Despite titling the most recent season “Game Changers,” it seems Survivor is saving their biggest game-changing twist for this fall’s Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers.

The brand new twist – which was first revealed in an Instagram post by user “thatrealitygame” – will see a drastic change to the Final Four format and how the Final Three is determined.

In Season 35, the winner of the Final Four Immunity Challenge will not only guarantee their spot at the Final Tribal Council, but they will also have the power to choose one other person to join them. The two castaways not chosen will then battle it out in a fire-making challenge with the winner advancing to the Final Three. This means the last proper vote-off will take place at the Final Five.

A reliable Survivor Reddit poster, who posts under the name Pizzazzazz, backed up this information, and Inside Survivor has subsequently confirmed the news with our own sources.

Survivor is often criticized for the way the “strongest” players are eliminated just before Final Tribal Council, losing out on the chance to plead their case to the jury. But those Day 38 Club woes could be a thing of the past with this monumental shake-up to the game. It would provide an opportunity for those usually voted out for being “jury threats,” and therefore potentially creating a more competitive Final Tribal Council.

When you think of some of the big-time players who were voted out just before Final Tribal Council – Cirie Fields, Malcolm Freberg, Kelley Wentworth – the possibilities of the new twist are very enticing. To put this into context, using the most recent season as an example, it would have meant Sarah Lacina and Tai Trang would have faced off in the fire-making challenge at the Final Four (assuming Brad Culpepper still wins immunity and takes Troyzan Robertson to FTC). In Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen-X, David Wright would have probably gone head-to-head with eventual winner Adam Klein.

It won’t be the first time we’ve seen fire-making at the Final Four Tribal Council (assuming it still takes place at Tribal). The challenge was previously used as a tie-breaker in the event of a deadlocked vote and has been seen in six separate seasons, most recently in Survivor: Kaoh Rong.

It’s unclear whether this new twist will be utilized in every season going forward or if Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers is just a one-off.

What do you think of this new twist? Let us know in the comments below.

Photo Credit: TimoOK Flickr via Compfight cc

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