I Can Guess the Winner of Survivor 50 from ONE SINGLE PREVIEW (99% Accurate)

SPOILERS FOR PAST SEASONS.

What's up guys it's G-R-A-K-G-O-D, Grakgod baby!

I realized while watching the New Era that the merge episode preview almost always features the winner of the season (usually the one who says "Drop Your Buffs" or the first person you see after it's said). So I decided to find the preview for every single season to see if the pattern holds.

NEW ERA (41-50)

41: Jeff said it but showed Erika celebrating

42: Jeff said it but showed Maryanne celebrating

43: no one said it but showed Janine celebrating (same tribe as Gabler)

44: Josh (same tribe as Yam Yam)

45: no one said it but showed Dee hugging Austin

46: Kenzie and Tiffany

47: Rachel

48: Shauhin and Kyle

49: subtitled over Savannah and Rizo

EARLIER ERAS (30s + WAW)

40 (WAW): Jeff said it and did NOT show the winner

39 (IOI): phrase isn't said but "milestone" is used as Tommy is celebrating

38 (EOE): Jeff said it and did NOT show the winner

37 (DVG): "the merge is here" and I can't tell if Nick is the one hugging those guys?

36 (GI): "three tribes come together" and winner is not shown

35 (HHH): "you are merged" and winner is not shown

34 (GC): "we are officially merged" and Sarah is shown celebrating

33 (MvGX): "the merge has arrived" and winner is not shown

32 (KR): "Merge!" subtitled on Michelle standing in the boat

31 (Second Chance): "you are merged" read by Kyle with Jeremy reading over shoulder

30 (WA): "you have merged" read by Shirin and Mike clapping

THE 20s

29 (SJDS): "Merge!" yelled by Bailey and Natalie celebrates after (with a confessional!)

28 (Cagayan): "a merge" and Tony is shown on the boat with a close-up

27 (BvW): Jeff says "Drop your buffs" and Tyson is instantly shown

26 (FvF2): "a merge shakes things up" and shows Cochran waving on the beach

25 (Philippines): merge is never mentioned and winner isn't shown

24 (OW): merge isn't mentioned or shown but Kim gets a close-up

23 (South Pacific): merge isn't mentioned or shown but Sophie gets a confessional

22 (RI): "we are merged" and Rob is highlighted in the preview and called "dominant" LOL

21 (Nicaragua): Fabio yells "Treemail" right at the start and is with Brenda when she reads it

20 (HvV): "heroes and villains will collide" and Sandra has a little clip

OLD ERA (1-19)

19 (Samoa): someone says "You are now one tribe" in front of Natalie

18 (Tocantins): J.T. is the one that reads "You are now merged"

17 (Gabon): merge not mentioned and winner isn't shown (just Randy hyping himself up)

16 (FvF): "You are merged" while Parvati is celebrating

15 (China): Jeff says "Drop your buffs" and Todd hugs Phi-Gee, he's also highlighted a lot

14 (Fiji): merge isn't mentioned, Cassandra reads tree-mail and Earl gets a close-up? but it's confusing so i won't count it

13 (Cook Islands): merge isn't mentioned but Yul is highlighted

12 (Panama): merge is kind of shown but winner isn't

11 (Guatamala): merge is kind of shown but winner isn't

10 (Palau): never had a merge

9 (Vanuatu): not directly mentioned but Chris has a yelling clip

8 (All Stars): merge isn't mentioned and winner isn't shown

7 (Pearl Islands): twist makes it unclear, doesn't count

6 (Amazon): merge is kind of shown and Jenna yells

5 (Thailand): unclear i'm not counting it LOL too many twists

4 (Marquesas): "tribes merge into one" as Vecepia is celebrating

3 (Africa): no idea if someone yelling "We got mail!" and it cutting to Ethan counts

2 (Australia): merge is mentioned but winner isn't shown (but "We're moving!" was on Tina's tribe if i remember correctly) still doesn't count

1 (Borneo): "tribes merge into one" and Richard is shown, also with confessional

It's been done over 25 times in 49 seasons LOL 51% of the time the winner is featured in some way in the merge preview close to or around the "hype"/celebration point. However, if you only include seasons after 20 (so 20-49), the number rises to 62%. BUT. If you only include New Era, it's 78%. It seems to have become quite prominent after Season 30. In conclusion, we have pretty good odds with the merge preview method.

"What about 50" you ask?

Interesting to note that Ozzy is the one that says it in 50, the same starting tribe as Cirie and Christian. But after it's said, the first people we see celebrating is the swapped Vatu tribe with Tiffany, Aubry, and Coach. Stephanie, Aubry and Tiffany all speak, with a Tiff confessional.

With all of this evidence, I can confidently say that the winner is one of Ozzy, Cirie, Christian or Aubry.