OK, so most of you, by this point in the fantasy season, have figured out what you’ve got to work with and you’re either: (a) in cruise-control to the finals, (b) desperately cursing Beanie Wells’ and Ryan Matthews’ names from the league basement, or (c) fighting to separate yourself from the middle of the pack. In each of these scenarios, a different course of action is appropriate.

In the first case, remember that you hold the power and, as things stand, you’re in the driver’s seat. Take a realist approach to your trading politics and don’t give any struggling teams a hand up. Instead look for teams in desperation for a win with key players on a bye week. Try and turn immediate help for them into future gains for your powerhouse.  Don’t deal with the teams that are still contending unless you’re absolutely fleecing them. Instead, you can make small-scale value trades to shore up any of the few weaknesses on your roster by dealing with the bottom feeders who, by this point, are kicking themselves .

The second scenario can result from a few factors, including, but not limited to: injuries to key starters, a poor draft strategy, and/or general lack of knowledge regarding the game of futbol.

You’re probably screwed if you have two or fewer wins at this point, but to give yourself a fighting chance, start aggressively searching the waiver wires. Forget the Yahoo pro tips, everyone looks at those­—you either have to hunt down the experts and get their information before it’s disseminated on the web or you have to start tracking trending player development yourself. Get familiar with Excel.

More realistically, you need to take risks with your waiver wire pickups, since if the risks don’t pay off things can’t really get worse (you can’t do worse than last). Forget guys like Jacoby Jones, who’re good for only four points a game. Instead, go with a Davone Bess-type player, who might put up zero or might put up 10. If he gets hot, he’ll be good for your roster, or he can be dangled as trade bait for the suckers that can’t differentiate between a streaker and a real player.

Additionally, you can look to make an earth-shattering trade. Usually the eight-player swaps turn out badly for everyone involved, but every once in a while it can save your season.

Finally, for those of you who are treading water in the middle of the pack, you have got almost unlimited options. Unlike the losers discussed above, it’s usually unwise to swing for the fences with a single haymaker trade. (Yes, I just mixed two unrelated sports metaphors while discussing a third.) Instead, make some measured moves to gather assets for your bench. The most important thing you can do at this point is to realize who’s in a slump and who’s simply in for a bad season.  

If your superstars are struggling, cut them some slack, but don’t get too attached to underperforming players that were only middling to begin with­—there are always better medium-range pickups on the waiver wire.

Winning at fantasy football is a strange mix of luck, hard work, and ruthless negotiating, but the monetary payoff is all worth it in the end.