Auction Leagues, Redraft, Keeper, Dynasty, Best ball, the list goes on and on with different formats for fantasy. But Guillotine leagues are a relatively new format, and if you are looking for something new, Guillotine may be just what you are looking for. But what is a Guillotine league, and how does it work?

Guillotine Leagues: The Basics

A Guillotine league starts just like any redraft format starts, with a draft. Starting lineups and scoring are variable. There are countless ways to do it, but optimally, smaller starting lineups and benches make for the most interesting leagues. Knowing who to pick up and who to drop becomes much more difficult with smaller lineups, but any size will work. Many leagues use 16-17 owners for ease of scheduling, but there really isn’t a standard you need to follow, like most league formats.

But I get ahead of myself. What exactly is a Guillotine league? Well, in Guillotine, there are no matchups. It is everyone against everyone. Each week, the team with the lowest score for that week is eliminated. Alternatively, if you have fewer teams, some formats use two weeks, and some do championships with 4 teams, but the point remains. You do not want to get last. The last-place team for that week is eliminated, and their players are all dropped into the waiver pool. Most Guillotine leagues use FAAB(Free Agent Acquisition Budget), which means everyone has a budget to bid on players throughout the year. Once a team is eliminated, they are out for that year.

Now to the fun part, bidding. Every owner has a chance to bid on players that were dropped, but remember, your budget is your budget. If you splurge on the first week, you may struggle to add players later in the season. You repeat this process every week until one team remains, victorious on the field of battle.

Guillotine Leagues: Tips and Tricks

So now that we have a basic idea of what the Guillotine format looks like, let’s covers some of the things I have learned in my first year to save you the growing pains I experienced. Firstly, your FAAB budget is crucial to your success. Knowing when to spend it and how is vital to making it far. Obviously, scoring formats are going to affect who you spend on, but my recommendation is to spend a bit more on guys you know will start for you the rest of the year. Injuries will affect your Guillotine roster just like they do in every format. These will necessitate spending more to ensure you can advance far enough to get your injured guys back into your lineups. If you drafted CMC this year, it may have been wise to overspend on Mike Davis to lock down your starting RB slot. Alternatively, if you snagged Davis without CMC, and you saw Austin Ekeler become available, you might want to acquire him on the cheap if you have the budget and the backs to help you make it until his return.

This format really does add an entirely new layer of strategy to fantasy football. There is a balance that you will have to find in your respective leagues about spending. Too much too early and you will likely just lose later. Too little too late and you won’t make it far enough to spend that budget. So knowing your opponents’ rosters and situations will be key to advancing.

Guillotine Leagues: What are you waiting for?

If this format sounds like fun, you do not have to wait until 2021 to get in on the action. It is currently week 10, with week 11 just around the corner. So there are a few ways to get involved right away. One would obviously be to do a small-team league, 6-10 players, and have the final week be a winner-take-all throwdown. You could also start a league with 12+ players and eliminate two or more a week. The options are virtually limitless. But one thing holds true: once you join a Guillotine league, you will wonder what took you so long to find out about this unbelievable format.

If you are interested in doing a Guillotine league but don’t know who to talk to, you can find me on Twitter @realryanhicks. I can’t get enough of this format and will happily join/help you set up a new one today! Thanks for the read, follow @BellyUpFantasy for all the fantasy-related content needed to win your leagues. As always, happy football!