The Challenge USA: Top Players from Episode 5

We’re five episodes deep. Alliances have crumbled, but some people are playing great solo games. Stream the episode on Paramount+. Here, we’re counting down the top players in the fifth episode of the new series.

10. Enzo Palumbo

Enzo hasn’t done much this season, and he finally gets some attention this episode because he’s an awful swimmer and gasses out during the challenge.

9. Derek Xiao

This episode, we learned Derek is a great swimmer, and he can memorize binary really well. But he also kind of choked on the puzzle and watched Tyson zip right past him. So, perhaps he does have a weakness, and even worse, he thought it was a strength.

8. Ben Driebergen

Ben’s Survivor moves against Tyson are on the verge of biting him in the ass, because he seems to be playing for second during every challenge. Thanks to Cayla (and his own mouth), his ass is in jeopardy. But thankfully, Cashay would rather not be paired with Leo, so Sarah falls on the sword here.

7. Azah Awasum

After winning the first elimination, Azah was laying low. But she’s a slow swimmer, and that ultimately put her in dead last on Barreled Treasure. Now that she’s in a position without power, she’s just keeping silent. Her lowkey game impressed no one, and she isn’t able to crack the code in the A Dark Turn elimination.

6. Cayla Platt

This episode, Cayla became the nerdy mastermind I hoped she’d be. She’s a great swimmer but choked during the puzzle. With her back against the wall, she took a shot to get on Tyson’s good side by throwing Ben under the bus. While Ben wasn’t sacrificed, his good friend Sarah was sent into The Arena and Cayla survives to play another day.

5. Leo Temory

There’s something to be said about being so bad in the game that people will use your weaknesses against you, and Cashay claims she wanted to vote in Leo because she didn’t want the algorithm to pair them together. Leo is kind of blindsided when Tyson, his “big brother” votes him into The Arena, but he did suck during the challenge. Fortunately, he did redeem himself a little in elimination.

4. Cinco Holland

Cinco’s fatal mistake this game: coming in with an ex. Cashay has exceeded a lot of expectations this season, though her biggest flex this week was simply being paired with Tyson thanks to the algorithm. And she does have somewhat of a soft spot for Cinco, but he fails to provide her with any guidance regarding a competitor in The Arena. To be fair, Leo could have been an easy victory in a physical game, but now that Cinco is gone he can flirt with girls without facing the wrath of Cashay.

3. Cashay Proudfoot

Cashay somehow gets into power and wins a swimming challenge, despite not knowing how to swim. Tyson (metaphorically) does all the legwork here, and Cashay has to deal with the fact that Cinco is definitely going into elimination. Ultimately, she’s protecting herself, and Justine, so she sends in Leo and Sarah to appease Tyson and try to look out for herself.

2. Sarah Lacina

We finally see some Survivor drama, and Sarah now has an enemy in Tyson. This shouldn’t be too surprising because she voted him off Survivor with Ben, but she wanted to work with Tyson this season. But here’s the difference: Tyson has won challenges. For such a tough competitor, Sarah hasn’t, and she barely avoided last place this week. But her cringy gestures after A Dark Turn indicate she’s out for blood.

1. Tyson Apostol

Is there any surprise that Tyson is our most important player again? He had an epic come-from-behind victory and turned on an ally. He’s been running the game so far, and there’s no doubt he’ll be making moves in the next weeks.