A single win or making the final dramatically alters the way a competitor is viewed as a whole when looking back at the history of the Challenge. This is how a win/final appearance would change their legacies

Laurel Stucky

For Laurel, a second win with a continued streak of never being eliminated would put her as the top female competitor all time. If Laurel can go 5 whole seasons with never being eliminated and notching up a 10–0 elimination record, then she becomes the top female competitor all time, and with a win she becomes undoubted #1. Not that she is not already, but it is always a conversation between her, Evelyn, Emily S, and even the occasional Rachel stans. Losing would do almost nothing, there’s no love lost in not making a final and finally losing when you have been as dominant as Laurel.

Darrell Taylor

A 5 time champion with 3 elimination wins in one season against Bananas, CT, and Zach! That would cement Darrell’s place as the top competitor in Challenge history. Heck, I do not think winning would even be required, just beating all of those guys in consecutive 1 on 1’s would be enough. Considering he has 2 very impressive elimination wins already on his record this season, losing to CT in the final champ elimination would do nothing to hurt his legacy.

Camila Nakagawa

This is the most important win-lose scenario. Right now, Camila has a record of 6–4 in eliminations(pretty good right?), made 2 finals in 8 seasons(solid), and is a 1 time champion. Winning the final eliminations puts her at an impressive 7–4 record, 3 finals in 9 seasons, and a good shot to win the final. Not only that, but she will had been the first one to slay Laurel in an elimination ever. This would vault her to being a legit top 10 female competitor, and winning the final would put her in the top 8.

Losing would drop her to 6–5 and only 2 finals ever in 9 seasons(one of them being a 3rd place finish). She would have no claim to being elite and would just be viewed as a good competitor who peaked too early and stayed too long.

Chris “CT” Tamburello

Beating Darrell and winning the final would cement CT’s place as a top 5 Challenge competitor all time. 2 wins would get him put in a stronger tier; with only 1 win it has always been a weak claim for CT fans, but 2 would better argue his dominance. He’s done nothing this season besides great dad commentary, but the best players often don’t have do something amazing to win. The legend seasons are the people that dominate and win, but you are a legendary player once you’re able to dominate with your presence alone.

Jenna Compono

4 straight seasons with 4 finals appearances and never being eliminated with a 6–0 elimination record? Even the Jenna haters would have to reluctantly agree that she is a top 8 female all time with that record. If she wins the final, then she is in the Susie territory for the top female competitors that inexplicably kill these competitions. Except people like Jenna more. A loss will give all the Jenna haters fuel for their fire, and that is fine. Jenna has had more luck in her Challenge experience than any competitor not named Kenny or Bananas.

Shane Landrum

MTV is probably pissed a divorced gay man in his earlies 30s who has not been on TV in a decade has been the star of the star of their season of mostly newbie cast members. However, I am loving it. Shane has never made it to a final, and now is his time to strike. I honestly don’t know where winning would put him, probably above guys like Zach and MJ, but still a notch below Tyler, Frank, Jordan. We just hope the world ends right, and we get King Landrum in the final.

Nicole Zanatta

Emily Schromm was probably the last Real Worlder that we saw and just knew that this person is going to be force on the Challenge. Well, until Nicole. This girl has been a top tier “player” in multiple ways. However, she kind of always had an easy route; Nicole won the first daily challenge that she ever did, and didn’t compete again until the Champs were in the game. When Kailah was in the house, she had it easy as Kailah was public enemy #1, and from there she won immunity during the only other Underdog elimination day. Nicole has obviously done fine, but I think we all want her to show us how fierce she can get as a competitor. Winning this final would be a major achivement and put her on the path to becoming an all time great. Making the final should be expected of her, and missing it would be a disappointment.

Hunter Barfield

I will give props where props are due. Hunter has been fantastic in all individual challenges, he has even been competitive with the champs, and sometimes better despite his small stature. Hunter winning this season would mean a lot for AYTO, it would finally give the show a lot more legitimacy on the Challenge, and it would be cool to see a guy under 5’9 or 5’8 actually win a season as an individual. The final is somewhat expected for Hunter, but I hope he comes up short. In order for him to progress as a competitor, I think he needs to humble himself a bit. I want the sweet guy from AYTO who could be a beast. Just not this super masculine hulk beast that raged like a 14 year old going through puberty.

Ashley Mitchell

When she was only on the Real World for about 3 episodes, I don’t think any of us expected to see Ashley on the Challenge, let alone be an actual good competitor. Forecasting right now, it looks extremely tough for Ashley to win. If Laurel makes the final, I believe it’s a done deal, and that everyone would be competing for second at that point. If it is Camila, then the door is open, but she has a lot of experience in finals, as does Jenna. A 2nd or 3rd place finish is very possible though, and if she completes that she would be viewed as a top female competitor going into future seasons.

Nelson Thomas

Nelson is a solid guy who just wants to be cool and good at sports. He just does not know that he is super lame, and pretty dumb. There is no problem with that, he is a hardworker(you can tell by just looking at his body), who has a certain sense of pride when it comes to competition. Considering the next two eliminations look flat out physical, it may bode well for him. Making the final and finshing 2nd or at the very least a strong 3rd place finish would make up for some of his poor performances in daily challenges. Him winning this Challenge would anger me a little bit as I feel there are far more deserving winners, but at least he would be putting some respect on the AYTO name.

Amanda Garcia

She is not winning. No chance. I love Amanda, she has brought so much to this season in terms of drama, apparently she was the female leader of the big house alliance from the beginning of the shelter, and the fact she has made it this far is huge. Making it to the final would mean a lot for her as a competitor. She reminds of the Jonna/Mandi type of competitors that are pretty average at everything, but come together to be slightly above average competitors. Those girls always make it far, but usually just miss the final. Amanda making it to an individual final in one of her most stacked female cast seasons ever would be a major deal for her as a competitor and person.

Cory Wharton

How is he still here? Cory has been on the wrong side of the alliances since day one, he has not done well in most of the Challenges besides this past week, he has mostly been an asshole, and you just cannot trust the dude. He flip flops every day and every season, yet for some reason they have not eliminated him or even thrown him into elimination. The only elimination he has ever won, the other person flat out quit. It just boggles my mind how this guy is still around. With his knee, he is definitely not winning the final. Finishing 2nd or 3rd will look great on paper, but it just might make his ego bigger.