FPL Noob: What’s your wildcard strategy?

Thanks for this!

My strategy is pretty firmly save it for the DGWs. That said, I don't often find myself in a place where I feel I need to make more than 3 changes to my team.

If I needed to take a -12 I'd consider it, certainly if I needed a -16

For me it's all very clear; TBD after GW27... Two options: (a) If I have lost my current 13k rating, I will WC at GW28 (in full knolwedge of all blanks and DGWs) and making a strategy to cover both... (b) if I have improved my ranking and am comfortable in the top 10k, then I will WC at the first week after the last blank and before the last DGW... The former would be an 11 and the latter a 6 GW WC...

Do we think Arnie plays this week?

I always end up spunking my first wildcard around week 4 or 5. It's so hard to call who those good early season picks are going to be and usually after a couple of weeks you can start to see some form, who is and isn't a good pick, which teams are playing well etc. For the first WC I'm also not too worried about using it early as there's no double or blank gameweeks before the new year and barring disaster you can manage your team with the 1ft each week and the odd hit.
The second wilcard I try to hold out and plan it around the blank and double gameweeks that crop up around week 32. This week for me was tempting to use but I've just taken a couple of hits instead as I think I'll regret it down the line.

Very Americanised!

Peronally, I think the WC can be sometimes wasted on a DGW. They happen and then you have that team, not only for the DGW (which is obviously great) but then the weeks after - so the players you want can often be similar to your original team.

I had to use mine recently due to the deluge of injuries i have had, so maybe I am biased, but in previous years I have failed with the DGW WC strategy.

i know some people will disagree, but these have been my experiences with it.

Good luck all

I've held my WC for the DGWs in previous years and not felt a *huge* benefit...(although I've never properly calculated)

I've used mine this week as my team was an *utter* shambles. Don't necessarily kid yourself that you will benefit more from a WC used in GW 30+ onwards than using it now to fix a huge amount of damage.

Great topic.

I used mine in GW21 last year as I was around the 1.1m OR mark and I climbed to 100k by the end of the season.

There’s no way I could have done that by waiting for the DGW’s.

I’ve used it early again this season and am hoping for a similar improvement.

You have to plan for the DGW’s more, but if you feel you need to play it early, then do it.

One issue is that you’ll feel a little left out on FFS from GW26 onwards, as most players hold onto theirs, which is obviously fine, but most articles and content are directed towards them, which is a shame.

My strategy remains the same. Wildcard for bench boost which i think will be gw35 so i will WC gw34. The dgw before that I'll play the triple cap.
To a beginner, for me it stays the same. Unless you have such a terrible case where half of your team is injured and the other half have bad fixtures, try use even a -8 to sort it out. I know lots will say but the dgw last year failed miserably. Dgws have always boosted my rank.
I remember my first season when i didn't know much, i played the second WC early but luckily i still found a way to get a good team for that amazing week where Sanchez had something like 50 points after being capped. Had 180 overall or so.
I'll always prefer the statistical safety blanket of my players having 2 cracks at the whip than 1. A balance should still be found however. Its not just about loading your team with all players playing twice. Someone like Salah for instance depending on fixture may still have to be in your team

I try and save it for the DGW's, but if things get desperate I'll activate my wildcard before those weeks. I think you can plan for the DGW's and blanks without the wildcard with some proper planning as well tho

Great insight and very honest, much appreciate this. I'm in my third year and it took me some time to realize when to properly utilize this golden refresh egg, but there is not "right" answer really, just the right answer for you. If you feel you'd really benefit from a full do-over and want to design your team in a certain way without taking an abundance of hits ... do it! I tell a lot of friends who just started playing this - don't be swayed by the "noise" go with your gut. And if you do use it and are worried you'll be at a disadvantage during the crazy doubles and blanks, you won't ... provided you plan carefully and shape your team and transfers into those weeks. You'll still have the free hit to deploy as well.

One word of caution: we'll know a lot more about BGW27 by this time next week (and potentially a DGW25) so using it now does mean you're going in a bit blank - will your Spurs/Chelsea players be benched? If you can wait a week I'd recommend it.

I plan to save mine. The "dream team" I'm looking at is 6-7 moves away and I had 2FT this week, so I'm likely a few game weeks from being there.

Go with your gut ... and good luck!

PS: if you're so inclined, @FPLBrit and I went down the wildcard and chip rabbit hole this week on our weekly pod : https://soundcloud.com/wt-fpl/ep-13-gw23-all-change

Nice article. I always hold to there being two reasons (not two times, two reasons) for wildcarding:

1. Your existing squad (not just your first 11) is an irredeemable mess, with too many holes to patch up just with hits. So, if you’ve got caught with the wrong big hitters or spreading your cash around too many high-mid-price players who aren’t getting the consistent returns, and you want to rebalance to a few big and a few value instead. That, or a mass of medium term injuries and red card suspensions.

2. When you can see a set of fixture swings for teams you know exactly who you would go for.

Simple strategy ia to WC before a DGW and then bench boost the following week.

Out of curiosity, does the second wild card expire? I have a feeling that I held off using my second wild card until after the January window last year and when I came to use it, it had disappeared.... might be wrong though... thoughts?

Why is this an article?

There is no question on how to use the second WC. It's best employed around the DGWs to help maximise the value of the other chips.

To those who might ask "what about as an emergency repair job on a bad FPL team", there's a simple answer. Don't let your team get into such a bad state.

If I had an injury cirisis I would use my wildcard like I did with the first one this season.
Or if there was a fixture swing.
I looked at your team chris and the wildcard did not go too well.
Your 'never nude fc' must feel naked now?
Maybe Dele Ali can save you?

I think there's a set of factors to consider when it comes down to deciding when to play the wildcard:
1/ Is your team currently tanking and are there any glaring duds?
2/ How (un)favourable is the next 4/5 fixtures in line looking for your current squad (might underperformers have a chance to turn it around or overacheivers likely get found out)?
3/ Are there players in top form you're missing out on because you just can't get them into your squad with available transfers and budget?
4/ Is bad luck with injuries and/or suspensions about to decimate your team?

Obviously with the 1st wildcard you're not going to be able to judge the answer to questions 1-3 until a few gameweeks have passed, so there's no point ever playing it until a good few weeks into the season. Even then, only if the answer to question 1 is yes would I think about playing the wildcard. I managed to have a reasonably consistent performance early season this time so I hung onto wildcard 1 until mid Nov and it helped me out when I got a run of injuries.

I've just played wildcard 2. Probably a bit early but it was because of form players I didn't have who have also got really good fixtures coming up for this month. So I guess that falls into the power play category. First week and I'm looking at my highest points for gameweek this season so it's a decent start to the gamble, but we'll see. Gameweek blanks hit me hard last season so I would have liked the extra insurance. There's no way I'd have played wildcard 2 yet if the 'free hit' chip wasn't still there!

I try to use my wildcard the week before the double game week and set it up so that every player I have, including the bench players, have DGW. Then I play the bench boost on the DGW and get 30 players. I learned the hard way one year that you can only use one chip at a time, so you can't do a wild card and a BB, or a WC and triple captain.

As a first year player myself, I was extremely impatient with hits in the first half of the season but am proud to say I have held onto all my chips.
The strategy I am thinking to follow, which many (the general, planet fpl crew, ben crellin, etc) have suggested as one of a few "best" ways to deploy, looks like:

Free hit GW 32 (double)
Wildcard GW 34 (after 3rd blank)
Bench boost GW 35 (double)
Triple Captain during third mini double (sounds like either 25 or after 35)

I've managed to save two frees going into gw 24 and now I just need force myself to sit tight until we get near the deadline.

Haha, it seems at times like resisting FOMO is more than half the game...

I had a poor consistent run of form for about 6 weeks in row and kept on losing ground, so used my wildcard and made 9 changes to my team and it paid off. Scored 82 pts

I've always used the second WC in GW32 (the week after the FA Cup Quarter final) to get rid of the dross I'd brought in to cover GW27 and GW31 blanks. Always regretted not holding on til the blanks though