I was introduced to best ball dynasty leagues in 2018 by @socrdave in a new startup league on myfantasyleague.com, and have since eliminated nearly all other forms of dynasty leagues from my portfolio. Let’s get into a few of the main reasons why I have made the switch, as I expect many of these thoughts will apply to a broad spectrum of dynasty players.
Waivers
Do you actually enjoy the waiver grind? Painstakingly going from league to league, player to player, making bids that may or may not get you the players you want. Talk about a waste of time and energy.
Do you hate that your league mates who scour news 24/7 can pick up a player at 2:31 pm on Thursday after a key injury happens at practice at 2:29 pm and the fastest finger gets a big advantage for the week, if not for the season?
Best ball dynasty leagues give you your Tuesday nights back from the waiver grind and provide no advantages to the fastest finger in the season either, as there simply are no waiver periods at all during the entire season in nearly every best ball dynasty league I have come across.
Trades
Getting spammed with horrific trade offers all season long? Hard pass! I’m certainly in the top 10% of active traders in the leagues that I run/participate in and thoroughly enjoy trading as much as I can. The typical best ball league, though, simply eliminates trading during the season and instead forces you to be more active in the offseason to shape your team into whatever outcome you desire.
In the best ball leagues I run, I typically allow a small two to three week trade window during the middle of the regular season, which deviates from the typical settings. I do this to allow the important buyer/seller window to exist amidst the fantasy regular season and give you a shot to either buy a few key pieces for a playoff push or to sell off assets if a player deems it impossible to compete for a title. It also helps to keep everyone active in the league in season by talking to everyone and checking in on the standings every now and then.
I know some of you reading this will think no trades in season is a bad thing, and I can completely understand, but once you embrace the offseason as the premier way to build your team, you will be refreshed at not seeing all those horrible offers fill your inbox and wasting time banging your head against the wall at players who think Carlos Hyde is still a premium dynasty asset.
Starting lineup/everyone counts
One extreme frustration I have with typical dynasty leagues is the setting of lineups. Not only does it take time every week for every league that you play in, but you are just never going to be able to consistently gain the benefit from upper echelon performances from players that you might not play over your “starting” players. In best ball leagues, since your score is automatically tallied from your best possible starting lineup each week, you gain access to every single player on your roster. This makes not only superstar players important but also makes having viable depth with upside extremely important as well.
Odds are if you had Chris Conley on your team last season, you did not capture any of his three 20+ PPR fantasy performances. But in best ball, those “spike” performances from the deep bench players make the entire roster valuable and can lead to a much deeper strategy on the overall team-building process.
How to find best ball dynasty leagues
I’ll start this by offering you a chance to play in a league that I will run along with a few other dynasty contributors here at PFN!
Here is a description of a league I just started and am looking to fill those if you’re looking to take part in what I view as the best form of dynasty out there. If you want to join up in a 12-man best ball dynasty league, just shoot me a DM on twitter @brit_devine and I will add you to the group chat — the league will take place on myfantasyleague.com. My leagues do have a few twists to them to make it even more fun than your typical best ball leagues, so be ready to have fun and be active!
A few other places you can find dynasty best ball leagues with great owners and leagues that never fold are:
https://myffpc.com/cms/public/play/dynasty-leagues/ and https://safeleaguesffl.com/types/dynastybestball.php
I believe only myfantasyleague.com has the best ball format, but if you are looking for other sites to play dynasty on, give this a look.
Growth of best ball dynasty leagues
I spoke to the legendary @scottfish24 on the growth of best ball over at SafeLeagues and was blown away by how fast it is growing. According to Scott, in 2018, under 5% of all dynasty leagues at SafeLeagues were best ball format. In 2019, it was under 10%. So far this year, over 25% of all new dynasty leagues at SafeLeagues have been best ball with the lower stakes leagues showing the highest growth spurt as casual players flock to the format to avoid the grind of waivers and setting lineups every week.
It’s important as a dynasty player to expand your thoughts as time progresses. Ten years ago, getting a point for a reception was considered groundbreaking. A few years ago, it was Superflex that became the new normal. Today, everyone is playing in TE premium leagues. Moving forward, best ball is going to be taking over, so make sure to consider joining one of them now or in the future as it truly is the best way to play.
Brit Devine is a fantasy contributor at the Pro Football Network. Follow him on Twitter @brit_devine as well as @PFN365 and @PFNDynasty for all the latest fantasy news.