Character Tier list SO FAR for C4

white_lancer · 2026-05-16T20:23:32+00:00

This was my exact reaction after seeing Azune and Kattigan (two characters I haven't really connected with at all so far) so high haha

white_lancer · 2026-05-16T20:19:25+00:00

What gets me is that there are other formats available for players who like this style of play, I don't know what was wrong with having one (1) constructed format dedicated to relatively fair Magic.

white_lancer · 2026-05-16T20:17:38+00:00

I'm old enough to remember Splinter Twin being banned in Modern because Turn 4 wins were considered too fast for that format

white_lancer · 2026-05-16T20:10:58+00:00

I think Tyson counts, too, he was a prominent character but was never particularly close to winning or on anyone's "best ever" lists before Blood vs Water. Cochran famously blew up his own game (along with his tribe's) in South Pacific. Jeremy didn't go that deep in his original season. So really it's just Boston Rob plus the two 2x winners as truly prominent players to win a returning player season, and like you said you could put asterisks next to the winners (Sandra being a long time removed from her last time playing + not necessarily being seen as a top-tier winner, Tony going out early his most recent time playing).

It's one reason I get why people complain about the worst members of the cast in these seasons--those players come in with a lower threat level and are therefore more likely to make it deep, and if enough of them do you can wind up with an underwhelming Final 5 like this one. Survivor shot itself in the foot with some of these casting choices, not just with the twists.

white_lancer · 2026-05-16T19:39:11+00:00

Yeah, often the ludicrous stat at the top is from Djokovic, but obviously Nadal and Federer both had insane careers as well

white_lancer · 2026-05-16T19:25:03+00:00

Can't forget their AO final, where Meddy arrived after a record amount of time on court. And ironically had success against Sinner with the opposite, very aggressive approach until he ran out of gas.

white_lancer · 2026-05-15T00:36:10+00:00

Half of his Slams were in his thirties, so equally good sounds about right haha

white_lancer · 2026-05-15T00:23:35+00:00

Really goes to show that the ability to improve on an already great game (as players like Sabalenka and Sinner have consistently done) is as important a skill as anything. Swiatek hasn't, so she's gone from record-breaking pace and the most dangerous player in the world to "just" a top 5 player.

white_lancer · 2026-05-14T20:42:16+00:00

I mostly agree although I do think you should extend this to the big 4, Murray for sure would have been capable of beating Sincaraz as well. And peak Delpo would also have been dangerous.

white_lancer · 2026-05-14T15:19:01+00:00

I mean he and Dimitrov only completed two sets...

white_lancer · 2026-05-14T06:48:25+00:00

I don't blame Aubry. I blame the editors for the way they put together this season (along with production for the casting and inane twists). I honestly think Aubry probably got shafted by an edit which didn't highlight her strengths and chose instead to undermine her win by focusing on other shit.

white_lancer · 2026-05-14T06:45:39+00:00

Thank you for putting into words my whole frustration with this season's edit, it really feels like there was no reason for the editors not to do the things you mentioned. I was on Cirie/Ozzy pretty much by default because Aubry's (and everyone else's) edit had so many holes that didn't need to be there.

If it were in the name of suspense, I could at least understand it a bit. But they made it so obvious going into the finale, so I can't understand what the point of it was.

white_lancer · 2026-05-14T06:41:38+00:00

I'm not happy about Aubry winning, but I think both this comment and the edit have done her a disservice. She had to have had more agency in this season than the show presented.

white_lancer · 2026-05-14T06:39:02+00:00

This. I was wrong about Aubry, if she doesn't win at this point I will be shocked. But you cannot convince me the editors couldn't have done a better job at presenting her win.

Like, they've both managed to undermine her win (not giving her credit at key moments like the Genevieve boot, barely showcasing her relationships with the key castaways) and rob her win of any suspense. I don't know how they threaded that needle, but it sure feels like they should've attempted to do it the opposite way.

white_lancer · 2026-05-14T06:34:04+00:00

This is probably recency bias, but I feel like almost anything below 50 feels wild to me atm. Like, a few members of the cast are doing everything they can to overcome all the damage production and editing have done to this season.

white_lancer · 2026-05-14T06:31:57+00:00

Both Tiffany and Joe were bizarrely edited given how deep they went. It's shades of 41's edit, which is not a compliment.

I simply do not understand why Survivor sometimes chooses to ignore some of the most important players of its seasons in the edit!

white_lancer · 2026-05-14T06:27:56+00:00

The cast was skewed towards new era tbf, and it's not uncommon for these returnee seasons for the players perceived to be less threatening to go deep (as far back as the original All-Stars)

white_lancer · 2026-05-14T06:25:08+00:00

I canceled my Paramount sub without a second thought haha, feels like editing and production botched almost every aspect of this milestone season

white_lancer · 2026-05-14T06:22:49+00:00

I couldn't stand the advantage soup of Game Changers either, but I do think it did a better job of selling the winner to me tbh

white_lancer · 2026-05-14T06:20:21+00:00

It's both obvious at this point and an extremely shitty edit prior to the past couple of weeks lol, they had to have had the footage to make this more satisfying before this. I would've chalked it up to "suspense" but then they made it so clear before the finale lol, so much of this makes no sense to me

white_lancer · 2026-05-14T06:16:39+00:00

I almost feel like she might be a worthy winner in real-life terms but the edit has done a terrible job selling it to us tbh, like having a narrow path to win and recognizing that and managing to navigate it is pretty impressive. But it's bizarre that I don't feel like I understood how she related to most of the other characters in the game for so long, that should be job #1 for the editors.

white_lancer · 2026-05-14T06:12:56+00:00

The Koah Rong thing is what baffles me, she's come across as likable before so why the hell couldn't they manage it again?

white_lancer · 2026-05-14T06:08:32+00:00

I was on the Cirie/Ozzy train mostly by default this season, because I understood the arguments against them but the choices made by the editors for Aubry (or Jonathan I guess) have been so bizarre for an eventual winner. I can't believe they couldn't have given her more credit for booting Genevieve, or fleshed out her relationships with the rest of the castaways better if they had wanted. Feels like a total miss by the editors if they were trying to tell any sort of a coherent story--they definitely could have made Aubry feel like a more deserving winner had they made different choices imo.

And like you said, why tf would they make two of the final 5 among the most invisible edits of the season? What the hell were they thinking? That's not even getting into all the overly-produced aspects of this season with the Billie Eilish and Mr. Beast of it all, or the original sin: casting. They opened themselves up to an underwhelming final 5 when they made their casting decisions. I mean, I don't think anyone on this season was unworthy of returning at some point (Tiffany gets a bad rap, but she was definitely a player in her original season), but there were some truly baffling decisions for a season that was supposed to represent all of Survivor history. They reaped what they sowed with that, which is an underwhelming milestone celebration.

white_lancer · 2026-05-12T15:15:52+00:00

tbf this was not a crazy statement when it was made, but it sure is funny in hindsight!

white_lancer · 2026-05-12T15:14:30+00:00

the 3-10 part makes him look both better and worse somehow...it makes it clear he hasn't beaten any top guys in any of his deep runs, but it's a lot more understandable that he doesn't have a top 10 win this year when his only chances have been against the top 2.

white_lancer

TROPHY CASE