"Yul had that same quality of being someone around which a group could coalesce."Yet, he was the only leader who saw two close allies mutiny against him!!
And the Becky example was at F4, the last vote. There was no more going anywhere if she took the HII.
All the examples you've shown were, again, player choices. I agree, many Survivors are dumb. My problem with Yul's win is PRODUCTION intervention.
Best strategists amongst winners? Aren't we going off topic?
Since you ask:
From what I know, the winners who showed the best strategy were: Hatch, Tina, Brian, Chris, Danni, Earl, Todd and Parvati.
- Saying Hatch invented alliances is such a cliché but what he really did was make people accept the notion of alliance and he made that alliance with people he could beat. That lesson is still often forgotten. (Hello Stephen)
- Tina is the only winner I know who managed to grab power from the leader of her tribe and keep that tribe together. She was also smart enough to know Colby hated Keith and would never pick him.
- Brian was smooth enough to make people like him, cold enough not to care.
- Chris was able to have alliances with everyone. He played the exact same game Brian did but he didn't have the luxury of numbers at merge.
- Danni was the only one in all of Guatemala to understand that Rafe was in charge, not Stephenie. She managed to derail him by making him feel he was a genius.
- Earl had an alliance with the 9 other shelter builders, with the 4 other African Americans and was the only one to see the value of Yau Man from the start.
- Todd was a Survivor whiz. He used the Art of War to keep everyone off balance.
- Parvati was able to flirt with the guys and create a women's alliance that stuck together.
Tina, Chris, Danni, Earl and Todd listened, understood and made friends with everyone. They were also quite good at playing leader or follower when needed.
Considering only strategy, I think Todd would be my #1.
However, the best strategist ever didn't win: Cirie is #1 hands down, no question about it and almost every survivor who has talked about her agree.
Rob C and Rafe deserve special mentions.