Earlier this offseason, I wrote about my strategy for the Eliminator, a competition that combines best ball scoring with guillotine leagues and doesn’t require team management or waiver wire transactions.
The original tournament has been closed for some time, but our friends at Underdog Fantasy recently launched a similar competition called The Big Eliminator.
As you can probably guess from the name, the entry fee is significantly higher, from $10 to $100, and the total number of entries is smaller, limiting users to a total of five designs, instead of the original 55. Although the total prize pool has shrunk, the weekly payouts are much higher, as follows:
| Week | Financial support | rate | Payment |
| Week 1 | 10/12 | 83.3% | None |
| Week 2 | 8/10 | 80.0% | None |
| Week 3 | 8/10 | 80.0% | None |
| Week 4 | 6/8 | 75.0% | None |
| Week 5 | 6/8 | 75.0% | None |
| Week 6 | 4/6 | 66.7% | None |
| Week 7 | 2/4 | 50.0% | 100$ |
| Week 8 | 4/6 | 66.7% | $150 |
| Week 9 | 6/8 | 75.0% | $250 |
| Week 10 | 4/6 | 66.7% | 500 US dollars |
| Week 11 | 2/4 | 50.0% | 1,100 US dollars |
| Week 12 | 18/23 | 78.3% | 1,500 US dollars |
| Week 13 | 4/6 | 66.7% | $2,500 |
| Week 14 | 2/4 | 50.0% | 5,000 US dollars |
| Week 15 | 2/4 | 50.0% | $10,100 |
| Week 16 | 1/3 | 33.3% | 20,000 US dollars |
| Week 17 | 1/2 | 50% | 50,000 US dollars |
You’ll notice that the advancement structure is the same for the first three weeks, with minor changes to account for the smaller number of participants starting in Week 4. The initial payout is also increased by one week, allowing you to break even in a worst-case scenario in Week 7 and make a profit starting in Week 8. One of the most noticeable differences in this tournament is Week 12, where the group grows to 23 people, over 78% of the field advances (18 out of 23 per group) and secures a whopping $1,500 payday.
This makes stacking a little more important. You’ll find that the players with the highest win rate up to this point in the season will appear on a lot more rosters, giving you a little boost by including some correlation. Stacking isn’t nearly as important in Eliminator as it is in Best Ball Mania or most other competitions. However, I still prefer my quarterbacks to have at least one teammate and use correlation as a decision-making criteria. Still, I want to be careful not to bet too much on any one team, as a single dud can end your season. I also ignore game stacks entirely and focus more on proper roster composition and off weeks. Things get really fun on Championship Week, when the last remaining teams are randomly paired in an all-or-nothing matchup that pays $50,000 to the winner and a whopping $0 to the loser.
For the most part, my strategy isn’t that different from the one in the first article, but I’m much more willing to “get my guys” and get to them when I need to due to the higher buy-in and limited number of bullets. With four-figure payouts starting as early as Week 11, I give teams/players with previous off weeks a little boost until the real stress begins. As far as managing risk goes, there’s no right or wrong way to handle the situation and it ultimately comes down to risk tolerance. I’m more of a gambler, meaning I don’t go out of my way to diversify my portfolio even if that means adding multiple 100% odds players to the roster, especially those I feel are mispriced by the market.
