Fantasy Tribes Rules

[1.0 Game Play]

Welcome to the Fantasy Tribes—where strategy meets the thrill of Survivor! If you love analyzing the game, making predictions, and competing with friends, this is the game for you. Here is what you need to know before signing up:

[1.1 - General Overview]

Coaches will start by selecting MVPs from the pool of castaways competing in the latest season of Survivor. Coaches will then draft a tribe with their league from the same pool of castaways. At the merge and finale, coaches will make Edgic and Finale predictions which award points for being correct!

Each week, coaches will set their lineup, choosing which castaways to keep active and which to exile. Their ACTIVE castaways will earn or lose points based on their actions in the game as detailed in the rules below. If coaches are unhappy with their tribe, they can get in contact with other league members and work out a tribe swap! Trade MVPs AND/OR draft picks and make the best tribe possible! As long as they have a positive amount of total points going into the week, coaches may choose to place a wager. Wager on which castaway is getting eliminated, or (after the merge) predict who wins immunity. Lastly, if coaches draft the castaway who is eliminated first in the season, their tribe may receive a "Grenade" that can have severe consequences.

[1.2 - "MVP" SELECTION]

Before the draft, coaches are required to make their "Most Valuable Player" selections. By default this is two MVPs per coach, but commissioners can configure this from 0 to 4 in private challenges (Challenge Settings → Team Configuration). Each pick can be any castaway, and coaches cannot pick the same castaway twice. MVP points are worth double. Coaches cannot exile an MVP (put them on their bench).

[1.3 - Draft]

Following MVP selection, the draft order will be randomized. The draft will be serpentine, so if coaches pick first in the first round, they pick last in the next round, first in the round after that and so on. Every castaway can only be picked once by each coach and coaches cannot draft someone who they chose as their MVP. By default each coach has 4 draft picks, but commissioners can configure this from 0 to 8 in private challenges (the total of (MVP Count × 2) + Draft Pick Count is capped at 8). The number of copies of each castaway in the draft pool depends on the number of coaches drafting and is detailed on the How to Host a Draft page.

Self Draft: An alternate draft mode where every coach picks their own tribe via a "Pick Your Tribe" button at their own pace—no live lobby and no manual entry by the commissioner. Public challenges always use Self Draft (it's the only way tribes get filled there). In private challenges, Self Draft is optional and is enabled by the commissioner in Challenge Settings.

[1.4 - Edgic & Finale Pick]

After the Mergatory episode (once everyone has their merge buffs), coaches will have a week to make an Edgic pick. Inspired by the formulas used by Edgic on reddit where they analyze the editing done by Survivor production, coaches will decide who they think is going to win the game. Coaches will do the same the week leading up to the finale episode or episodes. Edgic and Finale picks do not earn coaches points like their draftees and MVPs do. If a coach’s Edgic and/or Finale pick is correct, they simply get points for being correct.

If a coach hasn't made their Edgic or Finale pick by the time that episode airs, the system auto-assigns a random castaway still in the game as the pick.

• Where to make your picks:
  • Website: Top sub-nav Tribe dropdown → Tribe.
  • App: Challenge tab → My Tribe.

[1.5 - Setting Weekly Lineups]

MVPs will earn and lose points for their tribes without their coaches having the option to exile them for the upcoming episode. Draft picks are a different story! By default, each week coaches will be required to determine which of their draft picks are active and which one will be exiled (also known as on their bench). Their active castaways will count towards their total score while their exiled castaway will not. Coaches may put castaways that are out of the game in an active spot and vice versa as a tactic.

Exiling can be turned off. Commissioners of private challenges can disable the Exiling rule (Challenge Settings → Team Configuration). When off, every draft pick is active and there is no exiled slot to manage.

Lock window. Lineup picks, tribe swaps, and wagers all lock when the episode airs in the U.S. Eastern time zone (the airing window runs from 8 PM to 3 AM Eastern). Plan your changes accordingly if you live in another time zone.

[1.6 - Tribe Swapping]

Tribe Swapping allows coaches to trade away MVPs and Draft Picks on their tribe for MVPs and Draft Picks on other tribes, offering strategic flexibility. All tribe swaps must adhere to the following rules:

Tribe Structure

• A coach may not exceed the challenge's configured MVP cap (default 2; up to 4 if the commissioner has expanded it).
• For the default 2 MVP / 4 Pick team configuration, the permitted roster compositions after a swap are:
  • 3 MVPs, 1 active draft pick, 1 exiled draft pick
  • 2 MVPs, 3 active draft picks, 1 exiled draft pick (default)
  • 1 MVP, 5 active draft picks, 1 exiled draft pick
  • 0 MVPs, 7 active draft picks, 1 exiled draft pick
• Other team configurations follow the same value math (1 MVP = 2 draft picks). The exiled-pick row only applies if Exiling is enabled in Team Configuration.

Tribe Swap Rules

• Tribe swaps must be equal in castaway value:
  • 1 MVP is equivalent to 2 draft picks
  • Example: A coach trading away 5 draft picks may receive 2 MVPs and a draft pick or 1 MVP and 3 draft picks or 5 draft picks in return.
• By default, coaches cannot trade away or for castaways who have already been voted out of the game. Commissioners of private challenges may enable a setting that allows eliminated castaways in swap proposals.
• Unlike the MVP selection and Draft, there is no restriction when it comes to having multiple copies of the same castaway. Compile a full tribe of the same castaway if you think that is the way to go!
• Tribe Swap Deadline: By default, all tribe swaps must be completed before the Final 6 episode begins. Commissioners of private challenges can change this deadline (None or Final 6–13) or disable tribe swapping entirely in Challenge Settings → Tribe Swap.
• You may not tribe swap during episodes (the airing window — see [1.5] above).
• If an episode airs while a swap proposal is still pending, the proposal is automatically cancelled.

Where to Tribe Swap

The Tribe Swap workspace has four tabs: Propose Swap (build and send a new offer), Sent Requests (cancel pending offers you sent), Received Requests (accept or decline incoming offers), and History.

• Website: Top sub-nav Tribe dropdown → Tribe Swaps.
• App: Challenge tab → My Tribe → Tribe Swap.

[1.7 - Weekly Wagering]

Feeling confident in your Survivor instincts? As long as your tribe has positive points, you can place weekly wagers on episode outcomes. Wager on eliminations throughout the season, or predict immunity winners once individual challenges begin at the merge. Wagers lock when the episode airs on the east coast.

Elimination Wagering

• If correct: Gain 2x your wagered points.
• If multiple castaways are eliminated, selecting any of them wins.

Immunity Wagering

• If correct: Receive your wagered points back plus half (rounded up).
• Example: Wager 10, get 15 back.
• If no one wins immunity: Points refunded.
• If multiple castaways win immunity, selecting any of them wins.

Odds & Rules

• Default odds are +100 for elimination wagers and -200 for immunity wagers.
• Your commissioner can adjust odds for both wager types:
  • -1000, -500, -400, -300, -200, +100, +150, +200, +250, +300, +400, +500, +750, +1000
• Negative odds mean smaller payouts; positive odds mean larger payouts.
• You can place both wager types in the same week.
• Last allowed episodes are configured separately for elimination and immunity wagers (None, or Final 6 through Final 13). The default for both is Final 6.
• Minimum and maximum wager amounts are also configurable per wager type. The default minimum is 1 point and there is no maximum cap by default.
• Wagering is optional but can be the difference between winning and losing your league!

Where to Place & View Wagers

• Website: Top sub-nav Tribe dropdown → Weekly Wager.
• App: Challenge tab → My Tribe → Weekly Wagers (and Completed Wagers for resolved-bet history).

[1.8 - Grenade Rule]

The Grenade Rule adds high stakes to Episode 1 drafting. If you draft the castaway who is the first boot (eliminated first in the season), your tribe receives a "Grenade" that can severely impact your final standing—unless you meet certain conditions to defuse it.

Receiving a Grenade

• If the first boot is on your tribe, you receive a Grenade.
• If the first boot is on your bench (Exiled), you typically dodge the Grenade—though your commissioner can change this setting.

Grenade Effects

• Your commissioner chooses one of two penalties:
• • Auto-Loss (default): Your tribe cannot win the challenge, regardless of your final score.
  • Point Loss: Lose a set number of points from your final score (default: 100 points, configurable by commissioner).

Defusing the Grenade

Your commissioner enables one or more of the conditions below. By default, meeting any single enabled condition defuses your grenade. Your commissioner can also turn on "Require all selected conditions", in which case every enabled condition must evaluate true for you to defuse.

The first three conditions (Winner / Jury vote / Finalist) overlap (the winner is also a finalist, etc.) — only one of those three can be selected at a time. Edgic and Finale are independent and can both be enabled.

• Winner is on your tribe (default on): The Survivor winner is on your roster.
• Any member received a jury vote: At least one castaway who received a jury vote is on your roster.
• Any finalist is on your tribe: At least one castaway who gets to FTC is on your roster.
• Edgic pick correct: Your Edgic pick is the season winner.
• Finale pick correct: Your Finale pick is the season winner.

Defusal Reward (optional)

If your commissioner has enabled the Defusal Reward, condition-defusing your grenade also grants you bonus points (commissioner-configured). The reward only fires for condition-defusal, not for paid defusal (below).

Paid Defusal (optional, hedge bet)

If your commissioner has enabled Paid Defusal, you can pay a fixed cost (commissioner-set; default is half the Point Loss penalty) before a deadline to lock in defusal regardless of the season's outcome. Paid Defusal is a hedge—the cost is deducted whether or not your grenade would have ended up defused another way, so coaches typically use it when their condition-based defusal looks unlikely.

• Deadline: Commissioners set a "last-allowed Final" cutoff. You can only pay while strictly more than that many castaways remain in the game—after the cutoff (or after the finale airs), the option is closed.
• Paid defusal does not grant the Defusal Reward.
• Paid Defusal is disabled on public challenges.

Standings Behavior

• For the Auto-Loss penalty, an undefused grenade ranks the team below all non-Auto-Loss teams in the standings, regardless of total score.

Where to Find the Grenade Page

A dedicated Grenade page shows the rule configuration, your status, the current paid-defusal window, the Pay-to-Defuse button, and the list of other coaches in the challenge holding a grenade.

• Website: Top sub-nav Tribe dropdown → Grenade.
• App: Challenge tab → My Tribe → Grenade.

Configuration

Your commissioner can enable or disable the Grenade Rule and customize all of the above settings in private challenges. Public challenges offer the Grenade Rule with standard default settings only (paid defusal disabled). Check your challenge settings or standings page to see if the Grenade Rule is active and what conditions apply.

[2.0 - Points]

[2.1 - Challenges]

• 1 Point for winning a Tribal or Group Reward or Immunity Challenge
  • To get challenge points, castaways have to have not sat out. If they get kicked out of the challenge they do not get points either.
• 1 Point for winning a Solo/Duo Reward Challenge
• 2 Points for winning a Solo/Duo Immunity Challenge
  • Immunity Points will ONLY be given for correctly selecting a castaway that WINS Immunity via Immunity challenge. NO POINTS will be given to the person that they subsequently give it away to.
• 3 Points for winning the final immunity Challenge
• 3 Points for winning a F4/F2 fire-making challenge

[2.2 - Advantages & Idols]

• 1 Point for obtaining an advantage or an idol
  • If a castaway finds a beware advantage or idol, or an idol or advantage that does not have power yet, they have to complete the task or it has to mature for them to get the points.
  • Besides the legacy advantage, points can only be earned for obtaining an advantage or idol once. If it is given to someone else due to Knowledge is Power or any other reason, they do not get points for obtaining it, but they do have possession of it and can get the points for playing it.
  • In the case where the reward for the challenge is voting out a jury member, such as the last challenge of Season 32, the castaway will be awarded an additional point for obtaining an advantage.
  • If the idol is a Boomerang idol which must be sent to another castaway, both the sender and the receiver receive obtained-idol points. If the sender gets the idol back because the person it was sent to was voted out with it still in their possession, the sender receives advantage-played-successfully points, and from that point on the idol is treated like any other idol.
• 1 Point for having someone find and believe in a fake idol that a castaway conceptualizes/plants intentionally
  • If the person who conceptualized the fake idol is different than the person who plants it, both get the point.
• 1 Point for a castaway utilizing a fake idol/idol lacking power successfully for themself for safety
  • You may only get points for this once per powerless idol.
  • If the person who conceptualized the fake idol is different than the person who plants it, both get the point. If a 3rd or 4th or etc. castaway knowingly takes part in the manipulation of other castaways in addition to the ones who conceptualized the fake idol, and the result benefits them, they also get points.
  • If the person lies about the expiration date of a public knowledge idol in order to make everyone think they’re playing it at a specific tribal, and therefore they get no votes at that tribal, they get points.
• 2 Points for knowingly flushing an idol by:
  • A castaway playing someone else’s idol that they gave them to hold (protecting against knowledge is power)
  • Leading a blindside of someone who has an idol
  • Sharing info with the opposing alliance & changing the vote causing a misplaying or exit of an idol
  • Manipulating someone into misplaying, misplacing or not playing their idol leading to its exit
• 1 Point for playing an advantage successfully
  • Challenge advantages do not count as advantages when counting points.
  • A voting advantage (extra vote, steal a vote, etc.) is considered a successful play if it changes the outcome in the castaways favor.
  • Due to the Knowledge is Power advantage, castaways sometimes give their advantages to allies. If their ally uses it the way it was intended to be used when it was given to them, the original holder of the advantage gets the points, not the ally.
  • This goes for voting incorrectly as well. In terms of voting advantages, the original holder of the advantage, not the ally, loses points multiple times for voting incorrectly.
  • In terms of voting advantages, a castaway only gets points for the successful advantage. They do not get points multiple times towards voting correctly.
  • In the case where the reward for the challenge is voting out a jury member, If it’s obvious the jury member they get rid of was not going to vote for them, as was the case in Season 32, the castaway would be rewarded an additional point for using the advantage correctly.
  • Idols are not advantages in this game. However, if an idol is common knowledge/announced/played before the vote and therefore negates no votes, and no votes are cast against the person who announced/played it on themselves, it was effective and it grants 2 Points to the person who played it or had someone else play it for them. This is not the case for SITDs announced before the vote.
• -1 Point for a “not safe” shot in the dark
• 1 Point for each vote negated by an idol or a “safe” shot in the dark
  • The castaway who played the idol or advantage gets the points if they play it on a different person, not the person who it was played for.

[2.3 - Voting]

• -1 Point for voting incorrectly
  • If a castaway uses an extra vote incorrectly, that is an extra point lost.
  • Following a tie vote and subsequent revote, only castaways who were not targeted in the vote may participate in the unanimous decision. If this process results in only one eligible castaway being available to make the decision, that individual’s choice becomes final. In such cases, if the sole decider selects an elimination different from their original vote—thereby directly resolving the tie—the standard penalty for an incorrect vote is waived, and they are instead credited with a correct vote.
• -2 Points for each vote against
  • When a castaway negates votes, the votes do not count points wise against whoever they were for.
• -1 Point for going to tribal with no vote or losing it/not voting at tribal (unless a castaway can not be voted for either through the same advantage)
• 2 Points for voting correctly before merge/mergatory
• 5 Points for voting correctly after merge/mergatory
  • In a final 2, castaways do not get points for voting at final 3, just the -2 for the one vote against.
  • In the event of ties and revotes, a castaway can only get points for voting correctly or incorrectly once per person they voted for.
  • In the event of a revote because all votes were negated, votes will be counted multiple times.
  • In the event of rocks, If someone a castaway was opposing in the vote goes home, their vote is deemed successful.
  • If a castaway is in on a split vote and votes for the backup option to protect from an idol or shot in the dark, or they are voting wrong knowingly to advance strategically and the edit shows this, they still get the points from voting correctly.
  • If a castaway is a part of a split vote and the person they vote for goes home, but this was not the goal of their split vote and happened because their split vote was hijacked by the opposing alliance, they do not get points for voting correctly.
  • If a twist forces a castaway to vote for themselves and they are eliminated, their vote technically lands on the person voted out — but they do not earn points for voting correctly. Instead, they lose 1 point for voting incorrectly, since voting themselves out was not in their best interest.

[2.4 - Surviving]

• -10 Points for quitting or getting medevaced or removed from the game
  • See the Consolation & Punishment section below for the additional points awarded to the rest of the castaway's tribe (Consolation) and the additional points the castaway who left forfeits (Punishment).
• -10 Points for not getting to play (Season 10& 27)
• 5 Points for making the merge (once everyone drops their tribal buffs)
• 5 Points for making it to Final Tribal Council
• 2 Points per jury vote. The game winner's jury-vote points are clamped between 5 and 7.5 jury votes' worth — 10 to 15 points at the default value. The limits scale with a customized Jury Votes value (rounded up; e.g. at 3 points per vote the maximum is ⌈22.5⌉ = 23). Commissioners can disable this limit in private challenges (Challenge Settings → Point Values → Jury Winner Min/Max).

[2.5 - Consolation & Punishment]

When a castaway quits, is medevaced, or is otherwise removed from the game, two additional point categories apply: Consolation compensates the rest of that castaway's tribe (who lost the chance to vote them out and earn correct-vote points), and Punishment penalizes the castaway who left (who skipped the consequences of being voted out).

Consolation Points (awarded to tribe members of the castaway who left)

• +2 Points Consolation Pre-Merge — mirrors the regular pre-merge correct-vote value
• +5 Points Consolation Post-Merge — mirrors the regular post-merge correct-vote value

Punishment Points (assessed against the castaway who quit / was medevaced / was removed)

• -2 Points per Punishment vote against — mirrors the regular votes-against penalty
• -1 Point Punishment voted wrong — mirrors the regular voted-incorrectly penalty

[2.6 - Edgic & Finale Pick]

• 25 Points for coaches making their Edgic pick correctly
• 10 Points for coaches making their Finale pick correctly

[2.7 - Redemption Island, EOE or any other type of returning]

• 5 Points for getting back into the game
  • In season 7, they get points for winning the tribal challenge and being voted back in as opposed to the 5 points
  • Castaways do not get the points for winning redemption island or EOE challenges.

[2.8 - Custom Point Values]

Commissioners can override the scoring above on private challenges. (Public challenges always use the standard point values.)

Custom Point Values

• Every team starts the game with 30 points by default. Commissioners can change this baseline (Challenge Settings → Point Values → Starting Points); changing it before the start episode resets every team's total to the new value, and it locks once the start episode airs.
• Commissioners can override the point value for any of the 28 scoring categories on a per-challenge basis (Challenge Settings → Point Values).
• Leave a category blank to use the site default. A "Reset to Defaults" action clears all overrides at once.

Other Things to Know About Scoring

• If a private challenge has its Start Episode set to a later episode, all scoring before that episode is forced to zero — teams carry only their starting points into the start episode. You cannot bank points from earlier episodes.
• Score recalculations cascade automatically when commissioners edit past lineups, picks, or wagers.

[3.0 - Clarifications]

[3.1 - Survivor Auctions]

Survivor Auctions produce no points as it is too subjective of an event to determine who won or lost. Points for obtaining an advantage still happen if a castaway obtains one through an auction. They just would not get points for winning an auction.

[3.2 - Miscellaneous]

Points are awarded on an INDIVIDUAL basis. Even though at certain points in the game, an entire Tribe will win a category, it is important to know that points are NOT awarded to Tribes.

[4.0 Tiebreakers]

In the event of a tie, the following tie breakers will be used in order as necessary across each tied coach's full roster (MVPs + draft picks):

1. Best Placement of a coach's finishing castaways when added together
2. Least amount of votes against across their roster
3. Highest number of correct votes across their roster
4. Individual Immunity challenges won across their roster

[5.0 Game Modes]

All of the gameplay rules above apply to both of the modes below. Configurable settings (described above as "default" values) only apply to private challenges; public challenges always use the defaults. More game modes will be added here in the future.

[5.1 - Private Challenges (within Leagues)]

Private challenges live inside a League, which is a group of coaches you create or join by invitation. The league's owner creates one challenge per Survivor season, invites coaches, and configures the rules. The owner can also promote other members to co-commissioner, which grants them most of the owner's powers except deleting the league and transferring ownership.

• Fully customizable: Commissioners control every gameplay setting (team configuration, wagering, grenade rule, tribe swap, scoring, and point values).
• All draft modes: Live draft, manual draft, or self-draft (coaches pick their own tribes).
• Settings templates: Save a preferred set of rules and reuse them on future challenges (up to 5 per user).
• Where to find it:
  • Website: Top nav Leagues → enter your league → tap a challenge.
  • App: Home tab → tap your league card → Challenge tab.

[5.2 - Public Challenges]

Public challenges are open, site-wide buckets that any coach can join—no league or invite required. They use the site's default rules and have no commissioner; what you join is what you get.

• Capacity: Each public challenge holds up to 12 coaches. When a bucket fills, the site opens another for incoming joiners.
• Per-coach limit: Each coach can be in at most 3 public challenges per season.
• Fixed rules: Settings always use the site defaults—scoring categories are not customizable and Paid Defusal is disabled.
• Self Draft tribes: Public challenges use Self Draft as the only way tribes get filled. Each coach picks their own MVPs and draft picks from a curated list of castaways still in the game—there is no live or manual draft hosted by anyone. If the start episode airs before you have submitted all your picks, the system fills the remaining slots randomly.
• Leaving: You can leave a public challenge only before its start episode airs.
• Where to find it:
  • Website: Top nav Leagues → "Join a Public Challenge" button.
  • App: Home tab → Fantasy Tribes section → "Join Public Challenge" card.

We hope you enjoy our game and we are always looking to improve it!