RADIO
Koby Hanson's DraftKings DFS lineup picks for Call of Duty on 7/14/22. 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 final Major of the year! The only thing left is Champs at the beginning of the next month and that will be it for this year's COD season! Last weekend was not our best, so I am hoping to recover for the final couple of weekends we have left! Only Atlanta FaZe and Optic Texas have clinched their spots in Champs so it is anyone's game for the final six spots. Everyone except for Paris Legion anyways who will look to play spoiler and ruin a team's year.
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! We have some great games to start us off for the Winners bracket side of things. First up we have London Royal Ravens looking to continue their hot streak against a struggling Toronto team. Boston Breach takes on the Florida Mutineers who are both fighting for their lives in the bracket and this game is going to be a critical win for one of these teams. Subliners look to get their first win at a Major this season against a Minnesota Rokkr team that has been all over the place. And lastly, we have the Atlanta FaZe taking on the LA Thieves who need every win they can get, let's see if they can pull off an early upset.
Today I'll be bringing you my COD DFS advice, analysis, and lineup picks for eSports DFS contests on DraftKings on Thursday, July 14th, 2022, at 1:30 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 4 Qualifiers
Best of 5
- London Royal Ravens (-130) vs. Toronto Ultra (+100)
- Boston Breach (-145) vs. Florida Mutineers (+110)
- NY Subliners (-190) vs. Minnesota Rokkr (+145)
- LA Thieves (+245) vs. Atlanta FaZe (-375)
Slate Overview
I expect this first matchup to resemble their most recent matchup. London has yet to sweep anybody because they have been awful at Control. Lucky for them they have been elite in HP and SnD. Where they only have one loss on each of those modes during the qualifiers. Toronto on the other hand had a weird qualifying stage only making the winners bracket by the skin of their teeth. They beat Optic but Optic has also looked fairly bad at this stage as well. I think London takes this 3-1 once again and move on to the next stage.
I feel as if I was a bit wrong on saying Vivid coming in for Capsidal was a mistake, I still feel like it was but it seems to have worked out for the time being for Boston Breach as they went 4-1 during the qualifiers with the only loss coming in another brutal beatdown by the LA Thieves. Florida won the games they needed to even if they were close as they could be. 3-2 wins over both Paris and LA Thieves scored them a spot in the winner's bracket and now have a tough task in Boston Breach whom they have lost to twice in previous Majors. Florida likes to play spoiler but they might have to do that in the losers bracket because Boston is playing excellent COD right now. I think this ends in a 3-1 for Boston but wouldn't be surprised either to see it go all 5 games. Also, DK says that Davpadie is back in the lineup, I haven't seen any news of this so I would just be safe and not take him if you choose to go the Florida route.
NYSL had a fantastic qualifying stage as they almost went undefeated before coming up short against the LA Thieves on the final map. My only issue with this team is they always look great during the qualifying games and then absolutely fall apart at the Major. They don't have a single win at a Major this season! They get a scrappy team for their first matchup against the Minnesota Rokkr who is also still fighting for a playoff spot. Both teams' weakness has been Control by far and I think NYSL is the better HP team. It comes down to SnD, I really think Minnesota can pull off the upset and NYSL has just been so hard to trust on LAN this season. I'm going to say Minnesota 3-2 with little confidence. Also, DK has Clayster listed on the NYSL team but Hydra is playing after a short stint with Covid. So don't play Clayster.
I want to pick the upset and think LA Thieves can pull it off and they almost did at the beginning of the qualifiers but this is LAN and Atlanta is built differently on LAN. They have made three consecutive Major Finals so it's hard to predict the upset. I won't say they will but I don't think LA Thieves go down without a fight. The odds seemed just a bit skewed. They have played well on SnD lately and so I do think if they can pull off the first SnD map they can at least force a game 5. Atlanta 3-2 but the upset is live, LA Thieves still have so much to play for being on the bubble.
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 a 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 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: Looks like he is back after a few performances that aren't up to his usual play The last two games he has dominated scoring 148 and 125 in those games. He is a nice 9,200$ so nothing to completely break the bank for you. Unlike Simp at the top there for a rough 10.6k price. Cellium has led his team during the Stage 4 qualifiers with a 1.22 K/D in HP, a 1.58!!! in SnD, and a 1.23 in Control. If there is anyone you should roster from Atlanta it is this man right here! In their two most recent games with LAT, he had scored 132 and 105. Both of which are fine scores by me. He is a lock-in 9/10 lineups.
Gismo: We all saw how London played without this man. He turned this team around overnight it seemed like. Leading them to a 4-1 record during stage 4. He is a bit pricy at 10k but I do feel like the value on this slate is good enough to get him in there and still feel good about the rest of your lineup. Gismo has averaged a solid outing during Stage 4 with a 1.15 K/D in HP, a 1.17 in SnD, and .82 in control where London has struggled to get a win all stage long. What he lacks in control he has made up in Hardpoint though. Paired with Afro is one of my favorite stacks on this slate.
Other captain plays: Nero, Attach, Octane(GPP), PaulEhx, Owakening(GPP)
COD DFS Value Plays
TJHaly: TJ has been playing extremely well during Stage 4 scoring 100+ in all 4 of their wins. He had 62 against LAT but we don't need to talk about that, they got smoked. This is a great price on a great player in what should be a bloodbath of a matchup. He gets plenty of points on the hill averaging nearly an extra 15.7 points per match during their wins in Stage 4. TJ has averaged a .96 K/D in HP, a 1.22 in SnD, and a solid 1.10 in Control. This team is playing well together and it seems TJ has benefitted from the change in the roster. 6,800$ is cheap, especially for being on the team that is favored.
Afro: I have been off and on with Afro this year. Seems like the opposite happens whether or I tout him or not. If you believe in superstition take the opposite but if not and want the stats, then Afro is being slept on. He has been decent at hardpoint with a 1.00 K/D during the qualifiers as well as having a 1.09 in SnD, and a team-leading 1.09 in Control. Toronto has struggled and if London can figure out their Control woes, then Afro seems like a solid play at only 7k. Value is light on this slate, take it where you can.
Other value plays: Havok, Abezy, CleanX, Drazah(punt)
COD DFS Stacks
London Royal Ravens: I believe a lot of people will automatically just go to FaZe as their main stack so I'm moving away from that and going straight to London. I hope it doesn't bite me in the ass but if they can continue their play from Stage 4 then I believe they have what it takes to take down Toronto. They did it once in 3-1 fashion because of how poor their play has been on Control. HP and SnD however have only two losses between the two game modes. They are an elite HP team and have been a solid SnD team. The return of Gismo has elevated this team into a contender again and if they want to continue to make a run at it then they need to prove they got what it takes in round 1 here against Toronto. Gismo and Afro are my top plays from London with Zero following right behind. Nastie is a bit too expensive for me for his inconsistent play but he has a high ceiling and I don't mind a shot on him in a couple of lineups here and there.
Other Team Plays: Atlanta FaZe, Boston Breach, Minnesota Rokkr
Summary
- TLDR: London 3-1, Boston 3-1, Minnesota 3-2, Atlanta 3-2
- London: Gismo, Afro, Zero
- Toronto: Cammy, CleanX
- Boston: Nero, TJHaly, Methodz
- Florida: Owakening, Skyz
- Minnesota: Attach, Havok
- NYSL: PaulEhx, KisMET
- Atlanta: Cellium, Abezy, Simp(pretty damn expensive though)
- LAT: Octane
More eSports DFS Analysis
More DFS Lineup Picks and Analysis
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