The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions

Invasion of the Champions
Season Information
Season No.	29
Location	Krabi, Thailand
Original Release	February 7 – May 16, 2017
No. of Episodes	19 (including reunion and three specials)
Host	TJ Lavin
Prize Money	$350,000
Winners	Chris "CT" Tamburello Ashley Mitchell
Cast
Season Chronology
Previous	Rivals III
Next	XXX: Dirty 30
Gallery

Invasion of the Champions is the 29th season of The Challenge. Filming started in October and ended in November 2016.

Description

The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions brings together 18 Underdogs to battle across a series of contests for the chance to move out of squalor and into typical Challenge luxury, The Oasis! Just when the lucky ones get comfortable, they’ll find the game is far from over. The final crop of Underdogs will have to face down eight proven Champions for their share at the $350,000 prize. With devastating elimination rounds, truly baffling hookups and the first-ever three-day final on the way, Season 29 may just prove to be the most unpredictable and gripping yet!

Cast

Male contestants Contestant Finish Chris "CT" Tamburello RW: Paris Winner in The True Champions Nelson Thomas AYTO? 3 Runner-Up in The True Champions Cory Wharton RW: Ex-Plosion Third Place in The True Champions Darrell Taylor RR: Campus Crawl Eliminated in A River of Endless Light Shane Landrum RR: Campus Crawl Eliminated in Caged Hunter Barfield AYTO? 3 Eliminated in The Bloodbath Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio RW: Key West Eliminated in Go Your Own Way Dario Medrano AYTO? 2 Eliminated in A Low Down Dirty Shane Zach Nichols RW: San Diego (2011) Eliminated in Achy Breaky Heart Tony Raines RW: Skeletons Eliminated in The Mile-High Club Anthony Bartolotte AYTO? 2 Eliminated in Four Tickets to Paradise Theo King-Bradley RW Seattle: Bad Blood Quit in Helter Shelter Bruno Bettencourt RW: Skeletons Eliminated in Skeletal Fracture

Female contestants Contestant Finish Ashley Mitchell RW: Ex-Plosion Winner in The True Champions Camila Nakagawa Spring Break Challenge Runner-Up in The True Champions Nicole Zanatta RW: Skeletons Third Place in The True Champions Laurel Stucky Fresh Meat II Eliminated in Caged Amanda Garcia AYTO? 3 Eliminated in The Bloodbath Jenna Compono RW: Ex-Plosion Eliminated in The Bloodbath Cara Maria Sorbello Fresh Meat II Eliminated in Go Your Own Way Sylvia Elsrode RW: Skeletons Eliminated in A Low Down Dirty Shane Ashley Kelsey RW: San Diego (2011) Eliminated in Achy Breaky Heart Kailah Casillas RW: Go Big or Go Home Eliminated in The Mile-High Club LaToya Jackson RW: St. Thomas Eliminated in Four Tickets to Paradise Anika Rashaun RW Seattle: Bad Blood Eliminated in Helter Shelter Marie Roda RW: St. Thomas Eliminated in Skeletal Fracture

Format

The game started off with 18 Underdogs (players who have yet to win a challenge) who get dropped off a boat and onto a beach, where they were living in "The Shelter." They compete individually in challenges, followed by an elimination round.The male and female winners of the challenge would be safe from elimination, and earn their ticket to "The Oasis" — the season house. The last-place finishers of each gender automatically went straight into elimination for the first challenge.

In the second challenge, the challenge winners will choose a player of the opposite gender to go into the elimination. The remainder of the cast then voted in who goes against them for the first and second challenge. The males voted for the females, and vice versa.

In the third challenge, and the last chance to earn a ticket to the Oasis, the winners will be safe from elimination, and the two remaining players of each gender will automatically compete against each other. In the elimination, each gender will compete. The winners of the elimination round would return to the game, and earn a ticket to The Oasis. The losers of the elimination round go home. Players could not go into The Oasis until every ticket had been earned. Players who earned their ticket to the Oasis will be exempt from elimination and will not compete in challenges until the Champions enter the game.

In Episode 5, eight of the toughest champions (four male, four female) will enter the game, which will become a team competition - Underdogs vs. Champions. Each challenge will be designated as either an Underdog or a Champion elimination known as "The Fortress". The winning team will earn $10,000, $15,000, or $30,000 in their team bank account. The best performing male and female of the team designated for the challenge will then choose one player of each gender to go into the elimination. The remainder of the cast will then vote in the players who will go against the nominated players in The Fortress. The winners return to the game, and the losers are eliminated.

In the final challenge, the teams are dispersed and the money banked from the challenges are split amongst the respective team members. The remaining money in the pot is determined by final placement.

Money for finalists is split as follows:

• Winners: Team bank account + $100,000 each
• Runners-Up: Team bank account + $15,000 each
• Third Place: Team bank account + $5,000 each

Twists

• The Shelter: TJ announced to the starting cast of the season that they would be staying in a run-down shelter at the start of the game rather than the traditional luxury house. In order to earn a spot in the luxury house, named The Oasis, players must win a challenge or elimination in the first three rounds of the competition. TJ later surprised the players in the Final Challenge by revealing that they would have to stay at The Shelter for the remainder of the competition.
• Champion Invasion: Eight Champions, four male and four female, entered the game in Episode 5 to the surprise of the other players.
  • Champions vs. Underdogs: Following the arrival of the Champions, TJ announced that they would be playing on a team against the remaining Underdogs. This twist lasted until the Final Challenge where the teams were once again disbanded.
  • Underdog Bloodbath: The Underdogs will face each other in two consecutive elimination rounds. The first one will be a 4-way challenge in which one player of each gender will be eliminated if they finish last. The second competition will be the first three-way elimination in Challenge history with another one eliminated player.

Game summary

Elimination chart

Episode		N/A	Winners		Elimination contestants				Elimination game	Elimination outcome
#	Challenge				Last-place		Voted In			Winner		Loser
1/2	The Over Under			Nicole		Marie		Kailah	In The Trenches		Kailah		Marie
				Dario		Bruno		Tony			Tony		Bruno
	Challenge		Winners		Winner's pick		Voted In		Elimination game	Winner		Loser
3	Shell Shocked			Hunter		Theo		Cory	Who's Got Balls		Cory		Theo
				Ashley M.		Jenna		Anika			Jenna		Anika
	Challenge		Winners		Last-place				Elimination game	Winner		Loser
4	Caged and Confused			Amanda		LaToya		Sylvia	Thai Rise		Sylvia		LaToya
				Shane		Anthony		Nelson			Nelson		Anthony
	Challenge	Fortress Team	Winners		Player's Pick		Voted In		Fortress Game	Winner		Loser
5/6	Knockout	Underdogs		Underdogs		Sylvia		Kailah	Tuk Tuk Bang Bang		Sylvia		Kailah
						Tony		Shane			Shane		Tony
7	Roll With The Punches	Champions		Champions		Cara Maria		Ashley K.	Pole Wrestle		Cara Maria		Ashley K.
						Zach		Darrell			Darrell		Zach
8	Curry Up	Underdogs		Champions		Nelson		Dario	Bell Ringer		Nelson		Dario
						Jenna		Sylvia			Jenna		Sylvia
9/10	Fallout	Champions		Underdogs		Bananas vs. Darrell			Balls In		Darrell		Bananas
						Cara Maria vs. Laurel					Laurel		Cara Maria
10	Crossover	N/A		Underdogs	N/A
	Challenge	Bloodbath Team	Winners		Fortress contestants				Fortress game	Winner		Loser
11/12	X-It	Underdogs	N/A										Hunter
													Jenna
			N/A			Amanda vs. Ashley M vs. Nicole			Inside Out		Ashley M.		Amanda
											Nicole
						Cory vs. Nelson vs. Shane					Nelson		Shane
											Cory
	Challenge	Fortress Team	Winners		Fortress contestants				Fortress Game	Winner		Loser
12/13	Caved In	Champions		Underdogs		Camila vs. Laurel			Knot So Fast		Camila		Laurel
						CT vs. Darrell					CT		Darrell
14/15	Final Challenge	N/A		CT	2nd place: Nelson; 3rd place: Cory
				Ashley M.	2nd place: Camila; 3rd place: Nicole

Notes:

• In Episodes 3 and 4, a contestant is exempt from both challenge participation and elimination after earning a ticket into the Oasis — the result of either winning a challenge or an elimination.
• The first three elimination rounds were not given a name. Beginning with the fourth challenge, the elimination round is known as "The Fortress."
• Theo was disqualified from elimination for refusing to jump off the cliff. As a result, Cory was declared the winner by default.
• The Underdogs participate in individual challenges from Episodes 1–4. When the Champions enter the competition in Episode 5, all contestants will be separated into two teams — Champions and Underdogs.
• The Champions (Ashley K., Bananas, Camila, Cara Maria, CT, Darrell, Laurel, and Zach) entered the competition at the fourth challenge as a season twist.
• T.J. first announced that no elimination round would be held following the "Crossover" challenge in Episode 10, and instead that each contestant was treated to a house party. However, that was a part of the Bloodbath twist and it was a underdog go-away party where the Underdogs will face each other in two consecutive elimination rounds. The first one will be a four-way challenge in which one player of each gender will be automatically eliminated and the second elimination will be a three-way elimination with another one eliminated player.

Fortress progess

Males	Episodes
	1/2		3	4	5/6		7	8	9/10	10	11/12	12/13	Finale
CT	N/A					SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	ELIM		WINNER
Nelson		SAFE	SAFE	ELIM		SAFE	SAFE	ELIM	SAFE	SAFE	ELIM	SAFE		SECOND
Cory		SAFE	ELIM	SAFE		SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	ELIM	SAFE		THIRD
Darrell	N/A					SAFE	ELIM	SAFE	ELIM	SAFE	SAFE	OUT
Shane		SAFE	SAFE	WIN		ELIM	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	OUT
Hunter		SAFE	WIN	SAFE		SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	OUT
Bananas	N/A					SAFE	WIN	SAFE	OUT
Dario		WIN	SAFE	SAFE		WIN	SAFE	OUT
Zach	N/A					SAFE	OUT
Tony		ELIM	SAFE	SAFE		OUT
Anthony		SAFE	SAFE	OUT
Theo		SAFE	QUIT
Bruno		OUT

Females	Episodes
	1/2		3	4	5/6		7	8	9/10	10	11	12	Finale
Ashley M.		SAFE	WIN	SAFE		WIN	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	ELIM	SAFE		WINNER
Camila	N/A					SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	ELIM		SECOND
Nicole		WIN	SAFE	SAFE		SAFE	SAFE	WIN	SAFE	SAFE	ELIM	SAFE		THIRD
Laurel	N/A					SAFE	WIN	SAFE	ELIM	SAFE	SAFE	OUT
Amanda		SAFE	SAFE	WIN		SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	SAFE	OUT
Jenna		SAFE	ELIM	SAFE		SAFE	SAFE	ELIM	SAFE	SAFE	OUT
Cara Maria	N/A					SAFE	ELIM	SAFE	OUT
Sylvia		SAFE	SAFE	ELIM		ELIM	SAFE	OUT
Ashley K.	N/A					SAFE	OUT
Kailah		ELIM	SAFE	SAFE		OUT
LaToya		SAFE	SAFE	OUT
Anika		SAFE	OUT
Marie		OUT

Competition

     The contestant won the final challenge.

     The contestant did not win the final challenge.

     The contestant won the challenge and won safety from the elimination round.

     The contestant won the challenge, but was subject to the elimination round.

     The contestant was exempt from participating in the elimination round.

     The contestant was not selected for the elimination round.

     The contestant won in the elimination round.

     The contestant won the elimination round by default.

     The contestant lost in the elimination round and was eliminated.

     The contestant withdrew from the elimination round.

     The contestant came in last in the daily challenge and was eliminated.

Episode guide

Episode		Air date	Viewers (in millions)
1	"Gimme Shelter"	February 7, 2017	0.69
2	"Skeletal Fracture"	February 7, 2017	0.65
3	"Helter Shelter"	February 14, 2017	0.65
4	"Four Tickets to Paradise"	February 21, 2017	0.76
5	"Underdog Eat Underdog World"	February 28, 2017	0.78
6	"The Mile-High Club"	March 7, 2017	0.80
7	"Achy Breaky Heart"	March 14, 2017	0.86
8	"A Low Down Dirty Shane"	March 21, 2017	0.81
9	"An Officer and a Gentlewoman"	March 28, 2017	0.82
10	"Go Your Own Way"	April 4, 2017	0.75
11	"The Bloodbath"	April 11, 2017	0.78
12	"Caged"	April 18, 2017	0.79
13	"A River of Endless Light"	April 25, 2017	0.76
14	"Math Is Hard"	May 2, 2017	0.75
15	"The True Champions"	May 9, 2017	0.73