Tiebreaker

Tiebreaker
Iyzebel Vaga and Orwell competing in a fire-making tiebreaker at the final four of SFC13.
Survivor Fan Characters Gameplay
Description:	A contingency plan in the event of a tie vote at Tribal Council.
Appearances:	Every season (except SFC9 and Fans vs. Canons)

A tiebreaker is a situation where two or more contestants receive the same number of votes casts against them at Tribal Council, with no one else receiving a higher amount. In this scenario, several methods have been used over the course of the series.

RulesEdit

Pre-Final Four Edit

Typically, in the event that two or more contestants share the highest number of elimination votes, all other contestants are entitled to a revote, but can only choose between the tied contestants. Whoever receives the most votes after the revote will be out of the game.

If the revote does not break the tie, the vote is declared a deadlock. All non-tied contestants must then openly discuss which of the tied contestants should be eliminated from the game, requiring a unanimous decision in a limited amount of time. If they fail to do this, all tied contestants are rendered immuned, and the remaining contestants must all draw rocks. Whoever draws the odd-colored rock will be eliminated from the game. Alternatively, non-tied contestants may choose to go to rocks if they prefer.

Final Four Edit

If a 2-2 vote occurs, there typically will not be a revote. Instead the two tied contestants will compete in a fire-making challenge. The winner receives immunity from the vote, and the loser is eliminated.

Jury Vote Tiebreaker Edit

As seen in Survivor Fan Characters 18: Past vs. Future, if the initial jury vote ends in a two-person tie between a Final Three, the second runner-up becomes the official final jury member, and is tasked with casting the deciding vote.

Former Rules Edit

Pre-Final Four Edit

In Survivor Fan Characters and Survivor Fan Characters 4: Fans vs. Canons, tied contestants would participate in a questions and answers challenge. The first person to answer a question incorrectly while their opponent answers correctly would be eliminated from the game. The format of this tiebreaker was slightly altered in Survivor Fan Characters 13, where instead, the castaway who answers the most questions correctly would remain in the game.

Originally, a countback was proposed to break the tie in Fans vs. Canons. But because neither contestant had received any votes cast against them at prior Tribal Councils, the vote was declared deadlocked, and the traditional questions and answers challenge proceeded.

In Survivor Fan Characters 2: Brains vs. Brawns and Survivor Fan Characters 15, if either a revote fails to break the tie, or all votes become nullified through the use of a Hidden Immunity Idol. Then all unimmune contestants are forced to partake in a rock draw, with the person drawing the odd-colored rock being eliminated.

Tiebreaker History Edit

Revote History Edit

Season	Vote	Tied Contestants	Revote	Eliminated
SFC3	2-2-1	Montana Raines and Spade	2-1	Spade
	3-3-1	Baxter and Montana Raines (Jury Vote)	4-3-0	Baxter
Fans vs. Canons	2-2-0	Barney Callahan and Kala	3-2	Kala
All-Stars	2-2-2	Amy Randall, Hogan, and Wendy	2-1	Amy
	3-3-1	Lucky the Cat and Popper	3-2	Popper
SFC7	8-8	Ker and Wrecker Dog (Jury Vote)	8-8	None (Deadlock)
Battle of the Tribes	2-2-1-0	Kris and Sanza Salazar	5-3
SFC11	1-1-1-1-0	Angel, Claus, Sunflower, and Whitney	1-1-1-1
SFC13	5-5	Jim Fraser and Survivor Critic	4-4
SFC14	2-2-0	Liz Calhoun and Lolita Thorne	5-0
SFC15	4-4	Lea and Leah Grimes	5-1
	3-3	Ky Razie and Shaega Yurei	2-2
Blood vs. Water	5-5	Bowser Koopa Jr. and Brandi Lake	5-3
	2-2-0	Damon Bleuth and Tialayla Carter	6-0
Alola	6-6	Allison Kathrati and Jeannie	5-5
Past vs. Future	4-4	Clarissa Sutherland and E.T. Johnson	3-3
	2-2-0	Clarissa Sutherland and Ria Bentley	3-2

Challenge History Edit

Season	Vote	Tied Contestants	Challenge	Eliminated
SFC1	2-2	Charlie and Phil	Q and A
	1-1-0	Hogan and Taylor	Fire-Making
Fans vs. Canons	4-4	Polar Bear and Rebecca Chambers	Q and A
	2-2	Barney Callahan and Chaona	Fire-Making
SFC7	2-2	Dinah and Wrecker Dog	Fire-Making
The Midway Island	2-2	Jackie and Oehda	Roulette
SFC13	5-5; 4-4	Jim Fraser and Survivor Critic	Q and A
	2-2	Iyzebel Vaga and Orwell	Fire-Making
Blood vs. Water	2-2	Bowser Koopa Jr. and Doris Stagg	Fire-Making

Rock Draw History Edit

Season	Drawing Contestants	Result	Eliminated
Brains vs. Brawns	Chris, Denise, Jasmine, and Ryan	Chris — Safe Denise — Out Jasmine — Safe Ryan — Safe
The Midway Island	Geena Takahashi, Iraenus, Kiara Gate, and Malik Rishied	Geena — Safe Iraenus — Safe Kiara — Out Malik — Safe
SFC15	Leah Grimes, Sylvia, and Taro	Leah — Out Sylvia — Safe Taro — Safe
Alola	Derek Linz, Jahira Patel, Josh Thunderbolt, Mele Nenbara, Ollie the Otter, Raiza, and Slash the Hedgehog	Derek — Safe Jahira — Out Josh — Safe Mele — Safe Ollie — Safe Raiza — Safe Slash — Safe
Past vs. Future	Atlas, Frysk McCloud, Ria Bentley, Sagittaria Bentley, and Shin Kasai	Atlas — Out Frysk — Safe Ria — Safe Sagittaria — Safe Shin — Safe

Other Tiebreakers Edit

Season	Vote	Tied Contestants	Tiebreaker	Eliminated
Fans vs. Canons	4-4	Polar Bear and Rebecca Chambers	Past Votes	None (Deadlock)
The Cursed Islands	3-3	Audrey and Maria	Bribery Curse
SFC7	8-8; 8-8	Ker and Wrecker Dog (Jury Vote)	Public Vote
Past vs. Future	4-4-0	E.T. Johnson and Sagittaria Bentley (Jury Vote)	Jury Vote Tiebreaker

TriviaEdit

• SFC9 and Fans vs. Canons are the only seasons to not have any tiebreakers.
• SFC13 is the only season to use a tiebreaker challenge after a revote ended in a deadlock, as opposed to the traditional lottery of drawing rocks.
• The initial jury vote has tied three times. First in SFC3, again in SFC7, and once more in Past vs. Future.
  • Each season also proposed a different method of breaking the tie. SFC3 held a revote, SFC7 held a revote, before activating a Public Vote, and Past vs. Future had the second runner-up Shin Kasai cast the deciding vote.
• Doris Stagg is the only female Survivor Fan Characters contestant to win a fire-making tiebreaker challenge.