RADIO
Koby Hanson's DraftKings DFS lineup picks for Call of Duty on 5/8/21. 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 the third stage of the 2021 CDL Season! Back to another weekend of COD DFS! We were on pace for a perfect start, all up until the last game where my most confident pick in Dallas Empire pulled the biggest choke and got dropped 3-0 by Florida Mutineers where Skyz was on his game and went +24 absolutely insane day for him. Minnesota pulled out the dub in SnD in Game 5, Subliners played extremely well against Optic except for Clayster unfortunately. And Seattle was able to steal a map away from Atlanta FaZe and force a 4 game series just to lose the next three maps. On to the next day though!
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. For this Saturday we have a couple of great games with Toronto Ultra looking to continue their streak against Paris Legion, A great game in NYSL taking on the new and improved LA Thieves, and lastly we have Florida Mutineers taking on LA Guerrillas!
Today I'll be bringing you my COD DFS advice, analysis, and lineup picks for eSports DFS contests on DraftKings for Saturday, May 8th, 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!
Call of Duty: Paris Legion Home Series
Best of 5
- Toronto Ultra (-360) vs. Paris Legion (+250)
- LA Thieves (-140) vs. NY Subliners (+110)
- Florida Mutineers (-125) vs. LA Guerrillas (-105)
Slate Overview
Toronto continues to impress and make quick work of teams. They are working extremely well together and now get Paris Legion who seems to have Florida's number as they have taken them out 3 times this season, other than them Paris has two other wins on the season. Paris is just not that great of a team and now get the best team in the league. This is going to be the chalk stack for tomorrows slate and im all over it. Toronto has won 8 straight matches with 4 of those being by sweep. This includes teams like Atlanta, Dallas, and LA Thieves. They are an elite team right now and get the perfect matchup to get another sweep in. Should be a Toronto 3-0 win.
I'm so excited for this game. NYSL is playing very well right now and now LA Thieves have made a massive upgrade as they picked up Huke off the Dallas bench. They benched TJHaly in the process which is a big upgrade. This is going to be a good team, the only thing that makes me hesistant about grabbing any LA Thieves players is the fact, we aren't sure how they play together and where the production ends up at. Otherwise I really like this team to win as even before the addition of Huke they have won 6 of their last 8 games, with the only losses coming too Toronto and Atlanta. This game is going to be fantastic, and should be a great look at the next weeks sets of games as these are some top contenders to try and take down Toronto who is leading the way currently.
So Florida came out and surprised everyone. I'm pretty sure just about no one saw that coming. It was absolutely mind blowing watching that game and seeing Skyz just eat his way to victory. He demolished Dallas as he went +24 on the day. I am pretty sure though if I pick Florida, they are going to lose, because I just can't get them right to save my life. LA Guerrillas is also one of those teams that I just haven't been able to pin down. Last time out against Florida though they were swept and this was at the end of Major 2. I don't think Florida sweeps but I am going to say they win on this one. Grab Skyz while he is still hot.
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
Cammy: This is one of the top plays on the slate. He is absoultely killing it right now dropping 127, 123, 117, 153 in his last 4 games. 3 of those are sweeps, and I'm projecting this game to go the same way. When the team is killing it, it seems like Cammy is just going off. Stage 3 has been very kind too Cammy and I expect that to continue into this game for Toronto to finish the Stage with a 5-0 record. Cammy has a 1.21 K/D in Hardpoint, 1.62 in SnD, and a 1.24 K/D in Control in Stage 3. He's an absolute monster and a fantastic Captain play.
Drazah/Kenny: Kenny is my cheap captain of the day. He has been very impressive in recent games with only one game dropped below 100 in his last 5 games, and with the addition of Huke. I think this helps LA Thieves out even more. Kenny and Drazah might not get as much production but this should lead to more wins and possibly even sweeps. Kenny is simply to cheap at 8,400. He has been playing stellar and has a 1.13 K/D in hardpoint, 1.14 in SnD, and a 1.32 in Control while playing in Stage 3. He's an elite play at a cheap price, this could be the difference between 1 or 2 value plays on the day. Drazah on the other hand has been equally good. He has a 1.05 K/D in Hardpoint, 1.27 in SnD, and a 1.11 in Control. He also has had 96 DKP in 4/5 games played that have been scored by DK. I like Kenny a bit more based on production and price but I can't deny a Drazah captain line as he has the ability to make or break a slate.
Other captain plays: Owakening, Skyz, Assault, Hydra (PUNT CAPTAIN)
COD DFS Value Plays
CleanX: Last game was a bit of a rough one for CleanX but this is a perfect matchup for him to make a rebound and score very well especially for his price. He has been an elite play during Stage 3, He has a 1.05 K/D in hardpoint, a 1.21 in SnD, and a 1.05 in Control. He and Cammy are also leading his team in Engagements this stage 3. Which means they are pushing to get kills as much as possible. I'm not to worried about his last game, this match should end in a sweep as Paris is not the best team in the league and Toronto should be able to take care of them. CleanX is my favorite pair with Cammy on tomorrows slate.
Hydra: Hydra just dropped a +34 on Optics heads in their last game. With 93 kills. If their is anyone that is going to give LA Thieves, a tough time its this guy. He is absolutely melting people in Hardpoint with a 1.38 K/D which leads the league. His price is very intriguing and I like him as a one off in this game, because if he is able to get 4 maps and a 2nd hardpoint, that is just going to add this his ability to get a bunch of kills. He has an overall 1.02 K/D and has struggled in other game modes. But his ability to get 28+ kills in both hardpoints. If you do decide to go against LA Thieves, Hydra is the first place I would look too especially at his price of 7,600.
Other value plays: Bance, Venom, Havok(PUNT)
COD DFS Stacks
Toronto Ultra: This will be the chalk, and I'm saying grab them while they are hot. 8 straight wins and a fantastic matchup against one of the bottom teams in the league. This is a fantastic way to end the Stage 3 and lock up their first seed in the 3rd Major that starts next week! Cammy is my top play by a mile. Insight is a great play as well and I love CleanX as a value play. I'm not on the Bance train, you can play him but I do recommend grabbing CleanX for just a bit more. He is more consistent and has shown that he can have big games in Control where he excels. Their isnt much more to this, it's a great play and it's hard to fade the chalk in this situation.
LA Thieves: This is going to be a great game and I think its going to be a bloodbath, at least on the side of LA. With the acquistion of Huke, this is going to be a fantastic team and I really like them to win here. It might take a minute for them to get a groove going but I think they have the star power to get them some big wins. Huke is a bit on the high priced side of things when it comes down to how his recent production has been so I'm going to be very light on him to start until we see how he performs in his new team. Drazah and Kenny though are fantastic plays at their price and are some of my favorite plays on this slate. Venom has looked better in recent games and so at his price, he is a very viable option to grab at 6,400. I don't think this ends in a sweep but I do think Thieves are a great play on this smaller slate. Especially with two games being so close.
Other Team Plays: Florida Mutineers, NYSL, LA Guerrillas
Summary
- TLDR: Toronto 3-0, LA Thieves 3-1, Florida 3-1
- Toronto Chalk.
- LA Thieves next favorite play on the slate. Look to Drazah and Kenny to start
- Florida my next favorite, Owakening and Skyz have been playing very well.
- If you are looking for more GPP. NYSL is a great play and have shown they can keep up with the best. Hydra top play from them
- Florida could choke and make LAG look really good. Assault and SiLLY are the plays I would look too. Cheen is way too expensive.
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