The latest in a series of game overviews to give you the ins and outs of the available games in place for this season’s Champions Cup. If any new games pop up, please let us know at fantasyrugbygeek@gmail.com or @frugbygeek on Twitter.
First under the microscope is the Offical Champions Cup fantasy game which is on Superbru. Back for another season, SuperBru have upgraded the Champions Cup game to the same format they have in place for the Prem and URC. You can check it out here.
✨ ONE WEEK TO GO! ✨
— Investec Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) December 1, 2023
Have you got your fantasy team together yet? Maybe some player reactions will help you decide on your final team 👀
#InvestecChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/nY9v3hyqmw
THE PREMISE
While Superbru is well known to many Fantasy Rugby fans, the game has had a massive reboot for the 2023/24 season. The most dramatic change is that the fantasy game is now a salary cap style game in which you have a budget of €100m to build a squad of a 23 players, with one in each field position plus one reserve for each grouping (So your squad is four outside backs, three centres, two fly-halves, two scrum-halves, four loose forwards, three locks, two hookers, three props), unlike some other fantasy rugby games, you do not get any points for the players on your bench (although if one of your starters isn’t playing then your bench players will come on), so choose your starting XV wisely.
You are limited to three players per team, and once the tournament gets underway, you can make six transfers each round (any extra transfers incur a 6 point hit).
For those familiar with SuperBru, there are some notable scoring changes to their fantasy games for the 2023/24 season, these are…
- 50:22 added – 2pts each
- Turnovers added – 1pt each
- Handling errors added – -0.5pt per knock-on/forward pass
- Investec Player of the Match added – 3pts awarded to the player that wins that award each match
- Plus, clean breaks have been changed to 1pt per clean break rather than 1pt for every 2 clean breaks.
Obviously full scoring info is available in-game.
In addition, ICYMI, Superbru have also launched a new Rugby app which will be the home of all their fantasy and predictor games, including also URC, Premiership and Six Nations. You can check it out here for iOS and here for Android.
THE KEY POINTS
- Squad Size: 23
- Team size: 15
- Double scoring captain?: Yes
- Designated Kicker?: Yes (Can’t be the same player as your captain)
- Transfers: 6 free transfers per round
- Max players from one team: 3
THE EDGE
Load up against the outsiders
The Champions Cup is a notoriously competitive tournament with no easy games, however there are still some outsiders that you are worth selecting players who are up against. These include Lyon (70-1), Northampton (70-1), Connacht (100-1), Stade Francais (100-1), Bristol (100-1), Bayonne (150-1) and Cardiff (150-1). In such a competitive tournament, you need to find your edge where you can, so get your full complement of three playing against these teams each week, to ensure that you are maximising the probability of high scores. This is also where your captain picks should be.
Take care of your bench
Unlike some other games, once the gameweek lock has passed, you cannot change your team, and with team announcements for the later matches occurring after the gameweek lock, make sure that you stack your bench well (potentially with guaranteed starters). If a player in your starting line-up doesn’t play in the round at all, but you have a player on the bench in the same positional group who did play, then that player will be subbed in for you. So, for example, an outside back can only be auto subbed in for an outside back etc.
Don’t miss the deadline!
You have a small window of time between the Saturday and Sunday squads being announced at midday and the Friday night game kicking off, so make sure you log on in this time to make sure your proposed 23 is actually playing. Keep an eye on the team announcements on the Fantasy Rugby Geek Champions Cup Twitter List to catch the team announcements as they come in.
Out of position players
Players who are categorised in certain positions, but mostly play in others can be great value. Outside backs who generally have a high probability of scoring tries, beating players, breaking the line and carrying for metres are traditionally the highest scorers, so if you can find an Outside Back categorised as a Centre, then load up! Likewise this works well if you can find a Loose Forward categorised as a lock.
Players who like to run with the ball have the potential to score big
With 0.5 points on offer for each 5m covered, you will be well rewarded with players who run the ball in from deep and can take on and beat players, so load your team up with fullbacks and wings who like to run with the ball.
Plan ahead
Keep an eye on the fixture list when making your transfers to ensure that you get the best bang for your buck.
Fan of SuperBru? Have a read of our interview with Hutch, one of the men behind SuperBru, here…
Want to know what it takes to finish the tournament in SuperBru as #1 in the world? Read an interview with a previous Champion here…
Come and join the FRG league for 2023/24!
If you back your Fantasy Rugby skills to lead you to Fantasy Champions Cup glory, then join our public fantasy league on SuperBru. To join, Sign up to the game here. Good luck!
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If you want some more sources to help you finalise your decisions, go to our resources page where you’ll find all the Champions Cup fantasy games, all the stats sources, injury news, team news, fantasy relevant rugby betting odds and tons of other useful information.
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