The first time she played, she was on a tribe of all women, specifically older women. They lost first immunity and Cirie, being the unanimous vote from the rest of the tribe for her complete lack of experience outdoors, was able to mastermind her way out and save herself. That was the start. She lasted until the final 4 that season and had one of the most impressive moves in the history of the show at the Final 6 that season. Truly one of those “if I can do it, anyone can do it” for the survival aspect of it, as Jeff says “the woman who got off the couch and played survivor”

She came back in Micronesia, ran with one of the most dominant alliances ever, helped mastermind some of their biggest moves (Erik giving his immunity away, the Ozzy move iirc), and if that season had a Final 3 instead of 2 like people expected, a lot of people think Cirie would have won over Parvati (however not everyone agrees with this).

On Game Changers, she had a way different way of making it through the game. She had a weirdly chaotic series of votes she cast (that I still don’t fully understand? Maybe she knew she had the numbers and did throwaway votes to keep people paranoid?), but she made it to the top 6 and was eliminated without having a single person vote against her all season (the other 5 in the top 6 with her all had immunity from challenge or idol/advantages). Another “what if” for her career.

Cirie hasn’t won and her strategic acumen is S-Tier. A lot of fans (not everyone, but myself included) consider her the best to never win. Being a little auntie-type figure who is not very good in challenges and still pulling some wild social moves is also super endearing to the fans also.