RADIO
Koby Hanson's DraftKings DFS lineup picks for Call of Duty on 4/9/21. 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! Welcome to the 2nd Major of the year! The 2nd round of play begins today after what I consider a rough start. NYSL looked horrible especially Clayster as they were swept by Dallas Empire, Optic decided they didn't want to close out maps and lost 3-1 to Toronto. LA Thieves had me worried but pulled it back and got the reverse sweep against London, and lastly, Seattle won three straight after losing the first Hardpoint to knock Florida out of the playoffs!
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! My Name is Koby and I'll be here all season long to help guide you through the COD DFS world. Welcome back to another great weekend of COD DFS! After a great set of games on Thursday, we have another set of exciting matches as Minnesota Rokkr and Dallas Empire face off again in what should be a bloody battle, Atlanta FaZe gets their warm-up match against Toronto Ultra, Optic Chicago after a rough loss gets Seattle Surge who they swept not too long ago, and last game we have LA Thieves taking on NYSL after a rough sweep against Dallas.
Today I'll be bringing you my COD DFS advice, analysis, and lineup picks for eSports DFS contests on DraftKings for Friday, April 9th, 2021, at 3:00 PM. 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: LA Guerrillas Home Series
Best of 5
- Minnesota Rokkr (+120) vs. Dallas Empire (-165)
- Atlanta FaZe (-400) vs. Toronto Ultra (+275)
- Optic Chicago vs. Seattle Surge
- LA Thieves vs. NY Subliners
Slate Overview
Well, I was severely wrong about NYSL beating Dallas, they got mopped up and it was a brutal game to watch Clayster go 9 and 33 on Control. Dallas looked extremely good altogether yesterday and it looked like Huke had returned to form after a bit of a slump he had been in the last couple of games. Dallas looks like the better team and they always play better when it comes down to the playoffs. This should be a great battle and although Rokkr beat them, they almost got exposed by Seattle where they had to make a reverse sweep to win the game. More like Seattle just choked. I think Dallas wins this one more than likely 3-1
Ah fire up the cannons, Atlanta gets their warm-up match against Toronto. I love FaZe in this matchup and they made it very quick for them in the last outing against them. Insight made a huge difference in the Toronto roster but not much stops FaZe and I don't expect it to stop here either. This should be a quick 3-0 from FaZe and I wouldn't doubt seeing 3 of them in the optimal lineup once everything is finished.
The last time I went Seattle in this matchup, they later got absolutely punished and I definitely paid the price for it. Optic looked off against Toronto and although they lost, as a team they scored better and just weren't able to close down big matches in Control and the 2nd hardpoint. Seattle looked good against Florida, but it's hard to pick them against such a powerhouse as Optic can be. Seattle is definitely a sleeper team here and with their season hanging in the balance I could see this being close to the last time out. But I wouldn't be surprised either if Optic came in and swept. Optic is a cash play, Seattle is a deep GPP play.
This is a tough match, LA Thieves looked questionable in the first 2 games against London before winning three straight maps to close out London's hopes of a tournament run. Subliners on the other hand looked absolutely putrid against Dallas today and Clayster going -23 for the 2nd match in a row is a bit worrisome, I'm not sure how I feel about this match and with the other three games on this slate, I don't think it's necessary to have more than maybe one piece from this game. If Clayster steps up I think NYSL wins, but if Clayster continues to struggles I wouldn't be surprised to see a LA Thieves upset.
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 K/D ratio. However, players can also earn fantasy points for planting or defusing bombs (three points each) in Search and Destroy rounds, so there are some players who we can target for other skills besides their ability to kill the opponent.
- 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 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
Simp/Abezy/Cellium: Yep, I'm running it back with the full team option. All these guys are just so damn good, and I really think Toronto is just playing off other teams' mistakes and getting lucky that way. FaZe doesn't make many mistakes, I just don't see where they can lose, they are just such an elite and well-rounded team that it's difficult to pick against them. The oddsmakers have them at -400 favorites and -165 favorites to win by at least 2. Which I 100% agree they should. They honestly should make this quick for Toronto like they did a couple of weeks ago. Not much has changed since then and the only thing that could play differently is what maps are played. All these guys provide 100 DKP upside and in a sweep pretty much guarantee that. Abezy and Cellium have always been my favorite pair as they can grab a lot of points while also still saving a bit of money from not playing Simp. Simp on the other hand can break a slate with how much DKP he can provide in a game. He scored 140 in the last outing against Toronto. If you can fit all three in your lineup, I definitely can't oppose that.
Dashy: Even if Optic lost, Dashy and Formal both still scored very well for a 3-1 loss. Both of them absolutely demolished Seattle last outing and now it's win or go home. They should be able to turn up the heat and pull a win here to stay alive. I was on Seattle to beat Optic last time out and that was a major mistake and they mopped the floor with Seattle. Dashy is still 4th in the league in overall K/D at 1.15 and has been a beast in Control as he is 3rd in Control K/D at 1.23. Respawn game modes he has been great at and can get a lot of kills and in this matchup, he should be able to get a lot against Seattle who has struggled in Control. Hardpoint should be closer though and that could lead to more kills in what should be a blood bath of a game mode. I do give the edge to Seattle in SnD, but that doesn't result in many kills and even if Optic does lose in SnD, that's just one more respawn game mode that Optic could take advantage of and get a lot of kills.
Other captain plays: Formal, Huke, Shotzzy, Asim, Attach, Drazah (PUNT CAPTAIN)
COD DFS Value Plays
Scump: I think this is the first time I have wrote about Scump in a COD article this year. The OG looks to have returned to form as even though they lost today he dropped an absolute killer line of 90 kills in 4 games. He was absolutely killing it in the respawn game modes and using his SMG to great advantage. It's not often that I like grabbing Scump but if he continues to play well, I like the price of 7k on him. He has 100+ DKP upside in a win and if it goes anything like last time they played Seattle, Scump could be in for a nice scoring day once again. He is a little bit riskier to use in cash games as Scump can be volatile and just not show up some days and just completely tank. His recent performances give me hope he can continue to play well but we will just have to see!
Drazah: Oh has DraftKings messed up or like what. Drazah for 6k, yes please. If anyone remembers from last year Drazah joined the team midseason and made an immediate impact, I was actually quite surprised to not see him on the current roster at the beginning of the season, but he has joined once again to save this team. This time we get him at an insane discount. In his first game since replacing Slasher in the roster, he went +23 on the day with 55 kills and led the team to a sweep of Paris Legion to continue LA Thieves playoff hopes. In the 2nd game, he wasn't as impressive but he still went positive on the day with 66 kills and helped lead his team to a great comeback to take down London in a reverse sweep. So far on the season he has a 1.25 K/D overall K/D and is leading the league in K/D in both Hardpoint and Control at 1.22 and 1.40. I really think LA Thieves makes a game out of this one against NYSL especially if Clayster continues to struggle. And at 6k that price is too enticing to not grab. He will probably be higher owned which makes sense.
Other value plays: Prestinni, Illey, Gunless, Kenny
COD DFS Stacks
Atlanta FaZe: I'm going to keep this really short, cause I'm sure you are sick of hearing about this team. Atlanta has lost one game on the year so far. They are the clear favorites to win the Major for the 2nd time this year. They also have a fantastic matchup against a Toronto team they just swept under the rug about two weeks ago. If Atlanta does sweep then Arcitys is definitely in play. If they don't and Toronto manages to steal one map off of them then I would stick to the top 3 players in Simp, Cellium, and Abezy. Get as many of these guys in your lineup as possible because it's more than likely going to be chalky and you might as well grab the points while you can. Cellium at Captain gives you the best chance at getting the Big three in there, he is really consistent in his production but also provides the least amount of boom potential.
Optic Chicago: Optic just swept Seattle, they are clear favorites once again and I'm not falling for a Seattle Surge trick once again, no matter how much I love that team. Gunless, Prestinni, and Octane are such a good core but loony brings the team down so hard and it really hurts what could be a contending team. Optic will more than likely come into this game and show who is boss. The only chance I give Seattle is if they sneak a Hardpoint and win both SnD. Cause they have been mediocre at Hardpoint and they haven't been great at Control. I don't see this match getting past game 4 though. Optic is really good and Scump is finally playing at a really good level. They just made some poor choices against Toronto and they were able to take advantage of that. I'm not sure that Seattle can do the same. They are just not quite to the level that they could be at. Dashy and FormaL are my top plays for their price and Scump if he continues to play well should be really nice as well.
Other Team Plays: Dallas Empire, Minnesota Rokkr, LA Thieves, Seattle Surge (GPP)
Summary
- TLDR: Atlanta 3-0, Optic 3-1, Dallas 3-1, LA Thieves 3-1
- Atlanta and Optic are going to be cash stacks.
- Dallas game should be a blood bath, I don't recommend stacking one team here. I have a feeling this could go to 5 games and at that point, anybody from either team could score well.
- LAT/NYSL I have no idea where to go with this game. Clayster plays well more than likely results in an NYSL win, but if he is off like he has been the last two games then this could be a LA Thieves upset and Drazah is going to look real nice at that 6k price tag.
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