FPL Draft – Running a successful draft
The FPL Draft game is back once again with the much added bonus of ‘Manager Trades’ for the 2018/19 season. I
enjoyed this version of the game so much more than the normal FPL last year that I’ve decided to make an article
about how to run a successful draft and the tips and lessons learnt from last year’s draft. The article is split into
three areas: Running a successful draft, Draft Night, and Player selection (tips/lessons learnt).
Running a successful draft
Tip: Create a Whatsapp group
I would suggest ideally you have 8 players in your draft. More than eight players and the selection pool of players really thins out, while less means you play the same person too many times (it’s worth noting that if you have an odd number, e.g. 7 players, the other fixture will be made up by an ‘average’ team, i.e. uses the average score of the league that week).
Ideally, you then want to see up a Whatsapp group; this is key to a successful draft. It keeps everyone going and adds to the
enjoyment and fun of the league. We also used it to do our own manager trades, a feature that is now included in the game. A good way to keep everyone going the whole season is to have mini side-bets (who finishes above who), or whoever loses buys the trophy, etc.
Draft Night
Tip: Make sure you order any food/drink before the draft starts.
Pick a time. Pick a place. Make sure it has wifi.
Without a doubt the highlight of the year and the key difference between this format and the normal original format – if you can
get all 8 players together then it’s a great occasion. We met at the pub with our laptops/phones. Last year one of our group hadn’t
realised the draft had started, instead he was stll at the bar ordering and ended up with Perez and Pickford as his two first picks!
Cue great delight/mockery from the rest of us…
Player Selection
Tip: Select the set-piece taker from a newly-promoted side.
The point scoring and team formation are exactly the same as the original FPL format, with the exception of no captains. The main tactic I suggest (and it’s by no means the only strategy) is to select all your strikers and midfielders first. The premium players will all go in the first two rounds. Leave your defenders until the later rounds. As the season progresses you’ll find defenders are more plentiful to pick up.
The real skill is picking those strikers and midfielders from the ‘lesser’ teams that perhaps won’t be immediately obvious to everyone else in the draft, but who play week in week out for the team and preferably take the majority of set-pieces. Examples of this last year include Pascal Groß (Brighton) and Marko Arnautovic (Stoke/West Ham). Players worth putting on the ‘watch list’ ahead of the draft this year include: James Maddison (Leicester), Diego Jota (Wolves), André Schürrle (Fulham), and Andriy Yarmolenko (West Ham).
Lastly it’s also worth noting of some key managerial changes at Chelsea and Everton. I expect both of these teams to be much more attacking this year, so the likes of Morata and Willian, and Sigurdsson and Richarlison could be the difference between you walking away with the trophy above your head, or the walk of shame to get the round in…Good luck.
