Guillotine Leagues - You should play (1 Viewer)

[Joe Bryant]

I get pitched a "new way to play fantasy football" often. Without question, the most fun new way I've seen in years is Guillotine leagues from my friend Paul Charchian. I know we've talked a little about them here but they deserve way more buzz.

It's an absolute blast and you should be playing. Here's how. https://www.footballguys.com/article/2023-a-guide-to-guillotine-leagues

(FWIW - This is a 100% unpaid endorsement. It's that good)

 

[Ghost Rider]

Not sure when these started, but we did one in both 2020 and 2021, and I am doing one again this year (I did not play FF at all last year). They are a lot of fun. I highly recommend them.

 

[Hurl Bruce]

I don't think any of my leaguemates are in here, so I can state this: Charch does a great podcast each week going over the bidding strategies for the week. Highly recommend.

CHOP: The Guillotine League Podcast

Listen to CHOP: The Guillotine League Podcast on Spotify. CHOP is the original guillotine league podcast, hosted by Paul Charchian, the fantasy football HOFer who popularized guillotine leagues. It provides advice for drafting, waiver wire, roster composition, and analyzes the big NFL stories...

open.spotify.com

 

[PIK95]

I would play I one of these if anyone needs someone, just hit me up. Seems like fun.

 

[FairWarning]

A good pool idea similar to this is you pick one qb, 1 rb, 1wr, 1te,and one defense, low score is eliminated. You can only use the player once also, so there is skill involved. Basically Survivor meets Guillotine. It works best if you have 18 players, winner take all.

 

[Golden Gopher]

Been doing these for about 3-4 years now, and started my own a couple of years ago. They're a lot of fun until you get knocked out after the first week.

Of course, the cool thing about them is that it's really easy to start another "round" about mid-year. After about Week 8 or 9, start a new league with the teams who have already been eliminated (those who want to "buy back in" essentially). If somebody isn't interested, it's usually pretty easy to get another player from the original league (those who are still alive).

Side note... Another format that I found to be sort of interesting last year was the "terminator" leagues. You start with a 26-man roster and have to drop a player after each week of the 14-week regular season. Total points, and top four teams make the playoffs. So, after 14 weeks, you're roster is down to a dozen. Then, Weeks 15-17, rosters freeze and your weekly points get added to your weekly average from Weeks 1-14. It really is a battle of attrition, and there is a lot of strategy involved in terms of which positions to draft depth, and which positions to maybe "punt" at some point. Ideally, you end up being able to still field a full lineup for the last three weeks, but that can be easier said than done, for sure.

 

[FairWarning]

I would play I one of these if anyone needs someone, just hit me up. Seems like fun.

Paul Charchian on Twitter is forming leagues every day on his site.

 

[nirad3]

Been doing these for about 3-4 years now, and started my own a couple of years ago. They're a lot of fun until you get knocked out after the first week.

Of course, the cool thing about them is that it's really easy to start another "round" about mid-year. After about Week 8 or 9, start a new league with the teams who have already been eliminated (those who want to "buy back in" essentially). If somebody isn't interested, it's usually pretty easy to get another player from the original league (those who are still alive).

Side note... Another format that I found to be sort of interesting last year was the "terminator" leagues. You start with a 26-man roster and have to drop a player after each week of the 14-week regular season. Total points, and top four teams make the playoffs. So, after 14 weeks, you're roster is down to a dozen. Then, Weeks 15-17, rosters freeze and your weekly points get added to your weekly average from Weeks 1-14. It really is a battle of attrition, and there is a lot of strategy involved in terms of which positions to draft depth, and which positions to maybe "punt" at some point. Ideally, you end up being able to still field a full lineup for the last three weeks, but that can be easier said than done, for sure.

Thanks for runnin' things. Always a fun league.

 

[tangfoot]

Been doing these for about 3-4 years now, and started my own a couple of years ago. They're a lot of fun until you get knocked out after the first week.

Fantasy football already feels like it's too fleeting. Turning a league into the equivalent of a survivor pool only exacerbates that problem.

 

[Golden Gopher]

Been doing these for about 3-4 years now, and started my own a couple of years ago. They're a lot of fun until you get knocked out after the first week.

Fantasy football already feels like it's too fleeting. Turning a league into the equivalent of a survivor pool only exacerbates that problem.

I agree. The problem is that the creators of the guillotine leagues are really on to something in the sense that it's almost like the FF equivalent of a cash poker game where you can "buy back in" if you lose/are eliminated. They have new leagues starting every week until about Week 10 or so.