RADIO
Hello there eSports DFS enthusiasts, and welcome back to RotoBaller's coverage of Call of Duty DFS contests for DraftKings! Welcome to the Third CDL Major of the year so far! This should be a great one and I hope an even better one for all those trying to take home some money this weekend on DraftKings. We have some great matchups to start the weekend off right so let us dive on in!
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! First up we have the Seattle Surge taking on NYSL, next we have the Atlanta FaZe taking on the home team in Toronto Ultra, next we have the red hot Optic Texas taking on the Florida Mutineers, and lastly we have the first place Minnesota Rokkr taking on the LA Thieves!
Today I'll be bringing you my COD DFS advice, analysis, and lineup picks for eSports DFS contests on DraftKings on Thursday, June 2nd, 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 3
Best of 5
- Seattle Surge (+125) vs. NY Subliners (-165)
- Toronto Ultra (+164) vs. Atlanta FaZe (-220)
- Optic Texas (-525) vs. Florida Mutineers (+350)
- Minnesota Rokkr (-240) vs. LA Thieves (+180)
Slate Overview
The first game up is a tough one, Seattle has been very impressive during the qualifiers going 4-1 with their only loss being to Toronto Ultra in a 5 map match. I love Surge in Control so I don't see a sweep here. NYSL has been very good at Hardpoint and so has Surge so it really might come down to the maps that are picked. SnD on the other hand I give Surge the edge here. My only worry is that Seattle has struggled on LAN this year and NYSL went all the way through the Pro-Am on LAN without a loss. As the odds indicate this is close to a tossup but for value's sake I'm going to give the win to Seattle here and say 3-2.
Toronto has had the up and down type of year. Major 2 was awful for them and they seemed to have bounced back quite a bit. They went 4-1 during Major 3 qualifiers and even beat a good team in NYSL and Seattle. But Atlanta on LAN is another beast. Atlanta seems to have turned it around on SnD and has been pretty good at Control as well where Toronto has struggled. Toronto has the advantage in Hardpoint at the moment but it's not much. I expect Atlanta to win more than likely 3-1 but I wouldn't be surprised by a 3-2 either.
I don't know that I have to say too much about this other than Shotzzy is absolutely cracked and I'm ready for him to fail me when I am all in on him this weekend! I've also seen pictures of Skyz in a hand brace which is a bit worrisome but it might be more precautionary. Either way Optic has been playing at an insane level and I don't see them losing here to Florida. Optic 3-0 seems like the most likely option as I just don't see where Florida can manage to beat them.
Last but not least here is where my upset pick comes in. Minnesota looked very dominant during the Qualifiers and even beat LAT 3-0 but here is the difference. It is on LAN this time around. Minnesota on LAN has been awful and I understand that with the addition of Havok to the team they have looked much better but that didn't seem to help much during the Pro-AM as they went 1-2 during the qualifiers. LAT has always shown up on LAN and seems like a different team compared to when they play online. They have had their moments during the Qualifiers including the fastest victory in the CDL. I have this as a 3-1 LAT win. I could be severely wrong and Minnesota could be the real deal but I believe the edge LAT gives on this slate could be massive, especially with how cheap they are.
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
Shotzzy: Yeah shotzzy broke the slate and nearly dropped the highest-scoring line this season at 158. Going +31 on 77 kills is insane. They completely dismantled the LA Thieves. He has been so solid this season it's hard for me to not have him in every single lineup. During the Major 3 qualifiers, he averaged a 1.21 K/D in HP, a .89 in SnD, and a 1.14 in Control. His respawn has just been on another level. He is going to be high-owned so if you are someone who fades ownership heavily then look away but for Cash games.
Cellium: This is the perfect buy-low spot on Cellium. He has struggled his last three games and with this being on LAN. I'm confident he comes back with an absolute bang. During the Major 2 run, Cellium was a respawn god, as he held a 1.38 K/D in HP and a 1.23 in Control. His numbers on LAN are just insane. If there is anyone that isn't on Optic that you should have in your lineups it is Cellium. Plus we are getting him at a cheaper price compared to his teammates Abezy and Simp. I will always take Cellium over the other two when he is cheaper. Great spot with high potential.
Other captain plays: Dashy, Simp, Hydra, Sib, Attach
COD DFS Value Plays
Octane: It might be a bit of recency bias but Octane since the role switch that didn't affect him all too much has looked like the best on this team during the qualifiers. It was a very up and down Qualifiers for LAT but with the Major being on LAN, the human turret has his chance at making an appearance once again. During the last LAN tournament Octane averaged a 1.11 K/D in HP, a 1.15 in SnD, and a 1.08 in Control and helping his team to a solid second-place finish. At this price of 7,200$, he is a very good play for your GPP's. I wouldn't say he is much of a cash play because of how well Minnesota has been playing recently and the risk of them getting smacked around is there. High Risk but he can bring high rewards as well especially if LAT can string together a win to start the tournament.
Accuracy: 6,200$ is just too cheap to pass up, especially with how his recent play has been. He hasn't been the greatest on LAN but I really think Accuracy has figured something out recently and it has dramatically improved this team. He has been incredible and even if he doesn't quite live up to the 120+ he has dropped in 2 of his last 3. I think anything 90+ is a big win for his price. Especially if this game goes 5 rounds like I believe it does then that is a lot of points to be had and is going to make it difficult not to at least hit value. He isn't someone who I would just run as a one-off so I think pairing him with Sib or Pred is a critical play because if Accuracy is doing well, at least one of those guys is crushing it as well.
Other value plays: Arcitys, CleanX(GPP), Havok, Drazah, Pred, Scump
COD DFS Stacks
Optic Texas: An expensive stack but a well worth it stack. This is the only game I can see ending in a sweep. Maybe the Atlanta game as well but I can see Toronto at least stealing one map. I just can't find a spot where Florida can make something happen here. Optic is one of the best respawn teams in the league and their worst game mode may be SnD but it has been much worse of a game mode for Florida. Fitting two players and the team spot is likely going to be a critical play in cash games. They have the most likely path to an extra 45 points with a sweep and I just see that happening. Prolute is far too expensive, so I will not be playing him. He has been good but he has not been 10.4k good. Shotzzy for nearly a grand cheaper though? Yes, please. Dashy at 8.8k is great and Scump at 8.2k is fantastic as well. It is not necessary to get Prolute for that price because the only way he ends up being a good play at that price is if he drops 140+.
Other Team Plays: Atlanta FaZe, LA Thieves (GPP), Seattle Surge, NY Subliners
Summary
- TLDR: Seattle Surge 3-1/2, Atlanta FaZe 3-1, Optic Texas 3-0, LA Thieves 3-1
- Seattle Surge: Sib, Pred, Accuracy
- NYSL: Kismet, Hydra
- Atlanta: All
- Toronto: Cammy, CleanX
- Optic: Shotzzy, Dashy, Scump
- Florida: Owakening at most
- LA Thieves: Octane, Envoy, Drazah
- Minnesota: Attach, Havok
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