Season 41 introduce new twists and advantages to revamp the game. While the changes weren't meant with overall praise, the new batch of players were, each proving to be intelligent and well-suited for the game in their own ways.
A lot of times in Survivor, the smartest player doesn't necessarily win the title of Sole Survivor, but they do have a hand in determining the fate of others. The cast of Survivor 41 was made up of the most diverse players yet and proved that the game can survive on its ability to cast strategic, interesting people.
Sydney Segal
Sydney and the entire Luvu tribe were able to avoid tribal council for the entire pre-merge, proving that they worked well together and could dominate challenges. Sydney for her part was already looking at people on her tribe to eliminate before they were ever forced to attend a tribal council and was ready to cut ties with her original tribe .
Her approach to the game was to be one step of everyone, and she was. She used her Shot In The Dark advantage out of fear she was being targeted at the merge tribal council, and she was right to do so, even if it didn't work out in her favor. Ultimately, luck wasn't on her side, but she was definitely one of the smarter contestants to even think of using her advantage.
Liana Wallace
Liana was smart not to trust her Yase tribe ...because they didn't trust her. After being deemed an outcast due to Evvie and Tiffany ing forces with Xander, Liana took matters into her own hands and formed a bond with Ua's Shan.
On paper, Liana did everything right. She used her Knowledge Is Power advantage correctly after learning that Xander had an idol, and she aligned with people who were willing to protect her. However, the many twist and advantages of season 41 led to her demise, as her possession of the knowledge advantage turned out to be common knowledge around camp.
Evvie Jagoda
Evvie was a fan-favorite from the moment she appeared on the screen on the 41st season. Well-liked by their teammates, trusted by of other tribes and hilarious in confessionals, Evvie had what it takes to be a Survivor winner.
However, their fellow contestants caught on to their likability rather quickly and strategized to vote them out. Using her intelligence and wit, Evvie was able to remain in the game much longer than her competitors intended, and nearly got a hidden immunity idol played on her behalf via Xander.
Naseer Muttalif
Naseer was beloved by audiences at home after his very first confessional where he revealed that watching Survivor actually taught him English. His love of the game proved to be a strength and a weakness, as people targeted him for having too much power too early on.
Though he tried to hide behind physical strength and a tribe-strong mentality, Naseer was one of the most intelligent players of the season, finding an idol all on his own and being the one to activate it via the Beware Advantage, however, tribemates caught on to his smarts and eliminated him before he could play it.
DeShawn Radden
DeShawn played an excellent game of Survivor up until the final six. He was everyone's friend, had tight alliances that guaranteed him a spot at the end, and was lucky in a Do Or Die (twist) situation.
He was smart enough to challenge Shan on some of her ideas and helped campaign to get threats like Evvie out of the game. His downfall happened to be his emotions, as he struggled with letting anyone else have more control or power. It wasn't all for nothing though, as he still earned himself a spot at the final tribal council.
Danny McCray
Former Dallas Cowboys' player Danny McCray was one of the most under-the-radar contestants all season long despite being a professional athlete. Danny played a purely strategic game, not letting anyone know of his sports career past or too much about his personal life.
Danny's strategy worked and turned out to be the smartest option for the retired NFL player. He made strong alliances and was never the targeted vote at tribal council, despite being one of the most athletic contestants. Eventually, his vote out came down to a numbers game, but he was thankful and gracious until the end.
Shan Smith
Shan had the biggest "winner's edit" out of all 18 castaways on Survivor: 41. From the very beginning, she was edited to look like everybody's biggest competition and the next era's of Survivor's most beloved villain.
Hilarious humming confessionals aside, Shan was one of the smartest players to compete on the show in recent years. She had everything figured out from who to vote out next to how to use, activate and share advantages. Shan's biggest issue was that she was too smart for her own good, and failed to see just how big of a threat she was to others.
Xander Hastings
Xander started the game with the potential to be just another Malcolm or Joe but ended the season proving that he was so much more than fans initially gave him credit for.
He repeated his line about butterflies three times in hopes to activate his idol, and survived tribal the two times he didn't have a vote. He kept his idol safe until the last moment he could use it, where he smartly played it on himself and no one else. His bravest moment came in taking Erika to the end with him, and while it turned out not to work in his favor, his reasons for doing so were brilliant, as he didn't want winning the fire-making challenge to be added to her already impressive resume.
Erika Casupanan
Much like Danny, Erika flew under the radar for much of the first half of the game due to the Luvu tribe winning nearly every challenge. Her breakthrough moment on screen came when she was exiled and faced with the difficult choice of whether or not to smash the hourglass, to which she happily decided to turn back time and change the course of the game.
That was only one of Erika's thoughtful plays, as she went on to remain a non-threat until the end when her tribemates realized that they could lose if they sat next to her at Final Tribal Council. Erika's close friendships with the other castaways and her cheery attitude made her incredibly likable, and she pled her case to the jury in such a way that it would be impossible not to vote for her to win.
Ricard Foye
Ricard knew he was going to be a Survivor legend from day one, and that confidence allowed him to play a near-perfect game, complete with blindsiding close allies, winning individual immunity challenges, and being a fan favorite.
Ricard's biggest strength was his intelligence and the knowledge he had of how every other contestant was playing the game. He knew exactly how to get what he wanted, and was only eliminated because he didn't earn the advantage in the final five immunity challenge. Ricard proved his wits even after being voted off, convincing the jury that Erika was the most deserving of the final three.