Fantasy Life Vampire League Season Wrap Up
Berry Falls Just Short
The first ever Fantasy Life Vampire leagues came to an end following Week 17 of the NFL season and it was, by all accounts, a resounding success. To give you a quick recap, Matthew Berry decided to try out this relatively new fantasy format (where one team, the “vampire,” doesn’t participate in the draft, but rather has to then comprise his/her team from what’s left on waivers while given the added power to swap any one of their starting players for their opponent’s counterpart after every one of their head-to-head wins) along with 16 other Fantasy Life App users split into two leagues of nine, with Berry acting as the vampire in both. I was lucky enough to be included in one of the two leagues, and thoroughly enjoyed playing (until the vampire beat me, stole Christian McCaffrey and crushed my championship dreams).
The new format forced players to think about and employ strategies that were wholly different from all other leagues. Without any past blueprints for success, it made the season a uniquely exciting adventure for all involved. By season’s end though one thing was clear — while the vampire is at a distinct disadvantage at the outset, that pendulum swings more and more in the vampire’s favor with each win notched. By the time the playoffs rolled around, there was no question that the vampire had the best team on paper in both leagues. As all fantasy players know though, what looks best on paper isn’t always a guarantee, and Berry’s teams suffered surprising upset losses — in the semis and finals, respectively — to close out both seasons (league and matchup results posted below).
While I didn’t speak to a single player who didn’t have a blast participating, that is not to say there weren’t some minor hiccups along the way. The league didn’t allow non-vampire teams to trade or use waivers all regular season. While this posed a fun challenge and put added significance on the draft, many players — myself included — felt giving the vampire top priority all season rather than sole use of waivers, could be a fairer option. Without the use of waivers, teams were often left with empty roster spots due to multiple injuries.
Mr. Berry himself took issue with one incident during the course of the regular season, where a player took advantage of a league rule that, while technically allowed, was not “in the spirit of the league.” The incident (since labeled “Gurley-Gate”) occurred when Berry’s opponent decided to bench some of his top players, including Gurley, who were playing on Monday night after being down by a considerable amount of points at the end of the day Sunday. Roster spots were not locked, so he benched what players he could and left those slots empty on Monday, conceding what appeared to be an inevitable loss. The thought process here is pretty obvious — if there’s practically no way you can win anyway, no sense in keeping a top player on your roster that the vampire could elect to steal. Berry’s take, though, was that the honorable thing to do is keep the starting lineup you initially put out there, and to not do so was a “weasel” move. I’m sure you all have your own opinions on the debate. I know I do, but I’m not telling.
Regardless, any new format is bound to run into some glitches initially, and can be gradually perfected each year. Making some changes here and there to try and avoid these issues coming up again would surely only improve the experience of this already stellar league format in the future. Indeed, it seems the format is catching on, as more and more vampire leagues are seen popping up. In fact, some members of my league have already discussed starting our own vampire league next season. One question we haven’t settled yet — how do we choose the vampire? For thoughts on this, or any other vampire questions you may have, feel free to find me anytime as @Luke37 on the Fantasy Life App. Thanks for reading.
The Fantasy Life app is the best sports community app to talk fantasy football, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, WWE, MMA, Nascar, golf, eSports, or anything else you would hear about at a sports bar. Find or post funny memes, polls, GIFs, or join chats about your teams. Matthew Berry (ESPN, The Talented Mr. Roto), the face of fantasy football co-founded the app as a place for fans to chat about sports, get fantasy advice, or find sleepers for your team. Find Matthew on the app @matthewberry
Download the iPhone or Android app at fantasylifeapp.com. Also available in theApp Store and Google Play.
