The Punished Podcast

The Punished Podcast: Episode 14 – 2025 Fantasy Gaming Draft!

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Happy February, folks, and welcome back to The Punished Podcast! We’re certainly barreling through this year, for better or worse. If you need a distraction from the madness on TV, look no further than the world of video games.

For The Punished Podcast Episode 14, we’ve got a fun ~90 minutes teed up for you. In this episode, we crown our Fantasy Gaming 2024 winner (yay!) and host our 2025 draft, complete with an expanded league (double yay!!). This year’s rules follow a new dynasty format, which I do my best to outline in the episode.

I’ll keep the intro at that! Dive in and watch us compete for fame, glory, and—most importantly—precious bragging rights.

– David Silbert, Editor

The Punished Podcast Episode 14

Which one of our 2024 contestants—Team Amanda, Team David, and Team Sam—ended up victorious? Who will be battling it out for the crown in 2025? Find out in this action-packed, expletive-laden episode. Enjoy!

Note: We recorded this episode on January 9, days before Xbox’s Developer Direct and loooong before PlayStation’s latest State of Play. Games have since been announced; release dates have since been set. We’ve even seen a few Metacritic scores pop up. Bear all that in mind while listening!

MP3 Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

David Silbert | Sam Martinelli | Amanda Tien | Gary Wilson | Allison McDaniel | Zack Gulinello
Timestamps:

  • 0:00 – Intro
  • 2:46 – Welcome, Editorial Team!
  • 3:23 – Thoughts on 2024 in Gaming?
  • 5:38 – Recapping Fantasy Gaming 2024
  • 11:57 – Our 2024 Winner Is…!
  • 15:03 – Reflecting on the Results
  • 19:39 – David Fails at Math
  • 21:45 – Revealing Our Winner’s Fantasy Prize!
  • 24:29 – Introducing Our Newest Fantasy Competitors!
  • 26:05 – Explaining the New Dynasty Format
  • 28:41 – Revealing the Draft Order
  • 29:15 – Any Strategies for Dynasty?
  • 30:24 – Setting Some Ground Rules
  • 31:29 – 2025 Fantasy Draft Time!
  • 1:35:58 – Post-Draft Recap!
  • 1:39:19 – Parting Thoughts and Outro
    • Song Credits:
    • “Main Theme (feat. Cassie Wei)” from Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist (composer: Mili)
    • “The Silver Sisters” from Hades II (composer: Darren Korb)
    • “Straight Chaser” from Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (composer: Satoshi Okubo)
    • “Gustave” from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (composer: Lorien Testard)
      • 2024 Fantasy League, Final Standings!

      Who ended 2024 atop the Fantasy mountain? Check out our final standings:

      Click to reveal (spoilers!)
      In Third Place…
      In Second Place…
      …And in First!

      Turns out, Phil’s mock reviews did let me down. Thankfully, Hellblade II didn’t stop my team from taking the crown in 2024!

      2025 Fantasy Gaming Draft Recap

      Want the quick details on how our 2025 draft went down? Here’s the recap:

      Click to reveal (spoilers!)
      1. Gary – Monster Hunter Wilds
      2. Allison – Slay The Spire 2
      3. Zack – Grand Theft Auto VI
      4. Sam – Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
      5. Amanda – Elden Ring Nightreign
      6. David – Ghost of Yōtei
      7. David – Hades II
      8. Amanda – South of Midnight
      9. Sam – Sid Meier’s Civilization VII
      10. Zack – Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
      11. Allison – Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault
      12. Gary – Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
      13. Gary – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
      14. Allison – Discounty
      15. Zack – Avowed
      16. Sam – Doom: The Dark Ages
      17. Amanda – Split Fiction
      18. David – Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
      19. David – Hollow Knight: Silksong
      20. Amanda – The Witcher IV
      21. Sam – Mina the Hollower
      22. Zack – Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist
      23. Allison – Blade Chimera 
      24. Gary – Replaced
      25. Gary – Fable
      26. Allison – Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
      27. Zack – Pokémon Legends: Z-A 
      28. Sam – Assassin’s Creed: Shadows
      29. Amanda – Blue Prince
      30. David – Deltarune: Chapter 3 & 4
      31. David – Lost Soul Aside
      32. Amanda – Mafia: The Old Country 
      33. Sam – Mixtape
      34. Zack – 2 Point Museum
      35. Allison – 33 Immortals
      36. Gary – Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
      37. Gary – Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra
      38. Allison – Mouse: P.I. for Hire
      39. Zack – Backyard Baseball
      40. Sam – Wolverine
      41. Amanda – Hyper Light Breaker
      42. David – The Outer Worlds 2
        43. Final Team Lineups, Post-Draft

        Curious what each team looks like, post-draft? Check out our new 2025 Fantasy visuals!

        (Note: The two games in green represent each person’s official taxi picks.)

        Click to reveal (spoilers!)
        Current Team Standings

        As mentioned before, several weeks have passed since we initially recorded. Here’s how our league leaderboard looks as of February 13, 2025:

        Click to reveal (spoilers!)
        What Are Your Most Anticipated Games of 2025?

        Let us know in the comments!

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        The Punished PodcastBy The Punished Backlog