Survivor's Ballsiest Idol Holds

Sometimes a good idol sit is just as good as a great idol play.
/ idoled_out
Music: Silent Partner - New Tires

[@felixvecchiarelli6458]

WHAT A GREAT TOPIC! This largely gets ignored, but is a huge skill!

[@uglyaniimals]

agreed 100%, you're constantly hitting it out of the park with video ideas (and videos themselves) idoled out

[@itzmeconar6991]

Sometimes you wonder how they are able to read players. What if the producers tell them.

[@kharihammon9784]

Tai is probably the best at this skill.

[@kharihammon9784]

One thing Tai is great at is his uncanny ability to hold onto idols and use them correctly.

[@kharihammon9784]

Also I would’ve added Domenick from GI and Tyson from BvW.

[@SmoothCriminal12]

Honorable mention to Malcolm in the final 10 of Phillipines. He was fully aware Tandang was gunning for him after Penner improbably won immunity, and even after the chaotic tribal where he and Abi both revealed idols as a sign of power, chose not to play. That turned out to be a good thing, as the votes went towards Kent and Pete, where Kent gets eliminated 5-4-1. Malcolm is able to hold onto his idol till final 5, where he lets it naturally expire following an immunity win.

[@stitchfaces]

I loved this move. I am not sure if it's true (haven't watched the vid yet and can't remember of the top of my head), but this was the first time I remember seeing anyone go for this type of idol fakeout. It's such a good play amidst all the chaos.

[@aperson22222]

Marty is the only player from the entire Dark Ages era who’s ever made me say “I wish he had come back at some point.”

[@OJ.Was.Innocent]

Tyrone Davis?

[@aperson22222]

@@OJ.Was.Innocent It took me a second to remember who that is. If you’re asking whether I’ve ever wished he had played again, the answer is no.

[@nathan4327]

Jim from South Pacific?

[@aperson22222]

@@nathan4327 If there were another I would not have used the word “only.”

[@nathan4327]

@@aperson22222 touche

[@rileycraig2247]

Honorable mention to Maryanne at the Survivor 42 merge. She was one of five people vulnerable and got multiple votes but said nope, I'm not playing it.

[@silverbowftw5225]

Jeremy actually left his idol. He said he would’ve 100% played it had he brought it to camp. Kelley also confirmed that Jeremy was the witches coven’s original target that tribal, but Abi was set on taking out Savage instead

[@TRISTINBLACK-dy4jx]

Goes to show how much luck factors into the game. Glad Jeremy made it through!

[@kingofthorns203]

This fact makes me love Jeremy’s win even more. What a bummer to make 2nd jury member the second time on a second chance season when you can win instead (lol)

[@dimmerlights]

Abi-Maria really decided most of who's gonna be gone the first half of the season, what a queen😭

[@maleawhite]

The Ometepe tribe will never cease to amaze me with their blind loyalty to Boston Rob. The full-frontal lobotomies joke sent me, too.

[@Taylors_Tunes]

Your Savage burn at the end of that segment was hilarious.

[@zacharywiseman7276]

I’ve said before and I’ll say it again The first 3 episodes of Redemption Island are actually really good Survivor It’s a shame the rest were not

[@IdoledOut]

Hard agree. It has one of my favorite premieres!

[@MrMomSpaghetti]

The merge episode is amazing tbh.

[@iabansstuffwithan_i]

I mean I really enjoy the first episode, I wish Franses- no Franchequa- no Francesqua wasn’t eliminated 1st, she is the one first boot who I really like.

[@KingsNerdCave]

Merge episode is quite good as well. It's a middle of the road season, great game by rob to watch, but that's about it. Even when the girls finally decide to turn on him, he has the idol and plays it. He earned the win with his cult.

[@Captain-Sum.Ting-Wong]

The first episode is one of the most entertaining and funny premieres.

[@rowan4573]

Actually -Farty- Marty knew what he was doing because he is a Grand Master Chess Player, true story

[@IdoledOut]

I heard he beat Guillermo Vilas!

[@nathan4327]

As a kid, too!

[@random_jae5886]

​@@nathan4327Twice!

[@brokenpikachu9491]

Kristina is one of my random favorites! I’m glad she’s getting recognition for something that usually more savvy players are praised for

[@uglyaniimals]

she had so much potential !

[@esinger23]

It takes a lot of balls to pull this off successfully and I gotta give them a lot of props for doing so

[@moviemaniac14]

I'm actually a tad surprised the Xander, Evvie and Tiffany's idol hold in S41 wasn't on the list. Had Sydney not played her shot in the dark, Evvie would've gone home, and I'm not sure if they were planning on her sacrificing her vote.

[@zacharywiseman7276]

Marty is an icon Best part of Nicaragua by far

[@owjuan9918]

Idoled out talks about idol holds. In the next survivor episode, Carolyn does an idol hold. Coincidence? I think not.

[@random_jae5886]

Good Lord. You managed to find a completely original topic. What the hell?

[@duck7man]

Absolute crime that Tyson at the final 6 of blood vs water isn't mentioned! He knew he had a 1/3 shot of going home to rocks and still kept it

[@danastewart900]

this! i thought there was no way Tyson wasn’t number one so i thought he was kidding when he said Marty was number one

[@nathan4327]

Did he know Ciera was flipping for sure at that point?

[@corksauls9403]

Apparently Jeremy left his idol back at camp at the final 12, had he brought it he would have played it after Wentworth

[@silverbowftw5225]

This ^^

[@Star_Jewel]

Oh

[@navdieverid8018]

Underrated one: Kim holding her idol in the Queen Slayer move

[@jaydenwallsmith1282]

This has been one of my biggest issues with most of the cast members in later 30s/early 40s. I get the idea of holding idols but nowadays it feels like people hold onto idols way too long thinking they'll use them at the end and either end up going home with them or never playing them (Xander, Shan, Naseer, Maryanne, Dean, Lindsay, Aubrey, Kelly just off the top of my head). Though 43 and 44 so far have been good about people just letting idols rip.

[@dinohall2595]

You're including 43 even though it had no idol plays until the last two Tribal Councils where they could be played?

[@uglyaniimals]

tbf sitting on her idol was kind of a huge part of why maryanne won her season

[@NYChica23]

Xander actually played his at the Ricard vote, so not sure why you're including him on that list

[@uglyaniimals]

@@NYChica23 ya bc that was the last possible time his idol could be used, i personally don't count those sorts of plays esp since xander was in 0 danger

[@Perceptionreflection]

Maryanne won because of her idol hold dude, what are you talking about?

[@iabansstuffwithan_i]

Dang, I’m surprised that any of Jay from Millenials Vs Gen X’s non-idol plays made it in. He knew he was in trouble one time but still didn’t use it until he wasted it after holding it for so many times.

[@mallowout]

its really funny to think that a prostetic leg is more a threat than Marty with an idol is

[@iamkonner4813]

Poor Franchakra, what a season it woulda been if the idol was played on her

[@DizzyMapping]

Franchesqua*

[@iamkonner4813]

@@DizzyMapping Fransweskwa

[@TransparentEclipse]

Love these goofy video titles, we need more of them

[@unclesquirrelstache7431]

The ballsiest video not featuring Keith Nale.

[@IdoledOut]

We stan a ball savvy king

[@giovanniorellana2200]

These players had a ton of guts! I'll give them that!

[@andyland5555]

The way I snorted at "as the only new players on the Ometepe tribe who hadn't recently undergone full frontal lobotomies" 💀💀 Loooooove Kristina

[@wirbyyyy]

that lobotomy joke at 3:19 KILLED ME

[@PhoenixMalfoy]

Maryanne in 42 is worth mentioning here too. Sitting on hers is what got her the win.

[@theonesparrowhawk]

Only one of these players ended up reaching final tribal council on that season

[@lightningmonkey706]

Knew Marty would be number 1 when I saw the title - great topic for a video Luke!

[@booshbear]

Lauren and Kelley had me shaking every episode tbh

[@Awesometrax]

I still remember being absolutely flabbergasted, and incredibly disappointed, at the Kelly B vote. So many parts of that season were just messed up like that.

[@uglyaniimals]

even more disappointed then when sugar forced you into fire against bob ?

[@Awesometrax]

@@uglyaniimals XD

[@bronzergoth7598]

ahhh yes my favorite Survivor player, FrenchQuestion

[@Sequoya]

The jokes are solid on this one. So funny 😂

[@MegaJSK123]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Lauren use her idol on Chris in the EOE Finale? That's so impressive she could hold onto it all that time... Then was booted next round lol

[@Star_Jewel]

Yeah, she did, and it was dumb AF lol

[@calebos268]

6:30 *3rd, Ralph (rip) and Marty are the first 2

[@IdoledOut]

Well I'll be, Ralph was second! Thanks for the correction

[@kingofthorns203]

Honestly Jeremy saved himself by being a far superior social player at the final 12 of Cambodia. All of the witches were fed up with savage at this point (and I’m sure some of the Bayon alliance members were too even if they didn’t vote for him)

[@synyster5469]

Here after the latest episode of survivor 45… austin would probably land on this list, he was literally one of TWO targets for Julie to cast her sole vote on to eliminate and he knew he started the domino effect that got Julie to play her idol in the first place (which was his that HE GAVE HER!) also, his amulet idol expires NEXT ROUND so he had even more reason to use it. Total balls to hold onto it

[@jaydenwallsmith1282]

Next week's video better be the opposite of best uses of an idol immediately after getting it, like Brandon just did in 44

[@IdoledOut]

It's gonna be people who confidently sat on an idol when they deeeeeefinitely should have played it

[@jaydenwallsmith1282]

That'll be fun! Keep up the great videos

[@EntertainYourselfEY]

@@IdoledOut If Chris Noble isn't #1 we have a big problem

[@uglyaniimals]

@@IdoledOut yessss this is what i was hoping for ! you could even do a third video abt people who played idols for literally no reason if you can think of enough examples

[@uglyaniimals]

@@EntertainYourselfEY this was my thought too until i remember james sitting on *two* idols when there was only three left rounds left to play one (and when he stood a decent chance of winning at least one individual immunity, at least in theory)

[@jacobadelsheimer9645]

6:30 Ralph from Redemption Island also survived a tie vote with an idol at Zapatera’s first tribal council

[@nicholasjessup6788]

I think Luke meant a tie with only two players where there was uncertainty about which player would go home in the revote. There was no way Ralph was going home on the revote. Everyone knew it would be Russell.

[@NadiaX01]

There have been so many times where I've been shocked by someone holding out on playing an idol, Tai is the master if it

[@user-kk9vm7ob8b]

I think you now gotta add Tiff not playing here at ep8 of 46!!

[@owenpierce4874]

Another good hold would be Tyson's final 6 hold when he went to rocks in Blood vs. Water. Great list though!

[@lastdayonearthmysteryman4849]

I agree with that! The balls Tyson had to draw rock at the final 6 with a idol took guts!

[@goatmode7317]

Add Carolyn to this now

[@MynamesCona]

Everyone make sure you watch Australian Survivor, season 8 - Hero’s vs Villains

[@rlvd911]

Love the topic! What about best idol uses premurge???

[@kasecronin8388]

the savage suitcase joke got me

[@kingkrelly1315]

Mr. Farty. Survivor LEGEND

[@kellydaunis]

Tyson and Adam both reaching into a bag to draw rocks with idols in their bags should've been in this video, and #1 & 2.

[@neond6740]

Will you ever make a video about the best Idol baits?

[@cousinmose3193]

Dom deserves a shout for holding his idol at F6 in Ghost Islands. He played up his fake idol and then held onto his real one. Gutsy play

[@TheMontrealPaul]

Great premise :) Didn't Tyson hold on to an idol at the final 6 rock draw in blood v water?

[@IdoledOut]

He did. Although it worked out in his favor obviously, I personally feel like not playing his idol was way, way too needlessly risky

[@TheMontrealPaul]

@@IdoledOut Very kind of you to answer. I completely agree, not playing his idol in that spot was reckless, 20/20 hindsight doesn't justify it. Way too risky. I was still expecting Tyson in the top spot ( forgot about Marty ). After all, the title is ballsiest idol holds. Fantastic premise, btw :)

[@NYChica23]

@@IdoledOut The way Tyson explained it was that he knew that even if he drew the white rock, he was banking on going on a challenge run over on Redemption and winning his way back into the game, which is actually not that unrealistic coming from him, because even on WaW, he proved that he still has it when it comes to challenges

[@Aunini]

But if he plays it, either he negates votes or it causes a rock draw which only involves members of the opposing alliance 🤔

[@SmoothCriminal12]

@@TheMontrealPaul While all of that is true, you also have to consider that if he plays it at six, Monica has no reason not to flip on him and Gervais at five. So it was essentially pick your poison.

[@itzmeconar6991]

The thing about Christine holding her idol in redemption island, in the unaired voting confessionals, Andrea basically screams the plan to the camera so I wonder if Christine heard this and was like, yeah I ain’t playing it.

[@kellydaunis]

It's Kristina

[@TheLoserface45]

I really hated Tai’s gameplay in both his seasons. He might’ve been a nice guy but his game was always SO emotional. That was the only thing ever motivating his game

[@Perceptionreflection]

Maryanne winning because she held her idol - and her secrets - on a season when no one could keep it together was amazing. It's my favorite one, though it isn't the bravest.

[@brissa1x467]

I am surprised that Tyson from blood vs water did not make it on. -revote -rock draws -no immunity -2 safe alliances but he was the only one not safe And bro manage to survive that without using his idol

[@Ramboost007]

Unlike Marty or Jeremy who made good enough social reads to know they aren't the primary target, Tyson was gonna end up in a random rock draw. If he avoids the elimination, he ends up in a strong majority with an idol. If he loses, he goes to Redemption Island. I agree that it is ballsy but it's objectively a dumb play.

[@JohnnyHikesSW]

It’s widely rumored that it just didn’t occur to Jeremy that maybe he should play his idol, similar to how it never occurred Jeremy that he could tell Stephen how to use his stolen vote as he was walking to the booth

[@alenjimenez831]

Correct me if I’m wrong (I’m too lazy to check myself) but didn’t Kelly get voted out with her idol in eoe. Personally I think it’s better to misplay it then to be voted out with it. At that point it’s not being ballsy it’s being over confident and/or unaware

[@abworstclass8364]

Tyson in Blood vs Water for the rock draw does that count

[@apriletmanski]

Rob's Zombies!!! 😂😂😂

[@mohs8118]

part 2 pleeaaase

[@criomede9536]

Interesting that Kim from WaW is not here. The balls on her to not use her idol when Denise played 2 idols in the Dakal tribal with only 5 people .

[@alex4703]

Awesome lmao

[@bluedevils481991]

Clearly all of survivor 46 watched this video before going out. Too bad they showed what happened when idol holds go wrong haha

[@aaronspangles5819]

My vote would have gone to Carolyn in the first vote of world apart, I'm sure there is stuff we didn't see but it looks like she might not have the numbers, but in the end she did.

[@stevenstevenson2943]

did you make this because the first episode of survivor 44 had no one abstain to play an advantage

[@SurvReacts]

Unpopular opinion but James wins China if he plays both his idols!!

[@uglyaniimals]

idk if this is unpopular, i feel like he beats basically everyone no ?

[@Aunini]

I've sometimes wondered what happens if Peih-Gee spilled the beans and got him to play an idol and vote Todd 🤔

[@ggsnubs]

Thought for sure Dominique at final 6 would be on here (ghost island)

[@nathan4327]

Marty better be on here

[@sanjumitra1]

What about Tyson from BvW? He literally went to rocks with an idol in his pocket?!

[@lastdayonearthmysteryman4849]

But did again he did vote himself out. I know he won but he still voted himself out. But yes should have been here!

[@lukeweber2689]

Jeremy is such an underrated player

[@cruzjuneedgabrielle7909]

dont forget the idol play that the table hahaha

[@kk_33]

How did Malcolm not make this list?

[@raheemfielder-bey998]

These moves are more impressive and prove youre a better survivor player than people getting lucky using a production party scavenger hunt prize, which grants you a pass for failing at the social game in a social game.

[@annrodriguez2891]

MaryAnn won with an idol not played ....that's the ballsiest EVER

[@Sixersszn0]

Well now you already have to update it lmao

[@jewski6852]

No tyson at the final 6 of bvw?

[@nicholasjessup6788]

I know James’ idol sit at final 7 of Survivor China was definitely a big blunder, but I would argue his idol sit at final 9 should at least be an honourable mention here. With that tribal council, he knows he’s being targeted by someone who’s supposed to be aligned with him, and he has no way of knowing whether or not Todd and his allies could be lying to him. I feel like his blunder a couple of rounds later shouldn’t diminish the fact that he was in a not ideal spot, but managed to get out of it just fine.

[@Star_Jewel]

12:36 Did you mean to say the La Flor alliance thought Kelly B. was on the wrong side of the vote here? 'Cause she & Benry actually flipped their votes to Shannon

[@daninator4478]

There’s actually a third time someone survived a revote with an idol: Ralph in redemption island during the russell boot. But like, Russell was going home no matter what so does that really count

[@MrMomSpaghetti]

Marty for Second Chances II. Please.

[@irdinasabri6482]

Before I watch, cfm tyson in blood vs water is top 3, if not 1

[@Daniel-uo8um]

🔷👐

[@coolguyc4sey]

I hope to see the worst idol sits ever after this, unless you already did it

[@giovanecamargos695]

What about Hayley of Aus Survivor? She managed to implode brawns alliance just pretending to play the idol, but, at the end, she didnt even use it and forced them to crack

[@JessePinkman08]

I think LJ should be on here

[@eddiemarlin1129]

Can someone please explain to me why Jane hated Marty so much? I watched Nicaragua recently and can’t for the life of me understand why

[@TopRanger237]

I think Jane may be a bit of a Karen

[@brettshulenburg4779]

Spoilers but how great is this timing when poor shonee shouldn't have held her idol last night smh hopefully four times will be the charm for her lmfao

[@travisnix594]

How is this not Tyson at the rock draw?

[@Aunini]

Ballsiest, not dumb - his idol play would have reduced the chance of disaster from 33% to 0% 🥴

[@brendanfechter4889]

Xander, Wendell, Jay, Wentworth in Edge , til she holds it one round too long,

[@heater1237]

Maybe I’m calling it early, but what about Carolyn or Heidi? Heidi more so, she was the secondary target twice in a row and still sits.

[@mikestager9509]

I think it takes more skill and knowledge of the social dynamics to know to hold your idol than it does to play it. I didn't do the research but I feel like there have been more unnecessary idol plays than someone going home with one in their pocket throughout the history of this game.

[@revinevan87]

Phillip said he was voting for Francesca, 6 were splitting between fran/kris so that means fran is getting 4 votes, so why would she play it?

[@ryanklima791]

#1 is Chris Noble even though he got voted out

[@mateuszpiotrowski1837]

Cagayan and LJ

[@jbrocomicsricketybiscuitst2511]

Hellooooooo Carolyn

[@BrettMKW]

Technically Chris Noble holding his idol that was only good for 2 rounds when he knew the vote was either himself or Domenick. Was it successful? No, not at all. But it was ballsy.

[@Strobobel]

Francesqua

[@timmyrossen7488]

Due to matching underwear 😂😂