Time to decide the Ultimate Winner of Survivor. For the few weeks, we’ll have weekly polls pitting former winners in head-to-head match-ups until we get from 32 down to 1. While we cannot tell you how to vote, the intention of this tournament is to judge winners by the season in which they won, not their collected body of work. You decide what that means to you and what the Ultimate Survivor Win looks like.

We continue with the elite eight round of the bracket.

Voting ends Tuesday, March 7

1. Richard Hatch (Borneo) vs 14. Earl Cole (Fiji)

After a close battle, we have a matchup between two guys who had never heard of Survivor before they were shipped out to the Pacific. In Richard Hatch’s case, that’s because there wasn’t a Survivor until he barnstormed his way onto our TV screens. He’s a screen legend, and he doesn’t even have an Emmy. Hatch wrote the rules to the game, and everyone else has been following since. But does being the first always mean being the best? He had to beat a guy voting alphabetically and a 70-year old Marine.

Hatch knew he was going to lose the final vote to that Marine, a more lovable contestant, if he didn’t do something. Earl Cole was in the same boat with the fan favorite Yau Man in Fiji. But both men maneuvered their way to the end using their wits. Ultimately this matchup comes out to who was the best schemer, and how much importance you put at being first.

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14. Parvati Shallow (Micronesia – Fans vs Favorites) vs 13. Yul Kwon (Cook Islands)

How do you win the game? Is it a social game you can flirt and friend your way to the end? Or is strategy king? This matchup of the middle seasons puts one of the best winners ever next one of the prettiest.  (Who’s who depends on your predispositions.) Yul’s ability to utilize his idol to get what he wanted rivaled Parvati’s (and Cirie’s) infamous gambit to get Erik to give up his immunity. And while Parvati is a great social player, let’s be real: she won because of a Final 2 twist that knocked Cirie out of contention while Amanda performed like a 5th grader in mock debate. Yul had to beat his rival Ozzy, and he did it by a close vote.  Give Cook Islands the respect it often doesn’t get because of the season’s controversial concept.

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18. J.T. Thomas (Tocantins) vs 24. Kim Spradlin (One World)

Two of the most dominant winners the game has ever seen. Or at least one of them and some lady. JT may be more recently remembered for messing with Texas’ hometown troll, but he played a good game the first time around. Even if he outsourced a lot of the heat and strategy to ol’ Fishbach, JT stuck out a numbers disadvantage to win lots of challenges with a smile on his face, and then pulled off the first perfect win. Kim had to beat a dwarf, a poster child for Betsy DeVos’ America named Kat, and…Troyzan. She’s such an overrated player that even—

…OK, I’m just messing with you guys. Kim showed that #NotAllMen can win Survivor and dominated a cast of idiots to win by default—ugh, sorry, this is hard. Just vote for Kim. You know you’re going to anyways.

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28. Tony Vlachos (Cagayan) vs 31. Jeremy Collins (Cambodia – Second Chance)

Just look at all those muscles. Those biceps, that cerebellum…those balls to the wall. The last few years have had its share of controversial or milquetoast winners, but this matchup pits two of the best of the 2010’s against each other. Tony…well, if you’re reading this site, you probably know why Tony is a master player of Survivor. (If not, I have some reading material for you.) Meanwhile, Jeremy came roaring back from a disappointing performance in San Juan del Sur to own his fellow Second Chance-ers. When one targeted ally fell, he got another. He found idols. He played them correctly. Oh, and he was half of the reason for the craziest Tribal in Survivor history. So who comes out of top? We might just have them arm wrestle for it…

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