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Koby Hanson's DraftKings DFS lineup picks for Call of Duty on 5/30/21. 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 start of Stage four of the 2021 CDL Season! Seattle Surge really was testing my patience today, they had me really thinking they were about to pull it out but ended up choking in Control with less than 15 seconds left and then choked again in game 5 in SnD. It was a fantastic game though to watch as they all were. Minnesota did what we thought and beat Paris as MajorManiak stepped up finally and helped lead his team to a victory. And lastly, Mack and Asim had excellent games as they led NYSL to a 3-1 win over LAG!
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! A great set of games are upon as Florida Mutineers are set to take on the London Royal Ravens, Toronto Ultra looks to rebound against Dallas Empire, and the age-old meeting of FaZe vs Optic finishes the day out with a banger of a match! So let's dive in.
Today I'll be bringing you my COD DFS advice, analysis, and lineup picks for eSports DFS contests on DraftKings for Sunday, May 30th, 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: London Royal Ravens Home Series
Best of 5
- Florida Mutineers (-210) vs. London Royal Ravens (+165)
- Toronto Ultra (-275) vs. Dallas Empire (+195)
- Atlanta FaZe (-300) vs. Optic Chicago (+215)
Slate Overview
Florida looked great in their win over Toronto which was very unexpected. They now get one of the bottom-tier teams in the London Royal Ravens who have been switching up their team every single stage or more. Florida is finally starting to get it together too and I really like them to win this one. Hardpoint and SnD have been really good to Florida and it also happens to be where London Struggles. Control, on the other hand, is the complete opposite therefore this one I think ends in a 3-1 win by Florida.
Dallas has just lost their touch since they let go of Clayster in the off-season which personally was a bad move for the team. They just haven't been able to get back to that championship form that they were last year. Toronto on the other hand is in great form right now, as they have won 11/14 matches with two coming at the hands of Atlanta. The last time they played against Dallas they swept them. I'm giving Dallas the benefit of the doubt here and I think they can grab one map but I can easily see a Toronto sweep once again with how poorly Dallas has been playing. Toronto should win this one and I expect Cammy to be back on his A-game after a horrible performance.
Last but not least Optic vs. FaZe. These are the OGs of the CDL and this match has always been a gruesome battle. Atlanta has taken both matches so far this season but Optic is looking better and I expect this match to be much closer than the last one. Atlanta has a great team and is coming off their 2nd Major win of the year, they beat Paris 3-1 to start Stage 4. They are looking really good. Optic started the Major 3 in the losers bracket and made it all the way to the semi-finals before losing to Toronto. They looked much more put together and were lighting the competition up and that trend continued into Stage 4 as they swept Minnesota to start and are looking to continue their momentum into this one. This is going to be a close match but I have to take Atlanta in this one as they have shown more consistency and have been the better team.
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
Cellium: I still think Cellium is by far one of the most overlooked players on Atlanta FaZe, Abezy and Simp are always looked at for the top players on the team and Arcitys is your value. Cellium is stuck in the middle and playing very well. He has been very consistent this year as he has never dropped under 80 DKP this season. He doesn't drop big 130+ DKP very often but definitely has the ability to. He looked great in their first game in stage 4 as he dropped 81 kills with a +10 KD differential and almost 3 minutes of hill time and dropping a crisp 112 DKP. During Stage 3 he averaged a 1.07 K/D in Hardpoint, a 1.10 in SnD, and a 1.17 in Control. He is also 4th in overall K/D on the season at a 1.12.
Skyz: Skyz has been looking great in stage 3 where he dropped 5 100+ DKP performances in 7 games. Including two matches of over 140+ DKP. DK is finally catching on hence why he is so expensive compared to the mid 8k range where he has been at most of the season. Skyz has been the most consistent player on the team as he has averaged a 1.14 K/D in Hardpoint, a 1.05 K/D in SnD, and a 1.04 K/D in Control. Skyz should thrive in SnD and Hardpoint and I'm confident that Florida wins those maps cause that's where London has struggled. Control though might give Florida a bit of trouble as London has been a pretty good Control team this season and I think if Florida is to drop any map it's more than likely going to come in Control. Either way, this plays right into Skyz's ability to get lots of kills as he has been great in Hardpoint this season and an extra hardpoint map won't hurt his fantasy score too much.
Other captain plays: Envoy, Owakening, Simp, Cammy, Insight
COD DFS Value Plays
Havok: I know, I'm pretty sure I said I wasn't going to blame him anymore but he's just too cheap, and if you look at his game logs, it shows why. But he has a few games in there where he has shown great ability to pop off and drop 90+ DKP games. At 6,400 it makes it much easier to grab an extra top play with so many big-time plays on the board. He looked fantastic in their 3-2 win over the Toronto Ultra on Thursday as he dropped 75 kills with a +14 K/D differential. He has been improving little by little as Florida has as a whole. They have won 4 of their last 6 with the two coming against Optic and NYSL who are very good teams. London I wouldn't consider being one of those top teams. 6,400 is far too cheap and worth the risk.
Arcitys: The lack of value on this slate is absolutely Atrocious. I don't like taking a player that is basically the average salary but sometimes that is the value you have to take. Arcitys has been playing very well recently and has dropped 97 DKP or better in 7 straight matches all with positive K/Ds. The last outing against Optic ended in a very quick win for Atlanta as they swept them but I think Optic has improved a bit since their last meeting. This should be a close game which should mean more kills all around for everybody to enjoy. Arcitys in Stage 3 had a 1.18 K/D in Hardpoint, a 1.14 in SnD, and a 1.16 K/D in Control. He is playing very well right now and is a cheap play for a very good Atlanta team.
Other value plays: CleanX, C6, Bance, Alexx(PUNT)
COD DFS Stacks
Florida Mutineers: Take this with the slightest of grains of salt, because every time I pick Florida they sell extremely hard. They shouldn't this game but at this point, Florida has been all over the place. Recently have been looking better as they have won 4 of their last 6 matches and were able to take Toronto down. London is the only team that Florida has not played this entire season. So this is going to be a completely new team to go against. Therefore I don't think they sweep here but I do think they pull out the win. This really helps Skyz and Owakening as they thrive on those big kill games and have the ability to drop 80-100 kills matches and that's something I love about those two. What I don't love is the price on both of them as they are both over 9k now and with the lack of value on this slate, it's going to make it tough to grab them. Neptune has been a bit inconsistent but he isn't a bad play in a great matchup. Havok is the best value on the slate at 6,400.
Toronto Ultra: I think Toronto was caught off guard as Florida came in and showed they are ready to make a push in this stage. Cammy was a bit off on his game and I think that really hurt them the most. I expect this to not happen against a struggling Dallas team who barely made their way past a newer London team. Toronto is the better team here and I expect them to rebound off a tough loss. Cammy and Insight will continue to be the top plays for Toronto and I do like CleanX as a value play to pair with one of these top guys. He has been a bit inconsistent as has Bance but I like them to turn the heat up and get a much-needed win here over Dallas.
Other Team Plays: Atlanta FaZe, Optic Chicago
Summary
- TLDR: Florida Mutineers 3-1, Toronto Ultra 3-1, Atlanta 3-2
- I don't think any of these games end in sweeps, therefore not as many big scores and a good majority of the points are going to come from just kills.
- Florida Mutineers: All Players
- London: PaulEhx, Alexx
- Toronto Ultra: Cammy, Insight, CleanX
- Dallas Empire: Shotzzy
- Atlanta: All players
- Optic Chicago: Envoy, Dashy
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