Waiver Wire Rankings – Quarterfinals

If you’re reading this, you’re probably in the playoffs. To that, I say, “CONGRATULATIONS!” Getting to the playoffs is no easy task. That means waiver wire players need to get you Oscar nominations on Tuesday, January 24. This is where fantasy points offer little help, so you’ll have to go to outside resources. GoldDerby, NextBestPicture, and Ben Zauzmer’s Model are three good places to start. Also, by now, most of the “above-the-line” likely nominees are already owned, if not all. If you’re going after an above-the-line waiver wire, luck plays a major part. There’s a bigger pool of “below-the-line” players that can get you nominations. Although those players can get you only 4 points per Oscar Nominations as opposed to 6 points for an above-the-line player, they are generally safer points if you can find them, and last I checked, 4 is greater than 0.

So my first piece of advice: Don’t overlook the technical categories, some of which are shortlisted. It’s purely a numbers game. There are 10 actors that will get an Oscar nomination, 5 lead and 5 supporting. There are, however, 15 players who are either production designers, costume designers, or makeup teams who will get an Oscar nomination, so you have a little bit more players to choose from.

Another piece of advice: If you want to go after above-the-line categories that get you 6 points, you can play it safe. Maybe you have two actresses whom you think one will get in but definitely not both. You can start them both, one in your ACTRS slot and the other in a FLEX spot, knowing that you get six points for an average of 3 points per actresses. That’s better than starting the wrong one and taking a risk with another category.

Okay, let’s get into some notable potential waiver wire adds. Again, Oscar predictions, NOT FANTASY POINTS, need to be your source for waiver wire ideas.

• Edward Berger, DIR-SCRN, All Quiet on the Western Front – All Quiet on the Western Front got 14 BAFTA nominations. Sure, it won’t get that many on Tuesday, but it has seen recent success at awards ceremonies with an exclamation point at the BAFTA’s. In recent years, there has been a Director nomination reserved for a director of a foreign-language film, and Edward Berger seems to be the most likely candidate for that spot, if there is such a spot. He could also be a double nominee since he is a co-writer of the script, especially because the Adapted Screenplay nomination is wide open. As a bonus waiver wire suggestion, the other co-writers are Lesley Paterson and Ian Stokell, if you’re thinking the screenplay is due a nomination.
• Thirteen Lives, VFX – Also in recent years, the Visual Effects Society nominations for Best Supporting VFX has had considerable success getting an Oscar nomination. This year, only one Oscar shortlisted film was nominated in that category: Thirteen Lives. Couple that with their impressive bake-off, and I’m fairly confident that this sneaks into Oscar Nominations Tuesday. If you haven’t seen it, trust me in saying that it looks like this film has zero special effects, which only works in its favor.
• Eddie Redmayne, ACTR, The Good Nurse – Eddie Redmayne already has an Oscar statuette and is well-respected in the acting community. He also has a Golden Globe nomination, SAG nomination, and now a BAFTA nomination. That’s too many to ignore.
• Mandy Walker, CIN, Elvis – She is only one of two cinematographers who got a nomination at both the American Society of Cinematographers and the British Society of Cinematographers. The other is likely owned Greig Fraser.
• Unowned SONG players – If a contending songwriter is unowned, you need to jump on it. Plenty of players here, don’t overlook them.
• Anyone shortlisted that you have a gut feeling about. Trust your gut.