What Is a Survivor League?
A survivor league is a season-long Premier League game you play with a group. Every game week, you pick one team to win. Pick wrong and you take a strike. Run out of strikes and you’re out. You may also know it as last man standing.
Start a league Join with a code
How it works
- Pick one team each game week to win its match.
- Win or draw and you’re safe. Lose and you take a strike.
- Run out of strikes and you’re out for the rest of the season.
- You can only use each team so many times, so you can’t just back the league leaders every week.
Picks lock 90 minutes before the first kick-off of the game week. Everyone’s picks are revealed at that moment, so nobody can copy.
Why it gets harder
Picking one winner is easy. Picking one every week for a whole season is not.
The team limit is what makes it a game. If each team can only be picked twice, the best sides run out fast. Use them early and you could be choosing between teams near the bottom of the table by spring. Save them too long and you can take strikes you didn’t need to. Every pick changes what you have left for later.
That’s why knowing football only gets you so far. I’ve watched people who had never seen a match before outlast lifelong fans.
Two ways to win
Last one standing takes the survivor title. Most points at the end of the season takes the points title.
Wins and draws earn points all season. If you get knocked out, your total stops growing but stays on the table, so you can still take the points title if nobody passes you. Prefer a single winner? Turn points off and it’s last one standing only.
Survivor or last man standing?
Last man standing is the same idea under a different name. It’s what you’ll usually hear in the UK, while “survivor” comes from American football. Traditional versions are usually stricter: one wrong pick and you’re out, and each team can only be used once.
Why choose Premier Survivor Picks?
You make the rules
No two groups want to play it quite the same way, so whoever starts the league chooses:
- Strikes: 1 to 5 before a player is out, or none for a season-long points race.
- Team limit: each team once, twice, up to five times, or as often as you like.
- Points: what a win and a draw are worth.
- Bonuses: away wins, winning picks nobody else in your league made, your own value on every club, and double game weeks.
- Season length: the rest of the season, or a shorter run of game weeks.
The league this all started with plays three strikes, each team twice, three points for a win and one for a draw. See how it works for a look at each screen.
Simpler than fantasy
Fantasy Premier League has you build a squad of players and manage it all season: transfers, captains, injuries. Here it’s one pick a week, so anyone in your group can play, whether they follow every match or not. It’s simpler, but there’s more riding on it. A bad week in fantasy costs you a few points. A bad week here can end your season.
| Fantasy | Premier Survivor Picks | |
|---|---|---|
| You choose from | Hundreds of players | 20 teams |
| Each week | A line-up, a captain, transfers | One pick |
| A bad week | Costs you points | Costs you a strike |
| Knocked out? | No | Yes, when your strikes run out |
| The rules | Set for you | Set by your league |
| How you win | Most points | Last one standing or most points |
How to start one
- Start a league. It takes about a minute.
- Set your rules. You can change them until the first deadline, then they lock so it stays fair for everyone.
- Invite your group with a link or a code. There’s no app to download, and it works in any browser.
- Everyone picks before the deadline, and the table moves as the results come in.
A league started mid-season begins at the next game week. Players can join until its first deadline.
Questions
Is it betting?
No. You play for bragging rights. We never take, hold or pay out stakes, pots or prizes.
Is it free?
Players never pay. During our beta, every league is free for the season. After that, whoever starts a league pays a one-time fee.
What if I miss a pick?
Usually it counts as a strike. Your league can choose instead to give you a random team, give you the lowest-ranked team you can still use, or let the commissioner pick for you.
What if a match is postponed?
It doesn’t count against you, and you get that team back.