Tribe Switch

A Tribe Switch (also known as Tribe Shuffle or Tribe Swap) was the first game-changing twist of Survivor. This twist sends members from one tribe to the rival tribe and vice versa.

About
The Tribe Switch is a twist can happen in a random point during a game. This reassignment of tribes is effective until the tribes merge or a new opportunity to switch tribes occurs (e.g. a Mutiny or a second switch.) This is denoted by contestants wearing a newly supplied Buff in the color of their new tribe. They then drop their old buff on the ground and start wearing the new one.

Normally it would send half of the members of a tribe to the other when both tribes have an equal number of members (known as a Tribe Swap) although this has changed over the years. One such example is in where one tribe had nine members while the other had seven. The switch evened the tribes out with eight members each. This also applies to a season that has an Exile Island twist. If the number of remaining contestants is odd, the odd-man-out will be sent to Exile Island. There they will wait until a tribe votes out a member. They will then become a member of that tribe, resulting in each tribe having equal numbers.

A variant of the tribe switch, the Tribe Dissolve, is when one or more tribes are vacated and cease to exist after the switch. This requires either the entire tribe to be dismantled and its surviving members placed in the remaining tribes (absorption); or that all of the remaining players in the game (usually when there are three or four tribes) are distributed into two tribes. The other tribes that are not used in the shuffle cease to exist. Another example of the tribe dissolve is conquering, wherein a tribe has only one member left and the last one is just sent to the rival tribe for the rest of the game. This has happened only once, when Ulong was dissolved in.

Survivor: Africa
The first time a switch occurred was in Survivor: Africa. Both Samburu and Boran tribes were instructed via Tree Mail to send three representatives to meet the host for reasons still unknown at the time. Once the representatives arrived at the meeting place, the host informed them that they would be joining the other tribe. This event caused became a turning point in the game when Teresa Cooper and Frank Garrison turned on fellow Samburu-turned-Boran member Silas Gaither for mistreating them at the old Samburu for being older members of the tribe. Cooper and Garrison plotted with the original Boran members to oust Gaither. Continuing their revenge streak, the two then revealed the identity of the only remaining person who had previous Tribal Council votes to exploit the then-rule of counting previous votes to break deadlock ties—Silas' former alliance partner Lindsey Richter. During the subsequent Reward Challenge the original Borans secretly relayed this information to their former tribemates that were now Samburu members. Utilizing this information, the Borans at Samburu successfully eliminated Richter, entering the merge with a 6-4 voting advantage.
 * Type: Tribe Switch

Survivor: Marquesas
A severely depleted Maraamu tribe was further decimated after the tribe swap (being down to its last five members), while the enemy Rotu tribe was still complete at eight. Stepping on random disks with buffs underneath, the Maraamu five were split with three on the new Rotu, while two stayed at Maraamu. Outnumbered at the new Maraamu, the two original members Sarah Jones and Gina Crews were voted off, leaving the three former Rotu members occupying the camp. At the new Rotu, the three former Maraamu members were in particular trouble, being outnumbered three to five. One original Rotu member, Gabriel Cade, revealed that he did not want to employ strategy. This made the whole tribe turn on him and vote him out.
 * Type: Tribe Switch

Survivor: The Amazon
After twelve days competing as tribes defined by gender, both tribes' youngest member Jenna Morasca and Dave Johnson went to an overnight paradise with food, bedding, and a bath. The next morning, the host revealed that they would decide which members were staying on each tribe and which were being sent to the other tribe. The switch proved to be a successful one, especially for the women. Christy Smith, who felt prejudiced at the women's tribe because she is deaf, was delighted that her new male members were considerate enough to place a lamp nearby when they spoke to allow her to read their lips and not be left out of conversations. On the other hand, Shawna Mitchell, who was visibly weak and emotional, became more jovial upon seeing male members join their tribe. This caused inter-tribal alliances to form at the merge.
 * Type: Tribe Switch

Survivor: Pearl Islands
The season featured the controversial Outcasts twist. The Outcasts, a tribe consisting of the first six eliminated castaways, were given the opportunity to re-enter the game. If they were to defeat the Drake and Morgan tribes in an Immunity Challenge, they would vote two of their own back into the game. The Outcasts won the challenge, granting them this privilege. When The Outcasts' Tribal Council was finished, the "tribe" of the Outcasts was disbanded and ceased to exist. Burton Roberts rejoined Drake, while Lillian Morris rejoined Morgan.
 * Type: Disbanding of a special tribe (see Dissolve)

Switch #1

 * Type: Absorption (see Dissolve)

The season started with three tribes and was the first time a Tribe Dissolve of a starting tribe occurred. The tribe that lost the Reward Challenge on Day 13 was dissolved and its members absorbed into the remaining two tribes. Saboga lost the challenge and became the first starting tribe to cease to exist prior to the merge.

Switch #2
On Day 22 the two remaining tribes convened at a Reward Challenge after receiving a cryptic Tree Mail instructing them to paint their bodies. They learned that they would not be competing but would, instead, be paired off with the person from the opposing tribe painted with the same color to enjoy a picnic. Jeff Probst revealed a vase containing buffs. Presuming that they would merge at this point, they were surprised when the familiar red and green buffs emerged, signaling a tribe switch. In a rather odd coincidence, nine of the ten castaways switched tribes: all four members of Mogo Mogo were switched to Chapera, while five of the six Chapera members were switched to Mogo Mogo. The only contestant to not switch tribes, Amber Brkich, was left on Chapera with none of her old tribemates.
 * Type: Tribe Switch

Survivor: Vanuatu
Both tribes were approached by Vanuatu tribesmen and tasked to select one person to become their "Chief" (denoted by holding a tribal staff). Lopevi chose Lea whilst Yasur chose Scout. At the Reward Challenge, Jeff announced that the tribes would be switched with Scout selecting the tribes and Lea deciding which one to lead. The person who was not picked, Lisa Keiffer, chose which new tribe she would join. This method of choosing tribes meant that only four of the thirteen remaining castaways would be switched, two to each new tribe.
 * Type: Tribe Switch

Survivor: Palau
When Stephenie LaGrossa became the only Ulong tribe member left, Tree Mail informed her that she would become part of Koror and instructed her to go their camp where she was given a Koror buff. Stephenie was the second person voted out of the new Koror tribe, finishing in 7th place.
 * Type: Conquering (see Dissolve)

Survivor: Guatemala
While some players were away, both tribes were asked Who has the most tribe pride? The person who was selected (Brian Corridan for Yaxha and Cindy Hall for Nakum) would remain on the tribe, while the other castaways would participate in the Tribe Swap.
 * Type: Tribe Switch

Survivor: Panama
The season started with four tribes divided by age and gender. On Day 4, Bayoneta and Viveros were dissolved. The 15 remaining contestants were shuffled into the new Casaya and La Mina tribes with seven members each using a Schoolyard Pick. The contestant left out of the pick, Bruce Kanegai, was sent to Exile Island, and would replace the next eliminated player.
 * Type: Disbanding (see Dissolve)

Survivor: Cook Islands
On Day 7, four tribes became two. Puka Puka and Manihiki were disbanded, with the 18 remaining contestants were randomly spread by Schoolyard Pick into the new Rarotonga and Aitutaki tribes with 9 members each.
 * Type: Disbanding (see Dissolve)

Survivor: Fiji
Captains were designated, who then chose teams by a Schoolyard Pick. The captains then drew buffs to determine in which camp the teams would live. This switched several of the near-spoiled Moto members, sending them to the barest essential Ravu camp (and vice-versa) due to the Haves vs. Have Nots twist. Once again, the unpicked contestant, Lisi Linares, was sent to Exile Island and would replace the next contestant to be eliminated.
 * Type: Tribe Switch

Survivor: China
In a more straightforward fashion, the two tribes received Tree Mail on Day 13 instructing them to chose two "warriors" from the rival tribe to be added to their tribe.
 * Type: Tribe Switch

Survivor: Micronesia
Both tribes would separately draw rocks. The two castaways to draw tribe-colored rocks (Ozzy Lusth and Natalie Bolton) would be the captains in a Schoolyard Pick.
 * Type: Tribe Switch

Switch #1
Both tribes ranked one person in secret as the most important within their tribe. The castaways voted most important would stay on their former tribes and become the new captains in a second Schoolyard Pick.
 * Type: Tribe Switch

Switch #2
Castaways drew a numbered stone from a bag. The castaways who drew odd numbers became the new Fang tribe, while even numbers became the new Kota tribe.
 * Type: Tribe Switch

Survivor: Nicaragua
Once again, the tribes would draw rocks. The castaways to draw their tribe's colored stone would be the captains (Brenda Lowe for La Flor and Holly Hoffman for Espada). The captains privately chose members of the opposing tribe to join her tribe. Because La Flor had one more member, Brenda chose three while Holly chose four. As the tribes were no longer divided by age, the Medallion of Power was retired.
 * Type: Tribe Switch

Survivor: One World
At random, the castaways would pick eggs. Once they all received an egg, they smashed the egg against their bodies and whatever color paint it contained would represent their new tribe (orange for the new Manono and blue for the new Salani). The tribes both swapped three players to the opposing tribe; with Jay Byars, Michael Jefferson, and Troyzan Robertson switched to Salani, and Alicia Rosa, Christina Cha, and Monica Culpepper switched to Manono.
 * Type: Tribe Swap

Survivor: Philippines
This season started out with three tribes. After Matsing lost four of their original six members, the remaining two were dissolved into the other two tribes, Kalabaw and Tandang.
 * Type: Absorption (see Dissolve)

Survivor: Caramoan
The season featured a tribe switch after six castaways were eliminated. This switch was similar to the One World switch, where contestants smashed eggs against themselves and the colors indicating on which tribe they would be.
 * Type: Tribe Switch

The eggs were originally divided four ways by tribe and gender to ensure an even switch. As there were only two female members of the original Gota tribe, one of them would remain on Gota while the other would be switched to Bikal. A similar process was used for the three other tribe/gender combinations. As a result, both tribes had seven members after the switch: three Fans and four Favorites; three women and four men.

Survivor: Blood vs. Water
The season featured a tribe switch when there were twelve castaways still in the game (two were on Redemption Island). Each castaway was asked to take one bamboo tube from a tray which contained a buff determining to which tribe the castaway would belong.
 * Type: Tribe Switch

Survivor: Cagayan
On Day 12, Luzon disbanded and the remaining 14 castaways were given new buffs off-screen and were reassigned to the new Aparri and Solana tribes.
 * Type: Disbanding (see Dissolve)

Survivor: San Juan del Sur
Each tribe was given a bag that contains an equal number of Hunahpu and Coyopa buffs, each wrapped and covered. Each castaway then chooses one of them in the bag, and the buff inside it would indicate each castaway's new tribe.
 * Type: Tribe Switch

Tribe Dissolve
See Tribe Dissolve

Absorption

 * Survivor: All-Stars
 * Survivor: Philippines

Disbanding

 * Survivor: Panama
 * Survivor: Cook Islands
 * Survivor: Cagayan

Conquering

 * Survivor: Palau

Mutiny
See Mutiny (twist)

Number of Castaways Switching Tribes
These totals exclude the absorptions of Saboga, Ulong, and Matsing, as the members of the existing tribe(s) were not eligible to switch. The Mutiny in was also excluded.
 * and had the fewest castaways switch tribes, with only four people switching tribes in each case.
 * had the lowest percentage of castaways to switch tribes, with 4 out of 13 switching tribes.
 * had the highest percentage of castaways to switch tribes, with 9 out of 10 switching tribes.
 * had the most castaways switch tribes, with 11 out of 14 switching tribes.

Number of Members Retained by a Tribe

 * Mogo Mogo is the only tribe to retain none of its former members at a Tribe Switch.
 * Chapera and Aparri have each retained only one member.

Number of Members Lost by a Tribe

 * Casaya is the only tribe to lose only one of its members at a Tribe Switch.