Tony Vlachos’ best moves of Survivor: Winners at War

Survivor has officially crowned its second two-time winner and it’s king Tony Vlachos! In a season of tough competition, let’s discuss the top four moves that put Tony Vlachos above all the rest.

One of my favorite seasons of Survivor is Survivor: Cagayan, so when I heard that Tony Vlachos was returning, I was amped up to watch the Survivor unicorn play again. I, like many others within the Survivor fandom, call him a unicorn because Tony’s game is one-of-a-kind.

From the moment he stepped on the island in Cagayan, Tony’s foot was on the gas, and he didn’t let up until Day 39. His aggressive gameplay, combined with his ability to use just the idea of a hidden immunity idol to scare his opponents into inaction, secured him the $1 million in Cagayan. But after learning about his less than impressive showing in Survivor: Game Changers, I was worried that Tony would fall victim once again to his style of gameplay.

Fortunately, he refined his game, resulting in one of the most dominant Survivor games that I’ve seen so far. Here are four of Tony’s best moves of Survivor: Winners at War.

Hyenas and lions

From the get-go, Tony Vlachos knew that big targets like him, Boston Rob, Sandra, and Parvati would need to be wary of smaller targets like Michele and Nick.

After Boston Rob, Parvati, and Sandra were sent to the Edge of Extinction one-by-one, Tony became adamant that the high-profile players, who he deemed the lions, had to fight back against the low-profile players, such as Wendell, Adam, and Sophie, who he deemed the hyenas. This ideology carried him well into the merge and lead to the vote-outs of Wendell, Adam, and Sophie, giving him a firm grip on the game.

By giving the high-profile players a common goal, they were too preoccupied to realize that Tony was leading their charge. As a result, Vlachos, who’d started the game as a lion, was seen as a hyena. This ideology carried him well into the merge and lead to the vote-outs of Wendell, Adam, and Sophie, at which point Tony, who had some room to move, became the most powerful lion.

Extortion, idol hunting, immunity win, and an epic blindside

In Survivor: Cagayan Tony Vlachos was in full-force in Episode 11 of Survivor Winners at War. After sneaking out of the camp to go hunting for the hidden immunity idol, something that he actually did every night, according to his Parade magazine interview, Tony finally found one. With his first real semblance of power, Tony decided that he wanted to make a power move and vote out Jeremy.

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However, he assured the minority group of Kim, Michele, Denise, and Jeremy that he was still with them. Although Jeremy wholeheartedly believed him, Kim and Denise were skeptical. However, an Extortion advantage from Natalie, who was on the Edge of Extinction, threatened to put a wrench in his plans anyway as he was forced to pay her six fire tokens or be forced to sit out of the immunity challenge and lose his vote at tribal council.

Luckily, Tony had developed enough social capital, at that point, and was able to convince Jeremy, Nick, and Ben to give him their fire tokens, making him eligible to compete in that day’s immunity challenge where he went on to win his second individual immunity.

With more power in his hands, Tony had a change of heart and decided to target Sophie, who he believed was too close to his Cops-R-Us partner Sarah Lacina. After getting Denise and Kim on board to blindside Jeremy, Tony informed Jeremy of their betrayal and convinced him, Nick, and Michele to vote out Sophie to weaken Kim.

MORE: 4 reasons why Survivor’s Edge of Extinction needs to go extinct

This episode was a master class in Survivor. Three things keep you safe in Survivor, your wit, your social relationships, and a little bit of luck. Here, Tony had all three. After 26 days, he located a hidden immunity idol, ensuring his safety if he played it right.

Although he ran the risk of having to sit out the immunity challenge and losing his vote at tribal council, he’d developed enough social capital to convince Jeremy, who at that point was his target, to give him his fire tokens and Nick and Ben, his actual alliance members, to give him their fire tokens. Once he went on to win individual immunity, he had the power he needed to control the vote. At that point, all he needed was the loyalty of others, which he received seemingly effortlessly, allowing him to get rid of a great social player like Sophie and forcing Sarah to remain loyal to him to the end.

To be the best, you have to beat the best

Following Sophie’s blindside Kim, Denise, and Michele were left on the outs, and Kim set her sights on blindsiding Tony. Unfortunately, Tony would go on to win his third straight immunity challenge forcing Kim to come up with a back-up plan. That plan was to get rid of Jeremy, however, all bets were off when Ben revealed Kim’s original intention to Tony Vlachos.

Tony, knowing that he had to take the first shot, rallied the votes, (Jeremy, Ben, Sarah, and Nick), to instead vote out Kim and thereby eliminate the only player that actively targeted him until Natalie returned from the Edge of Extinction. With this move, Tony had to put in some work with Ben, who was really against the idea, having had a rivalry with Jeremy that he wished to end in his favor.

Nevertheless, he was able to get Ben on his side, and even more surprisingly, gained Nick’s vote, although Nick had seemed firmly aligned with Kim.

One word: Spy Nest

By far, the savviest and most entertaining method of outwitting that Tony Vlachos used this season was his spy nest. From in the trees, Vlachos could camouflage himself and eavesdrop on conversations without the fear of being caught. In Episode 13, Tony’s spy nest allowed him to eavesdrop on a conversation wherein Denise solidified a Final Three deal with Ben and Sarah, who knew he was listening.

This conversation, of course, led to Tony’s decision to eliminate Denise at the Final Six. Information is the most powerful thing one can possess on Survivor. Most of the time, you have to guess who’s with you and against you, which means that the more information you have, the better. By building a spy nest, Tony could eavesdrop without the risk of being caught and gain invaluable information that would keep him ahead of the competition week to week.

Were you happy with the results of Survivor: Winners at War? Do you agree with this list? Let us know!

While we don’t know when the next season of Survivor is likely to air, you can take this time to binge-watch the show on CBS All-Access.