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Season 40 · 2020Champions only

Winners at War

Mamanuca Islands, Fiji

The fortieth-season epic — all twenty players former champions, a fire-token economy, the Edge of Extinction, and two million dollars on the line.

Tony Vlachos

Sole Survivor

Tony Vlachos

Won the jury 12-4-0

Year
2020
Location
Mamanuca Islands, Fiji
Format
Champions only
Days
39 days
Castaways
20
Grand prize
$2,000,000
Jury vote
12-4-0

Also read at the Final Tribal Council

Natalie AndersonMichele Fitzgerald

How Tony Vlachos won

Returning a third time and playing even harder, Tony out-chaosed the greatest field the show ever assembled, sprinting and scheming his way to a second title against twenty fellow winners.

From the Reader

The One Where the Show Ate Itself

3 min read · season retrospective

The bigger picture

In context

Era

The New School Era

2010–2020

Timeline

40th of 50

Aired 2020

Filming

Fiji

9th of 19 seasons filmed here

Starting tribes

The 2 tribes marooned when the game began — and where the names come from.

Dakalgun

A variant of Fijian 'dakai', meaning 'gun'.

Seleknife / to cut

Fijian for 'knife' / 'to cut'.

At the merge · they became Koru — Winners at War merge tribe — Māori for 'loop / coil', the unfurling silver-fern frond symbolizing new beginnings, growth, and strength. Adam Klein proposed it after learning the meaning of Jeremy Collins's koru necklace.

Returning players

Veterans who came back for another shot at the title.

Adam Klein2× playerAmber Mariano3× playerBen Driebergen2× playerDanni Boatwright2× playerDenise Stapley2× playerEthan Zohn3× playerJeremy Collins3× playerKim Spradlin2× playerMichele Fitzgerald2× playerNatalie Anderson2× playerNick Wilson2× playerParvati Shallow4× playerRob Mariano5× playerSandra Diaz-Twine4× playerSarah Lacina3× playerSophie Clarke2× playerTony Vlachos3× playerTyson Apostol4× playerWendell Holland2× playerYul Kwon2× player

Also filmed in Fiji

Fiji key art

Fiji

Season 14 · 2007

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Millennials vs. Gen X

Season 33 · 2016

Game Changers key art

Game Changers

Season 34 · 2017

Heroes v. Healers v. Hustlers key art

Heroes v. Healers v. Hustlers

Season 35 · 2017

Ghost Island key art

Ghost Island

Season 36 · 2018

+13 more filmed in Fiji
Idols & advantages

The twists in play

The whole arsenal

Debuted this season

Extortion Advantage

Demand a set number of Fire Tokens from one player; if they can't pay by the next challenge, they sit out and can't vote.

The 50/50 Coin

A coin flip for everything: call it right and you're immune, call it wrong and you're not — your vote spent either way.

Idol moments

  • Playing the Podium

    Voted out — it wasn't an idol

    Adam Klein

    Cornered and out of options at a Winners-at-War Tribal, Adam walked up and tried to play a piece of Jeff Probst's voting podium, betting it was an idol hidden in plain sight. It was furniture. He went home.

Go deeper

Explore Season 40

The Cast

The whole tribe in finish order, Sole Survivor to first boot.

20 castaways

Episode Guide

Every episode, with recaps of how the season actually played out.

14 episodes

In the Arena

Every challenge that ran, episode by episode, and who won each one.

23 challenges
Around the fire

Common questions

Who won Survivor Winners at War?
Tony Vlachos won Survivor: Winners at War (Season 40, 2020), taking the jury vote 12-4-0.
Where was Survivor Season 40 filmed?
Survivor: Winners at War was filmed in Mamanuca Islands, Fiji.
When did Survivor Season 40 air?
Survivor: Winners at War aired in 2020 and ran 39 days.
Who were the finalists in Survivor Winners at War?
Tony Vlachos won at the Final Tribal Council alongside Natalie Anderson and Michele Fitzgerald.

Around the fire

The tribe's debating Survivor 40 right now

“Cirie never needed an idol. She WAS the idol — read every vote a round early and bent the whole jungle to her will without a single immunity win. That's the cei…”
— MergeBeast · 64 🔥 and climbing

Cast your vote, drop a hot take, and climb your torch — every contribution is tied to your profile at Tribal Council.

Join the debate at Tribal

Season 40 of 50