be very few opportunities to vote him out. One could not be surprised if Ozzy only adds four or five more votes to his total in Game Changers.

As far as castaways who could overtake Ozzy for this record, there are two: Andrea (22) and Ciera Eastin (23). Both players played in a redemption island season, however, Ciera, unlike Ozzy and Andrea, did not come back into the game after getting voted out, which makes her 23 votes that much more impressive. Ciera, whose mother has an incredible 24 votes, and Andrea are both well-known strategic players who will be targeted and who could receive a lot of votes throughout the game. In fact, even if Andrea or Ciera were voted out first there’s still a small chance they could break this record as long as they received at least five votes (Ciera) or six votes (Andrea) and Ozzy made it to the end with zero votes against him.

It must be noted, for those who do not count the redemption island seasons for these types of records, that Jonathan Penner (24) would be your current record holder despite leaving Micronesia, his second of three appearances, with a medical evacuation. Penner had not received any votes up until that point. Accordingly, Ciera would have a good chance of being first on that version of this list after the season.

Note: Votes after a tie or votes negated by an idol play were not included.

Correctly Voted For Boot in All Appearances

Parvati Shallow (Cook Islands, Micronesia, & HvV) 25 Russell Hantz (Samoa, HvW & Redemption Island) 25 Rob Mariano (Marquesas, All-Stars, HvV & Redemption Island) 25 Amanda Kimmel (China, Micronesia & HvV) 25 Cirie Fields (Exile Island, Micronesia & HvV) 20

Perhaps more impressive than just attending and surviving tribal council is being able to stay on the right side of the numbers, correctly voting for the person that is eliminated. The record is currently a four-way tie between Parvati, Russell, Boston Rob, and Amanda at 25 each. Cirie has the best chance to tie or surpass that record in Game Changers if she correctly votes for 5 or more bootees.

The other two Game Changers castaways in with a possibility of beating the record are Sandra (currently at 19) and Ozzy (currently at 17). Sandra would leap frog Cirie if she correctly votes for just two boots (while Cire would have to fail to vote correctly at all). She would then need another five correct votes to beat the all-time record.

Ozzy would need to vote correctly three times without Sandra voting correctly at all in order to surpass Sandra’s current record. He would need to vote correctly four times without Cirie voting correctly in order to beat her. He would then also need another five correct votes to surpass the current record.

JT (14) and Andrea (13) are the only other two castaways that could theoretically break the record in Game Changers although it seems a near impossibility. It would require JT to attend 12 tribal councils and vote correctly at all of them to break the record of 25 (and he’d also need Cirie, Sandra, and Ozzy not to vote correctly at all). Andrea would need all that plus one extra tribal council.

Most Hidden Immunity Idols Found in All Appearances

Russell Hantz (Samoa, HvV & Redemption Island) 5 Tony Vlachos (Cagayan) 3 Malcolm Freberg (Philippines & Caramoan) 3

Now we are getting into the Russell Hantz portion of the records: hidden immunity idols. First, as to most hidden immunity idols found, Russell has found an impressive five idols. All five idols were found in Russell’s first two of three seasons. It’s too bad that he wasn’t able to find his sixth in his third appearance (well, not if you are Boston Rob).

Tony and Malcolm will have the best opportunity to match Russell’s record. Ozzy is also currently on two idols, having found one in Micronesia and the other in South Pacific, he could tie Malcolm and Tony if he finds another in Game Changers and they don’t find any. Several castaways found one idol in their season(s) and could move up the list in Game Changers. That list includes Tai Trang (Kaoh Rang), Troyzan Robertson (One World), Sandra and JT.

Note: Andrea was voted off with an idol after Erik Reichenbach (Micronesia & Caramoan) found it and gave it to her. Andrea became the first female to be voted off with an idol in her possession.

Most Hidden Immunity Idols Played in All Appearances

Russell Hantz (Samoa, HvV & Redemption Island) 3 Malcolm Freberg (Philippines & Caramoan) 2 Tony Vlachos (Cagayan) 2 Sandra Diaz-Twine (Pearl Islands & HvV) 2

If you do “Most Hidden Immunity Idols Found” then you have to do “Most Hidden Immunity Idols Played” as, of course, things that happen that cause those idols not to be played by the player that finds them. The most obvious reason has already been pointed out, as someone could get voted out with it in their pocket. The other reason is that you could convince someone to give you the idol and play it for you or you could be the one playing it for someone else. Of the four idols he found, Russell played three for himself with the fourth being famously played on Parvati taking out future winner Tyson Apostol (Tocantins, HvV & BvW).

Malcolm played idols in back-to-back tribal councils in Caramoan. He convinced Reynold Toepfer to give him an idol even though Malcolm had one in his pocket and played it incorrectly. The second of those tribal councils is the famous “three amigos tribal council” where Malcolm and Eddie Fox wore hidden immunity idols, and Reynold had won individual immunity.

In HvV, Parvati gave Sandra her first hidden immunity idol in the crazy tribal council where JT’s plan backfired. Sandra would later find and play her second idol to ensure her Pearl Islands buddy, Rupert, went home.

Tony played two of his three idols within his bag of tricks on his way to a million dollars in Cagayan.

It will be fun to see if Malcolm, Tony or Sandra will match or surpass Russell’s record or if it will be another castaway using idols in Game Changers.

Play Back-to-Back Seasons

Rupert Boneham (Pearl Islands, All-Stars, HvV & BvW) Stephenie LaGrossa (Palau, Guatemala & HvV) Bobby Jon Drinkard (Palau & Guatemala) Amanda Kimmel (China, Micronesia & HvV) James Clement (China, Micronesia & HvV) Russell Hantz (Samoa, HvV & Redemption Island) Malcolm Freberg (Philippines & Caramoan) Joe Anglim (Worlds Apart & Cambodia) Shirin Oskooi (Worlds Apart & Cambodia)

Prior to Game Changers, there have only been nine players who have played back-to-back seasons. Zeke Smith and Michaela Bradshaw are now members of that list of great players. Rupert was the first player to play back-to-back seasons. The rest of the All-Stars cast were only able to watch a few episodes of Pearl Islands before the filming of the first returnees season, but at least they were able to get an idea of who Rupert was before playing with him.

Stephenie LaGrossa and Bobby Jon Drinkard were the next two castaways to play back-to-back, but it is a little different than most of the seasons that would follow. Palau finished airing in May of 2005 and Guatemala began to film in June of 2005, and thus each player had the opportunity to watch how Stephenie and Bobby Jon played for the entire duration of their first season. This was also the case for Joe Anglim and Shirin Oskooi whose first season, Worlds Apart, finished airing May 20, 2015, allowing the returning Second Chance cast to see their entire season before filming for Cambodia began just a few days later on May 31.

For James Clement and Amanda, China began to air on September 20, 2007, and filming for Micronesia began filming on October 29, 2007. This provided the fans and the other favorites little time to get an idea of how the two would play. Amanda and James used their past relationship to their advantage and teamed up with another pair that previously played together, Ozzy and Parvati. Amanda became the first castaway to make final tribal council twice, losing in both trips.

Russell, Malcolm, Zeke and Michaela all faced a different type of challenge in that none of the other players had seen their season before playing with them. In the two seasons that we have seen, HvV & Caramoan, the other players seemed very wary of the fact that they didn’t know the person and how they played the game. Essentially, the devil you know is better than the one you don’t. As we have seen with all-star seasons, it sometimes comes down to past relationships and relationships formed outside of the game and thus back-to-back season players are at a disadvantage. But there are advantages to being an unknown entity too. Players don’t have any preconceived notions about you or your gameplay, and you can create a fresh slate for yourself. One could argue that JT would never have handed over his idol to Russell in HvV if he had seen how Russell played during Samoa.

Of the nine castaways we have seen play back-to-back, five have made the jury (only Shirin was a pre-merge boot in her return) with three, Stephenie, Amanda, and Russell, making it to the final tribal council and then losing.

Oldest Woman to Win Survivor

Denise Stapley (Philippines) 41 Tina Wesson (Australia) 40

Three women have the chance to surpass Denise Stapley as the oldest woman to win Survivor. Those women include Sandra, Cirie, and Debbie Wanner (Kaoh Rong). The women’s record is considerably lower than the men’s record which was set by Bob Crowley (Gabon) at 57. There are a few men in their 50s playing in Game Changers including Tai, Troyzan and Jeff Varner (Australian Outback) but they are all a few years Bob’s junior.

States Never to Have a Sole Survivor

There have been 21 states represented amongst the Sole Survivors including a record seven winners from California. The next closest is NJ with three winners. The a tie between TX, and NY with two each. Game Changers sees three states hoping for their first winner. They are represented by Caleb Reynolds of Kaoh Rang (KY), Jeff (NC) and Andrea (WI). Andrea put NY as her home state during Caramoan, but I think it is fair to include WI for her.

Connection to Winners

Rupert Boneham (Pearl Islands, All-Stars, HvV & Blood vs. Water) 10 (Sandra, Tina, Ethan Zohn, Amber Brkich, Rob, JT, Tom Westman, Parvati, Aras Baskauskas & Tyson) Jerri Manthey (Australia, All-Stars & HvV) 9 (Tina, Amber, Ethan, Richard Hatch, Rob, Parvati, Sandra, Tyson & JT) Colby Donaldson (Australia, All-Stars & HvV) 9 (Tina, Amber, Jenna Morasca, Richard, Ethan, JT, Tom, Parvati & Sandra) Candice Cody (Cook Islands, HvV & BvW) 8 (Yul, Parvati, JT, Tom, Sandra, Aras, Tina & Tyson) Coach Ben Wade (Tocantins, HvV & South Pacific) 7 (JT, Tyson, Rob, Parvati, Sandra, Sophie Clark & John Cochran)

Let me caveat this section by saying that these connections to winners must be two castaways that played on the same tribe together. For example, Rupert was in All-Stars with Jenna Morasca (Amazon) and Richard Hatch (Borneo), but he was never on the same tribe as them.

A second caveat, the connection counts even if the player played with them after the castaway won their season, during the season that they won or if the castaway won their season after the two played together.

Rupert had the opportunity to play with Sandra and Tina twice, Ethan Zohn (Africa), Amber and Rob in All-Stars and JT, Tom Westman (Palau) and Parvati in HvV. Although he only played with Tyson and Aras Baskauskas (Exile Island) for a matter of seconds in BvW, it still stands.

Both Jerri Manthey and Colby Donaldson could catch Rupert as a result of Game Changers if Jeff were to win. Jerri, Colby, and Jeff all played together in Australian Outback, and Jeff has no connection to Rupert. Colby has another connection to Game Changers, Cirie, however, Rupert was on that same tribe with both in HvV.

Candice can catch Jerri and Colby on the list if Ozzy, who she played with in Cook Islands, were to win Game Changers. Candice, like Rupert, played with Tina, Aras, and Tyson in BvW for only a matter of seconds.

Coach would also move up the list if Ozzy were to win, both played together in South Pacific.

As to castaways who will be playing in Game Changers, Ciera and Ozzy both enter the season having played with four winners. Ciera played with Aras, Tyson, Tina and Jeremy while Ozzy played with Yul, Parvati, Sophie and John Cochran (Caramoan). Ciera will start on the same tribe as Sandra and Tony and thus will bump her total up to six. If she ends up on a tribe with JT and the eventual winner (as long as it’s not a repeat winner), her total could end up as high as eight. Ozzy will start on the same tribe as JT and if he plays with Sandra, Tony and the eventual winner, his total could also climb to eight.

That’s all for now. If there are any other records that we missed that could be broken next season let us know.

Stats checked via the Survivor Wiki and True Dork Times.

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