Tom Andersen

Winter War

Last Chance

Stark Tribe, Merge Tribe (Winter War)

Tribe Targaryen, Merged Tribe (Last Chance)

2nd Runner-Up (Winter War)

2nd Runner-Up (Last Chance)

Lannister 5 (Winter War)

Guys Alliance (Last Chance)

16 (Winter War)

1 (Last Chance)

**Thomas "Tom" Anderson** was the second Runner-Up of Survivor: Winter War and Survivor: Last Chance and was a contestant on Survivor: Battle for Cambridge and Survivor: Twist Manor.

Tom is considered to be one of the unluckiest people to play the game, as he was in a great position in *Survivor: Battle for Cambridge* until he was taken out of the game due to a hidden immunity idol play by Devin Ulrich for Sam Adler. When he returned to *Survivor: Twist Manor*, he was put on the ill-fated Potawatomi Tribe, where he met an early demise at the hands of Breanne Nevers due to his connections with others in the game. Tom returned to *Survivor: Winter War*, out for blood and a true chance at redemption. However, his bad luck would hit him right at the end, where he would only receive two of the eight jury votes to win the game, before ultimately deciding the winner of the season.

## Survivor: Battle for Cambridge

Tom would start off the game on Team 1 alongside Bri, Colton, Kyle, Mike, Sam, and Seth. Tom would immediately align with Bri, and together they would form a strong alliance. Tom would help his tribe to win the first immunity challenge, keeping them safe from the first tribal council of the season. Despite Tom's shock at the chaos of what happened between the first two challenges on Team 2, mainly involving how fast they lost almost a third of their tribe in that time, it did not phase Tom much and he still put forth his best efforts in the following immunity challenge. However, it would not be enough, and Team 1 would find themselves outplayed by Team 2 for the first time in the game. Before tribal council, Bri and Tom had decided that Mike not getting along with many of their tribemates was not too helpful for their tribe, and thus, Tom would go along with his tribe's plan, and they would help to unanimously vote off Mike by a vote of 6-1. After they lost the next immunity challenge, Tom was one of many people approached by Colton to vote him off, as he had no more energy to play the game. At tribal council, Tom would help the others to fulfill Colton's desires by sending him home in another unanimous vote of 5-1. Tom and Team 1 would win the final immunity challenge of the tribal phase of the season, and he would guarantee himself to make the merge. During this time he was immune, Tom would find a hidden immunity idol of which he would then keep hidden to himself.

Although Tom would not win the first individual immunity challenge of the season, Tom and Bri would make great strides to keep the target off of them. Tom would immediately talk to and quickly align with Devin, a friend of Tom's from outside of the game, and Tom would tell him about his hidden immunity idol. Tom and Bri would both then immediately put a target on Seth's back, as they both viewed him as a dangerous person down the line for his great social and physical game. The duo would be successful, as they would both be able to convince everyone, with the exception of Sam, to help them vote out Seth by a vote of 8-2. Tom would lose the next individual immunity challenge, and Tom and Bri would put a target on Sam, as they both felt that her nice personality combined with her good social game would become a major concern towards the end. At tribal council, Tom, Bri, and a few others had cast their votes against Sam. However, a surprising friend came to her rescue, that being Devin, who played a hidden immunity idol on her, negating six votes cast against her. However, the two other votes from Sam and Devin were directed at Tom, both of whom got him out of the game due to them seeing him as a threat for his hidden immunity idol. Tom would become the sixth person voted out of the game and the fourth member of the jury, he would place 9th out of 15th.

At the Final Tribal Council, Tom would cast his vote towards Bri to win the game, having respect for Bri's game the most.

**Tom's Voting History**
 **3** | Colton
 **Voted To Win** | Bri

## Survivor: Twist Manor

Tom was picked by Hailey to be on the soon-to-be-disastrous Potawatomi Tribe. Tom would immediately connect with Kyle G., and they would align with each other. However, during this time, Breanne, Michael, and Hailey would form a counter-alliance and would target Tom for his connections with the others in the game. During the first immunity challenge, Tom would be the only one to score a point for the Potawatomi tribe, and they would lose the first immunity challenge. Tom would attempt to help Kyle G. convince Jack to align with them and vote out Breanne, as he knew how much of a threat she was from her winning game in Survivor: Battle for Cambridge. Unfortunately, not only would Breanne use an idol she received from Juice, but Jack would not vote with them, and Tom would watch his closest ally be voted out and replaced by Richie coming back from the Solo Room.

After serving as a linked grabber with Jack under Richie's Caller, the Potawatomi Tribe would lose in a close race against the Ho-Chunk Tribe. As a part of the reward for winning, the Ho-Chunk Tribe chose Tom to be the next one to go to the Solo Room. He would pick the wrong hat and would not receive an advantage. Even though he had small support from Richie to stay, his word wasn't enough to keep him safe. Tom would cast his last vote in the game against Richie, but he would be sent out in a 5-1 vote and placed 12th out of 13th.

Tom would compete in the comeback challenge against Kyle G., Breanne, and Juice. Although Tom did well and got super close to winning his way back in, he would lose against Juice.

At the Final Tribal Council, the jury could not break their 4-4 tie, meaning that Tom and the others who did not make the jury were given the opportunity to cast their vote for the winner. Respecting his game, Hunter would be the recipient of Tom's vote.

At the *Survivor: Twist Manor Reunion Episode*, Tom said that despite being the second out, he still had fun playing the game and he mentioned the boredom of the *Solo Room. O*n Rob's behalf he mentioned that even though he did not know what he was doing, using him following Darius as an example, he still had a fun time playing the game.

**Tom's Voting History**
 **2** | Richie
**To Win**

## Survivor: Winter War

Tom would return to the game once again alongside his former *Survivor: Battle for Cambridge* opponent Jadon, and his former *Survivor: Twist Manor* opponents Jack and Richie. Tom would be placed on the Stark Tribe, and he would immediately start a search for the hidden immunity idol shortly after they arrived at their camp, but Tom would unfortunately be unsuccessful and would not find anything right away. At the first immunity challenge of the season, Tom would be picked as the leader of the Stark Tribe, and when he was told to pick two people to compete, he chose Arthur and Jadon. This turned out to be a good choice for him, as Arthur's efforts would help the Stark Tribe to be guaranteed immunity from the first tribal council of the season.

After his tribe would win the second immunity challenge, thanks to the efforts of Steph, Tom would criticize the Targaryen Tribe's performance, saying that they should have taken it much slower. Tom and his tribe would then talk amongst themselves about Jack appearing as a bigger threat to them and feel comfort in taking second place once again. Tom's success would continue further, as the Stark Tribe would once again celebrate a second place safety once again, and Tom and the others would celebrate together back at camp.

Tom's way of life in the game would not last forever though, and a tribe swap would shake his game up. He would lose the tribe's easy target in Arthur, who got swapped to the Lannister Tribe, and the Stark Tribe would remain intact and would receive Adam and Sam from the Lannister Tribe. After the new Stark Tribe would lose their first challenge, Tom was approached by Jadon, who wanted to take Dacota out for her performance in the last immunity challenge. However, Tom would play this up with Jadon, and then behind his back, Tom would convince the two former Lannisters and Dacota to vote for Jadon alongside him, seeing Jadon as a much bigger threat down the line than Dacota. Tom would get his way, and at tribal council, Jadon was taken out in a near-unanimous vote, with Steph voting Sam.

Tom's safety would resume as quickly as it was paused, as the new Stark Tribe would win their first immunity challenge together since swapping into new tribes. Tom would take this time to bond with his tribemates, and unbeknownst to him, he had finally made the merge for the first time since his first season.

At the *Advantage Hunt*, Tom would find a *Steal-A-Vote* Advantage, something that excited Tom to have considering how lucky he was getting in his third try in the game. Tom would immediately make bonds with the dominant *Lannister 5* Alliance, and he would help to paint a target on many players. Although he was with the majority, he was still seen as a big target by the other alliance consisting of Collin, Ness, Dacota, Steph, and a vengeful Jadon who had just returned to the game. While he originally wanted to target Dacota, he would take Griffin's information about Collin into consideration, and he helped Griffin to paint a bigger target on Collin to keep himself alive in the game. At tribal council, Tom would receive 5 votes, but he would be safe as he and the Lannister 5 would get rid of Collin with all 6 of their votes.

After Collin's elimination, Tom would attempt to solidify himself in a safe position with the *Lannister 5* Alliance, feeling much trust with them after they helped to save him from elimination the previous tribal council. After losing the next individual immunity challenge, Tom would attempt to ensure that he was safe that next tribal council by making sure that the *Lannister 5* Alliance would not vote for him, and he would help to make a plan to target Jadon, seeing him as the next biggest threat. However, unbeknownst to Tom, some people were still throwing his name out, up to a point where Jack and Dylan considered voting for him. At tribal council, Tom would vote for Jadon. However, what he was unaware of was that Sam and Adam had their own plans, and they secretly hatched a plan to get rid of Griffin, who they saw as a huge threat. Tom would be surprised to see Griffin get blindsided in a 5-4-1 vote, especially as he received a vote from Sam in an attempt to throw Tom off of their tracks. When it was announced that they would vote someone else off right after Griffin's game ended, Tom seized this opportunity to go after his rival of the season, Jadon, once again. This time, Tom would be successful, and Jadon would be seeing the bad end of a 5-4 vote, and Tom would once again find victory in his battle against Jadon.

After tribal council, Tom would bounce into the *Lannister 5* Alliance and take Griffin's spot without the others recognizing it, securing his safety for the time being. This would be helpful for him, especially as he would not win the next individual immunity challenge. Tom would continue to be the biggest threat on the minds of those who remained in the opposing alliance, now reduced to the three women of the season, all fighting to ensure their own safety. Tom would not need to worry though, as he and his new allies in the game had the clear majority and had their targets set. Although they wanted to take out Ness, Tom would be one of the few people in his alliance to throw a vote onto Dacota as a warranty for them if Ness had a hidden immunity idol. This would come back to help Tom, as Ness would use her hidden immunity idol, sending him and Dacota into a tiebreaker. Tom would then be kept safe in a near unanimous vote, with everyone except for Ness voting Dacota out of the game on the revote.

Tom would not win the next individual immunity challenge, but other opportunities would await for him. Back at camp, Tom would quickly find himself caught in the middle of two pairs within the remaining people of the fracturing *Lannister 5* Alliance. One side, consisting of Jack and Dylan, wanted to keep Ness around and get rid of Steph. The other side, containing Adam and Sam, wanted to keep Steph and eliminate Ness. After hearing many talks from both sides, Tom would eventually cast his vote against Ness at tribal council in order to protect himself from any hidden immunity idols he believed Steph would be playing. To ensure that things would go the way he would want them to, Tom would also use his *Steal-A-Vote* Advantage against her, taking her vote away and using it to cast a second vote against Ness. Steph playing her hidden immunity idol was just icing on the cake for Tom, as his votes would force Ness' out of the game.

Tom would not win the next individual immunity challenge, but he would still successfully attempt to keep himself in the loop. His concerns of Adam being the one winning individual immunity only grew stronger as he came to the realization that it was a 3 vs. 3 alliance battle, with Tom fighting the losing battle with Jack and Dylan. Tom would get a saving grace in the game in the form of Sam, who gave them an idea, blindside Steph, and convince Adam to waste his hidden immunity idol. Concerned that she had a hidden immunity idol, Tom and Dylan conversed with Steph about taking Sam out. They would then give Jack the same idea with the same target. Tom would then talk with Steph, saying that he wanted to keep her around and take out a stronger player. At tribal council, Tom would cast his vote against Steph. However, Steph would play a hidden immunity idol for herself, saving herself from being voted off. So not only would Tom's vote against her be negated, but he would lose one of his best allies in the game, as Jack would receive the other three votes cast at that tribal council.

Although Tom would not win individual immunity and would be a target for the upcoming tribal council, he would be far from out of the game. This would be because the other option people were considering was Adam, who was considered the biggest threat in the game by that point. Tom would go and talk to everyone in hopes that he would convince them to not vote him out of the game, mentioning Adam's threat status in the game. While it would not be the only factor that would help him at tribal council, Tom would be granted his safety in the game once more, as Sam would choose to vote alongside Tom and Dylan, keeping him alive to see the final four.

Tom's luck would continue, as his best ally, Dylan, would win the Final Individual Immunity Challenge, guaranteeing the two of them control over who the last person out of the game would be. Their options would be between Sam and Steph, both of whom presented a threat to Tom. Sam's and Steph's games seemed to be very threatening to Tom when he conversed with Dylan about their options going into the Final Tribal Council. After much thought, Tom would go in and cast his vote against Steph, seeing her as the bigger threat of the two. This would guarantee himself a spot at the end, seemingly far away from the bad luck that had plagued him during his prior outings.

At the Final Tribal Council, Tom gave a campaign based on how he outlasted the others after being the target on many occasions. When approached by the jury, many were surprised Tom had gotten to the end given the amount of times he had almost gotten voted out during the course of the game. However, not many on the jury would talk to him about his game, leading Tom to only receive two of the eight jury votes from Jadon and Dacota. This would lead to a 3-3-2 tied vote at the Final Tribal Council, and having received the least amount of votes, Tom automatically place 3rd out of 15th and became the ninth and final member of the jury. He was then slated to pick the winner of the game, Dylan or Sam. As he knew more of Dylan's game and was aligned with him during a majority of it, Tom would cast his vote for Dylan, helping him to win the season.

Like many others, Tom did not show up to the *Survivor: Winter War Reunion Episode*. However, he was mentioned by many contestants, specifically from Richie and the host of the season, Devin Ulrich, to not have received enough credit at the Final Tribal Council for his game and noting how many people on the jury dissed his game and thought less of it in comparison to his opponents.

## Survivor: Last Chance

Tom returned once again in *Survivor: Last Chance*, out for redemption with the intent on finally winning. When it was announced that the tribes were named after two of the worst tribes within the past eight seasons, Tribe Potawatomi and Tribe Targaryen, Tom had some interesting things to say regarding his time on Tribe Potawatomi in *Survivor: Twist Manor*. Tom ended up on the latter tribe alongside Elizabeth, Jake, Jack D., John, JP, Kyle, and Maggie, with Tom's tribe thrown immediately into their first immunity challenge. At the immunity challenge, Tom made much effort to both help his tribe and give commentary on the tips their host, Devin Ulrich, attempted to give to them. However, it was ultimately Tom who was a big cause to their tribe losing the challenge, forcing them to vote someone out first. At camp, despite his misstep at the challenge, Tom was included in a men's alliance, with their intended target being Elizabeth, partially due to Tom's campaigns for Maggie to stay in the game as a mental challenge benefit after a talk with the women. In private, Tom talked about how he believed Elizabeth was a weak link and planned on voting her with his allies. Later, when Tom finally got a minute to himself, he ended up finding something which he shoved into his pocket to look at later. Tom then talked with some of his allies about ideas they had to do better in future challenges, with Jack D., JP, Kyle, and Tom all leaving the chat in high spirits with new strategies in mind. At Tribal Council, Tom was on the right side of the vote, as Elizabeth was sent home in a 6-2 vote, keeping him in the game with the potential for another long run if lucky.

After Elizabeth's voteoff, Tom made it his mission to welcome her "replacement", Jack M., arriving to Tribe Targaryen from the Solo Room, on their way to the next challenge. At the next challenge, however, Tom got increasingly frustrated with Jack M.'s performance, but not enough to prevent him from making more snarky comments throughout the duration of the challenge, especially as he attempted to block the line of sight between the two tribe's puzzle stations to prevent Tribe Potawatomi's puzzle-makers from cheating off of theirs'. However, all of this was wasted energy, as Tribe Targaryen ended up losing the challenge. Back at camp, Tom seemed happy at first as he joked with Jack D. regarding themselves in the challenge, but it only took a small amount of time before Tom's true feelings were unleashed as he made it very clear to almost everyone that he was angry at Jack M. for the challenge. This was especially shown when he and the other original Tribe Targaryen members made a pact to vote Jack M. , with Tom seeming to almost be villainizing Jack M. as he angrily talked about it more and more. In private, Tom expressed his disdain towards Jack M., saying "The newbie really f\*cked us all...". Despite his anger, Tom went on to privately reveal good news, that being a hidden immunity idol he found last round that he was planning on keeping on him for the time being with the reasoning being that he liked his numbers within the game. At Tribal Council, his numbers checked out, and his one-sided rivalry with Jack M. was short-lived as Jack M. was voted out in a unanimous 7-1 vote. Things seemed to be working out for Tom, and a tribe swap only helped him further as he stayed on Tribe Targaryen alongside Jack D., Jake, and JP, with the four men picking up Alex, swapping from Tribe Potawatomi. As if things could not get any better, Tribe Targaryen finally got it together and won the next immunity challenge, finally giving Tom something to cheer about as he got to avoid Tribal Council for a round.

At the next immunity challenge, Tom's work in the challenge helped Tribe Targaryen to grab their second consecutive win, giving Tom more time to strategize for the future. However, Tom's free time came to a halt as Tribe Targaryen lost the next immunity challenge, meaning that Tom had to return to Tribal Council. Back at camp, when approached by Alex and Jake, Tom immediately threw Jack D. under the bus, citing his many experiences and his reputation for his ability to make alliances. In private, Tom started to weigh his options, with him heavily considering on voting for Jack D. due to his reputation for winning challenges and flipping on alliances, and he comically claimed it was a good idea after asking a cutout of his head about his intentions. Later on, Tom caught wind of a plan to vote off Jake, thanks to JP, who told him that he believed that Jake will betray them at the merge, and the two of them questioned Jake's worth to the tribe. However, the duo also grew concerned with the hidden immunity idol, as they believed Alex could be in possession of it, and the two exchanged information about what they told to their other three tribe members, as well as what they were going to tell them. What Tom was unaware of though was that the duo had a growing focus on them due to their close friendship outside of the game, with JP having the bigger target. Before their tribe did one last search for advantages and hidden immunity idols, JP and Tom talked with Jack D. about voting against Jake for the time being. However, this did not stop any talks from happening during their search. At Tribal Council, the vote gave a different story, as Tom voted against Alex due to the concern of an idol, helping to send him home in a 3-1-1 vote.

The next round gave Tom more game to play, as the merge was once again upon him. Tom took pride in the color of the merged tribe bandanas for the season, this time being camo, and nicknamed himself "Army Tom". Despite a good fight, "Amy Tom" lost a crucial fight at the first individual immunity challenge against Lita. However, the battle had just begun at camp, where Tom chatted with Collin, Jack D., Jake, Lita, and Sam C. and found out they have something in common, they all want Michael out. One big obstacle stood in their way, Michael's hidden immunity idol. To combat this, they and Sam R., now with the moniker of Dolphin Sam, decided to split the votes amongst Conner and Michael. Later on, Collin, Jack D., Sam C., Dolphin Sam, and Tom filled in JP on the plan, only to be interrupted by Michael, resulting in Dolphin Sam leaving as Michael tried to sway them into voting Dolphin Sam. Tom played into this, citing Dolphin Sam as a "silent killer" and hyped up his threat level to Michael to convince him that they will vote with him, with Jack D. and JP following Tom's lead. Tom privately noted their plans and that they had an easy majority that wanted Michael out more despite his idol and referred to Ashley, Conner, and Maggie as Michael's "puppets". Tom and his allies later finalized who was voting who, with the original Tribe Potowatomi members voting Conner, and the original Tribe Targaryen members voting Michael. At Tribal Council, the plan went perfectly, and Michael did not use his hidden immunity idol, getting locked in a 4-4-3-1 tied vote against Conner. Tom set his sights on Michael on the revote, voting him while saying "Deuces, Michael", helping to send him to the jury in an 8-2 revote. "Army Tom" definitely won a crucial battle, but will he win the war?

The next challenge, despite his loss to Sam C., was more enjoyable for Tom as he got compliments for his physique, earning nicknames such as "Quadzilla" and "The Quadfather". At camp, Tom talked with the Core 8, who decided to focus on Ashley for her challenge prowess. However, another plan was set into place by Tom, who spoke with Jack D., JP, and Lita about voting Jake to separate him from Sam C., his cousin, and the four agreed. Later, Tom reassured Jack D. that they had the majority for this while getting Collin on board with the plan, and he and JP even fooled Jake into believing that Dolphin Sam was their target when he passed by. Tom privately stated his confidence since he and “Big Tom”, his giant head cutout, are not being targeted, with Tom saying he needs to “protect him (the cutout) at all costs” while stating that although he's voting Jake to get rid of Sam C.'s numbers and telling him it is Dolphin Sam, he does not care who goes and that they will only split the votes if Jake pulls out an idol. The only thing Jake seemed to be pulling was questionable moves as he tried to convince Tom and the Core 8 to vote Maggie. Amidst the chaos, Jack D. and Tom tried to get Sam C. to vote Lita for her impressive resume in the game, maybe to put a target on him for later. At Tribal Council, Tom voted Jake, nicknaming him "Jake the motherf\*cking snake", leading to his 9-2 blindside.

***More Coming Soon...***

## Trivia

* In *Survivor: Twist Manor*, Tom was the only returning male player to not make the merge.
* Tom is the only returning contestant in *Survivor: Winter War* to have played with all of the other returning players of that season at least once prior to the season.
	+ Tom played against Jadon Selsmeyer in *Survivor: Battle for Cambridge*, and he played against both Jack Demet and Richie Gureski in *Survivor: Twist Manor*.
* Tom is the only player to receive jury votes and cast a jury vote at the Final Tribal Council, doing so in *Survivor: Winter War*.
* Tom is the first contestant to be the sole person to decide the winner at the Final Tribal Council and, ergo, become an unofficial member of the jury, doing so in *Survivor: Winter War*.
* The first two times Tom played, Tom's tribe lost the second immunity challenge.
* The first two times Tom played, he would receive a vote at his last tribal council from one of the contestants who would make the Final Tribal Council.
	+ Both times this happened, Tom got a vote from someone who made the Final Tribal Council in *Survivor: Battle for Cambridge.*
* Tom is one of three contestants to be on both sides of the comeback competition, being a competitor in *Survivor: Twist Manor* and an observer in *Survivor: Winter War*. The other contestants being Richie Gureski and Vin Petruzzella.
* Tom is the only contestant to have to break a tied Final Tribal Council vote twice, doing so in *Survivor: Twist Manor* and *Survivor: Winter War*.