Survivor Pools
Pick one team to win each week. Lose once and you're out. Use each team only once all season.
How It Works
Survivor Pools, also known as Eliminator, Knockout, or Suicide Pools, are one of the most popular and suspenseful fantasy formats. The premise is deceptively simple: pick one team to win its game outright each week. There are no point spreads involved. If your chosen team wins, you survive and advance to the next week. If your team loses—or in most cases, ties—you are eliminated from the pool.
The primary strategic challenge comes from a critical constraint: you can only use each team once throughout the entire season. This forces you to think ahead and manage your resources carefully. You can't simply pick the heaviest favorite every week; you must save strong teams for later in the season when matchups are tougher and your options have dwindled. The goal is to be the last person standing.
The pool continues week by week until only one participant remains. If multiple players survive the entire regular season, or if the last remaining players are all eliminated in the same week, the prize is often split among them, unless the commissioner has set specific tiebreaker rules. The constant threat of elimination makes every single game a high-stakes event, creating a thrilling experience from Week 1 to the end of the season.
Key Concepts
Select a single team to win straight-up.
No point spreads are used.
One loss and you are out of the pool.
Some pools may offer a 'buy-back' option for early exits.
Each team can only be picked once per season.
This is the core strategic constraint.
The ultimate winner is the final surviving member.
Tiebreakers may apply if multiple players remain at the end.
Strategy Tips
- 1Plan Ahead, But Be Flexible. Map out potential picks for several weeks in advance, but don't be afraid to deviate. An unexpected injury or a team getting hot can change the landscape. Saving elite teams for tough bye weeks is a classic long-term strategy.
- 2Fade the Public. Identify the most popular pick of the week and consider choosing a different team. If the popular pick gets upset, a huge chunk of your pool is eliminated, and your odds of winning skyrocket. It's a high-risk, high-reward move.
- 3Focus on the Opponent. Often, the best strategy isn't picking a great team, but picking a decent team that is playing against a truly terrible one. Target teams with poor defenses, quarterback issues, or significant injuries.
Commissioner Settings
Commissioners have a variety of options to customize their Survivor Pool:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Number of Losses | Set how many losses a player gets before elimination. Default is 1, but 2 is a popular variation. |
| Buy-Backs | Allow eliminated players to re-enter the pool, typically once, early in the season. Often requires an extra fee. |
| Pick Deadline | Set a single weekly deadline (e.g., Sunday at 1 PM EST) or have picks lock individually at each game's kickoff. |
| Auto-Pick Assignment | Choose what happens if a player forgets to make a pick: assign the week's most popular pick, the heaviest favorite, or an automatic loss. |
| Tiebreaker Rules | Define how to handle a scenario where multiple players survive the whole season. Examples: total points scored by picked teams, or a final week pick 'em challenge. |
| Playoff Continuation | Option to extend the pool through the playoffs, where team availability resets. Default is regular season only. |
| Handling of Ties | Determine if a picked team that ties its game counts as a win or a loss. Default is a loss. |
Available Sports
Survivor Pools are most commonly associated with football due to the weekly schedule, but can be adapted for other sports: