Our Fantasy Gaming league is heating up, folks. As we enter the fall season, the only thing hotter than the upcoming slate of games is the beating heart of competition. Six teams are vying for the Fantasy crown, and though only one will win, this season will go down as one of this league’s very best.
Before we jump in, catch yourself up on the race up until this point:
- In January, we conducted our 2026 Fantasy Gaming Draft. Each team drafted seven games, five of which would go to bat for the team owner (with the other two filling out the bench).
- In April, we dropped our Q1 2026 Fantasy Update. Games had started releasing (and receiving Metacritic scores), and our standings became a tense battleground ahead of “not-E3” season.
- In July, we took a beat to survey the landscape and conduct our 2026 Waiver Wire #1. Here, we each dropped a low performer and drafted a fresh game to propel us into the back half of the year.
That brings us to October. A lot has happened since our last update: In mid-September, we held an offline Waiver Wire #2 via Discord, giving each team a final chance to compete in 2026 (or reload for 2027). Since then, many big releases have hit shelves, meaning the Fantasy landscape is beginning to crystallize around a few frontrunners.
Curious how things are shaking? Let’s recap the action so you can follow along for yourself.
2026 Waiver Wire #2 Recap
The following is a word-for-word replay of the action from The Punished Backlog’s Discord server. (I’ve edited ever so slightly for brevity and clarity.)
Note: This waiver wire was held on September 15. Any games that have released since then were fair game at the time. For a more up-to-date look at our standings, scroll down to the next section.
David Silbert: It’s time, y’all! As a reminder, these are the current standings (worst to first):
Click to see team standings
And here’s our draft order (inverse of current standings):
- Zack
- Gary
- Sam
- Amanda
- David
- Kei
Same rules as Waiver #1: You can opt to drop one game and pick up another. You can drop a scored game; however, if you already have five scored games, you can’t drop a bench game, add a game, then slot it into the active roster. If you see nothing good, you can pass. However, your pick will not defer to 2027, heads up. The game must be formally announced with a teaser trailer to pick up! Very interested to see who tries to go against Kei in 2026 and who will punt to 2027.
Any questions?
Zack Gulinello: Hey Gary, what’re you gonna pick?
Gary Wilson: Barbie Dreamhouse Party, Nintendo DS. [Laughs]
Zack: I don’t know what it is about this, but I cannot get the rules straight. Can I drop The Adventures of Elliot [78 on Metacritic], put in Grand Theft Auto VI, and draft something to the bench?
Gary: Yes.
Zack: Cool, I’ll do that. I’ll take Metroid.
Office-style cutaway to Zack: The truth is, I’m way behind on my gaming news, and when I found out I had the first pick, I may have panicked a little bit. I hate to play the dad card, but with two toddlers running around my house, the reality is I’m not as plugged in as I used to be. I had to do a quick Google search when I learned I was on the clock, and I stumbled upon news from the latest Nintendo Direct that a sequel to Metroid Dread was coming out, called Metroid Ravenous.
As someone who plays exclusively on Switch 2, this was doubly exciting because I loved Dread and always prefer to have games on my fantasy team I might actually experience first-hand. I didn’t do too much research once I saw Ravenous was on the horizon, but I think it has high potential given Dread had an 88 Metacritic score. And with a January 2027 release date, I can get a read on how my year might go very quickly.
I don’t think I’m fully out of the 2026 race after a good score from Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave and with Grand Theft Auto VI coming up soon, so hopefully I can claw my way to the top this year while also planting the seeds for next year!
Cut back to David: Gary, you’re on the clock!
Gary: Now that Zack has made a big deal out of nothing, it’s time for the real waivers to begin. With my opening 2027 lineup set between Final Fantasy VII Revelation and RGG Studio’s Stranger Than Heaven, I can afford to take some big swings on 2026 and see if I can challenge for a title now.
With that said, I’ll be dropping Replaced [76 on Metacritic] from my active lineup. I’m genuinely sad to see it go, as I really did love my time with Replaced. Alas, the general reviewing public did not agree. In its stead, I’ll be adding Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse, developed by Evil Empire and published by Konami. Early previews have been very strong, and I’m genuinely excited.
David: Sam, you’re up!
Sam Martinelli: Let’s rock. So, Marvel’s Wolverine, which was my top overall pick this year, has clearly been a massive disappointment. A Sony-published single-player game getting a 75 on Metacritic isn’t exactly a super common occurrence, so of course I’m a little blindsided by this. It should go without saying, but I will be dropping Wolverine.
In its place, I will draft upcoming Switch 2 exclusive Kirby and the World Beyond, which is set to release in spring of 2027. Kirby and the Forgotten Land, the most recent 3D Kirby title, was an absolute banger, and I have all the confidence in the world that this one will be a banger as well. In an attempt to play for the future and present at the same time, though, I’m moving Kirby to my bench and putting The Duskbloods in my starting lineup. Hopefully that one ACTUALLY comes out this year, as it’s now my only hope.
YOUR MOVE, Amanda!
Amanda Tien: Dropping Wolverine is brutal. Sorry, bud.
Since the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake did in fact get a 2026 release date, I’m going to leave it on my active roster. Let’s see if the legend truly lives up to its name. Surprising no one, I will be dropping the absolute clunker that was Norse: Oath of Blood [68 on Metacritic] from my bench.
In its place, I’m going to draft with next year in mind. I’ll go with a “heart pick” (as Gary likes to call it) and, again, surprising no one, take Exodus, a Mass Effect spiritual successor from former BioWare devs that is slated for release in April 2027. Fingers crossed on all of the above.
Gary: Always follow your heart!
Amanda: You’re up, David!
David: As we head into the fall, I’m in a bit of a tough spot. Kei has the decisive lead, with an average (87.8) that’s nearly 2 points higher than my current lineup’s (85.6). Even if I drop my lowest-scoring game (Orbitals, 82), I’ll need to swing for the fences to bridge the gap.
I could just punt on 2026 and double down on 2027 releases. There are a few tantalizing picks (which I’ll keep close to the vest) that could have made sense for me in this moment. Instead, I’ll be stubborn and go down swinging. Kei’s my eternal sparring partner, and I’m not letting him phone this last pick in.
I’m dropping Orbitals and picking up Rayman Legends Retold, a ground-up reimagining of a Ubisoft classic that scored a 92 back in the day. The overhauled game features revamped 3D visuals, new levels and musical interludes, voice acting, and more.
The idea of a “Ubisoft classic” feels like an oxymoron in this day and age, but you know what? I’m feeling lucky. Let’s roll the dice.
Take us home, Kei.
Kei Isobe: I swung for the fences on the first waiver wire, and missed big — No Rest For the Wicked isn’t going to come out in 2026. That’s a bummer, as I was really hoping I’d get to drop that 84 from The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon from my active roster. Now I’m forced to keep it as I scramble to replace No Rest for the Wicked.
My closest competition is David, and we both have four games scored. If David’s last game outscores mine by 6 or more points, he clinches it. Other rosters are more in flux due to having fewer games scored, but of course anything is possible.
I contemplated numerous games here. Valheim’s positive 1.0 reception made me strongly consider its fellows in the survival crafting genre, Runescape: Dragonwilds and Enshrouded. Witchfire and Valor Mortis are intriguing first-person Souls-likes; Silent Hill: Townfall could capitalize on the positive series momentum established by Silent Hill: f; and Order of the Sinking Star has Jonathan Blow’s pedigree (and controversy) behind it. Ultimately, I’m going with Gears of War: E-Day, a safe pick that I need after a total whiff on the last waiver wire. If Rayman Legends outscores Gears by 6 points, it clinches it for David, and sometimes that’s just how the cookie crumbles.
Gary: Hey, I’m only 0.1 back from David now!
Kei: True, I think your roster is in really good shape, just harder to project. David and I both have four games locked in, so between the two of us at least, it just comes down to whether Rayman can outscore Gears by enough points.
David: I’ll take those odds, haha.
And that’s a wrap on Waiver Wire #2! Here’s how the standings looked post-waiver:
Click to see team standings
A three-way tie for fourth! A smattering of (at the time) imminent September releases, with October heavy-hitters not too far behind. The energy post-waiver was palpable.
Of course, those standings don’t tell the full story. For that, we’ll have to fast-forward four weeks to mid-October — where we are today.
Mid-October Update
A lot has happened in those four weeks since the waiver. Let’s walk through the action, one new headline at a time:
- Sep 17, 2026: Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave released to rave reviews and an 89 Metacritic score, cementing it as one of the very best Nintendo Switch 2 games. The release cements Team Zack as a juggernaut in this competition, especially with Phantom Blade Zero still to come and his ace in the hole, GTA VI, just around the corner too.
- Sep 17, 2026: Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter follows in the footsteps of its 2025 predecessor and releases to universal acclaim (a 90 on Metacritic). It gives Team Gary his biggest win of the year so far, which he’ll need to scale the leaderboard.
- Sep 24, 2026: Control Resonant continued to expand the Remedy Connected Universe, even if critics were a bit mixed on the execution. Remedy’s latest sits with an 83 on Metacritic, and our own Control Resonant review wasn’t far off that mark. Team Gary gets a decent if disappointing piece, undoing some of the inroads 2nd Chapter made for him. Thankfully, he’s got one more push coming.
- Oct 6, 2026: Gears of War: E-Day makes waves with a surprising showing: an 88 on Metacritic. The score only reinforces what we’ve known for several weeks now: This year’s crown is Kei’s to lose.
- Oct 15, 2026: Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse continues the string of terrific releases. Out today, it currently sits with an 86 on Metacritic. Although a terrific score in a truly terrific slate for Team Gary, it’s not quite enough to get him to the top of the mountain.
What does all this mean for our team of competitors? Take a look for yourself.
Click to see team standings
Looking Ahead
Will Team Kei manage his second victory in Fantasy Gaming history? (Fun fact: He won our very first league back in 2018.) Or will others manage to make up crucial ground in the weeks ahead?
Here’s how the math shakes out, assuming existing game scores don’t change:
- Teams Sam and Amanda both have one game left to score, but the numbers don’t look good. Even if The Duskbloods (for Sam) and Ocarina of Time (for Amanda) were to score 100, the max average either team could get is 87.2, which is shy of Kei’s 87.8.
- Team Gary, similarly, is out of the running. With Belmont’s Curse rounding out his five games, he’s sitting at an average of 86.0; small fluctuations won’t be able to close the distance.
- Team David currently sits in second place, but his path to gold is steep. Rayman Legends Retold would need to score a 93 for him to tie and even higher for him to outright win. Not impossible, but unlikely and certainly not guaranteed.
- Team Zack has the most flexibility in overtaking Kei. With two games still to release — Phantom Blade Zero and Grand Theft Auto VI — the math works in multiple ways. The two games would need to combine for 185 for him to tie (or higher for him to win). In practical terms, that could mean 87 for Phantom Blade and 98 for GTA; it could also mean 91 and 94. If one game is excellent and the other generational, that could be enough; if both games are earth-shattering, it’s a wrap.
Who will take the 2026 Fantasy Gaming crown?! Let us know in the comments, and as always, thanks for reading!
David is the founder of The Punished Backlog. He has a problem finishing games he starts.
Just beat: Splatoon Raiders.
Working on: GTA V.
Can't wait for: Ocarina of Time (2026), GTA VI.
Follow David on Twitter at @David_Silbert to keep up to date with all things The Punished Backlog.
Zack has been hooked on games ever since his older brother taught him where to find the secret warp whistles in Mario Bros. 3. He has never felt more joy than when Yoshi congratulated him on getting 120 stars in Mario 64 or more sadness than when he played Kingdom Hearts 3 after waiting 14 years for it. Zack mails a letter to Nintendo every day asking them to bring back Chibi Robo and will gladly tell you all about why it’s one of the greatest games of all time. He was hoping that writing for the site would help him get through his backlog, but it actually just made it worse now that he’s hearing about so many more great hidden gems. Oops…
Gary is a jack-of-all-trades video game enthusiast based in Boston, MA. A semi-professional fighting game player, even less professional Apex Legends player, and even less professional adult, he spends most of his time poking at strange indie gems and reading about the need for more diverse voices in gaming criticism. He invites anyone to recommend anything he's missed in the gaming world via Twitter or BlueSky, where he can found under the username @grtnpwrfl. When he isn't spending his time playing games, Gary is an avid New England Patriots fan and frequent hiker.
Sam has been playing video games since his earliest years and has been writing about them since 2016. He joined The Punished Backlog in 2017 and became an Editor in Fall 2021. He’s a big fan of Nintendo games and complaining about The Last of Us Part II. You either agree wholeheartedly with his opinions or despise them. There is no in between.
A lifelong New Yorker, Sam views gaming as far more than a silly little pastime, and hopes through critical analysis and in-depth reviews to better understand the medium's artistic merit.
Bluesky: @sam-martinelli.bsky.social
Amanda Tien (she/her or they) loves video games where she can pet dogs, solve mysteries, punch bad guys, play as a cool female character, and/or have a good cry. She began writing with The Punished Backlog in 2020 and became an Editor in Fall 2021. Amanda also does a lot of the site's graphic designs and podcast editing. Amanda's work has been published in Mothership, Unwinnable Monthly, Poets.org, Salt Hill Journal, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA in Fiction from the University of Pittsburgh and a BA in Creative Writing from Columbia University. Learn more about her writing, visual art, teaching, graphic design, and marketing consulting at www.amandatien.com.
Huge video game, comic book, and anime fan. Spends way too much time watching things he doesn’t like. Hates Zack Snyder. Mains Falco.
