import { Link } from "react-router"; export function meta() { return [ { title: "How To Play - Brackt" }, { name: "description", content: "Learn how to play Brackt and compete in multi-sport fantasy leagues", }, ]; } export default function HowToPlay() { return (

How To Play

Brackt is a multi-sport fantasy league where you draft athletes and teams across dozens of sports, then watch your roster compete all year long. Here's everything you need to know to get started.

{/* The Big Picture */}

The Big Picture

Before the season starts, every participant in your league holds a draft — picking real athletes and teams across a set of sports chosen by your commissioner. Over the following months, those picks compete in their actual seasons. When it's all said and done, whoever earned the most points from their picks wins.

{/* Building Your Roster */}

Building Your Roster

Your league includes a set of sports selected by the commissioner — think NFL, NBA, golf, Formula 1, tennis, and more. Your roster has one dedicated spot for each sport, so you need to draft at least one pick from every sport in the league.

Extra draft rounds beyond the number of sports create{" "} flex spots. Flex picks can come from any sport — great for grabbing a second player in a sport where you see value, or doubling down on a safe bet.

Example:{" "} Your league has 20 sports and 24 draft rounds. That means you fill 20 dedicated sport spots and have 4 flex picks to use however you like.

{/* How Points Work */}

How Points Work

Points are awarded based on where your picks finish — 1st through 8th. The better they finish, the more you earn. Your commissioner can adjust point values before the draft, but here's what a typical league looks like:

Finish Points
1st Place 100
2nd Place 70
3rd Place 50
4th Place 40
5th–6th Place 25
7th–8th Place 15

If nobody in your league drafted a team that finishes in the top 8, those points aren't awarded to anyone. Drafting rare picks can pay off.

{/* Major-Based Sports */}

Golf, Tennis, CS2 — Sports with Majors

Some sports don't have a single championship — they have multiple major tournaments spread throughout the year. For these sports, players earn{" "} qualifying points (QP) {" "} at each major:

Major Finish Qualifying Points
1st 20 QP
2nd 14 QP
3rd 10 QP
4th 8 QP
5th–6th 5 QP
7th–8th 3 QP
9th–12th 2 QP
13th–16th 1 QP

QP don't go straight to your score — they determine the final ranking within that sport. Once all the majors are done, total QP are added up, and whoever's ranked 1st through 8th earns the standard league points. Consistency across majors is the key.

{/* The Draft */}

The Draft

The draft is a snake draft — pick order reverses every round. If you pick last in round 1, you pick first in round 2. No trading picks, and once you make a selection it's yours for the whole season.

{/* Chess Clock */}

The Chess Clock — A Brackt Original

Most fantasy drafts use a simple countdown: you get X seconds per pick and that's it. Brackt does it differently with a{" "} Fischer increment timer , borrowed from competitive chess.

Every participant starts the draft with a personal time bank. Your clock counts down while it's your turn. When you make a pick,{" "} time is added back {" "} to your bank. Any time you don't use carries over to your next pick.

Pick quickly early on and you'll build up a bigger bank for the later rounds when decisions get harder. Deliberate too long and your bank shrinks. It rewards decisiveness without penalizing you for taking a moment when you really need it.

Example:{" "} On Standard speed, you start with 2 minutes. You make your first pick in 30 seconds — 15 seconds are added back, leaving you with 1 minute 45 seconds for your next turn. Keep picking fast and that bank grows.
{/* Draft Queue & Autodraft */}

Draft Queue & Autodraft

Before and during the draft you can build a{" "} draft queue{" "} — an ordered list of picks you want to make. When it's your turn, you can pick manually or let your queue guide you.

If your time bank runs out,{" "} autodraft{" "} kicks in automatically. It'll grab the first available pick from your queue. If your queue is empty or everything in it has already been taken, it'll grab from the top of the available player pool. Keep your queue updated and you'll never get stuck with a random pick.

{/* During the Season */}

After the Draft

Once the draft ends, your roster is locked. No trades, no waivers, no pickups. Just watch your picks compete across the year and see how your draft decisions play out. Points accumulate as sports seasons wrap up, and standings update in real time.

If there's a tie in the final standings, it's broken by who has more 1st-place finishes. If that's still a tie, it goes to 2nd-place finishes, then 3rd, and so on.

{/* Tips */}

Quick Tips

  • Know your sports. {" "} Understanding how each sport determines its top 8 (playoffs vs. regular season vs. bracket) is the biggest edge you can have.
  • Build your queue early. {" "} The draft moves fast. Having a ranked queue ready means you'll always get a pick you're happy with, even if you step away.
  • Pick fast early on. {" "} The chess clock rewards quick decisions. Bank extra time for the tricky later rounds.
  • Flex spots are strategic. {" "} Use them to double up on sports you feel confident about, not just to fill the roster.
{/* Links */}

Want the full breakdown? Read the{" "} official rules .

Create a League
); }