SALT LAKE CITY — With a week in the books and fervor surrounding draft time finally subsiding, it's time for the next major personnel flow element in the game: the waiver wire.

Following the draft, waivers are your primary remaining method for filling holes on your roster and upgrading talent. Some guys you drafted will inevitably bust for some reason, be it injury, a lesser role than expected or just plain lack of value. Waivers are your way to make up for these gaps.

As discussed before the season in The Mantra, fantasy is a game of incomplete information based on maximizing the small advantages at your disposal. The waiver wire is a microcosm here — many elements may seem straightforward, but a few little tweaks and nods to context will go a long way to heightening your edge on the competition.

With that in mind, let's look at a few general tips for smart waiver management.

1. Know your league's waiver format

It's the simplest guideline here, but also far and away the most important.

Nearly all fantasy leagues operate under one of three waiver formats: Rolling order (when you make a successful claim, you drop to the bottom of the list), inverse standings order (waivers reset each week in reverse order of league standings) and waiver budget (each owner has a season-long total they can't cumulatively exceed on the wires, and players are bid on each week). The first and third options here go the furthest toward fair competition, while door No. 2 gives lesser teams a bit of a handicap. Some leagues also put a yearlong cap on the total number of waiver pickups one owner can make.

It's absolutely vital to know which format your league uses. In an inverse standings order format, for instance, if you're one of the league's top teams from the start, you know you can exhaust your claim each week without much risk — you'll be back at the bottom of the list next week anyway. But in a rolling order league this isn't the case, as holding back on a long-shot pickup might have benefit in a week or two when you're higher on the list and therefore able to nab a more important guy. Don't be the owner who doesn't pay attention and gets this wrong.

2. Know your needs

Also simple, and also vital. Don't go wasting your waiver slot on a position you've got depth at if similar options are available in a place of need, especially if you play in a rolling format. Identify your needs early, and don't be afraid to put in a claim on multiple guys even if you only need one of them — simply use the same player as your drop option in these cases, and the software will automatically grant you the guy who was highest on your waiver priority list (something you can edit once you've made your claims).

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3. Plan ahead, especially around bye weeks

Waivers may operate a week at a time, but weeks are by no means completely separate. Particularly in a rolling waiver format, there are times where exhausting your spot on the wire might hurt down the line, and you have to be cognizant of these sorts of situations.

Waivers are also gigantic for bye weeks, especially in deeper leagues where fill-ins are fewer and further between. It's especially important to plan ahead if you have multiple starters on a bye in the same week, or a position like quarterback or tight end where one-week options are common during byes. I own Tom Brady in one league, for instance, and actually went so far as to pick his one-week backup for his extremely early bye (Week 4) in a draft that was hoarding QBs. It wasn't exactly a waiver move, but the theme holds true — get your guys early, especially if you foresee any interest whatsoever from other owners.

This idea is amplified as the playoffs approach. If you've clinched a spot already, you should be primarily focused on making sure your roster is optimized once the postseason begins. You can stock up a couple defenses with great matchups during playoff weeks, for instance, or snag a valuable position player set to return from injury.

4. Be selective

This applies to varying degrees based on your format; you can be much more aggressive if your waiver order resets weekly. But even in these cases, don't go too out of control — it's easy to overthink things and pick up an ultimately useless guy, or even worse to drop a guy who becomes valuable down the line. If you drafted a guy intending to stash him for a few weeks, don't give up on him early unless you absolutely must.

5. Waivers aren't just a tool, they're a weapon

They're rare, but the waiver wire can also offer occasional opportunities to not only help your own team, but damage someone else's. It's not wrong at all, especially late in the season with playoffs approaching, to keep an eye on your nearest rivals and even attempt some sabotage if the opportunity arises.

Maybe someone's top running back got hurt last week, and their backup is available on waivers. Got a guy you can afford to drop, no other pressing needs and a higher spot than your rival on the wire? Snap him up.

6. If you're eliminated, get off the wires

This is ethics, plain and simple. Some may feel differently, but those people have obviously never lost a high-stakes league after a guy eliminated since Week 7 used a playoff waiver selection on a top handcuff. When you're out of it, have some class and let those in the running use the wires.

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