Alliance

An Alliance is a group of people loyal to each other in the game of Survivor. These mini social groups strategize together to manipulate the outcome of the upcoming Tribal Council and eventually the endgame.

Conception
Alliances were invented in Survivor: Borneo by Richard Hatch, stating that a player will find it almost impossible to win without a tight group of people. With this thought, he concocted a close relationship with Rudy Boesch, Kelly Wiglesworth, and Susan Hawk. The four united themselves as a voting alliance. The strategy became effective, making Dirk Been their first victim. The plan became even more devastating after the merge, successfully eliminating all members of the rival Pagong tribe (when they split their votes) as well as the only person from their tribe that was not part of the alliance, Sean Kenniff. The foursome went on as the final four castaways, eventually and inevitably having to turn on each other at said point. This strategy became the strongest reason why Hatch became the first Sole Survivor.

Influence on Survivor
Alliances have severely influenced Survivor since the concept was created as they were definitely powerful in the voting. However, making an alliance hasn't always guaranteed success, as many alliances have broken apart prematurely due to issues such as trust and Tribe Switches. But more often than not, alliances tend to be very helpful in getting players farther in the game, as the majority of Sole Survivors have been in powerful alliances.