Welcome to Inside Survivor’s 50 For 50, a semi-regular feature highlighting 50 former castaways who we think should be considered for a spot on Survivor 50. In a snake draft, the Inside Survivor team selected ten players each, with the only rule being they couldn’t have played more than twice.
PROFILE
Name: Omar Zaheer
Age: 33
Season: Survivor 42, 2022
Finish: 6th Place
HIGHLIGHTS
As a member of the dominant Taku Four alliance that would go on to control much of the post-merge, Omar’s strong social game allowed him to be at the heart of his starting tribe and every strategic decision on it. Notably, his close relationship with eventual winner Maryanne Oketch led her to share her idol with him early on in the game.
With his tribe only having to attend one pre-merge Tribal Council, Omar entered the merge with a united coalition in contrast to the fractured Vati and Ika. Despite not having a vote at the Mergeatory tribal council, the immune Omar still played a critical role in shifting the vote onto Lydia Meredith, keeping his allies safe and his own hands relatively clean.
Throughout the rest of the early-to-mid merge, Omar continually got his way. Always included in conversations and constantly fed critical game information, he continued to strengthen his relationships with his Taku Four members, notably Lindsay Dolashewich. At the Final 7, Drea Wheeler made the critical mistake of telling Omar about her Knowledge is Power advantage, leading him to flip the vote onto her.
Despite his initial glee over eliminating such a major threat, Drea’s exit ultimately set Omar’s own elimination in motion for the very next round. While he was previously able to operate somewhat in the shadows, Omar found himself fully exposed as a major power player who perhaps wasn’t as trustworthy as his allies believed him to be. Maryanne, realizing the time had come to take out her friend and ally, teamed up with Romeo Escobar and used her Extra Vote to eliminate Omar in sixth place in a shocking 3-2-2 vote, putting him on the jury and herself firmly on the path to victory.
WHY HE SHOULD BE CONSIDERED
As far as New Era representatives go for Survivor 50, Omar brings a little bit of everything to the table. He’s a dynamic and funny strategic narrator with a loveable villainous streak. He was the architect of major strategic moves and then the victim of the biggest move of the season at the hands of the eventual winner. And before his downfall, he had a really, really good shot at winning it all.
While his threat level would likely be high going into a returnee season, Omar would certainly deliver on both the entertainment front and the strategy front. He’s already proven himself to be one of the strongest players of the New Era, but there’s still plenty of room for him to adapt his game based on the mistakes he made the first time.
Seven seasons will have aired since we last saw Omar by the time Survivor 50 rolls around, and perhaps by then enough big players will have come and gone to allow him to not stand out as such a significant threat among his competitors. Regardless, a return from Omar is guaranteed to be a fun time, and I can only hope we’ll get to see him cook up some mischief again for this milestone season.
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