How to play Kickest – a beginner’s guide to the advanced Fantasy game

There’s a new Fantasy game in town ahead of the start of the 2020/21 season, one that rewards many of the underlying statistics that shape our transfer decisions in FPL and beyond.

Fantasy Football Scout are partnering with Kickest for this beginner’s guide to their Premier League Fantasy game, which starts this week.

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For the uninitiated, this is Fantasy Football based on the Premier League (and Serie A) that takes into account advanced stats.

So we’re not just talking goals, assists and bookings but everything else that makes up a player’s performance, from shots on target and passes to ball recoveries and turnovers.

All of these statistical actions (and there are over 20 of them) mean that even those players who are not renowned for their goalscoring exploits or assist potential can still rack up a tidy score.

Creating a Team

Fantasy managers can create up to three teams, with a budget of 180 Kickest credits dished out to spend on a squad of 15 players and, something that’s a bit different from the norm, one head coach.

A starting XI and a captain (who scores double the points) is then selected, although changes during Matchdays (the equivalent of Gameweeks) are allowed – more of which below.

Scoring System

Here’s a more detailed rundown of the scoring system and where points can be won and lost:

PLAYER STATS

COACH STATS

Your head coach‘s score is calculated from the following values, multiplied by the coach coefficient (which is based on the difficulty of the game):

More details on the scoring system are available here.

Matchday Changes

Another dynamic aspect of Kickest is the ability to change your team at any time.

Each Matchday (the equivalent of a Gameweek) is divided into Game Turns, or single days in which blocks of matches are played.

As an example, Turn 1 (T1) would be all matches played on Friday, T2 all matches played on Saturday, T3 all matches played on Sunday.

Between turns and between Matchdays, you can change your team:

• Field-bench substitutions: between two turns, you can make field-bench substitutions by inserting players who have not yet played in place of players who have not performed well.
• Trades: between one Matchday and the next, you can make transfers by selling your players and buying new ones. Each transfer will cost managers a small penalty (-2 points) on the next Matchday score.

Price Rises

Price rises are known as ‘capital gains’ in Kickest and are based on points scored and starting value.

During each Matchday, the credit value of your players will decrease (loss) or increase (capital gain) based on the score obtained, thus affecting your overall budget.

As an example, a player whose value is 25cr could have a very positive Matchday and see his value increase by + 1cr. The value of a manager’s team would therefore rise from 180 to 181cr, increasing purchasing power for future transfers.

Mini-Leagues

Much like in FPL, Kickest managers can play against friends, family, workmates or indeed strangers in mini-leagues.

There are two options: Private (accessible only via invitation code) or Public (open to all).

Once that is decided on, there is the choice of two league types – which most of you will be familiar with:

• Classic scoring: teams are ranked based on their total points in each Matchday
• Head-to-head: every team plays a match against another team in the league each Matchday

A bit like in FPL, managers will get automatically entered into three leagues: General (the overall rankings), Country (their respective nation) and Favorite Team (your nominated club).

Fantasy Football Scout will also getting involved on Kickest: join our private league with the union code 5A5FEFEA.

START BUILDING YOUR KICKEST TEAM BY CLICKING HERE

The Kickest app is also available for Android and iOS.