In Survivor, technically 2nd place is the furthest you can go without winning, but an argument can be made that the last boot had more of a shot at winning the whole game before they went. I will show you who came 2nd and who came 3rd/4th, and you guys can draw your own conclusions.
IoI - Dean or Lauren?
EoE - Gavin or Rick?
DvG - Mike or Kara?
GI - Dom or Angela?
HHH - Chrissy or Devon?
GC - Brad or Tai?
MvGX - Hannah/Ken or David?
KR - Aubry or Cydney?
SC - Spencer/Tasha or Kelley?
WA - Carolyn/Will or Rodney?
SJDS - Jaclyn or Keith?
Cagayan - Woo or Kass?
BvW - Monica or Tina?
FvF2 - Dawn/Sherri or Eddie?
Philippines - Skupin/Lisa or Malcolm?
OW - Sabrina or Christina?
SP - Coach or Ozzy?
RI - Phillip or Ashley?
Nicaragua - Chase or Holly?
HvV - Parvati or Jerri?
Samoa - Russell or Brett?
Tocantins - Stephen or Erinn?
Gabon - Susie or Matty?
FvF - Amanda or Cirie?
China - Courtney or Denise?
Fiji - Dreamz/Cassandra or Yau-Man?
CI - Ozzy or Sundra?
EI - Danielle or Terry?
Guatemala - Stephenie or Rafe?
Palau - Katie or Ian?
Vanuatu - Twila or Scout?
AS - Rob or Jenna L?
PI - Lill or Fairplay?
The Amazon - Matthew or Rob C?
Thailand - Clay or Jan?
Marquesas - Neleh or Kathy?
Africa - Kim J or Lex?
AO - Colby or Keith?
Borneo - Kelly or Rudy?
IoI - Lauren (players confirmed if she had made finals she would have won unanimously even against Tommy)
EoE - Rick
DvG - Mike or Kara? i think Nick would have won anyways
GI - Dom or Angela? Dom had better chance
HHH - Chrissy or Devon? Chrissy
GC - Brad or Tai? the jury confirmed Brad would have won if he had taken Tai
MvGX - Hannah/Ken or David? David 100%
KR - Aubry or Cydney? Michelle would have won anyway but if you swap Michelle and Cydney then it would have been Cydney.
IoI: Lauren
EoE: Rick
DvG: Mike
GI: Domenick
HvHvH: Devon (Chrissy wasn't winning, she was getting 3rd without the F4 fire-making)
GC: Brad (as much as I dislike the guy)
MvGX: David
KR: Aubry
Cambodia: Kelley
WA: Carolyn or Rodney, most likely Rodney wins
SJDS: Jaclyn even though Keith is the better character
Cagayan: Woo
BvW: Tina
Caramoan: Eddie or Dawn
Philippines: Malcolm
OW: Sabrina
SP: tough one, idk
RI: Ashley, she even beats Rob according to some
Nicaragua: Holly
HvV: Parvati
Samoa: Russell had a better strategic game, Brett was better socially
Tocantins: Stephen
Gabon:
Micronesia: Cirie
China: Courtney
Fiji: Yau-Man
CI: Ozzy
Panama: Terry
Guatemala: Rafe (though it is close)
Palau: Ian
Vanuatu: Scout (most likely)
All-Stars: Rob even though Jenna L would win because Rob pissed a lot of people off
PI: Fairplay (as much as I despise him)
AO: Colby
EoE - Rick
DvG - Mike or Kara? i think Nick would have won anyways
GI - Dom or Angela? Dom had better chance
HHH - Chrissy or Devon? Chrissy
GC - Brad or Tai? the jury confirmed Brad would have won if he had taken Tai
MvGX - Hannah/Ken or David? David 100%
KR - Aubry or Cydney? Michelle would have won anyway but if you swap Michelle and Cydney then it would have been Cydney.