Ranking every tribe challenge throw (to my knowledge)
From best to worst:
Nuku (Game Changers) - in episode 5, the original Nuku people threw the challenge to vote out Sandra. This was after a tribe swap, Sandra was on the outs, this was a perfect time for the original Nuku majority to weaken original Mana, ensure that Cirie, Brad, and Sierra stayed safe on the other tribe, and make sure the queen does not make the merge again.
Boran (Africa) - in episode 5, Ethan and Kim threw the challenge to vote out Silas. This was after a tribe swap, Silas was separated from his alliance, and it bought the original Borans on new Samburu more time to find which original Samburu had past votes.
Zhan Hu (China) - in episode 5, Jaime and Peih Gee threw the challenge to vote out Aaron. This was after a tribe swap and he was on the outs in this tribe. The problem is that they lost the reward the next day, locking them into a situation where they needed to win immunity to prevent James from playing an idol, causing them to lose Sherea and merge on the bottom anyway.
Escameca (Worlds Apart) - in episode 6, Mike and Rodney threw the challenge, but for different reasons. Both of them wanted to ensure Kelly’s safety since she was swapped by herself, but Rodney wanted Joe out to weaken the No Collars and Mike wanted Joaquin out to stop a budding bromance. I rank this one high because it worked out in Mike’s favor. It got Kelly to the merge and it prevented Rodney from making the bromance with Joaquin, although I could see this being ranked much lower thinking from Rodney’s perspective.
Bayon (Cambodia) - in episode 5, Stephen and Kimmi threw to vote out Monica. I’m not sure why they did this since Monica was their original Bayon tribemate and none of their allies needed saving on other tribes, but they both made the merge and were in the majority after this, so I can’t fault them too much.
Naviti (Ghost Island) - in episode 6, Domenick and Chelsea threw to vote out Bradley. In a similar situation to Stephen and Kimmi, they were cutting their original tribemate when they did this so I’m not sure what they were trying to accomplish. Plus, original Naviti had the majority on all three tribes so it’s not like any of their allies were at risk.
Drake (Pearl Islands) - in episode 4, Burton proposed a challenge throw to Rupert. Both of them then had their allies throw the challenge, but Rupert’s alliance won out at tribal and voted Burton out. This also led to the Drake tribe losing momentum and they never won immunity again after this, but got the numbers back after the merge when Lill flipped.
Aitutaki (Cook Islands) - in episode 2, Ozzy and JP threw the challenge to vote out Billy. The vote worked out and Billy left, but then there was a tribe swap in episode 3 which resulted in every original Aitutaki getting voted out except for Ozzy, who was next in line to go if swapped Aitutaki were to ever lose again.
Zapatera (Redemption Island) - in episode 3, the Zapatera six alliance threw to vote out Russell. The vote worked out and Russell left, but then Zapatera only won one immunity after this, merged in the minority, and got picked off.
Sook Jai (Thailand) - in episode 3, the Sook Jai five threw to vote out Jed, to the exact same results as Zapatera’s throw. I rank this one lower because keeping Russell around is riskier than keeping Jed around since Russell is a known schemer.
Coco (43) - in episode 5, Ryan threw to vote out Cassidy. The problem is that he was on the bottom and didn’t know it, and his closest ally Geo was voted out.
Hunahpu (San Juan Del Sur) - in episode 4, Drew threw to vote out Kelley. The problem is that Drew was on the bottom and didn’t know it, and he got voted out that night.
Luvu (41) - despite their best efforts to throw, they won immunity.
Aparri (Cagayan) - despite their best efforts to throw, they won immunity. I think this is worse than Luvu because I think had the tribe successfully voted Cliff out, Lindsey flips at a swap or a merge, while if Luvu had successfully voted Sydney out, the other five could maintain tribe loyalty at the merge.
Posted Aug 12, 2026, 2:14 PM UTC