As promised, Fantasy Premier League Draft has been released and is now available.
The new game is free to play and runs in parallel with, and as an addition to, “traditional” FPL. If you’re registered for that game, you can immediately get involved with Draft.
The links don’t end there. The Draft uses the same scoring system as FPL with only one exception – there are no captains or vice captains.
The first step is to create or join a league.
Private leagues can include up to 16 managers, although the game itself states that eight is the recommended number. That is the limit for public leagues – you can enter those with random members of the FPL Draft community.
Like the traditional FPL game, leagues can run in the classic form or in the head-to-head format.
The key selling point of Draft is that, within a league, each 15-man squad is unique. So only one team in each league can own Harry Kane or Romelu Lukaku.
The draft system used is described as a “Snake Draft”, where managers take it in turns to select players until a squad is complete over 15 rounds. There is no budget or player prices.
League administrators can set a draft date and time for private leagues, while public league drafts begin 24 hours after the first team joins.
You can build a Watchlist before the draft, and this can act both as a shortlist of players you’re coveting and also a list to govern your automatic picks should you be “away from keyboard”.
Things get really interesting when we start dealing with transfers after the draft is complete. Bear with us on this.
Transfers, or “Transactions”, are made in two ways – managers can make what is called “Waiver Requests” or they can dip into the Free Agent pool.
After the draft, all the remaining players are up for grabs but, initially, only through waivers.
These operate like transfer requests from managers who propose both the player they want and the player being swapped out.
A weekly deadline is set for waivers to take place and, when that is reached, they operate a lot like the draft.
Indeed, before the season starts, managers get their first waiver requests granted in the reverse order of the draft. So if you went last in the draft in Round 1, you will be the first to get your waiver request processed.
However, once you have succeeded with a Waiver, you go to the back of the queue.
Things change when the season starts, with the waivers granted in reverse order of the league table. So if you’re bottom, your waiver will be granted first to give you the best opportunity to strengthen your team.
Players that are free agents become available once all the waiver requests are made. These consist of players remaining in the pool and players that were released by other managers in the previous Gameweek.
Managers can draw from the free agent pool 24 hours before the Gameweek deadline and it’s on a first come, first served basis.
There are no direct trades between managers.
That, I think, provides a summary of how the transfer system works. However, it is somewhat difficult to explain, and further examination of the rules may reveal other mechanics missed or misinterpreted.
Fantasy Premier League have published an FAQ on the Draft game, and the full rule set is available here.
In addition, community writer and experienced draft campaigner Pav A Nice Day has already published two essential articles. His tips for success was followed today with his own draft rankings to help shape your personal Watchlist.
We will certainly be playing FPL Draft this season. Will you? Vote in our poll on the homepage, or via your slide-in menu on mobile, and let us know.
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