The Sun Dream Team Returns To The Scout

The Sun Dream Team became the latest Fantasy game to stretch its legs at the tail-end of last week, allowing managers to dabble in team selection ahead of an August 1 registration date.

Dream Team is long established as one of the biggest players in the market, attracting a huge audience wowed by the most substantial prizes on offer in UK Fantasy Football. That’s very much the case again this season, with a huge £500,000 prize pool to be divided up.

Aside from the lure of the prize pot, Dream Team is also a very different Fantasy experience. A more casual, “hands off” game, firm emphasis is placed on your initial starting XI – after this, Fantasy managers are pressed into action during four transfer windows, placed at key points throughout the season. With the domestic cups and European competitions included in the scoring system, however, your team will be serving up points at a higher frequency, holding your interest when games like the Fantasy Premier League and Sky Sports take a break.

We first supported the game back in the 2011/12 season when The Sun rolled out a free version and we’re pleased to see that this is still an option.

You can pick a team for free and compete for reduced prize money, but if you back your knowledge/luck by opting for a Premium Package (two teams for £10 or six teams for £25), you’ll be able to enter more teams and be in the mix to win the full £500,000, whilst also earning the right to compete for the monthly game prizes, which make up £80,000 of the overall prize pot.

You can also register teams once the season gets underway – allowing you to compete for the monthly prizes – a good option if your other Fantasy game lineups have long fallen by the wayside.

The Ruleset

While there are various entry options and more competitions to consider when playing, the basic ruleset remains straightforward.

Each team must include 11 players with a budget of £50 million to spend. The teams can be laid out in one of three formations – a 4-4-2, 4-3-3 or 4-5-1.

Players accumulate points from matches in the Carling and FA Cups and also in Europe, with Champions League and Europa League matches contributing. Straight away, then, it’s clear that avoiding rotation and finding regular starters is a major consideration when it comes to selection.

With Europe and cup progress included as factors, the points scoring can be heavily skewed towards the top clubs. This is compounded by the fact that goals and clean sheets are the major point contributors – notably, players earn nothing for assists.

To balance the lack of assists in the game and to reward performances that don’t qualify for points, Dream Team has its own arbitrary “Bonus Point” scoring system in the shape of the “Star Man” award, which is basically man of the match and earns 5 extra points, while all players who earn 7 or more in The Sun player ratings in a match fetch another 3 points.

We’ll be offering guidance on how this can pan out and we have access to exclusive stats on offer to help underline how much of a factor these scoring methods can be.

The Transfer Windows

Managing your team around the four transfer windows is going to be crucial to your success. You can make up to three transfers per window and it’s a “use them or lose them” policy.

Significantly, the first window arrives on September 4, so with only three league matches down, you can make three changes to your squad. Subsequently, you may look to allow for this in your early strategy, selecting players with a strong opening three fixtures, knowing that you can apply three changes prior to Gameweek 4.

The following window arrives on November 12 – that’s prior to Gameweek 12. The third arrives on January 21, ahead of Gameweek 23, with the final opportunity to make transfers landing on our laps on March 18, just before Gameweek 31.

Planning your team changes, putting our season ticker to use and considering the dates of cup rounds, is therefore an important factor.

Joining Leagues

You can join up to ten leagues with any of your teams and set up your own leagues as you wish. For those thinking of starting up their own league, the Dream Team game offers real incentive to do so – there’s a new Chairman’s prize pool of £10,000 available for those who establish a league with ten or more players. Leagues can be set up from August 1 onwards.

The Scout League

We ran a Dream Team league back in the 2011/12 season and we’ll be doing so again this term. We will bring you details of our league code once its set up.

We’ll also be running some pre-season articles, focusing on the player list and selection strategies and, during the season, we’ll bring you articles to guide selection in the monthly game and the transfer windows. Look out for our first Dream Team article later this week.