With the first Wildcards of January being fluttered, the community was abuzz with advice on the best picks, rotation pairings and formations for our newly-assembled teams. Elsewhere this week, the community attempted to decipher the secrets of some of the most consistent Fantasy managers around – is it skill or pure luck at work? We revisit this and other discussions, before calling in on the progress of a variety of tournaments taking place within the FFS community.
The Hottest Topics
With the January Wildcard available this week, there was a flurry of hot topics looking at the various strategies and key acquisitions available. Triggerlips’s post was one of the week’s most popular and contains some valuable advice such as anticipating price falls and delaying the Wildcard to the final Gameweek. Despite such advice, some Fantasy managers simply could not wait to start tinkering with their sides. Kingston and Wakey were amongst the early Wildcarders to make themselves known during our discussion.
Good on Zidane’s Floor was also on hand to offer valuable input on some of the potential January wildcard bargains. This includes those who are set to return from injury, with Southampton’s goalkeeper Artur Boruc and Liverpool’s left back Jose Enrique amongst the array of names offered up. Meanwhile, GK was busy researching wildcard formations and has supplied a list of some of the key bargains to earmark during the January sales.
The “ubers”, a term used to describe those who favour a very cheap defence, were also out in force this week in an attempt to convince Fantasy managers of the benefits of rotating a budget backline. In Koflok’s guide to cheap defensive rotation he also takes into account the need to include at least one premium defender, with Everton’s Seamus Coleman the pick of the bunch. Around Coleman he recommends rotating defenders from, among others, Hull, Stoke and Newcastle.
Another of our most popular wildcard posts during the last week was this epic guide to defender and goalkeeper rotations from Innsie.
Elsewhere, Granville had his say, stating that the Wildcard could prove the perfect time to ditch this season’s favoured 3-4-3 formation and opt instead for a 3-5-2 line-up with a cheap striker. Among the budget forward options he’s considering are Southampton’s Jay Rodriguez and Norwich’s Gary Hooper.
Gargamel’s Gargatron, the tool which helps Fantasy managers analyse their captaincy and bench decision, has been widely used among the community. He returned with a post this week to tell us of some updates, including the ability to show how far away from a particular rank you are in terms of points. Depressing reading for some – Mark should certainly steer clear.
Meanwhile, Lee AFC spotted that certain managers, such as our live Hall of Fame leader Evs and last year’s Fantasy Premier League (FPL) winner Spiderm4tt, seem to be achieving an incredible level of consistency. He asked whether they are just lucky or among the most skilful FPL players around. Luck vs Skill – an age old debate and a definite can of worms.
The Community Tournaments
FFS UEFA’s league competitions have ended. Last week we had just enough time to reveal that our moderator Evs had scooped the English Premier League crown. The full list of winners also include rest of Europe winner Djerbil, Ligue 1 champion GoonerByron and Bundesliga victor Billy Ketsu. In addition, two other members of the Fantasy Football Scout team emerged victorious, with our resident physio expert Facer scooping the Serie A crown and moderator Athletico Timbo taking the title of La Liga winner. The FFS UEFA Council has also revealed that it has no plans for any further league competitions but instead will concentrate on tournaments such as its Beach Soccer World Cup.
Those topping In Tommy We Trust’s All Things leagues are Evs, Bootsy, Athletico Timbo, Billy Ketsu, Jambo17 and Koneheads.
Thomass‘ Big Bash League Tournament has now reached the knockout stage. In Gameweek 22 the semi-finals will take place where Evs and fellow moderator Torres Magic‘s Sydney Sixers take on our Sky game expert D1sable and BlueLion, aka Perth Scorchers. The other semi-final will feature Thomass and Giggs Boson‘s Sydney Thunder against Melbourne Stars, the team name of Pleased to Michu and Rohan.
In Torres Magic’s Last Man Standing competition 35 managers left, with 271 remaining. Blue Teets leads his After Xmas League. His Millionaire Club & January Wildcard League start in GW21. Codes to all TM’s leagues can be found here.
