Two remain. Only two remain. Right now, I called the last matches because they were both blowouts. Most of the choices have been pretty decisive.

In the semis, we had the original King against the two-time Ultimate Tournament winner. Incidentally, the King won the first Tournament. The King is Richard Hatch, Tournament winner in 2004. The two-time winner is Tom Westman, who hadn't yet played when Richard won.

Tom took that match 18-9.

In the other match, we had the ultimate scrambler and Tournament runner-up in her only appearance, losing by a single vote. We also have the newest champion and the latest player to have the suffix "-father" attached to his name. I'm referring to Guatemala champion and Steph-slayer Danni Boatwright and to Cook Islands champion and Ozzy-slayer Yul Kwon.

Head-to-head, Yul roasted Danni 24-3.

So your final decision comes down to:

Tom Westman and Yul Kwon.

Pick one. Pick only one. Voting closes at noon on Monday.

• RE: Survivor: Winners Tournament - Final Round,emydi, 09:43 AM, 01-03-07
• RE: Survivor: Winners Tournament - Final Round,Higgs, 09:49 AM, 01-03-07
• RE: Survivor: Winners Tournament - Final Round,taffnic, 10:10 AM, 01-03-07
• RE: Survivor: Winners Tournament - Final Round,seahorse, 10:57 AM, 01-03-07
• RE: Survivor: Winners Tournament - Final Round,kircon, 11:49 AM, 01-03-07
• RE: Survivor: Winners Tournament - Final Round,KObrien_fan, 12:08 PM, 01-03-07
• What KO_Fan said ...,Scarlett O Hara, 12:51 PM, 01-03-07
• RE: Survivor: Winners Tournament - Final Round,michel, 12:53 PM, 01-03-07
• RE: Survivor: Winners Tournament - Final Round,Colonel Zoidberg, 03:24 PM, 01-03-07
• RE: Survivor: Winners Tournament - Final Round,Das Mole, 04:20 PM, 01-03-07
• RE: Survivor: Winners Tournament - Final Round,MJewel, 05:21 PM, 01-03-07
• RE: Survivor: Winners Tournament - Final Round,smokedog, 11:22 PM, 01-03-07
• RE: Survivor: Winners Tournament - Final Round,xwraith27, 00:26 AM, 01-04-07
• RE: Survivor: Winners Tournament - Final Round,malb730, 04:11 AM, 01-04-07
• RE: Survivor: Winners Tournament - Final Round,Max Headroom, 09:09 AM, 01-04-07
• RE: Survivor: Winners Tournament - Final Round,DearAbby, 09:19 AM, 01-04-07
• RE: Survivor: Winners Tournament - Final Round,cynthiarose, 05:33 PM, 01-04-07
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• RE: Survivor: Winners Tournament - Final Round,JohnMc, 01:13 PM, 01-05-07
• RE: Survivor: Winners Tournament - Final Round,dreamerbeliever, 02:45 PM, 01-05-07

Yul

Tom Westman and Yul Kwon

Tom Westman

Tom

Yul

If I don't vote for him he might arrange a hit on me.

LAST EDITED ON 01-03-07 AT 12:09 PM (EST)

Tom Westman

Let's not forget what he did just because his season was 3 seasons ago. He was one of the major providers for his tribe, he was the main reason his tribe dominated in the challenges keeping them together before the merge. When reunited with Steph, he realized he was much better off with the alliances he had. He was a master manipulator as he kept the numbers in his favor and made moves one step ahead of his opponents, quite like a chess game. He also manipulated Ian to the point that he felt he owed it to Tom to step off at the final challenge in order to gain back his respect. He was strong enough to win individual challenges, yet manipulative enough to keep his alliance strong when he didn't have the protection of the immunity necklace so that they wouldn't vote him off. Tom had nothing to hide behind yet saved himself time and again to get to the final 2.

Yul was smart, strong, and manipulative no doubt. But he also had the hidden immunity idol to hide behind. If there was not a twist to include an F3, he would have been toast when Ozzy won that final challenge as Ozzy no doubt would have taken Becky to the F2 with him.

That's right. I agree 100 per cent with what KO_Fan said. I loved Cook Islands and am happy that Yul won (albeit I was cheering for an Oz win), but Tom didn't have a HII to take him all the way to the end game to stand in front of the jury, nor did he have degrees from Harvard, Stanford and Yale nor was he recruited to play the game. My vote goes to Tom Westman!

LAST EDITED ON 01-03-07 AT 01:03 PM (EST)

My vote is for TOM

Tom worked for his win, assuring his tribe would have the majority at merge. After that, he did everything to stay alive. His tribe weren't great schemers but at least they plotted to ovethrow him.

Yul benefitted from more luck than any other leaders that won. The HII being valid until F3 and players not being told the Final 3 faces the jury isn't just a twist but a complete rule change. It wasn't the same game anymore since the hardest part is to position yourself for that F2. Yul was also lucky to have a greedy sucker, Jonathan, to give him the win.

Let's go to the Tale of the Tape, shall we?

Their legacies...
Tom: The Dominator.
Yul: The Yulfather.
Advantage: Push.

Their alliances...
Tom: The Koror 5, or 6, or 4, or however-many diehard loyalists, one of whom fell on the sword for his benefit.
Yul: The Aitu 4, a band of underdogs that survived a betrayal to control the game and dropped eight rival tribe members in a row.
Advantage: Tom - no one sabotaged their own game for Yul

Performances in challenges...
Tom: Five immunity wins, domination in tribal challenges, destroyed men half his age
Yul: Best known for explaining why elephants can't climb trees in an endurance challenge
Advantage: Tom - be real

Their rivals...
Tom: The Ulong tribe. The most incompetent tribe ever.
Yul: The Rarotonga tribe. The second-most incompetent tribe ever.
Advantage: Yul - Raro won something

Biggest individual competitor...
Tom: Ian. Tom won by mindfvcking him into giving up.
Yul: Ozzy. Yul won by securing a promise from an idiot.
Advantage: Tom - he destroyed Ian mentally

Biggest setback...
Tom: Ian took him on the car challenge.
Yul: Candice and Jonathan deserted Aitu.
Advantage: Yul - nothing like watching eight bad guys drop in a row

Sense of adventure...
Tom: Picked the new campsite and was eaten alive by rats.
Yul: Found the idol immediately after landing on Exile.
Advantage: Yul - Tom could have worked his magic at Ulong's site, too

Biting the hand that saved...
Tom: Stayed around at F7 because Caryn betrayed the women, voted out Caryn at F5, and got her vote to win
Yul: Stayed around at F9 because Jonathan betrayed Raro, voted out Jonathan at F7, and got his vote to win
Advantage: Yul - Tom didn't need Caryn's vote

Slaying giants...
Tom: Slayed Ian at F3, or rather, convinced Ian to slay himself, and then took down Katie. Neither of these players is really a "giant" game player, though they may be considered "giants" in other ways.
Yul: Shut out Becky at F3, though that was half his other F3 opponent's doing...and that other "giant" won five immunities and carried his tribe
Advantage: Yul

With that having been said, I have to go against what I was thinking all along and what I might otherwise thing and give my vote to...

Yul Kwon.

YUL

das.

Tom Westman

Yul.

Good arguments on both sides, though. This is a close vote for me, but one of the first things that came into my mind was my opinion that Yul could have won Palau easier than Tom could in Cook Islands.

LAST EDITED ON 01-04-07 AT 00:47 AM (EST)

This is a great matchup, and both sides have already presented really good arguments for and against both Yul and Tom. I've never been a good Survivor analyst but for what it's worth, here are my assessments of both:

Physical Game: Tom the Challenge Hog over Yul the Challenge Planner

Strategic Game: Yul the Mastermind over Tom Who Had Pretty Much No One to Challenge Him in the Strategy Department

Social Game: Yul the Diplomat over Tom the Bully

Camp Life: Tom the Shark Killer over Yul the Person Ozzy Named Didn't Work as Hard as He Could

Entertainment Value: Tom the Slurring Drunk over Yul the Guy Who Got Sandwiched by Curvaceous Natives

Final Assessment: I'm tired of thinking... I'll just go with Tom. I like him better anyway.

yul

This is a tough matchup. With most things being equal, my vote goes to Yul due to his humility. Tom was a great winner but an arrogant winner.

I have a feeling this one will go down to the wire. There are lots of good arguments for both, but I give my vote to Yul.

Vintage tribephyl 2006