Do you consider yourself an armchair expert? Do you find yourself digging into how many centre-bounce attendances your favourite ruck rover had in the past round? Have you ever studied harder for your NRL fantasy draft night than any of the high school tests you’ve ever taken? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you're in the right place! At GameDay Squad we are completely infatuated with fantasy sports. I myself have been playing fantasy AFL since I was twelve years old.
Then of course, once you catch the bug it rapidly turns into fantasy EPL, fantasy NFL, fantasy NBA, and it goes on, and on and on. From dashing away to look up box scores on a ‘toilet break’ at work, or from ‘secretly’ hoping that the ruckman you own that is playing against your own team kicks this goal he’s lining up for, you can call me a complete fantasy sports nuffie.
So, now that you know a little bit about my fantasy background (and you can currently find me sitting second on the seasonal rankings leaderboard), let me take you through some tips and tricks that will send you on your way to the top of any GameDay Squad leaderboard!
Know the scoring system
Statistical stat lines and points are different from platform to platform, sport to sport and game to game. It pays to pay attention to how many points are awarded for what before you set up your starting line up. For example, we know in GameDay Squad footy that midfielders who kick more often than the ones that opt to handball more frequently are some of the best assets in the game. This is because kicks are worth four points, while handballs are only worth two. It will definitely be within your best interests to check what stats are worth in both AUSSIE RULES and RUGBY LEAGUE.
Know when the lock-out is
The hectic rush before the lockout starts has been a part of every fantasy coach's journey since the beginning of time. Any fantasy sports veteran will have a lock-out story that very rarely ends well. So, to avoid any negative hindsight, it’s imperative you know when the lock-out times are week-to-week. Does the AFL have a Thursday night game? Is it a late game? Is
it a bye-round? These are the types of questions you need to ask yourself during the week to make sure you avoid any doughnuts come lock-out time! You can find the lock-out countdown above your squad in the ‘my squad’ tab.
Understand the tiers and multipliers
One of the features that makes GameDay Squad so good is the different tiers and multipliers
attached to player cards. GameDay Squad cards have six tiers with ascending
multipliers attached to them. This makes players that might not be fantasy relevant on other
platforms, more than startable in the GameDay Squad platform. An example of how these work is platinum Matt Burton on the weekend scored 54 points at the base level, but because he is a platinum and has a 1.3% multiplier attached to him, his score gets elevated to 70 GDS fantasy points. The different tiers and multiplies can be found HERE.
Figure out which league you would like to play in
GameDay Squad currently has two leagues for both the Aussie Rules and Rugby League codes. These leagues are identified as the ‘capped’ and ‘open leagues. The two different leagues are actually vastly different from each other, so it will be within your best interest to sit down and work out which league you’d like to compete in. The ‘salary cap’ or ‘capped’ competition requires coaches to create the best possible team of players each week, without exceeding the salary cap. Your salary cap is impacted by the price of each player card rarity. Bronze = 500k, silver = 550k, gold = 650k, platinum = 750k, diamond = 850k and legend = 1 million. The ‘open’ league is the closest thing GDS has to a “high rollers” table. Coaches have the ability to use whatever cards are at their disposal and reap the benefits of them. The decision for which league to play in is entirely yours.
Need help deciding which league?
Know your squad like the back of your hand
The beauty of GameDay Squad is that you get rewarded for playing the game. Whether that be in prize packs for finishing in the top 10 for the week, or for simply logging in to the game and earning starter packs. But because your player pool will naturally grow, make sure you stay on top of who you own. The last thing you want is suddenly discovering you own a gold Andrew Brayshaw buried deep within your squad. As the owner, general manager, and coach of your squad, it will be majorly beneficial to keep on top of who is coming into your team.
Most importantly...
Above all else, have fun! GameDay Squad is fantasy sports at its finest and the best way to get the most of it is the have fun, build your team, make some friends along the way and don’t overcomplicate it. Also, the fantasy season is a long one! So don’t give up, there’s always opportunities in fantasy sports to bounce back from a harsh loss, a poor start to the season or a bad patch. Never drop the tools, and keep persevering while having fun doing it.
Now you have the rundown of what to look out for when playing GameDay Squad, so what are you waiting for? Register now to receive free starter packs to build your squad.