The Challenge 40 Battle of the Eras Player Preview: Tori Deal
Finally, after all these years, Tori Deal is making her long-awaited return to The Challenge. Just kidding. Since her debut on Dirty 30, Tori has appeared in some fashion on every MTV version of the show, including spinoffs like Champs vs. Stars, with the lone exception being War of the Worlds 1. Tori also appeared on Paramount and CBS via World Championships and the USA spinoffs, and of course, if you were lacking any Tori, she’s also one of the hosts of MTV’s official Challenge podcast.
For better or worse, The Challenge has become Tori’s life. And regardless if you love or hate Tori, it’s clear she’s pretty good at it. Including USA & World Championships, Tori has played 9 seasons, is a 6x Finalist, a 1x Champion, has a 6–3 elimination record, and has gone to four straight Finals. Tori is a beast and has been a massive figure on the show for the last decade. Season 40 without her wouldn’t make sense. If Tori can make another Final and win against this stacked cast, it would do a lot to silence the haters who call her overrated.
Tori’s Cheat Sheet (TLDR Version)
Introducing Tori:
Originally a college soccer player and media studies student, Victoria Dehel always had a desire and hunger to be famous. That’s not shade or slander. Tori is someone who was pursuing multiple avenues to gain fame and success. She was trying to do TV hosting and reporting gigs, was creating music and rapping, and was in all types of local performances. Eventually, Tori got cast on Are You The One, where she was an instant fan favorite. Tori understood how to turn it for the camera in a way that reminded me of The Miz. She had a famous rap battle moment during this season that looks a bit corny nowadays, except at the time…I loved it and thought, and she was a star. Before going on The Challenge, Tori appeared on the forgotten AYTO competition show, Are You The One Second Chances. Tori got positioned alongside Devin as the faces of the show; they had a “rivalry,” and while the show wasn’t near the intensity level of The Challenge, it was clear Tori had great potential.
We saw Tori make her Challenge debut on Dirty 30, where she made an instant splash and was continually touted as the “Rookie of the Year.” While Tori was a rookie, I don’t think she played or got treated like one. Tori won the first two daily challenges and was immediately treated and respected like a Vet by the men in the house. She was the #1 overall female picked by the fourth daily challenge of the season. Tori proved to be a strong competitor in the dailies, beat Marie Roda in elimination, and socially/politically straddled the middle of the Camila/Cara vs. Jenna/Kailah alliances to perfection. In the Final, Tori came in 3rd but held her own, playing against former Champions who were at their peak physically, and Cara stated multiple times that she thought she lost to Tori.
It is important to note that Tori went on Dirty 30 with a boyfriend, Derrick Henry, and left basically an item with Jordan.
After Dirty 30, Tori elected not to do Vendettas as she was trying not to burn out and also had her sister’s wedding during filming. It didn’t stop MTV from pushing her, as Tori appeared on Vendettas as a mercenary and competed on both Champs vs. Stars 2 & 3. Essentially, getting legend status before even appearing on a second full-time MTV season felt a bit much. Tori then appeared on Final Reckoning with Derrick as a partner. He was a terrible player, and the way she treated him didn’t help either. They got eliminated by Joss & Sylvia, didn’t get a chance at Redemption, and were out early.
Hype for Tori fizzled a bit after this season — she got left off the War of the Worlds 1 cast as an alternate. We then saw her come back with Jordan for War of the Worlds 2. Tori went into this season in phenomenal shape and was an asset to her team. Politically, she and Jordan were on the other side of the Paulie & Cara alliance, so she got thrown into elimination against a beast in Georgia. Tori defeated Georgia, turncoated (Jordan would do so soon after), and changed the direction of the game. After this, Tori cemented her place as one of the top players in the house by sweeping Jenny West in a Hall Brawl. For the most part, Tori crushed the WOTW 2 Final but lost the puzzle purge at the end, costing her a chance to win. At that moment, I and many others walked away from WOTW 2 thinking that Tori was the best female competitor from the season and that it was a shame that she didn’t get the official win. It did feel as though she and Jordan were primed to take over the show.
This made Tori’s super scared and paranoid gameplay Total Madness feel very confusing. Tori then embarrassingly lost an early elimination to Jenna Compono — it was embarrassing because Jenna already had her foot halfway out the door and was considering quitting. Tori went in thinking it was a guaranteed win and lost. The embarrassment was compounded when an arrogant Tori was blindsided by Big T and eliminated by Aneesa very early on Double Agents. In a span of 36 months, Tori went from superstar to overrated production favorite. During this time, we also saw her & Jordan break off their engagement, and the timeline when she hooked up with Fessy gets murky. It was all over the place.
Tori returned for Spies, Lies & Allies. She had an initial showmance that didn’t go far with Kelz as he was eliminated second. Then, she moved on to the trashy European Jordan look-alike Emanuel once his showmance with Michele ended after her elimination. Overall, SLA was a great season for Tori. She and Devin buried the hatched, became friends, and ran the game politically along with the “vacation alliance.” Tori was the 2nd best woman in daily challenges behind Kaycee, squashed in the last elimination before the Final, and crushed the Final itself. Unfortunately for Tori, the design of SLA Final was a fucking mess that made 98% of it entirely meaningless, and it all came down to a single sprint up and down a mountain (and memorize 10 numbers).
We’d see Tori and Devin team up for Ride or Dies. Together, they were an exceptionally complementary pair. Devin dominated the puzzles while Tori brought the physicality. They won the season’s first elimination against Kailah & Sam and then went under the radar game-wise from then out. Tori was in the spotlight the entire season, drama & storyline-wise, as her reunion with Jordan took center stage. While Tori’s messiness was all over the show, in terms of the game, she and Devin mostly avoided winning dailies as they didn’t want blood on their hands and could rely on their allies socially. In the end game, they gave 110% and blew the house out of the water. Tori & Devin won the Final daily and dominated almost the entirety of the RoD Final, with the only exception being the opening elliptical run and the pasta eating portion. Tori finally got the title of Champion after all these years.
Tori came back for two spinoffs with World Championships and USA 2. She was partners with former Dallas Cowboy and USA 1 winner Danny McCray on World Championships. They went to the Final without winning a daily challenge or going into a single elimination. Tori’s allies allowed them to coast to the end. The only interesting part of their season was the passive-aggressive contentious between Tori and Danny. Danny wanted to win and knew their chances wouldn’t be great if Jordan went to the Final. Tori didn’t let them vote Jordan in. What happened? Tori & Danny came in 2nd and lost to…Jordan & Kaz. It was another Finals appearance for Tori; it just felt like a participation season from here.
I was very impressed by Tori’s performances on USA 2. Going into this season, there was a massive target Tori and the other MTV lady legends had on their back as a strong CBS alliance outnumbered them. Early into the season, they forced Tori into an elimination — Tori didn’t just win, she massacred Jonna in a headbanger. With her back against the wall, Tori won 6/13 daily challenges, including the first two dailies in the individual portion, where she smartly leveraged her power to intimidate and broker a deal with the Survivor ladies. Tori got to her 4th Final in a row, and while she came in 4th, I thought she performed decently. Had Tori not fucked up the axe throw, I believe she probably would’ve come in 2nd Overall at least.
We saw Tori again as a mercenary on Battle For A New Champion, where she beat Melissa. Tori and Cara took some attention away from the Season 39 cast’s reunion with their own beef. The two of them will be competing against each other for the first time since War of the Worlds 2 in 2019.
Player Vitals & Stats:
Tori: 31 Years Old, 5'7, 9 Seasons*, 1x Champ, 6x Finalist*, 6–3 Elimination Record, * = Includes USA and World Championship spinoff stats, Winner of Ride or Dies
Skills and Physical Strength:
Tori’s bread and butter is raw strength and physical contact. She has the shoulders built to deal big hits and loves to wrestle. Her cardio, swimming, and speed all rank high as well. Tori is a great athlete and takes her fitness super seriously.
At the same time, Tori has never quite had the natural sense for the weirder, more carnival-game-like daily challenges. It sometimes feels like Tori is an NFL Wide Receiver who can only run vertical routes. Her brain begins to malfunction if the daily challenge is not a straight line. Tori’s sense of balance in heights daily challenges is below-average, which is disappointing this far into her Challenge career.
SSMP (Social, Strategic, Mental, and Political) Game:
There is a common misconception that Tori is an awful puzzle player. She’s not — Tori is an average/competent puzzle player. Obviously, the puzzle purge on War of the Worlds 2 ended her game, but Tori was going against four good puzzle players., By no means are mental comps a strength for her, and having Devin as a partner to lean on for puzzles was crucial for her Ride or Dies win. Still, it’s not like Tori is incapable; she’s solved a decent amount of puzzles over the years. Going against such a stacked cast, I would like to see Tori show improvement in this part of the game. Maybe less squats and more sudoku.
Tori is in pretty good shape socially and politically. She enters the game with Jordan, Devin, Bananas, Josh, Kaycee, Aneesa, and Laurel, all as very loyal allies. On top of them, Tori is friends with many players and is on good terms with most of the powerhouses. We know Amanda hates Tori, except Amanda likely won’t carry much power in the game. The only red flags are Cara & Paulie; even then, I think Tori holds so much social currency in the house that Cara & Paulie will be outnumbered.
That said, if Tori wants to win, she needs to play a riskier strategic game and cut some throats. She got outgunned by better players in her last two Final appearances, and her only Final win came against Nany, Aneesa with a sprained ankle, and Olivia with a shattered face. If Tori wants to win, she can’t let players like Emily, Jenny, or Jonna into the Final. Those players will outrun or out-puzzle her to victory.
Eliminations & Winning Potential:
Tori has been dominant in overtly physical eliminations and headbangers. Where things have gone wrong for Tori in eliminations is when she has to problem-solve. When that happens, Tori has panicked. Actually, panic is an understatement. Tori shits her pants and does mindless shit. In her elimination with Jenna on Total Madness, Tori wasted time trying to put the smallest pieces of concrete through a grate rather than going for another rep. On Double Agents against Aneesa, she couldn’t figure out how to tip a giant cart of balls and took forever to adapt/try a different strategy, even with the crowd directing her.
If Tori has to play in a carnival game elimination or a problem-solving one, I can picture anyone beating her, including players like Amanda, Tina, and Katie. At the same time, if it’s a straight-up physical elimination, I can see Tori taking out the biggest threats, including Emily, Jenny, Cara, Rachel, etc.
Can Tori win? Based on recent history and the fact that Tori is one of the most well-connected players entering the game, I think she’s one of the safest bets to make the Final, and if that’s the case, her chances of winning are inherently decent. For Tori to win against this cast with so many significant threats, she needs to play an excellent strategic game to get some people out, can’t fall behind with puzzles or eating, and has to give 110% at all times. There is no easy win for any woman on this cast, even the top contenders like Tori.
Tori’s Overall Rating: 93/100
Previous ratings I’ve given Tori:
Spies, Lies & Allies Rating: 84/100
Double Agents Rating: 88/100
Total Madness Rating: 93/100
Final Reckoning Rating: 88/100
Dirty 30 Rating: 89/100 (my D30/Inv ratings for all cast members were too high)
