In this article, I’ll introduce the game for those unfamiliar with it, describe the “boosters”, the rough equivalent of chips, it added for this season, and finally propose a booster strategy that attempts to harness their power sufficiently.
Overview
For the uninitiated, the CL game runs very similarly to FPL. The scoring, in particular, mirrors FPL quite closely. Goal, assist, and clean sheet points remain the same, and there are no additional point-scoring actions like shots, tackles, etc. A couple of scoring differences include a separate “penalty earned” as opposed to awarding an assist, the absence of bonus points, and the lack of an FPL assist for winning a foul that leads to a free kick goal. Beyond that, managers received limited free transfers between matchdays before receiving 4-point hits per transfer (2 FT during the groups stage), and managers may roster a maximum of three players from any CL team during the group stage. Interestingly, the game will include price changes, however, those price changes will not occur until “the completion of matchday 3”. Finally, and maybe most importantly, the CL game allows managers to use either automatic substitutions or manual substitutions. In effect, this gives one the flexibility to set a lineup that includes all of one’s players for the first matchday, view their respective scores, and manually substitute out those who failed to deliver (with the caveat that players receiving a red card may not be substituted). Likewise for captaincy. In effect, most FPL players should feel quite at home with the CL game in terms of basic scoring and strategy. Hopefully this overview gives some insight into the most significant differences as one begins to build a squad.
Boosters
This season, the CL game includes two “boosters”: the wildcard, a mainstay of the game and mirror of its namesake in FPL; and the limitless wildcard, a variant on FPL’s free hit, but one which “enables the user to create a team without any budget restrictions”. Like the free hit, the limitless wildcard occurs only for one gameweek, after which the previous roster returns. Also of note: once activated, neither booster can be cancelled. In previous seasons, I have tried to save the wildcard until after matchday 2, since matchdays 3 and 4 are mirror images of the same matches – that is, in this case, Bayern Munich will play AEK both away and at home in gameweeks 3 and 4, respectively. This has been difficult, however, because of the vast amount of data between leagues and teams one needs to build a team for matchday 1. So, what happens more often, in my case, is that I wildcard after matchday 1 because value players become available and players with name recognition from weaker leagues (think Jefferson Farfan for Lokomotiv Moscow) end up less effective than expected. For my final section, I propose using the unlimited wildcard as a mitigating factor to bridge the gap between the unknowns of matchday 1 and the pre-matchday 3 wildcard to harness the potential of fixture repeats.
Booster Strategy
I’ll try to accomplish this discussion without overloading it with references to fixtures, and in order to do so, I’ll use as reference points groups C and E, which allow for discussion of the decisions presented by favorable/unfavorable fixtures for both mid-priced and premium players.
Those preparing for matchday 1 will want to look closely at Bayern Munich. While playing away to Benfica may not be the best fixture, Bayern appear to have weakest group and should, therefore, be targeted for heavy investment for the duration of the group stage. Among their opponents at the group stage, Ajax also provide an interesting option, especially at home to AEK in the first matchday. Offering many mid- and low-price players, Ajax assets could enable heavy investment elsewhere while retaining attacking potential. But what to do with those assets in matchday 2 when they visit Bayern?
Similarly, it would be a brave soul who stocks up on PSG and Liverpool players from the off. Meeting each other at Anfield to open the group stage, these two teams will likely suffer from suppressed ownership levels. But do you really want to go into matchday 2, where PSG face Crvena zvezda without the likes of Neymar or Mbappe? Or what about Liverpool, who face first PSG at home and then Napoli away, but then back to back matches against Crvena zvezda? To my mind, the solution for both this situation, and that in group E, is the limitless wildcard.
Using the limitless wildcard in matchday 2, one has the capacity to maximize matchday 1 fixtures like Ajax v. AEK, Crvena zvezda v. Napoli, and, to a lesser extent, Benfica v. Bayern Munich, while avoiding tricky ones like Liverpool v. PSG by setting an initial lineup with those fixtures in mind. Then, using the limitless wildcard, one can remove the Ajax and Napoli players and replace them with those from PSG and other teams with favorable matchups for matchday 2, irrespective of price. Finally, after matchday 2, one has better information about potential value players in addition to the fixture double up for matchdays 3 and 4. In effect, a manager has the chance to send out fixture specific lineups for the first four matchdays of the competition. There’s no doubt that this strategy requires a good deal more preparation, but its strengths speak for themselves.
Good luck, all! Help or hurt, my sincerest hope is that this starts a lively discussion!
