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Koby Hanson's DraftKings DFS lineup picks for Call of Duty on 4/14/23. 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! Last weekend was quite a messy slate. All three favorites ended up winning their games and things just didn't go as planned. Nobody ended up sweeping and all won in game four. It was unfortunate as the chalky slate ended up being just that. This week we get something very similar. Hopefully, this time around we can get some luck on our side and get an upset out of one of them.
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! First things first, we have the Vegas Legion taking on the Toronto Ultra who have been slow to start the stage, after that we have the dominant Optic Texas taking on the LA Guerrillas, and lastly, we have the Minnesota Rokkr taking on the Atlanta FaZe.
Today, I'll bring you my COD DFS advice, analysis, and lineup picks for eSports DFS contests on DraftKings on Friday, April 14th, 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 Four Qualifiers
Best of 5
- Toronto Ultra (-425) vs. Vegas Legion (+285)
- LA Guerrillas (+500) vs. Optic Texas (-1000)
- Atlanta FaZe (-410) vs. Minnesota Rokkr (+265)
Slate Overview
This game right here might be our best bet for an upset. It's a slight one but Vegas has been good this slate with solid wins over LAG and Boston, but they also took a very suspect loss against London. Their bread and butter have been the SnD and that happens to be where Toronto has struggled so far at this stage. At that point, all they need to do is get a win in Hardpoint which could prove tough to do. If you are going upset Vegas Legion 3-2 is going to be your friend, if you are going to play the chalk then a 3-1 Toronto win is the likely outcome.
This one feels straightforward. Stack Optic as the main team and move on. LAG is not winning this and I'd be even surprised to see them win a map. In the end, 3-0 Optic. Don't overthink it, this is not LAN, and no miracles are happening for LAG. Optic is the best team in the league right now online.
Last but not least, here is the other shot for an underdog. Although I don't like it as much Minnesota has a shot more than some of these other teams at the bottom of the league. If Florida was able to take FaZe to game five, I don't see why Minnesota can't. Minnesota has been fairly good at everything so far at this stage but I think their best chance of getting a win over FaZe is excelling in the hardpoints, it is where FaZe has struggled most recently. At that point, you have three other maps to get one more win. Do I think it happens, no it's unlikely but if you are looking for how to win your tournaments. It is right there with a Minessota win.
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 granted a bonus of 20 points for not playing hardpoint and a bonus of 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
Shotzzy: I have some of the worst luck when it comes to picking between Shotzzy and Dashy. These guys always do the opposite and it has killed me so many times. So maybe keep that in mind when building your lineups. Shotzzy has been great recently and in stage four has had 99, 112, and 107 DKP. I also like the slight discount we get with him compared to the likes of Dashy. He has averaged a 1.07 K/D in HP, a .94 in SnD, and a 1.04 in Control. With the high chance of a sweep as well adding on to that, I like what we can get from him.
Cellium: Cell has been on another level lately dropping 120+ in five straight games. The price is what worries me though, he has to hit something along the lines of 120 once again to really pay off that price of 10.4k. He gets a good matchup though and I believe that Minnesota can keep it close enough so that Cellium can rack up the kills. During Stage Four Qualifiers, he has averaged a 1.27 K/D in HP, a .97 in SnD, and an insane 1.63 in Control. He is on a heater at the moment and I want to ride that heater till he cools off. If you are looking for something a bit cheaper, Abezy is a solid pivot and he has been playing decently well too.
Other captain plays: Dashy, Abezy, Scrappy, Standy(GPP), Afro(GPP)
COD DFS Value Plays
Ghosty: I will say if you can get to Hukes' price of 8,400 rather than the 7k that Ghosty is, 100% go to Huke. But with a team that has a very high chance to get the sweep and Ghosty being only 7k, he has to be an option in all cash lineups. He has been a bit inconsistent to start the season but with the Sweep bonus added to his score, all we need him to do is go positive and that should be a good 100 points for Ghosty. As I said before, I trust Huke more as he can score better if the sweep doesn't happen but for Ghosty's price we have to take a shot.
Fame: I just can't sit here and see Fame at 6k and look past it. I believe that it's because he is against FaZe but even then, Fame has been playing incredibly well to start his CDL Career and for a minimum price I can't pass that up. It is more of a GPP play than a cash play, but if you do play it in cash I don't think it is a bad idea as at minimum price it makes it so easy to stack your lineups with studs as well as get a top tier captain without breaking the bank. He has averaged a 1.00 K/D in HP, a 1.20 in SnD, and a 1.14 in Control.
Other value plays: Slasher, CleanX, Clayster(GPP)
COD DFS Stacks
Optic Texas: All around this Optic team has looked solid from start to finish. They have had three very good wins so far in this stage including big ones against LA Thieves and NY Subliners. LAG is no match compared to those two teams. Their Hardpoint has been some of the best in the game including two impressive Hardpoint wins over LAT which has been their bread and butter.
As for players, you can mix and match how you choose. They are all good options in their own way. I prefer a pairing of Shotzzy and Huke together but a pivot to either Dashy or Ghosty is not a bad play. In the end, they all should end up with 100+ after they sweep LAG out of their shoes.
Other Team Plays: FaZe, Vegas(GPP), Toronto Ultra
Summary
TLDR: Vegas 3-2, Optic 3-0, Atlanta 3-2
- Vegas: Standy, Temp, Clayster
- Toronto: Scrappy, CleanX
- Optic: All
- LAG: None
- Minnesota: Afro, Cammy, Fame(value)
- FaZe: Cellium, Abezy, Slasher(value)
More eSports DFS Analysis
More DFS Lineup Picks and Analysis
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