I’ve had this idea for a unique fantasy football league for a long time and finally want to get it going this year.
It’ll be based off the popular television series, ‘Survivor.’
We will start with 16 teams and play until Week 17.
Essentially, there will be no traditional matchups during this, instead, playing for a reward and an immunity challenge each and every week.
I guess to better understand this league, I’ll break it down in relation to the television show and how it’ll work.
Scoring Format
To begin, we’ll go over the standard fantasy football aspects of this league. It’ll be a redraft league with a live draft taking place at an agreed upon date and time.
Roster sports will work as followed:
Quaterback - 1
Runningback - 2
Wide Reciever - 2
Tight End - 1
Flex (RB/WR/TE) - 2
The scoring will be full point PPR (point per reception) and due to it being a 16 man league, will not be superflex or tight end premium. Easy enough.
Waivers will work weekly in reverse order of the points for. If you have the lowest season-long points for you will have waiver priority. However, reward challenges may grant weekly waiver wire priority to the reward challenge winner.
Draft
Once the league is filled and everyone is paid up, we will start a slow-draft with a four-hour timer.
Prior to the draft, I will randomly assign players to two separate tribes. Additionally, I will assign odds or evens to each tribe. It is then up to the tribe to assign themselves in a draft order.
Tribal Council
Instead of playing in a traditional head-to-head matchup and although the app we will use (Sleeper) will put you in a head-to-head matchup each week and keep track of your overall record, we will disregard that.
To start, the league will be divided into two eight-man tribes. Which ever team loses the immunity challenge (most combined points score) will go to tribal council that week where the tribes will vote out one of the teams.
Following the merge on week ten, everyone will go to tribal council each week where one person will be voted out.
This will take place over the course of Tuesdays, following the completion of Monday Night Football.
Each week, a team will be voted out of the league as voted on by the ‘tribe.’ I, as the host, will post in the league general chat stating that voting is open and set a deadline. Each member of the league and/or tribe will cast their vote to me via DM and whoever received the most votes will be removed from the league.
In the event of a voting tie, the tiebreaker will serve as whomever had the higher points for in the previous week (the week prior to the voting.)
Once voted out, the team that was removed will move to ‘Castaway Island’ where they will have a chance to play themselves back into the league.
Castaway Island
Whoever is voted out week one will remain idle until someone is voted out in week two. Following week two, those two ‘castaway’ teams will go head-to-head with the winner (highest score for the week) will remain on castaway island with the other team being removed for good.
Each week up to and including Week 5, the ‘castaways’ will play head-to-head of whomever won the previous ‘castaway’ matchup and whomever was the next voted out. Following the conclusion of Week 5, whoever remains the winner of the ‘Castaway Island’ will rejoin the league and compete with the remaining teams starting Week 6.
The ‘Castaway Island’ process will then repeat itself starting with whomever was voted out in Week 5 and play though Week 9. Same process, week-by-week basis. The winner of the previous ‘Castaway’ matchup plays whoever was voted out the week prior. After Week 9 and starting Week 10, whoever won the ‘Castaway Island’ will rejoin the league.
That will be the last chance to play in. If you were on ‘Castaway Island’ the first five weeks and failed to make it out, you are done for good.
At the conclusion of 'Castaway Island,' teams that are officially and fully eliminated will be locked. Players can not be traded from, dropped or picked up.
Winner
Unlike the television show with those voted out voting on a winner at the end of the season, it will be whoever of the remaining two teams that wins the week 17 head-to-head claiming the title.
Immunity Idol
This is simple. Which ever tribe has the highest points for total will receive the immunity idol and will avoid tribal council that week. The losing tribe will go to tribal council where someone will be voted out.
Following the merge. whoever has the most points for each and every week will receive the immunity idol and therefore cannot be voted out in that week’s tribal council. This idol cannot be transferred to another player/team once won.
Reward Challenges
There will be no reward in Week 1 as it’ll be the week prior that grants the reward.
Each week I will determine a ‘challenge’ (example: highest scoring starting RB duo.)
The rewards challenge will be rewarded the following week of your victory. For example, if you win the reward challenge in Week 1, the reward will be granted for Week 2.
Rewards will be announced with the challenge given each week. Rewards can be anything from 20-added fantasy points for the upcoming week or ability to remove a player from an opponent's lineup. Something like that to give a leg up.
Hidden Immunity Idols
Hidden Immunity Idols will not be so hidden. Before the start of the season I’ll develop a list of rare fantasy-football feats that will grant a hidden immunity idol.
For example, a running back rushing for four touchdowns in a game or something along those lines.
Once one of the listed rare feats is completed and someone claims that hidden immunity idol, that feat will not reward a future hidden immunity idol.
If your player or team achieves one of the rare feats, you’ll be granted a hidden immunity idol. The idol can be played just once and must be told to me via DM prior to the start of tribal council that you are playing it.
If you play the hidden immunity idol and you receive the most votes at tribal council, those votes placed on you will be voided and the person with the next highest number of votes will be voted out.
If a hidden immunity idol is played and all votes are cast for one player/team, we will revote. If a hidden immunity idol is played and there is a tie for the next highest vote totals, it’ll default back to the original tribal council rule where the higher points scored in the week prior will be safe.
Buy-In
This league will require a small buy-in of $20 to keep players interested season long and the league and concept competitive. It’ll also offer incentive for players to continue and incentivize the work that will be put into this league.
Payouts
The overall winner will receive $220. To go along with the theme of the league in Survivor, there will be a $100 price given to whoever the league votes on.
In Survivor, there is a player voted on by the fans as a 'favorite.' At the conclusion of the season, all 16 players will vote on their 'fan favorite' (can not vote for yourself) to receive the $100 reward.
Buy-ins will be placed on League Safe.