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Koby Hanson's DraftKings DFS lineup picks for Call of Duty on 4/1/22. 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! What a Day 1 it is what. It was quite the quick one as every single team managed to sweep their opponent. Absolutely crushed on the Methodz and Boston play. Atlanta won as expected but the upsets by Florida and Seattle were insane! Seattle was a +300 dog and almost a +1000 to sweep. Just goes to show really anything can happen in COD!
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 I finally get to put all this knowledge to the test! We now have the losers bracket in front of us. To start things off we have London Royal Ravens taking on the Paris Legion, then, we have Toronto Ultra taking on the LA Guerrillas, next we have the struggling LA Thieves taking on the NY Subliners, and lastly, we have the home team in Minnesota Rokkr taking on the defending champs in Optic Texas! Should be another banger slate so let's crush it!
Today I'll be bringing you my COD DFS advice, analysis, and lineup picks for eSports DFS contests on DraftKings on Friday, April 1st, 2022, at 3:00 PM EST. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @DFSKoby or find me in the slack as I am happy to engage with readers and try to answer your questions!
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Call of Duty: Major 2
Best of 5
- London Royal Ravens vs. Paris Legion
- Toronto Ultra (-200) vs. LA Guerrillas (+150)
- NY Subliners (-148) vs. LA Thieves (+115)
- Minnesota Rokkr (+290) vs. Optic Texas (-450)
Slate Overview
Well, London did the great deed of disappointing me this morning right off the bat by getting swept by Florida. It wasn't a pretty sight as they gave up an 80 point lead in hardpoint and a 4-0 lead in SnD. Absolutely putrid. I do however believe they bounce back here against Paris Legion. Paris was able to pull off a big upset in the last weekend against Toronto Ultra who has their own set of issues it seems like going on. Paris was up 2-0 on London earlier in the qualifiers but ended up getting reverse swept. Paris has the ability to keep it close but ultimately I think London gets it done and starts their losers bracket run.
I have a hard time believing in Toronto Ultra right now. They have lost 4 straight including losses to NYSL and Paris. And LA Guerrillas did keep the games close today with a very good Boston squad. Spart looked nasty in Control today and stepped up big time in Gunless's absence. This is a tough one to dissect with LA Guerrillas having so little time to prepare with Spart. Toronto however has just not looked like themselves recently. If Asim and Slasher can step up in this game, I do think they can send Toronto home. Toronto however is a better team on LAN and it has shown over the course of this year and last. I'm going to say Toronto but not with confidence.
This LA Thieves team has turned itself upside down. It's worrisome to see this team come into the tournament with an 0-5 record. They really could be 3-2 but some costly mistakes blew games as they were reverse swept twice and just seemed to give up in another. NYSL has really stepped up lately and almost pulled off the SnD and Control games against FaZe today. Hardpoint they looked pretty rough in and although during the qualifiers this is where LA Thieves struggled, I think they bounce back and get the hardpoint win. I do want to say 3-1 LAT but I would not be surprised in the slightest if NYSL pulled this one off and sent LAT packing. Octane and Drazah must step up if they wish to make a run.
So what the hell was that all about today Optic? They got completely dismantled by Seattle today and Minnesota won't be an easy run either. Minnesota was a very up and down team during the qualifiers and will need Priestahh and MajorManiak to step up if they want a chance to beat Optic. Minnesota has looked good in the past on LAN but I'm not sure they got a lucky draw when it comes to Optic. I do believe Optic wakes up tomorrow and pulls it together and gets the win. More than likely by 3-1 would be my prediction.
COD DFS Basics
- Like in CSGO, players receive two points for a kill and are penalized -1 for dying. Therefore, the simplest 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 a game mode from Domination to Control for League play. This is going to be a lot different in gameplay as it's round-based and not the first one to 200. They play first one to 3 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 5 point team sweep. In the chance, they do sweep they also get granted a bonus of 20 points for not playing hardpoint and a bonus of 5 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 are going to be very crucial this year.
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COD DFS Captain Considerations
Envoy: I know what you are thinking, the most expensive guy on the slate? Yes, if there is any match that is perfect for Envoy to eat in, it is this one! This should be a high-engagement match with the SMG players flying everywhere! Envoy will be the best player in this match and I believe he is worth a shot at captain or even just a flex play even at 10.4k. He has been the leader of this team and the reason LAT has stayed close in these games. During Major 1 he averaged a 1.09 K/D in Hardpoint, a 1.12 in SnD, and 1.01 in Control. Those lead the team in each game mode except for Control. This is a great chance for Envoy to shine and put the team in the backpack and get a much-needed victory.
Cammy: This is a much-needed spot for Cammy and Toronto to step up in. They get a decent matchup against LAG who is still running with Spart instead of Gunless, but after what I saw today, that may not be a downgrade. Spart played well and that should make for a close and high-intensity battle between these two teams. Cammy and CleanX have been my duo for Toronto Ultra this season and have been able to put up good numbers for the most part. They have had a couple of rough patches as of late but they are in the perfect spot to get started on their losers bracket run. Cammy was the best in the last major for Toronto as he dropped a 1.04 K/D in Hardpoint, a rough .85 in SnD, but a 1.08 in Control. The respawns have been his game modes and they are going to need to rely on him heavily to get the job done here.
Other captain plays: Afro, CleanX, Dashy, Shotzzy
COD DFS Value Plays
Attach: This is definitely more of a GPP play and riding on the fact that Optic didn't look too good today but I'm not sure that I understand this price. Attach has been by far one of the better players for Minnesota this season and we are getting him super cheap at 6,600$. He has averaged a 100 DKP throughout the season and has been going positive fairly consistently this season. Like I said the matchup isn't great but the way we saw Optic play today as well wasn't great. If Minnesota can take at least a map and keep the rest close, I think Attach pays off the cheap price.
Neptune: I hate to go right back to it but on a slate where I think any team is about viable to play it makes it tough. Neptune had a decent game today for getting swept. He still stayed positive in today's game and against a struggling team like LA Thieves plus they are going to be able to keep it close in Hardpoints so I could see Neptune crushing his price and making it worth going right back to him at super cheap. If you have a lot of leftover salary and rather go with Hydra, he is still good value at 8k and is probably just a bit safer!
Other value plays: Temp (love this play as well), Hydra, CleanX,
COD DFS Stacks
London Royal Ravens: I am not confident in a lot of teams on this slate. They each seem to have their issues and I'm only picking London because they are playing Paris who has been the worst team in the CDL this year. Yes, they are going to be chalky but from a team standpoint, they really are the safest team to pick to win. Toronto has looked awful but LAG is playing with a substitute still, Optic looked bad today and we aren't sure how Minnesota will look, and lastly, LA Thieves were awful but I know they can be good on LAN. So it's a tough spot.
London has a solid team all around, Afro is still fairly cheap and I would definitely start with him. I would look at Gismo next as Nastie is far too expensive for my taste. Zero played well today and played well in the last LAN tournament as well, he is a bit pricy for his scoring output but with it being against Paris, I don't mind him too much.
Other Team Plays: Toronto Ultra, Optic, LAT, NYSL
Summary
- TLDR: London 3-1, Toronto 3-2/LAG 3-2, LAT 3-1, Optic 3-1
- London: Afro, Gismo, Zero
- Paris: Temp
- Toronto: Cammy, CleanX, Insight
- LAG: Spart, Slasher
- LAT: Envoy, Kenny
- NYSL: Hydra, Neptune
- Optic: Dashy, Shotzzy, Scump
- Minnesota: Standy, Attach
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