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Since someone else made a list, I'll make one too.
18. Chris- He would've been out first in most other seasons.
17. Amber- She played the same game in All Stars as she did in Australia, but Rob is a better player than Jerri. She got lucky that the villain she was planning to hide behind was also a brilliant strategist, and could take her to the end.
16. Tom- He was a huge threat in challenges, and in Palau, no one even tried to go against him, except for once.
15. Richard- He was saved by an alphabet strategy. I know that doesn't happen every season.
14. Brian- He was a pretty big threat in challenges, and in most seasons, they wouldn't let one person run the game without having to outwit people who were trying to mutiny against him.
13. Yul- His idol gave him control in the top 9, and that wouldn't have happened in any season other than 12 and 13.
12. Bob- Kenny made too many fatal mistakes for Sugar and Matty not to betray him. The mastermind doesn't usually screw up that badly.
11. Jenna- She was one of the stronger members of her tribe in challenges, but she was a challenge threat after the merge, and annoyed players, and at a couple points was lucky to have Rob, who flipped things to keep her, which doesn't always happen.
10. Tina- She was weak in challenges, but she swayed people who were against her to go with her, when she started off in the minority alliance.
9. Earl- Stacey pulled off a mutiny against him and Yau-Man, but they had the idol, and there's no way to tell whether or not Earl would've come back from it after Yau-Man was out.
8. Sandra- She was weak, but she always knew how to put the targets on other people despite that, rather than the target not being on her due to other people being bigger targets automatically, which is the case with some other winners.
7. JT- He might be seen as a threat in challenges, and he had an ally who put him in a good position, but other than that he played very well to get himself to win.
6. Parvati- She was an absolutely brilliant strategist, but not everybody would make mistakes like the ones made by Ozzy, Jason, and Erik.

These are only winners I really think fit this category.
5. Vecepia- She knew who to align with, overcame obstacles, flew under the radar, and won when she needed to. If she had a clean slate every time, it would be hard to see her coming, like it was when she made it to the final four. The only thing that might get her would be the jury, which is really the only reason to put her behind #3 and #4.
4. Ethan- He made the perfect alliances, which he knew would get him to the end, and made everybody like him enough to not want to vote him out, and to vote for him in the end.
3. Aras- He basically gets the same description as the one for Ethan, but he had someone targeting him the whole time, and he got Danielle to take him out, so I guess that puts him one spot ahead.
2. Danni- She may have been put in the worst positions out of every winner, and she overcame them all. She was rich in the game, and poor in the game, and she handled both brilliantly.
1. Todd- Every winner had reasons to be voted out, and he planned ahead of time how to cover up for them, like having a weaker ally. He also had more people trying to mutiny against him than most people controlling the game usually have, and he outplayed all of those people's plans. He made people think that the deals he was making with them were really in his best interest, which got them to do some stupid things, and may be the only winner to be screwed by a twist made by the show, and still overcome it and win, unless you count Bob, but Sugar and Matty did that for him.

Kitty Pryde1 wrote:

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1. Todd- Every winner had reasons to be voted out, and he planned ahead of time how to cover up for them, like having a weaker ally. He also had more people trying to mutiny against him than most people controlling the game usually have, and he outplayed all of those people's plans. He made people think that the deals he was making with them were really in his best interest, which got them to do some stupid things, and may be the only winner to be screwed by a twist made by the show, and still overcome it and win, unless you count Bob, but Sugar and Matty did that for him.

In other seasons, having a weaker ally would've either A. weakened the tribe as a whole, or B. not mattered since that ally would have been booted early and he would have no shield.

He had NO ONE trying to mutiny against him. Denise, Amanda, Courtney, James, and Jean-Robert were all so hardcore Fei Long that even when it was in their best interest to jump ship (not just against Todd, but against his alliance) they didn't.

Also, he was NOT screwed by a twist. He benefitted from the swap making it easier to take out his ally without the blood getting on his hands, and he found both idols and gave them to James, the guy who was already dangerous enough without that.

Todd tried to play too hard. He tried to be the mastermind and he made a bunch of stupid moves: like not throwing the first post-swap challenge; like giving James BOTH of the hidden immunity idols, like targetting Jean-Robert who no one liked and was not a threat to him at all over James, the guy with the HIIs, or Peih-Gee, the outsider who was his only real competition; not telling Denise, his ally who gave him numbers, that he was booting Jean-Robert; not casting a vote for Peih-Gee the round James went home when SHE was smart enough to cast a vote to protect herself from Idol fallout. Todd benefitted immensely from having the strongest guys in the game on his team for an extremely physical pre-merge. He also benefitted from the post-merge being extremely non-physical, thus preventing the stronger players from really having a chance to dominate. He benefitted from, in addition to having the strongest guys, having the weakest girls as shields for himself. In any other season, someone like Todd, a scrawny superfan, would be voted out for being too big a strategic threat without the muscles to back it up.

The reason Todd's weaker ally wasn't eliminated early was because Todd kept her in the game when people tried to vote her out. If Todd wasn't there, she would've been voted out, and it didn't weaken the tribe because another strategy Todd had was to have a strong ally, which was James. As long as a strong guy was there, and there always is one, the tribe is not effectively weakened by one weak person. The tribe swap made him lose his final three ally, Aaron, so he replaced him with Frosti, and turned on Frosti once he regained the numbers to where he could afford to lose him. Also, It wasn't the fact that those people were so hardcore Fei Long that they didn't switch, because if that were the case, they wouldn't have even considered it. Todd talked to them before tribal council every time to talk them into thinking that it was better to stay with Todd. He was the only one who would do that. He even got James not to play either idol.

Todd was the opposite of playing too hard and trying not to be the mastermind. He let Aaron make the first decision, and Amanda make the second, and he got people to think Aaron was the mastermind. It wasn't stupid to not throw the competition because he had already made Frosti as an ally to replace whoever out of James or Aaron would be voted out. Giving James the idols was brilliant because it put the target on James, gave James a reason to trust Todd, and Todd used it to convince James that it was in Todd's best interest for James to go to the final five with the idols, which is also why he didn't play them. He got out Jean Robert because he thought of a plan to blindside James after Todd though of it, and also because it solidified Courtney in the top three when he was afraid she would flip because she wanted Jean Robert out. He didn't tell Denise because James and Amanda didn't want to, which was an obstacle for him, because he had to come out of it making James, Amanda, and Denise happy, so he didn't tell Denise, then the next day used his powers of persasion to keep her on his side. Somehow he pulled it off. Amanda also wouldn't let him vote for Peih-Gee, so Todd relied on his deal with James that James woldn't se the idol. Those are both examples of Todd not trying too hard to be the mastermind, even when he was right, and still being strategic enough to recover from it. He got out Peih-Gee when it was the best time to get rid of her. Jaime was controlling Zhan Hu, Jean Robert needed to go for Courtney to be on his side, Peih-Gee won the next immunity, then they needed to get rid of James's idols, then Peih-Gee won the next immunity, then she was out.

Todd had strong players on his tribe, but he was the last one on the chopping block. They could've lost every challenge, and he would be the Stephenie of that season. There's no way to no what would've happened after that, but if he can convince someone who was left out of votes to stay on his side, someone from the other tribe to be on his alliance, knowing he'd be an outsider, and someone with two idols not to play them at the perfect time, I don't see how he wouldn't be able to convince people of anything else that would help him in the game. Even if the stronger player of Fei Long like James won every immunity, they would've been in the finals with Todd, so it really wouldn't matter, and he would no doubt have just as good a jury performance as he did, and every tribe has had weaker players than Todd. There isn't a single tribe where Todd wouldn't have had someone to use as a sheild. Therefore, in any other season, Todd would've still made it to the final three, and still would've convinced the jury to vote for him.

Kitty Pryde1 wrote:

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Let's do a hypothetical scenario:

If put into a game with a random group of people on a random tribe, and if their tribe were to lose the first challenge, what is the likelihood of a player being targetted?

Richard: He's a physically strong player and a provider and a natural-born leader. Only the leader aspect can really work against him in the early game, and possibly his arrogance as well. 10%

Tina: She's a physically weak player, but she's also got a good social game and is able to stay on peoples' good sides. 85%

Ethan: He's physically strong, kind, inoffensive, and young. 1%

Vecepia: She's mature, yet not weak in the same sense as most other female winners, and she knows to sit back and let things run their course. 15%

Brian: Strong, alpha male who doesn't force himself into the position of leader right off the bat, and instead makes nice with his tribe. 1%

Jenna: A bit self-entitled and definitely has potential to be seen as a princess, without any REALLY strong physical abilities to set her apart from other players. 65%

Sandra: Weak and probably a bit bitchy in the early days. 90%

Amber: Semi-athletic and quiet, not going to really ruffle any feathers, but she might wind up like Mary, where she's targetted to weaken the more forceful partner she chooses. 25%

Chris: Strong and personable with a strong work ethic, yet not putting himself out in the spotlight. 1%

Tom: Extremely strong and valuable to the tribe as a provider and a leader, and also a relatively nice guy. 5%

Danni: Physically strong and quiet, yet also willing to make moves to further herself in the game, and friendly with everyone. 1%

Aras: A bit out there and immature, but also very strong and useful in challenges. 15%

Yul: Smart, strong, and yet not so much so that he would be targetted for it. 1%

Earl: The perfect balance of strength, smarts, and social skills to succeed in any situation. 1%

Todd: A schemer to the extreme at times, to the point of turning people off, and he's also not very physically strong. 80%

Parvati: Not quite physically strong, but strong-ish. Also has potential to be viewed as lazy though. 60%

Bob: Viewed as old, yet still strong in challenges and useful around camp. No real alliance-building or strategy though. 20%

J.T.: Strong guy that takes the leadership position naturally, not by assuming the job. Very personable and approachable. 5%

You said targetted, not out. Todd was targetted every single week from the top 7 on, and his weak allies (and JR) were targetted before the merge. He overcame that by convincing people not to vote him or his allies out. Every elimination was either orchestrated or verified by Todd, and if he didn't want it to happen, it didn't happen, even when it was dead set to happen before Todd changed it. If he had an 80% chance to be out, and he changed it, that's a huge compliment to his gameplay. Yes, he would be likely to be targetted, but he wouldn't go home.

kenc333 wrote:

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Yea and Todd got lucky that Amanda was unwaiveringly loyal to him even when she didn't respect his gameplay. If Amanda had more of a spine and a killer instinct, Todd would've been gone because he was totally at her mercy from the F7 onwards.

Same issue as I said before.. rather than being able to get the target off of you, it's better to not have a target there in the first place.

It's not luck when you approach someone on day 1, and convince them every day that you are willing to go with them to the end, and give them good reasons to believe it. He convinced her to go with him to the end. She was dangerously close to voting him out in the top four, but he talked her out of it, just like he did every week.

If you don't have a target on you in the first place, that's not the kind of strategy that would work every season because people are targetted for the most random things. For example, some people get voted out for being well liked, and some people are voted out for being hated. The more consistently effective way seems to be that no matter how much you are targetted, you can recover from it every time.