Fire Tokens are coins introduced in Survivor: Winners at War used to acquire luxuries or advantages.
Overview[]
“ | So we went back to the basic idea: Survivor is about a society that forms, and they form their own rules. And they decide who stays and who goes home. And over time, every society ends up having a currency. So we're looking to add another layer to the society with a Survivor currency in the form of Fire Tokens. | ” |
—Jeff Probst |
The concept of Fire Tokens stemmed from the basic premise of Survivor, which is to build a civilization, and with every civilization formed a currency. Thru Fire Tokens, a layer of supply and demand is added to the game. The active castaways would want to pay Fire Tokens acquire advantages to further themselves in the game, while the players living on the Edge of Extinction would want to collect as much tokens as they can to help them return to the game in the form of an advantage in the re-entry challenge or an advantage they could use should they return to the game.[1]
Appearance[]
Fire Tokens are small, holed coins that are circular in shape. The obverse is etched with a design of two lit torches encircling each other, while the reverse side has a design identical to the Survivor: Borneo logo.
Format[]
Winners at War[]
Each castaway enters the game with one Fire Token. The tribes receive a menu of items that they can buy with their Fire Tokens. After the merge, the tribe is given a new item list but with increased prices. A slightly different menu is made available for those living on the Edge of Extinction in which the prices also doubled following the merge.
If a castaway is voted out, that castaway must bequeath his or her Fire Token(s) to any of the active castaways by placing them in a small chest with the name of the intended recipient before heading to the Edge of Extinction. Castaways voted out with multiple Fire Tokens on hand may distribute their Fire Tokens to different players.[2] Bequeathed Fire Tokens will be sent to the recipient the following day. Players may also pass Fire Tokens to another castaway of the same game status if they so choose, meaning that active players may only pass a Fire Token to each other, and players on the Edge of Extinction may only do so to a another eliminated player.
With no Fire Tokens on hand, the players who enter on the Edge of Extinction will have to find hidden game advantages which they can sell to any of the active players in exchange for a certain amount of Fire Tokens. While the advantages found on the Edge of Extinction have no value for its inhabitants, Fire Tokens earned from selling advantages can be used to purchase food, comfort items, and a maximum of three advantages for an upcoming re-entry duel for a better chance to get back in the game.[1] To sell an advantage, the player must secretly send the advantage to a prospective buyer. The buyer will only be given until sundown of that day to decide whether or not to purchase the advantage.
Besides finding and selling advantages, additional Fire Tokens may be added into circulation. After the merge, the player who wins the Immunity Challenge also wins Fire Tokens.
The last time castaways may pay Fire Tokens is by sundown of Day 34 for active castaways, and the morning of Day 35 for those on the Edge of Extinction.
Strategy[]
Players may choose to purchase items that will benefit the whole tribe such as creature comforts, food, or an advantage at the next challenge. To do so, tribe members may pool Fire Tokens and present them at any challenge. They may also use Fire Tokens to purchase advantages from other players. Players may also use Fire Tokens as bartering materials for game-related strategy, although unlike transactions for advantages thru the Edge of Extinction, the specifics of any strategic bartering (including how many Fire Tokens are to be exchanged and when the exchange will occur) are left for the players themselves to regulate.
The inhabitants living on the Edge of Extinction may also choose to use their Fire Tokens to buy food, comfort items, advantages for an upcoming return challenge, and/or a Hidden Immunity Idol that they can use if they do return.
Fire Token History[]
Winners at War[]
On Day 3, Natalie Anderson found a temporary Hidden Immunity Idol, which she sold to Sandra Diaz-Twine for one Fire Token. Sandra purchased the idol which was good for her next three Tribal Councils.
On Day 5, Natalie found a Safety Without Power advantage, which she sold to Jeremy Collins for one Fire Token. Jeremy purchased the advantage, which allowed him to be able to leave Tribal Council before the vote, effectively making him immune, at the cost of not voting. The advantage was usable until there were ten active players remaining in the game.
On Day 8, Natalie found an opportunity to find a Vote Steal advantage in the main game, which she sold to Sarah Lacina for one Fire Token. After Sarah purchased the advantage, she had to sneak into the opposing tribe's camp and retrieve the Vote Steal without getting caught, which she did successfully.
On Day 10, the castaways on the Edge of Extinction were given an effort task where they had to collect twenty firewood logs one by one from the top of the hill back to their camp until sundown. All four inhabitants at the time, Natalie, Amber Mariano, Danni Boatwright, and Ethan Zohn each earned one Fire Token for completing the task.
On Day 15, Tyson Apostol acquired one Fire Token from Parvati Shallow after selling an Idol Nullifier to her, which he immediately used to buy comfort in the form of peanut butter. Parvati, however, was voted out next, voiding the Idol Nullifier.
On Day 16, Sandra traded her temporary Hidden Immunity Idol to Denise Stapley in exchange for one Fire Token.
On Day 17, four new Fire Tokens were hidden on the Edge where the castaways raced to find them. Tyson found one, while Rob Mariano found three. Meanwhile, Michele Fitzgerald gave one of her Fire Tokens to Wendell Holland as a sign of trust.
Before the re-entry challenge on Day 19, Amber gave her one Fire Token to Rob. Natalie, Danni, Ethan, Tyson, and Rob all purchased a challenge advantage for one Fire Token. Natalie and Rob also used three Fire Tokens to purchase a Hidden Immunity Idol that would be have full power should they re-enter the game. Eventually, it was Tyson who won the challenge, earning his spot back in the game.
On Day 21, Denise and Jeremy won one Fire Token each for winning the first individual Immunity Challenge.
On Day 22, Parvati found a new advantage, the 50/50 Coin, which she sold to Michele for all four of her Fire Tokens. Michele purchased the advantage, which allowed her to flip the coin one time at any Tribal Council until there were seven active players left. If it lands on "Safe", she would be granted immunity. If it lands on "Not Safe", she is vulnerable. It was revealed in a secret scene that Parvati spent two of her Fire Tokens on peanut butter later that same day, then later bought another jar on an unspecified day.[3]
On Day 23, Kim Spradlin-Wolfe won one Fire Token for winning the second individual Immunity Challenge.
On Day 25, Tony Vlachos won two Fire Tokens for winning the third individual Immunity Challenge.
On Day 28, Natalie found the Extortion Advantage, which allowed the finder to extort Fire Tokens from one castaway still in the main game for a price of their choosing. If the castaway could not pay back the ransom by the next Immunity Challenge, they would be forced to sit out of the challenge and be ineligible to vote at the next Tribal Council. Natalie chose to use it on Tony, asking him for six Fire Tokens. Tony only had three, but after sharing news of his advantage, he gained one token each from Jeremy, Ben Driebergen, and Nick Wilson giving him a total of six, allowing him to pay off the ransom and compete in the Immunity Challenge, which he later went on to win, earning himself two more Fire Tokens.
On Day 29, the castaways on the Edge of Extinction were given another effort task where they had to collect twenty coconuts one by one from the back of the island back to their camp until sundown. The first six to finish would receive two Fire Tokens each. In order of finish, Natalie, Sophie Clarke, Yul Kwon, Parvati, Tyson, and Wendell were the first six to finish, earning two Fire Tokens each. On that same day, Denise and Tony won two Fire Tokens each for winning the fifth individual Immunity Challenge. Nick dropped out of the challenge after Tony offered one of his Fire Tokens, which he gave to Nick later that day.
Between Days 29 and 31, Ben, Nick, and Jeremy all gained one Fire Token each off-screen. It is unknown where the tokens came from, but since they had all paid a token to Tony for the Extortion ransom, it is likely that he paid them back, although this is not currently confirmed.
On Day 31, Nick won two Fire Tokens for winning the sixth individual Immunity Challenge.
On Day 34, Natalie found a Challenge Disadvantage, which she attempted to sell to Nick for eight Fire Tokens. Nick only had six, so Michele gave Nick two of her Tokens, allowing him to purchase the advantage. Later that day, the advantage was used against Ben, which allowed Michele to win the seventh individual Immunity Challenge and earned the last two Fire Tokens of the game. Later than day, Denise spent five Fire Tokens to buy rice for the Koru tribe, wanting herself to have a full stomach in the event that she was voted out and sent to the Edge. Any remaining Fire Tokens that were unspent by contestants in the main game expired on sundown that day.
At some point from Days 29 to 35, Natalie either spent two Fire Tokens for an unknown item or gave them to another castaway. She had accumulated a total of 16 Fire Tokens within that time frame, but only had 14 on hand upon making her selection of how to spend her Fire Tokens on Day 35. In addition, Sophie and Tyson used their two Fire Tokens they received from the coconut effort task to each purchase a jar of peanut butter.[4]
On Day 35, Parvati, Wendell, and Yul all used their two Fire Tokens to purchase one advantage each for the re-entry challenge, while Natalie purchased three for six of her Fire Tokens. She also purchased a jar of peanut butter for two Fire Tokens and a second Hidden Immunity Idol for six Fire Tokens. Since she was only allowed to re-enter the game with one idol, she gave the second idol to Tyson in case he won the upcoming re-entry duel. Any remaining Fire Tokens that were unspent by contestants on the Edge of Extinction expired at this point.
There was a total of 55 (possibly 58) Fire Tokens that were given out in Winners at War, with 8 (possibly 11) that ended up expiring on hand, and the remaining 47 taken out of play via purchases from the menu.
Item and Price List[]
Main Game | Edge of Extinction | |||
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Pre-merge Camps | Merge Camp | Pre-merge | Post-Merge | |
Strategic |
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|
|
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Food |
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|
|
|
Comfort |
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|
|
|
Fire Tokens Count[]
Castaway | Episode | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1* | 2 | 3 | 4* | 5 | 6* | 7* | 8* | 9* | 10* | 11* | 12* | 13* | |
Tony | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3* | 2* | 3* | 0* |
Natalie | 1* | 2* | 3* | 4* | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0* | 0 | 0 | 6* | 8* | 0* |
Michele | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4* | 3* | 4* | 0* | 0 | 0 | 1* | 3* |
Sarah | 1 | 1 | 0* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1* | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2* | 3* | 3 |
Ben | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0* | 0 | 1* |
Denise | 1 | 2* | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1* | 1 | 2* | 3* | 3 | 3 | 6* | 1* |
Nick | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2* | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3* | 3 | 3 | 2* | 3* | 0* |
Jeremy | 2* | 1* | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2* | 2 | 2 | 1* | 1 | 0* |
Kim | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2* | 2 | 3* | 0* | 0 |
Sophie | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2* | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0* | 2* | 0* |
Tyson | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0* | 0 | 0* | 1* | 0* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2* | 0* |
Adam | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Wendell | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2* | 0* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2* | 0* |
Yul | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2* | 0* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2*
|
0*
|
Parvati | 1 | 1 | 2* | 2 | 4* | 0* | 0 | 0 | 2* | 2 | 0* | 2* | 0* |
Sandra | 0* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0* | Quit | ||||||
Rob | 2* | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0* | 0 | 3* | 0* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ethan | 1 | 1 | 0* | 1* | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Danni | 1 | 0* | 0 | 1* | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Amber | 0* | 0 | 0 | 1* | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Fire Tokens are the second in-game currency to be used in any Survivor franchise. In the Philippine version's third season, gold coins were scattered around Isla Misteryo and had the same use.
- Jeremy Collins is the first person to hold multiple Fire Tokens at one time, receiving one from Natalie Anderson after she was voted out.
- Natalie is the first person to possess 0 Fire Tokens, which happened after she bequeathed hers to Jeremy upon being voted out.
- Sandra Diaz-Twine is the first person to purchase an item, in this case a Hidden Immunity Idol, using a Fire Token.
- Sandra is also the first person to sell an item while not on the Edge of Extinction in exchange for a Fire Token, selling her idol to Denise Stapley.
- Rob Mariano is the first person to be voted out with multiple Fire Tokens on hand.
- Yul Kwon is the first person to bequeath multiple Fire Tokens to more than one person after being voted out.
- Tyson Apostol is the first person to purchase food (a jar of peanut butter) with a Fire Token, and also the first person to be voted out with no Fire Tokens on hand. He would become the only person in this situation prior to Fire Tokens expiring.
- Michele Fitzgerald is the first person to give away a Fire Token as leverage in the game instead of spending it.
- The Winners at War Immunity Idol has eyes that resemble two Fire Tokens, though these are merely decorative and cannot be used as currency.
- The Winners at War Immunity Necklace also had two Fire Tokens stitched on it, but similar to those on the Immunity Idol, they are purely cosmetic.[5]
- Fire Tokens were supposed to appear in Survivor 41, but were scrapped per the recommendations of Mike White whom Jeff Probst consulted during pre-production.[6]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ross, Dalton (January 15, 2020). "Jeff Probst reveals the big new twist for Survivor: Winners at War". Entertainment Weekly. https://ew.com/tv/2020/01/15/survivor-winners-at-war-season-40-jeff-probst-twist/. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
- ↑ Ross, Dalton (March 19, 2020). "Jeff Probst on 'one of the most vicious moves in the history' of Survivor". Entertainment Weekly. https://ew.com/tv/jeff-probst-survivor-winners-at-war-episode-6/. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/B_TjXvMJrFj/
- ↑ Ross, Dalton (May 13, 2020). "Survivor: Winners at War finale recap: Dominance is rewarded". Entertainment Weekly. https://ew.com/tv/recaps/survivor-season-40-episode-14/. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
- ↑ https://twitter.com/Survivor_Reddit/status/1229155596340998146
- ↑ https://ew.com/tv/survivor-41-jeff-probst-says-mike-white-helped-him-retool-season/