How to Host a Manual Draft
Introduction
Fantasy Tribes now supports live drafting directly on the app and website! However, if your league prefers to draft manually—via video chat, in person, or using a shared Google Sheet—this guide will walk you through the process.
If your league would rather skip the host-run draft entirely, commissioners can also enable Self Draft mode. When enabled, every coach picks their own tribe at their own pace via a "Pick Your Tribe" button—no live lobby and no manual entry needed. See the Creating and Managing Leagues page for how to enable it in Challenge Settings.
Once your manual draft is complete, the Commissioner will need to enter the results on the Manual Draft page. On the website, go to your Challenge Hub via the Leagues page and click the Manual Draft button. On the app, open your challenge and tap Challenge Settings from the Challenge tab, then open the Manual Draft card.
We've built a screen-share companion that does everything our old draft sheet did and more: it tracks copies remaining, calls out who's picking next, surfaces MVP lock status (without spoiling the names), and lays out each tribe as it fills. Open it on your laptop, share your screen on Zoom, and run the draft from there. Heads up: this page doesn't save anything back to the site — it's purely a visual helper to make the draft easier to follow. Once you're done, the Commissioner still enters the final picks on the Manual Draft page to make them official.
Open Live Manual Draft Helper →
Step 1: Picking MVPs
Before the draft begins, each coach in the league must select their MVPs from the pool of castaways. By default each coach picks two MVPs, but commissioners can configure this from 0 to 4 in Challenge Settings → Team Configuration. Remember:
- MVPs yield double the points for their respective coaches.
- Coaches cannot draft their own MVPs—once chosen, an MVP is locked to that coach.
- MVP picks stay anonymous during the draft unless the coach chooses to reveal them.
- Multiple coaches within the same league can make the same MVP picks. There is no limit to that.
Step 2: Setting the Draft Order
After all MVPs are selected, the league manager needs to randomize or manually set the draft order and announce it to all league members.
Note: The draft follows a snake (serpentine) format. If you pick first in Round 1, you pick last in Round 2, then first in Round 3, and so on.
Step 3: Determining the Number of Castaway Copies Needed
Since each coach drafts a number of castaways equal to the challenge's Draft Pick Count (default 4, configurable 0–8 in Challenge Settings → Team Configuration), the number of copies of each castaway depends on the Draft Pick Count, the number of coaches in your league, and the number of castaways in the season. Survivor has featured casts of 16, 18, 20, and 24 castaways.
You can never have more coaches than castaways in a season. If your league has more coaches than castaways, the league will be unable to live or manually draft for that season. See the note below for an alternative!
Use the table below to find the number of copies needed. The general formula is: copies = ⌈(Draft Pick Count × coaches) ÷ castaways⌉ (round up to the nearest whole number).
| Coaches | 16 Castaways | 18 Castaways | 20 Castaways | 24 Castaways |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 5–6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 7–8 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 9–10 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 11–12 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 13–14 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 15–16 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| 17–18 | — | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| 19–20 | — | — | 4 | 4 |
| 21–24 | — | — | — | 4 |
— = Not allowed (more coaches than castaways).
Note: The table above assumes the default Draft Pick Count of 4. If your commissioner has configured a different count, use the formula above to recompute.
Step 4: Starting the Draft
Once the draft order is set, begin the draft: the league manager calls each coach in order to make their selection. Each coach has 1–2 minutes per pick (time limit set by the manager). Ensure all coaches can track how many copies of each castaway remain, either via a shared display or individual tracking.
Live Draft: Auto-Pick When the Timer Expires
If you're running a live draft on the website or app and a coach's pick timer expires, the system auto-picks for them using their pre-configured Auto Pick list (a ranked priority list each coach can set ahead of time). If every player on that coach's list has already been drafted, the system falls back to a random castaway still in the game. Coaches set their auto-pick priorities from the Live Draft Dashboard:
- Website: Challenge Hub → Live Draft → Set Auto Picks.
- App: Challenge tab → Draft Dashboard → Set Auto Picks.
Too Many Coaches for the Cast?
If your league has more coaches than castaways in a given season, you won't be able to run a live or manual draft—but don't worry! Coaches may always just pick the configured number of castaways they want on their tribe (default: 6 = 2 MVPs + 4 picks; this total scales with whatever MVP Count and Draft Pick Count the commissioner has set). Their Commissioner will have to enter these picks on the Manual Draft page (see the Introduction above for how to get there).
Conclusion
Hosting a draft is a key part of the Fantasy Tribes experience. With this guide, you're equipped to manage your league's draft efficiently and effectively. Good luck, and may the best coach win!
P.S. Remind coaches to make their Edgic picks the week of the merge (after buffs) and their Finale picks the week of the finale.