This is the first game overview we have to give you the ins and outs of the available games in place for this season’s Autumn Nations Series. The makers of the official Six Nations game have opened their Fantasy game for the Autumn Nations Series to ensure that the fantasy rugby hardcore have something to scratch the fantasy rugby itch over the next 3 weeks!
If any new games pop up, please let us know at fantasyrugbygeek@gmail.com or @frugbygeek on Twitter.
THE PREMISE
For those who have played the Official Men’s and Women’s Six Nations Fantasy Games (and indeed, the Top14’s La Grande Melee), the format of this game will be familiar.
It’s a salary-cap style game, so you have a budget of 280 stars to build a squad of 18 players. The value of the players goes up and down based on their popularity, so you have the ability to build your squad value throughout the tournament.
The scoring is interesting, players are well rewarded in particular for tries (15 points), however, the biggest influencing factors is for players on winning teams (“team points” – 6 points for a home win and 12 points for an away – pro rata’d for the players on the field for the full 80 minutes + most crucially team points for the overall margin of victory), so study the pre-match predictions and if there are any runaway favourites, then load your team up. The scoring is defintely skewed towards offensive players, with decent returns on offer for ball carriers and those making line breaks.
You have unlimited transfers between each round so make sure you take advantage of that and field the best possible team you can for each round, no need to plan ahead.
There is a bench with players scoring half points, but unlike the men’s Six Nations game and La Grande Melee, there is no “supersub” rule and you can select up to three players per team.
THE KEY POINTS
- Site: https://gamezone.autumnnationsseries.com/
- Squad Size: Minimum of 15 (Up to 18)
- Team size: 15 (Plus 3 bench players scoring half points – No supersub)
- Double scoring captain?: Yes
- Designated Kicker?: No
- Transfers: Unlimited per round
- Max players from one team: 3
THE EDGE
Above all, pick players who will win
With 12 points available for players playing a full 80 on an away winning team (and 6 for a home win) and also for the margin of victory (+0.5 or -0.5 points per points difference, e.g if team wins by 50 points, the players on the winning team will get 25 points and the players on the losing team will get -25 points), your first port of call should be to load your team up with players playing for the favourites. If in doubt, check the handicap betting (a market where the bookies give the underdog a points advantage to level the match up) odds. Any team given a handicap of -10 or more you should have the full complement of 3 of their players in your team. Less than 5 and you are best spreading your team with a mix of players of the marginal favourite and players of the marginal underdog (or if you are feeling gung ho, go with you gut feeling and select 3 players from the team who you think will win). Also make sure that you select a player who will play a lot of minutes as the match result points are awarded based on how long the player is on the pitch for.
Tries, Tries, Tries
Tries are another route to big points in this game (15 points) so go with tryscorers wherever possible. Tackles, runs and kicks are not as well rewarded in comparison, so primarily load up with those who are known to have a good international try scoring record.
Play the market
The Game is a salary cap game, so how you allocate your budget is key. One key point to note is that players values go up and down throughout the tournament based on their popularity, so you can build your teams maximum value throughout the tournament. This can be of enormous value come the closing couple of rounds of the tournament, so make your transfers wisely, and if you have any players in your side who may lose value (they could be injured or out of favour with the coaches, then ship them out ASAP!).
Double check your XV is starting before the round lock
Lineups are usually all announced by Friday afternoon, so keep an eye on the lineups and make sure your full squad are all starting.
Kickers not categorised as fly-halves
Often fantasy games force you to select one kicker to gain points from conversions, penalties, drop goals etc. Not here, so if you can find kickers who play outside of the fly-half position then they are well worth picking up, as they are guaranteed points.
Make the most of the transfer allocation
Unlike other games, the Official Game allows you to completely tear up your team for no points penalty in between rounds. This means you can load your team fully optimised for each round. If you need to make 15 changes, then don’t hold back. Just do it!
Come and join the FRG league!
Join our public fantasy league on the official Autumn Nations Series game here by clicking on this link: https://gamezone.autumnnationsseries.com/fantasy/#welcome/register/?parrain=b6kzapx&ligue=32
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