Guillotine Leagues™ Is Back For The 2026 Fantasy Football Season
Guillotine

Guillotine Leagues™ Is Back For The 2026 Fantasy Football Season

Published Updated

We heard you. Waivers, live scoring, the draft room, all of it: revamped and better than ever for 2026. Crack open a Mike's Harder, because Guillotine Leagues™ are back, and there are a ton of improvements and new features.

Shout out to the brand that wants to be the #1 ally to the fantasy football community, Mike’s Harder. You’re going to see some killer updates all across the app, including Mike’s Harder integrated authentically into the experience.

Start playing now!

Let's talk about what actually changed.

Waivers Options Revamped

Commissioner Waiver Options:

  • Daily Waivers (Public League setting with FCFS ON)
    • Run every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 12:00pm ET
  • Weekly Waivers
    • Run every Wednesday at 12:00pm ET
  • First waiver run: Wednesday, September 9th, 12pm ET

Commissioners can also toggle FCFS waivers on or off. If turned on, FCFS begins at 12:30 PM ET on the last day of waivers for the league.

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Bid Groups Are Back

The waiver wire, the way it should be. Bid Groups are back, which means submitting waiver bids will be a much smoother process. Select a player to drop and add as many contingency bids to the group as needed. One player can be won per Bid Group. You can then make a copy of the Bid Group (or start a fresh one) and assign a different player to drop to attempt a second acquisition. Clean, competitive bidding on the corpses of the fallen.

Lightning-Fast Live Scoring

We’ve rebuilt live scoring from the ground up. It updates faster, it updates cleaner and it doesn't leave you refreshing the page late Sunday night when you’re looking to get the latest scoreboard update.

Fast and reliable, just as it should be.

A Draft Room Overhaul

The draft room got the same treatment. Smoother, faster, built to actually hold up when your whole league logs in at once and deliver a seamless draft experience.

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Commissioner Controls and Settings

Commissioners will be able to easily renew their 2025 leagues with the same settings and league members. After re-launching the league, they can then adjust settings and members as needed.

Commissioner Controls During Draft:

  • Customize the draft order
  • Pause the draft at any time
  • Change time allowed per selection
  • Rewind a pick or restart the draft entirely
  • Toggle individual users on/off autodraft
  • Make a selection on behalf of another user
     

New This Season

  • Lock Chopped Players: Select a week after which players on chopped rosters cannot be added for the rest of the season. 
    • OFF for public leagues.
    • A commonly requested feature last season that is an exciting addition for Private Leagues.

League Setup Options

  • Bench: 
    • Guillotine — 6 bench spots
    • Guilloteenie — no bench.
  • Chop Type
    • Standard (1 chop per week)
    • Double (2 chops per week)
    • Slow (1 chop every 2 weeks).
  • Playoff Format
    • Last Man Standing (eliminations through final week)
    • Final Four (top 4 teams, most cumulative points over the final three weeks).
  • Draft Order
    • Randomize (locks 1 hour before draft)
    • Custom (Commissioner -set; also locks 1 hour before).
    • Public Leagues are all randomized
  • Draft Speed:
    • Fast (1–2 min)
    • Slow (1hr, 2hr, 6hr)
    • Slow drafts pause 12am–8am ET nightly.
  • Trades: Allow player and/or FAAB trades, with optional commissioner approval. 
    • OFF for Public Leagues
  • Waivers: Daily or Weekly; FCFS on/off 
    • Public Leagues default to Daily Waivers + FCFS ON.
  • Roster Expansion: Adds a bench spot in Weeks 4, 8, and 12 for both Guillotines and Guilloteenies. 
    • OFF for Public Leagues
  • Same Week Pickups: Allows adding players dropped by others in the same week. If off, dropped players are unavailable until next Wednesday. 
    • ON for Public Leagues

In-Season Commissioner Tools (August)

  • Full roster and FAAB budget control for all teams throughout the season
  • Ability to edit waivers, trading, and other roster settings at any point

Presented By Mike's Harder. And Yeah, We're Proud to Share It

Guillotine Leagues™ are presented by fantasy football’s #1 ally, Mike's Harder, this season. On the site, in the newsletter, and in your coolers on draft night. We're leaning all the way in, because we all work hard, but we play Harder, and you might as well do it with a drink in your hand.

You will get a “Go Harder” badge as the highest-scoring team each week. If you are close to being chopped? You’ll be in the “Squeeze”. 

Players can also expect weekly recaps from your  ally, and much, much more. Thank you, Mike’s Harder.

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We Know About Changes, But What's the Same?

The part you actually signed up for. The lowest score dies. No mercy, no reprieve, no consolation bracket. If you're at the bottom of the standings on a Tuesday morning, you're gone by Wednesday. That ruthlessness isn't going anywhere, it's the whole point. We just made sure the plumbing behind it doesn't fall apart.

Waivers are sharper. Scoring is faster. The draft room experience will deliver. Guillotine Leagues™ is back and better than ever.

Sharpen the blade. See you at the chopping block, hopefully not on it.

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Fantasy Life