If you’re like most football fans, you’re probably in one or more fantasy football leagues. And if you’ve been playing for a while, you might be looking for a way to make fantasy football more interesting.
Changing up the format can be a great way to do that.
There are several unique ways to play fantasy football that go well beyond the standard snake and auction formats. These setups can completely change your experience, both on draft day and throughout the season. Here’s a look at some different ways to play fantasy football this year.
Best Ball
Everyone should be able to play fantasy football if they want to, even people who don’t have the time to scour the waiver wire or set a lineup every week. With Best Ball, you don’t have to worry about making weekly lineup decisions. Your highest-scoring eligible lineup is automatically used each week.
That can be a major benefit when you have multiple players with good matchups. For example, let’s say you have Josh Allen and Sam Darnold on your roster. In a standard league, a big game from Darnold might go to waste because you’d probably start Allen. In Best Ball, if Darnold outscores Allen, you automatically get Darnold’s points.
In traditional Best Ball formats, everything comes down to the draft because the roster you draft is generally the roster you keep for the season. Some variations allow limited roster moves, but the classic format is designed to eliminate most in-season management. That’s why it’s perfect for fantasy owners without a lot of time: draft your team and watch your guys play.
Vampire
A Vampire league creates two very different strategies depending on whether or not you’re the vampire. In a typical Vampire league, one team is designated the vampire and does not participate in the normal draft.
Instead, the other teams draft first, and the vampire builds its roster from whoever is left. The vampire is also typically the only team allowed to make roster changes during the season.
Why is the vampire called the vampire? Every time the vampire wins a matchup, it gets to steal a player from the team it beat. The exact rules vary by league. Some limit the vampire to players who were started, while others allow any player to be taken. Leagues can also require the vampire to return a player at the same position to maintain roster balance.
There’s one final potential wrinkle: some leagues allow the vampire to choose who it wants to face each week, with no repeat matchups allowed during the bye-week portion of the schedule. This requires non-vampire owners to pay close attention to byes, as failing to do so could result in a good player being stolen.
Pirate
A hybrid of standard rules and Vampire rules, the Pirate format lets every winning team steal a player from its opponent. It’s kind of a “rich get richer” situation, as early wins can stack your team and bury the lesser squads.
Each week, every team gets to protect one player in the event it loses. Otherwise, any player can be stolen from a losing roster. To run a Pirate league, you need an invested group of owners, as it can become easy to get frustrated watching your best players get taken from you.
But if your league mates are willing to stick it out no matter what, a Pirate league can be a great choice. It makes every week matter, as one bad week can cost you one of your best players.
Guillotine
A traditional Guillotine league gets rid of head-to-head matchups entirely. Instead, every team competes against the field, and your goal each week is simple: don’t finish with the lowest score.
That’s because the lowest-scoring team gets chopped from the league each week. One popular version starts with 18 teams, allowing one team to be eliminated during each week of the fantasy season. When a team is eliminated, its entire roster gets thrown back into the free-agent pool.
Every remaining team gets a free-agent budget, so there’s real strategy in when and how much to bid on newly available players. Spending big early can help ensure your survival, but only one team is eliminated each week. If you spend too much, you might not have money left when an elite player becomes available later in the season.
There are also plenty of variations on the Guillotine concept. Instead of managing traditional fantasy rosters, some formats challenge players to make new selections each week and avoid finishing at the bottom in categories such as touchdowns, rushing yards, receiving yards or passing yards. Regardless of the variation, the concept remains the same: stay away from the bottom and escape the blade.
No Bench
As simple as its name sounds, a No Bench league eliminates reserve spots, meaning every player on your roster occupies an active lineup spot.
The strategy comes when bad matchups come up. If you have Chase Brown on your roster and a matchup with a powerful defense is approaching, you have to decide if Brown’s likely bad day is worth keeping him on the roster. If you cut him, someone else could add him and leave you out of luck. If you keep him, you’re sacrificing a spot in the hope it pays off later.
With fewer places to stash players, there are also usually more viable options available on waivers, making roster decisions important throughout the season.
Different Can Be Fun
Traditional fantasy football isn’t going anywhere, but it doesn’t have to be the only way you play. Whether you’re looking for the low-maintenance appeal of Best Ball, the chaos of a Vampire or Pirate league, the weekly pressure of a Guillotine or the season-long strategy of One & Done, changing the format can make an entire fantasy season feel new again.
And these are only a few of the possibilities. New formats continue to give fantasy players different ways to compete, strategize and make every week matter. If your league has started to feel a little too familiar, this might be the year to try something different.
