Jeff Probst Breaks Down Survivor‘s Final Five

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After 20 returning contestants began season 20 of Survivor divided into Heroes and Villains, only one Hero — Colby Donaldson — is left to contend with his original-season nemesis, two former winners and Russell Hantz. “I can’t imagine 20 people playing as hard as these 20,” Jeff Probst says. What will it take for each to win? The host gives PEOPLE.com his breakdown before Sunday’s finale (8 p.m. EST on CBS). -– Cynthia Wang

COLBY DONALDSON: He came in the game looking phenomenal, he worked out hard and really tried to prepare himself mentally, but initially the game did not go his way, starting with the first challenge when Coach sort of embarrassed him. It was downhill from day 1. There were times when he wanted to quit; he just didn’t want to be out there and he wasn’t having any fun. On the flip side, it should show you why you should never give up, because he is now the last remaining Hero. With a jury full of Heroes — and if he could get to that final vote — he could lift his way to a $1 million. If you think about it, it would be one of the most amazing stories because you would go from a guy who dominated the game to a guy who dropped out of several challenges first and still finds himself in a position to win the game.

RUSSELL HANTZ: You have to keep in mind he didn’t have a chance to learn anything from Samoa because he thought he played it very well, as evidenced by the reunion show when he was nearly brought to tears by finding out he lost. I think Russell’s question is: Can he get to the end with a jury of experienced players and will they have a different view of a guy who played an aggressive game? If I were Russell, I would start final tribal by saying, “We are all good players. We are the 20 best players on Survivor and you can’t discount that. Even though I hurt your feelings, we’ve all had our feelings hurt before this game.”

JERRI MANTHEY: This is Jerri’s third time playing — and this is the first time all the pieces have come together. I think she found a really nice balance of maintaining the person she wants to be, which is likeable, but also realizing that this a game where you have to make moves, so you can’t be afraid to hurt somebody to get close to the money. I think Jerri is in a really great spot. To get to the end, she would probably be favored to win because she hasn’t offended many people and I think there is a sense that Jerri’s working hard. I’ve been really impressed with Jerri because as hard as she’s playing the game, she still takes time to watch a sunset in the middle of a vicious game and I appreciate that ability to find balance in the midst of chaos.

PARVATI SHALLOW and SANDRA DIAZ-TWINE: Sandra is a follower, not a leader. Sandra would be a soft ally because someone could say, “I’ve always got her vote and I won’t get rid of her because that’s two.” Parvati plays a different game because she would say, “Now, this is how you are voting,” because she’s a leader. Parvati is out there. She wears on her chest that [she's] going to make [her] alliances known and you’re going to know what you have to do to beat [her]. Parvati has a target on her back and she can’t hide. Sandra’s game is very different. Sandra has always been an outsider. She’s never really been in a group but what Sandra is a master at is making sure it isn’t her to be considered to be voted out. It sounds like such a little thing, but it is monumental because if it is never you, then you will be there at the end.