Friends in fútbol,

Picks are open for our "All 20" One-and-Done, which starts Jan. 12th. Commish previews our second half pools below.

We also celebrate our EPL Survivor and EPL Pick'em champs. Both pools came down to the bitter end.

But really, the true champion of EPL Half 1 was chaos.

Commish thought the survivor gods did crazy shit in American football. Little did I know that was just an appetizer for their tricks in real football.

We had SEVERAL matchdays in our Pick'em where we averaged fewer than 3 correct picks out of 10.

After Matchday 6, our overall correct pick rate was 60%. By the end (Matchday 19), it had fallen to 51%. That means we picked WELL below .500 in Matchdays 7-19.

And in EPL Survivor, somehow, three brave souls made all 20 picks and had to settle things in a pickoff. Maybe we have three survivor gods in our presence...

HALF 2 PREVIEW

EPL "All 20" One-and-Done

Starts: Jan. 12

Format: Everybody will pick ALL 20 EPL clubs exactly once. You earn the points your pick earns in that match (3 for a win, 1 for a draw). Most points wins.

Picking cadence: One pick per matchday in matchdays 21-36. Then for the final two matchdays (37-38), you make two picks each.

Strategy questions: Do you pick sure(r) bets early in an attempt to build a lead, or do you steadily pick your spots with relegation zone clubs? Would you dare consider picking both sides of the same match in the final two matchdays?

Prizes: $1,000 up for grabs. Top 15 get paid.

UCL Bracket

Starts: Feb. 14

Format: Pick the 8 clubs to advance from the Round of 16. Then once the final 8 bracket is revealed, we'll pick a classic bracket through the Final. Most points is the champ.

Points per round: 3, 5, 8, 13 (per correct pick)

Last year's results: @webb19bme posted an impressive 70 points en route to a title. 

Prizes: $2,000 up for grabs. Top 25 get paid.

UCL Final Props

Starts: Jun. 1

Format: Answer 20-25 props (multiple choice questions) about what'll go down in club fútbol's biggest match. Most correct is the champ.

Last year's results: In one of the most absurd performances in SZN history, @Alkranz won by THREE. They got 17/20 correct while the rest of us could do no better than 14.

Prizes: $1,000 up for grabs. Top 15 get paid.

HALF 1 RECAP

EPL Survivor

We had 3 survivors go 18-0. Heading into Matchday 19 (two picks), they ALL had the same two clubs left: Luton and Sheffield. So we were guaranteed a championship tie.

@All_Day won the resultant pickoff by 2, and thus sits on our EPL Survivor throne. Hats off to @Mully and @FranMully (not related!) for their legendary runs.

EPL Pick'em (Half 1)

To give you an idea how hard this got, our Interval 1 champ had 66 correct picks. In Interval 2, it was... 48.

The EPL went off the rails. It remains to be seen whether it gets back on in Half 2.

Ultimately, @jriles0798 and @schm0869 stood alone with 107 correct picks in the overall race. They'll do a tiebreaker pickoff for the title in Matchday 21.

Yours in show dives,
The Commish