The Guillotine League is an 19 man, single elimination, redraft fantasy football format. Throughout the season teams will be removed from the pool due to poor performance, and the surviving teams will have the opportunity to bid on the fallen teams' players.
Teams win by consistently being better than the worst team in the league. You need to be both consistent and high scoring to make it past all of the other teams.
Good luck!
Text written in grey [like this] means its been redacted from the rulebook for the current season.
Text written in green [like this] means it been kept in the rules from a previous season.
Text written in blue [like this] means its a significant change worth noting.
This is a big list of changes - please read these over closely. I'll be reaching out to managers to confirm their understanding and will listen to suggestions on any potential necessary balances for approx 1 week.
Scoring Overhaul
During the off season - the league office explored many options but settled on these highlights (detailed in the scoring subsection below)
Fantasy players will receive a nominal (0.1 per yard for all kick/punt return yards)
Unexpected low value fantasy players now will command real consideration in the early weeks of this season - these plays aren't likely to be massive contributors at the end of the season, but there's additional nuance to who's startable in the first half of the season - effectively deepening the player pool.
Return yards are unpredictable and are often awarded to already very low value players so these are marginal pieces to contribute to the total depth of the league but are unlikely to be game breaking. That said - do your own research!
Tiered bonuses will be awarded to skill players for 1st downs achieved
TE's and WR's will each earn 1 point for a 1st down, RBs will each earn 0.5 point
Generally speaking - starting players with consistent roles on their offense will command more value than before.
QBs are not awarded ANY points per 1st down
No rushing, receiving or of course... passing!
Superflex is ON
With 19 teams - you may wonder how this is possible...
Admittedly - teams will have to fight for the starting QBs during the first 5 weeks
During this window - there more will be less startable QBs than combination of QB and SFLEX lineup spots (38 roster spots Vs. 32 NFL QBs... the largest differential of the contest)
At Week 6: There will be a Roster Spot to Starting NFL QB differential of 0
The scoring settings outlined in bullet one ("Scoring Overhaul" will help offset the impact of QBs and make lineups more balanced
Third Round Reversal
To maximize balance in such a large contest - we've opted for the "Third Round Reversal" which drafts similar to a typical snake draft, but switches the order of the 3rd round.
This looks like...
Team 1 picks: 1.01 (1), 2.19 (38), 3.19 (57) and 4.01 (58)
Team 10 picks: 1.10 (10), 2.10 (29), 3.10 (48) and 4.10 (67)
Team 19 picks: 1.19 (19), 2.01 (20), 3.01 (39) and 4.19 (76)
Generally speaking the "easiest" places to draft from are the middle, and its "harder" on the ends.
Back half drafters are guaranteed 3 top 40 players
First half drafters are guaranteed their choice of 1 elite player (and 3 top 60 players)
Middle of the pack drafters are the least effected by tier drops
Introducing "The Fighting Pit"
This is the MOST SIGNIFICANT change of this season... so pay attention:
Starting Week 2 - the bottom two teams from the previous week will be pit against each other in "The Fighting Pit." In Sleeper these 2 teams will be moved into a H2H showdown where the eliminated team of that week is sent home (per typical Guillotine fashion).
During Week 2 - all other teams still play and the lowest two teams from Week 2 (among all surviving 2 teams) are placed into "The Fighting Pit" for Week 3.
This means a team can play in "The Fighting Pit" in consecutive weeks but isn't guaranteed to. Coming in last in Week 1 won't kill you, it just sends you to the Pit. Losing in the Pit sends you home.
Introducing "The Blood Pact Clause"
If exactly two teams volunteer to enter the Fighting Pit in a given week, they may take the place of the bottom two teams who would have been sent there.
It must be mutual — both teams must opt in.
The loser is eliminated as usual.
The original bottom two are spared for now.
No additional incentive beyond pride and a marginal gain in the year end bonus pool for most kills.
Introducing "The Blood Week"
Due to the anticipated 19 teams playing, and the inclusion of "The Fighting Pit" additional teams will need to be killed during one blood bath taking place on Week 15.
During Week 14...
The typical "Fighting Pit" matchup will be played out among the bottom 2 teams from the prior week
While simultaneously - the overall bottom 4 surviving teams (4/6 that move on to Week 15) will be in the Pit together in Week 15.
That means the top 2 scoring teams in Week 14 will be safe for 15, but still want to jockey for positioning to avoid the Pit in Week 16.
At the culmination of Week 15, only 3 teams will remain after having started the week with 6.
Trading Restrictions
League Wide Trade Caps
No single trade involving FAAB may exceed 50% of a team's total budget
Pit Based Trade Caps
If you're in the Pit, you can make unlimited trades and spend up to 100% of your FAAB across multiple deals.
However, you may only spend up to 25% of your FAAB per trade partner (i.e., no dumping your full budget into one trade).
Trade Deadline of Week 9
After Week 9, all trading is locked for the remainder of the season.
Changes to Cash Prizes
No more payouts for finishing 1st each week...
Simple payout structure:
1st Place earns $500
2nd Place earns $115
3rd Place earns $60
Bonuses
Most Confirmed Kills: $50
The team(s*) that kills the most other teams in the fighting pit will be awarded a $50 bonus.
The blood week kills are only worth 1 point in the standings.
This award will be shared w/ the teams that win in case of a tie*
Most Correct "Fighting Pit" guesses
The Commisioner will be managing a spreadsheet throughout the season for all teams to guess (both those active and eliminated) on who they think will survive the coming deathmatch. The manager who correctly guesses the most outcomes in the season will be awarded a $25 bonus.
The blood week point will again be based on the winner among the 4 teams.
The same tie rules apply as the "Most Confirmed Kills" bonus
Kept rules are highlighted in green, anything changed will be grayed out.
This year we will be playing with NINETEEN players instead of the traditional 18.
We have broken through boundaries you didn't think it was possible to break.
We will be following last year's elimination structure but we are adding an additional chop during week 14.
Week 14 is significant because 6 NFL teams are on BYE and its the week where the final 6 would become the final 4.
No lost members, BUT one gained CleHutch aka Taylor!
This year we are adding the Guillotine playoffs!
Once week 14 ends and teams 6 and 5 are eliminated from the pack we will have one final auction - taking place during the normal time prior to the start of week 15.
In this auction - teams are incentivized to spend the entirety of their remaining budget.
There will be no more fab auctions from this period forward.
Budgets will be reduced to zero
Waivers will still run each week with a twist
The players on the teams that are eliminated will NOT go into the pool of available players. These teams will be eliminated from contention but will retain their roster.
The teams that make it to the final four need to win with the roster that they built along the way. The studs on the teams that finish in 4th and 3rd will not be available for the final showdown in Week 17 for the eventual 1st place and 2nd place teams.
Waivers will run on their normal cadence but all of the teams remaining will have 0 fab and it will run (de facto) as a rolling waiver setup.
Trading will only be allowed inside of designated "zones"
In what will only be labeled "communist" and/or "disappointing" we have some significant adjustments to the trading rules in this years tournament
No trading will be made official between the 1:00 (eastern zone) and the last game of the week
Said another way - a traditional week will only have permitted trading between Tuesday at 12:00am and Sunday at the traditional 1:00pm Kickoff
This allows for weekend trading and is intended to provide enough stategic flexibility to improve your team through trading but not enough to abuse desperate teams and hurt parody.
The Sleeper mechanism to enforce this:
Commish Review is turned on for all trades - I'll be able to push them all through but I won't push any trades through after Sunday 1:00pm Eastern kickoff and will reject them allowing both teams to decide if they would still like to make that trade after the week's conclusion.
The draft will now be 15 rounds to accommodate 2 extra roster spots.
This year you are encouraged to think more strategically about proper bench utilization and will force the league to play with much greater depth of football players in the early portion of the season.
Payouts will be disbursed in full at the conclusion of the season with a full receipt sent to all members.
In this section - you can look back at some of the rules that were brought into the Guillotine format
No players will be eliminated Week 1
This week is unique - instead on Week 2, 2 teams are eliminated that totaled the lowest scores through the end of W2.
This change ensures that all teams have the opportunity to participate in post W1 trade market, sign free agents, and overreact to keep themselves alive
Payouts are going to Change
No winner take all this year instead...
1st place receives $315 (~50%)
2nd place receives $160 (~25%)
3rd place receives $35 (~5%)
Weekly Payouts
$120 will be distributed to the top scorer each week
$8 in Week 1
$7 in all Weeks 2-17
The Federal Reserve FAB Bank will be offering a stimulus package to players that score the 2nd lowest points in a given week (not including Week 1).
This means that...
The next closest non eliminated team will be given a paltry 5 FAB out of our 1000 FAB total budget which is a 0.5% bonus from the starting total for all surviving teams.
Why do this?
We want the market to be fluid and people to not be afraid to spend their FAB
At the end of the last season - one particular team was able to carry a fixed larger amount of FAB due to great drafting - to avoid any one team running away with it, the teams at the bottom are being offered this incentive to remain competitive.
Jonathan and Jesse are replacing our friends CEOonTheLow and Jake Zinn
To participate in The Guillotine League, your buy in will cost $39.50 for the 2025 season.
This money will be paid in full to the commissioner, prior to Week 1.
Each week, the lowest scoring roster in "The Fighting Pit" (See 2025 Rule Changes) will be removed from the league. Their team will be manually disassembled (using commissioner powers) and sent to the waiver wire pool.
This team will have its FAAB reduced to zero.
Tiebreakers
In the (very rare) case of a tie, a few things can take place...
Should a tie occur during Weeks 1-16: the lowest two (or more) teams would all survive elimination. The following week, the lowest scoring 2 (or more teams) will be removed from the league. For each successive week of ties, an additional player needs to be added to the following weeks total volume of eliminated players.
The above logic is extended to the fighting pits... if 2 teams tie in Week 2, of the teams sent to the pits in Week 3, 2 of those 3 would be eliminated.
If a tie is possible during the final week of the season: the two remaining teams will choose their MNF champion*. The team that has scored more total points up through that point gets to pick first.
The Guillotine League will be leveraging a FAAB style waiver wire system. This decision is meant to provide managers with an opportunity to strategically bid on/add the players they believe give them the best shot at winning the league.
Waivers will run every week, Thursday at 4:00am.
After waivers complete, open free agency (Add/Drops) will be available following standard conventions (You can add players up until their game starts/No dropping players after their game has started).
Trading will only be allowed inside of designated "zones"
No official trade transactions will be made official between the Sunday 1:00pm (eastern zone) and the conclusion of the last game of the week
Said another way - a traditional week will only have permitted trading between Tuesday at 12:00am and Sunday at the traditional 1:00pm Kickoff
This allows for weekend trading and is intended to provide enough stategic flexibility to improve your team through trading but not enough to abuse desperate teams and hurt parody.
The Sleeper mechanism to enforce this:
Commish Review is turned on for all trades - I'll be able to push them all through but I won't push any trades through after Sunday 1:00pm Eastern kickoff and will reject them allowing both teams to decide if they would still like to make that trade after the week's conclusion.
Bad trading conduct will result in the revoking of invitation to the league in future years.
The Guillotine League will be under the authority of Matt Schott (Commissioner). Matt will be governing all conflict under a common sense doctrine.
Some of the areas that may need to be addressed (could include but are not limited to):
- Improper Lineups
- Lopsided Trades
- Collusion
- etc.
Punishment is at the digression of the commissioner and could include (but is not limited to) expulsion, suspension, or forfeiture of current roster.
As commissioner (not playing this year) I'll be watching closer for "accidents" and letting you know if you need to fix a lineup for whatever reason...
*If a player is removed from the league their lineup would continue to be set in accordance to what projects to be their highest possible starting lineup. No add/drops will be conducted. In such extreme cases where this is the team that wins the championship, the prize earnings would be distributed to all league mates equally (regardless of elimination status).
The Guillotine League will utilize the snake style draft format.
The draft will be conducted over video call, and will be done inside of the sleeper draft room. Date and time are September 2nd at 8:00pm. You don't have to participate in the video call, but need to be in the sleeper draft room in order to draft your team.
The Guillotine League is a Superflex, 3x WR, TE premium start 10 with Kickers and D/ST. We will draft 16 rounds.
Superflex
Superflex
RB
RB
WR
WR
WR
FLEX
FLEX
TE
Kicker
Defense
Bench (4x)
1 point per 25 passing yards
4 points per passing TD
2 points per 2pt conversion
-1 points per INT
1 point per 10 rushing/receiving yards
6 points per rushing/receiving TD
0.5 points per reception
Vanilla Kicker and Defense settings for Sleeper
0.75+ points [bonus] per reception (TEs)
+0.5 point 1st Down Bonus - RB
+1 point 1st Down Bonus - WR
+1 point 1st Down Bonus - TE
+0 point 1st Down Bonus - QB
0.1 per yard: Player Punt/Kick Return Yards