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Koby Hanson's DraftKings DFS lineup picks for Call of Duty on 5/12/23. He analyzes the COD slates and top lineup targets for eSports DFS contests.
Hello there eSports DFS enthusiasts, and welcome back to RotoBaller's coverage of Call of Duty DFS contests for DraftKings! Seattle was pitiful last week in our last slate of games, they absolutely just torched any money going in on them. On the bright side, it looks like Toronto is back and better than ever after some incredible wins over Seattle and LAT. Atlanta did what they did best and got the quick win over LAG as predicted. Optic however made it much closer than it should have been and it took five maps to take down the Vegas Legion. Will Atlanta be able to do better or is Vegas live for the upset?
This is easily one of my favorite sports to cover here at RotoBaller because I play a ton of COD myself and I like to think I'm pretty good at it as well. I have been following the COD League for about five years now and finally get to put all this knowledge to the test! Up first we have a couple of bottom barrel teams as LAG takes on the London Royal Ravens as they fight to not be in last place, after that we have Boston Breach taking on the Florida Mutineers who are trying to keep their chances alive for a Champs spot, and finally, we have the Atlanta FaZe taking on the Las Vegas Legion.
Today, I'll bring you my COD DFS advice, analysis, and lineup picks for eSports DFS contests on DraftKings on Friday, May 12th, 2023, at 3:00 PM EST. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @DFSKoby or find me in Discord as I am happy to engage with readers and try to answer your questions!
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Call of Duty: Major Five Qualifiers
Best of 5
- LA Guerrillas (+100) vs. London Royal Ravens (-130)
- Florida Mutineers (+220) vs. Boston Breach (-300)
- Atlanta FaZe (-410) vs. Las Vegas Legion (+275)
Slate Overview
This first game is an absolute nightmare to predict, I dislike both of these teams and will find every possible way to go against them. When it comes to this though, I don't even know where to start. I'll start things off by looking at the salaries for this game and they are a disaster. We have Joe and Nastie both at or near 10k and I just can't justify dropping that much salary on players like them. Uli has yet to have a solid game so far so he is out of the running.
There are about three players from this game that I believe have value in running, Exceed is usually someone I fade but he is second in kills Hardpoint for his team, and has been decent enough in Control and SnD. On top of that his price of 6,200$ is intriguing. Asim has been great to begin the year but with all the roster changes it has taken its toll but I believe he comes alive in this one and picks up where he once was. As for one more, it would be a tossup between Arcitys and Skrapz both haven't been good this year but in a game this close they can improve and be a viable option. In the end, someone has to win and I'll say 3-2 LAG with the lowest confidence.
I like the looks of this game much more, both Boston and Florida started off Stage Five with great wins and from the looks of pricing, we are getting Boston at a beautiful price. DraftKings does however have Nero in the lineup and unless something changes at random then Vivid is the one starting for Boston and not Nero. I do like the pricing on Kremp and Beans though and think they are viable pieces. Vikul is a great price if you are going to go the Florida route. However, I believe this game ends 3-1 in favor of Boston.
Last but not least we have the big favorites in Atlanta FaZe taking on the Vegas Legion. Vegas almost beat Optic and did finish off the Subliners last weekend taking both games to five maps. Atlanta had a solid win over LAG but got completely pummeled against Optic who 3-0 them with ease. It's a bit difficult to see how this map ends but I don't believe it will be a sweep. Vegas has shown to be good enough to get crucial map wins to force extra maps. They are a very good Control team and a decent Hardpoint team. However, if this goes to game five once again, I don't see their fate being great. Atlanta is one of the best SnD teams in the league and it will be a tough out for Vegas if it comes to that. I will say 3-1 Atlanta, but also wouldn't be surprised to see game five once again.
COD DFS Basics
- Like in CSGO, players receive two points for a kill and are penalized -1 for dying. Therefore, the most straightforward stat to look at here is the K/D ratio.
- You need to roster a team slot on both sites. Teams accrue fantasy points for games won (+4), matches won (+10), and Search and Destroy/Control rounds won (+.5).
- Teams will be playing best-of-five matches on a rotation of various game modes. Those modes and the order in which they are played are as follows: Hardpoint, Search & Destroy, Control, Hardpoint, Search & Destroy.
- In hardpoint rounds, players with positive K/D ratios are usually the highest scorers and these rounds are often the bloodiest.
- They also have changed the game mode from Domination to Control for League play. This will be a lot different in gameplay as it's round-based and not the first to 200. They play first one to three round wins. You win by capturing both points or killing the enemy team until they run out of their lives. One team defends and the other attacks.
- There is a sweep bonus this year as teams and players both can get a 20-point player sweep and a five-point team sweep. In the chance they do sweep, they also get a bonus of 20 points for not playing hardpoint and five points for not playing the final Search and Destroy map. So that adds up in a sweep to a total of 45 extra points, which will be very crucial this year.
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COD DFS Captain Considerations
Owakening: Owakening is an online player. He always has done better in that environment and has been one of the better players overall this season. He has averaged 103.2 DKP this season and that's not even counting his 132.8 DKP performance last week against Minnesota. This season Owakening has averaged a 1.16 K/D in Hardpoint, 1.03 in SnD, and 1.14 in Control. He is pricy but with the matchup and his recent performance, I'll take a shot on Owakening crushing it tomorrow.
Abezy: I almost went Cellium, but his performances recently haven't been up to par and I can't justify spending 10.4k for him when Abezy is more than capable of dropping similar if not better stat lines for 1.2k cheaper. You get a decent floor with Cellium but you get that possible ceiling with Abezy. So far this stage, Abezy has averaged a 1.00 in Hardpoint and SnD, and an incredible 1.48 in Control. He is also averaging the most kills on the team by quite a bit. Building your lineup will be much easier with Abezy than it will be with Cellium, especially if you pair it with another top player such as Owakening.
Other captain plays: Asim, Standy(GPP)
COD DFS Value Plays
Clayster: Clay has done me dirty so many times, so it's risky taking him but at 6k I can't pass that up. He has been playing at another level during stage five so far. He has dropped 90+ kills in both games with 106 and 116 DKP. He has averaged a 1.16 K/D in Hardpoint and a 1.36 in Control. Find me another player doing this well for this cheap. I understand that this is against FaZe but he did extremely well against a great team in Optic, he can replicate it and for 6k I'll take that shot nine out of ten times.
Kremp: Kremp has been very impressive so far to start his rookie season. He has scored 98 DKP or better in all 6 games scored by DraftKings. He is one hell of a respawn player who averages a 1.00 in HP and a 1.25 in Control. He struggles a bit in SnD but makes up for it in other places. I love this matchup against Florida as it should result in a lot of slaying going around with Boston coming out on top of it all. I was quite surprised to see Kremp so cheap as 6,600$ is normally for players like Uli who haven't been good this season. We are getting great value in a player like Kremp.
Other value plays: Skrapz, Vikul, Exceed
COD DFS Stacks
Boston Breach: The majority of people will be riding with FaZe as they always garner insane ownership. So the next best option is clearly Boston. They have by far one of the more well-rounded teams. Kremp has been playing great and the duo of Beans and Owakening has been one I have loved to stack so far this season. Do not play Nero, he is not playing as Vivid is back in the lineup. Florida got a nice win over LAG but it isn't anything to be too impressed by. Boston is a much tougher test and I believe has the best chance of walking away with a sweep tomorrow.
Other Team Plays: Atlanta FaZe
Summary
TLDR: LAG 3-2, Boston 3-1, FaZe 3-1
- LAG: Exceed, Arcitys, Joe(if you can afford it)
- London: Asim, Skrapz
- Boston: Owakening, Kremp, Beans
- Florida: Capsidal, Vikul
- Atlanta: Cellium, Abezy, Simp
- Vegas: Clayster, Standy
More eSports DFS Analysis
More DFS Lineup Picks and Analysis
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