Three Tips For A First-Time Guillotine Leagues™ Player In 2026

Oh, you've played fantasy football your whole life? Congratulations, it does not matter here. Guillotine Leagues™ is a different breed of fantasy, one that does not predicate on the season-long mindset. No, no … here you are just trying to survive and advance. You still want to be the best, but to come out on top, you have to survive and advance, which puts you in a completely different mindset compared to other fantasy formats like redraft.

Three Tips For A First-Time Guillotine Leagues™ Player

Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

Remember, there are no head-to-head matchups, which means that each week the lowest-scoring team gets chopped from the league, and then their roster goes to the waiver wire. You are no longer looking for Week 17 correlation or paying an insane amount of attention to bye weeks.

This is a different way of drafting and a unique way of navigating the waiver wire, so my best piece of advice is to embrace the uncomfortable, because if you try and play this like other fantasy leagues you're in, then you are bound to be chopped. Just remember: in Guillotine Leagues™, you're not trying to finish first, but instead, you're trying not to finish last in any week.

Avoid The Hopeful "Upside Plays"

Yeah, you might be hopeful that a certain player is going to be back to 100% by the time Week 4 rolls around, but you know who that doesn't help? You when you're chopped after a player gets you a zero on the score sheet.

While regular fantasy leagues allow you to stash players on IR or the bench, in Guillotine Leagues™, you are fully exposed every single week. There's no bench, which means any player you draft at the beginning will have to get you through the first week and hopefully beyond. It can work if you draft an injured player, but you want to avoid stacking risky guys together.

The same concept applies to rookies. If you're ever drafting with me on Underdog, you know that I am a sucker for those later-round rookies because the upside is so enticing, but here it's almost something to try and avoid.

Sure, rookies can hit their stride early, but many times, it takes them a few weeks to really find their footing, and time is not on your side in this format. Taking a calculated risk on someone like Jordyn Tyson or even Jadarian Price, rookies who look like they will have a big workload, is one thing, but hoping that Omar Cooper Jr. or Eli Stowers even get playing time is another. Avoid zeros at all costs, because it could be the matter of one or two points that can get you chopped. Just finding players with strong or certain workloads to get you through the first few weeks can be enough.

In all, target players with a weekly high floor. If you're in an 18-team Guillotine League, your goal for Week 1 is to finish 17th or better. In Week 2? You got it, finish 16th or better. Finishing first in any week gains you nothing but a pat on the back (more than likely from yourself because your leaguemates will not care lol).

Always Attack The Waiver Wire

This is simple, but can quietly keep you alive—always attack the waiver wire, even after the first run. During the season, there will be multiple times when waivers will run, and while you may not have bid enough for Christian McCaffrey, it's important to always put supplemental bids on other players that some of your leaguemates might not be paying attention to.

For example, let's say McCaffrey hits the waiver wire for you in Week 7 … fantastic! You bid $382, but you're sniped by $1 and lose out. Much like regular fantasy leagues, you want to make sure you have multiple bids out in case that happens. Put a bid on McCaffrey to drop Jonathon Brooks, but also put a few dollars on Zach Charbonnet (who hypothetically is coming back that same week), and also try for Rachaad White, who is actually catching more passes. Whoever it may be, don't just stop at the big-time, elite players. Work those bids for some of the lower-tiered guys, especially if you are hurting at that specific position.