NOTE: This is NOT a ranking of the CBS Survivor seasons it is a ranking of the 1st Generation Suitman's Survivor seasons, a groupgame which began in August 2011 and ended in November 2012.
#1: Best of the Best (Season 25, November 2012)
Winner: AdamBongo (5-3-1)
Wiki page: http://bit.ly/X5GUZq
I have to say, it was very close between BotB and HvV for the top spot, but at the end of the day I have to give it to BotB, because it was just two awesome and fun a season to not. Pre-merge was so insane, there was a blindside almost every day! Big players were thrown out left and right. Everyone was competing HARD to win that game, apart from Joeker who had the fun distinction of being caught in the tail-end of Hurricane Sandy (He's twerking that 30th). It also had probably one of my most inventive twists, the Madhouse, a cross between Redemption Island and Occultus Island. Despite my small lapse in error just before the merge (Luv you Etaco, you got FEISTY) it really was A-class Survivor. Now here is that post-merge summary I pull of Wikipedia and pretend I remembered it on the spot :D Oh wait AdamBongo made this one (with minor edits)..
After one of the most complicated and twisted pre-merges in Survivor History, the 12 remaining castaways merged into the brown Kamatayan tribe. As soon as the merge happened, controversy ran high as people were upset Ben was still in the game. AdamBongo, Mittens, and Ben realized it'd be best to stick together and pull in three people. All people who Ben was close with. The alliances were as followed, AdamBongo, Bekla, Ben, Mittens, Sparks, and Gametime. The other side, the Queen Bee alliance seemed to be run by Porsche, Ditzy, and Alyx, with the help of BBlover, Millz, and Kikorus. Benlinus and company were wavering back and forth on who to vote since the other side had an idol and this vote would dictate the rest of the game. Ben's alliance voted out someone who they would NEVER play an idol on, which was someone that was very close the people in his alliance - Jayson, or bblover. Bekla played her idol on Mittens, because they had all heard she'd be the one receiving votes. After the other alliance was down in numbers, once again the majority voted to make sure they wouldn't play an idol, someone unexpected. Millz was the next victim. The big alliance controlled the game, but the rumors began to spread. Everyone kept saying it'd be "Bekla, Ben, and Game" at the end. AdamBongo was skeptical, but still had time to make a move. Adam/Gametime discussed Sparks relationship with the other side, and decided to get rid of one of his closest ally's - Alyx. Who was a threat to everyone. Next, Adam decided he wasn't going to walk to the end with these people, would've been way too easy, and Game would've taken his buddies Bekla/Ben, so he had to do something. He talked to Porsche, and she just told me to make sure that they were voting her out. He did his part, she used her idol and they teamed up to take out one of the best players to play this game : Benlinus. After Ben was gone, Adam tried leading a legitimate charge to take out Gametime and have all of the power in his hands, he could flip to either side and take out who he pleased. The plan didn't work, Kikorus flipped as the vote was tied, and Porsche left. Next, they still wanted Game out, so Adam/Ditzy teamed together to convince Sparks and Kik to come vote with them, make a big move and it worked. Game was gone, and Adam felt my only immunity threat other than one of his closest ally Mittens, was gone. They knew Adam had flipped, but had no choice other than to try to work with him to try and make the end if he kept winning challenges. Although Sparks/Kik were with Adam/Ditzy, they just needed her to take out Game the feud between them was too big, they still wanted her out. With five left, four of the original alliance - they all had deals. Kik/Sparks were super close, and they had made a deal with Bekla. Mittens/Adam were alone, and as Adam won his forth straight immunity, Mittens was the victim. It was 3-1, and Adam had to win or go home. When he did, securing his spot in the F3, Kik wanted to take Sparks, Adam wanted to go to rocks. As it went to rocks, Sparks went home. The jury crucified Adam for his flipping style, and his immunity challenge wins that weren't that hard according to the the jury, as well as his cut-throat gameplay. Bekla was praised, and was thought to be the clear cut winner, as the jury seemed to love her. She was loved for not hurting anyone, playing an UTR game, doing what she had to do as well as creating her idol-lie. Kik was really left out of the mix, no one thought he deserved it as he didn't do too much. Adam surprisingly pulled away with the victory of 5-3-1, with Bekla coming in at #2, and Kik as the second runner up.
Before I get into this I have to commend the twelve that merged. It was TOUGH to get to this point. It really was. In such and large game with thirty people, making the Top Twelve is something to be damn proud about, expecially after a pre-merge as twisty and that. Now to the winner. Despite the fact AdamBongo wrote the passage above and may be slightly swung in his favour, I still think Adam ranks among the best who have ever played Survivor groupgames. This season proved he had the perfect combination of social skills, timing and strategy to execute one of my favorite blindsides of all time, the GameTime blindside. The post-merge itself had the right combination of characters like Porsche, Ditzy, BBlover and Alyxandra, strategists like Adam, Game, Ben, Bekla and Millie, and social players like Sparks, Mittens and Kiko. It had the whole range, and the post-merge kinda really was characters vs stregists if you actually look at the alliances. The whole dynamics of the fact that many characters still survived late into the merge, and the fact that you had Adam AND Bekla in the final three along with Kiko, a player which can be crap and amazing at the same time. I felt really happy with who merged, and I knew the merge would deliver like pre-merge, and it totally deserves this spot.
Fave Castaway on Season = Adam, because how the hell they let him slip straight into that top spot I will never know. They got hit with #AdamsMist :o
I loved playing this season, but you know how much I hate Redemption Island type twists where people return to the game as I firmly believe in RTV shows like this, once you're out you're out, and that's what ultimately screwed up my game.
Adam and Ben would have been out, and Etaco would have been in (if I remember correctly) and [Insert out alliance name which I've forgotten] of myself, Ditzy, Etaco and Porsche would have totally dominated < 333
NOTE: This is NOT a ranking of the CBS Survivor seasons it is a ranking of the 1st Generation Suitman's Survivor seasons, a groupgame which began in August 2011 and ended in November 2012.
Just a thought.