Your Four Chips and What They Do
Every FPL manager gets four chips per season: two Wildcards, one Triple Captain, one Bench Boost, and one Free Hit. Using them at the wrong time is one of the most common mistakes in FPL — a chip wasted on a normal gameweek can be the difference between finishing 10k and 100k overall.
Wildcard 1 refreshes your entire squad at no cost — you can buy and sell without incurring any hits. You get two Wildcards per season: Wildcard 1 is available from GW2, and Wildcard 2 unlocks from GW16 onwards. Triple Captain triples your captain's points for the gameweek instead of the usual doubling. Bench Boost earns points from all 15 players in your squad, including the four bench players. Free Hit works like a one-gameweek Wildcard — you build a fresh squad for that week, then your original squad returns automatically the following gameweek.
The Optimal Chip Sequence for 2026-27
The most effective chip sequence that consistently produces rank gains follows a logical flow based on the season calendar:
Wildcard 1 early (GW2-8): Use this to correct GW1 mistakes, react to early injury news, and build a squad that reflects the actual Premier League rather than pre-season guesswork. Most top managers play their first Wildcard before GW10.
Free Hit in the first major Blank Gameweek: Save this for when your starting XI has 4+ blanking players. The Free Hit lets you bypass the blank entirely by building a disposable squad of players with fixtures.
Wildcard 2 timed to a DGW: The second Wildcard is most powerful when used to rebuild a squad fully loaded with Double Gameweek players. If two or more big clubs double in the same gameweek, Wildcard 2 is the play.
Triple Captain on a DGW premium: A premium striker or midfielder with two favourable fixtures can realistically return 30-40+ points in a DGW. Tripling those returns rather than doubling them is the highest-ceiling moment in FPL.
Bench Boost in the largest DGW: After building the DGW squad, activate Bench Boost to collect points from all 15 players. Even your bench picks up 5-10 extra points each when they play twice.
When Wildcards Go Wrong
Panic Wildcards are the chip-killer. Using Wildcard 1 in GW2 after a bad GW1 (rather than waiting for more information) often means the new squad is built on two weeks of data instead of six — and the GW1 form guide is notoriously unreliable. The itch to react after one bad week should almost always be resisted.
Late Wildcards are equally problematic. Using Wildcard 2 in GW30+ when you are chasing rank leaves you with no flexibility for the final stretch. The second half of the season, when DGWs and blanks cluster, is where Wildcard 2 has the most leverage — which means committing it by GW28 at the latest.
Wildcard during a Triple Captain or Bench Boost gameweek nullifies those chips — you cannot stack Wildcard with TC or BB. This is a common trap when managers Wildcard in panic during the same week they intended to use another chip.
Triple Captain and Bench Boost Timing in Detail
Triple Captain is straightforward in principle: use it on the week your most reliable premium asset has the easiest possible fixture, ideally a DGW. The execution is harder — you need to commit to the chip before the deadline, with no certainty the player starts or avoids injury. Cover yourself by only tripling players with near-100% availability confidence.
Bench Boost timing depends entirely on how many of your 15 players are playing in that gameweek. An average Bench Boost in a normal gameweek with four bench players who play earns around 20-25 extra points. A Bench Boost in a DGW where bench players also double earns 40-60 extra points. The gap is enormous, so Bench Boost without DGW context is rarely justified.
Do not leave chips unused at the end of the season. Unused Wildcards, TC, and BB disappear when the season ends. If you are approaching the final gameweeks with chips in hand, use them even suboptimally — getting something from them beats losing them entirely.