If I had to place this season on my list, I'd probably say...
Top 5: Pearl Islands, Borneo, Amazon, China, Heroes Vs. Villains
Top 10: Marquesas, Philippines, Nicaragua, Micronesia, Exile Island
11-18: Gabon, Africa, Australia, Cagayan, One World, Thailand, Palau, Vanuatu
Bottom 10: Guatemala, Blood Vs. Water, South Pacific, Tocantins, Samoa
Bottom 5: Caramoan, All-Stars, Fiji, Cook Islands, Redemption Island
So, yeah... it's dead in the center for me. Definitely a step up over the last few seasons (Blood vs. Water feels like some bizarre spinoff in hindsight but I'd be willing to see the twist with a new cast rather than the joke of the cast the first one had) but a tiny bit overrated compared to Jeff's overselling of it. It had a VERY strong female cast (Tasha <3 Trish <3 J'Tia <3 Queen Morgan <3 and Kass even though I don't love her is acknowledged as epic), had fairly even editing and was unpredictable thanks to that better editing and the lack of spoilers. Those episodes after the merge where it turned into the Spencer and Tony show were what kept it out of the top ten for me, but the pre-merge was incredible and it did finish strong enough too. I'm also glad that Tony is the first time in years where the show didn't bend over backwards to edit the winner as a white-washed personality-free gamebot with no negativity.