Gauntlet and Mitten drafts are now live over at Underdog. Madison Parkhill wrote a great strategy piece earlier this week, and it’ll help get you start attacking these fun playoff tournaments.
The Gauntlet is a $25 playoff contest that features a $100,000 top prize and requires contestants to advance through each of the first three rounds and then win the tournament during the Super Bowl. (The Mitten is a $5 contest with a $15,000 top prize and slightly different first-round dynamic.)
The playoff contests are six-team, 10-round best-ball drafts that start 1-QB, 1-RB, 2-WR/TE, and 1 Flex, and employ Underdog’s half-ppr scoring.
I’ve become instantly addicted to this contest. Drafting is always a blast, but it’s even more fun when the contest itself presents an interesting problem to solve.
- You need to build a team that has enough exposure to the Super Bowl that you have a chance at the big prize.
- You need to build a team with enough upside in the first round that you advance through Wild Card weekend.
This is not an easy path to walk, especially given the high prices for players on the three Super Bowl favorites. In Part 1 of my Underdog Playoff Series, we’ll look at the pros and cons of building through the power teams and how you might craft successful lineups.
Colm Kelly and I are also doing a Gauntlet series on RotoViz Overtime. The first episode features our introduction to the contest and opening draft tactics.
