RADIO
Koby Hanson's DraftKings DFS lineup picks for Call of Duty on 7/18/21. 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 back to COD DFS! Not a great continuation to the week as Florida choking on SnD ruined a lot of my lineups and just did not score very well. London pulled off the upset and honestly I'm not surprised. Toronto did what they do best and swept Seattle as expected.
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! To end week 2, we have a great set of games as LA Thieves have looked to regain their momentum against Paris Legion, Dallas Empire gets a close fight against Minnesota Rokkr, and the age-old battle between Optic and FaZe look to light the fire again as they battle it out in tomorrows Marquee matchup!
Today I'll be bringing you my COD DFS advice, analysis, and lineup picks for eSports DFS contests on DraftKings for Sunday, July 18th, 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: Minnesota Rokkr Home Series
Best of 5
- LA Thieves (-750) vs. Paris Legion (+450)
- Minnesota Rokkr (+260) vs. Dallas Empire (-375)
- Atlanta FaZe (-525) vs. Optic Chicago (+340)
Slate Overview
LA Thieves so far has looked great in Stage 5, this team is looking pretty dangerous, and not many teams have been able to take a map from Atlanta recently and they now get Paris who is at the bottom of the leaderboard. This roster has looked probably the best it has all season even with all the changes they have continued to make. Drazah and Kenny have been great and Slasher is an elite AR. The game modes are favored towards the Thieves but I do give Paris a chance in Control where both teams have struggled. So I'll say 3-1 LA.
Minnesota has been a little bit overlooked and I think DraftKings has done that as well. They have made Priestahh, Attach??, and MajorManiak under 7k. I think this match ends up being pretty close so I don't necessarily get these prices. I give the edge of SnD to Minnesota and then both Hardpoint and Control could really go either way. So I definitely see this game going to at least game 4 and possibly even a game 5.
Atlanta and Optic. These two teams have gone at it for years and well Atlanta has definitely got the better of Optic in their last two matchups. That is probably the way it goes again. Optic has been playing well though so I'll give them a shot to win a map in SnD or Hardpoint they are going to have to be on their A-Game if they want to do that. And no way do they beat them on Control which is somewhere that Atlanta has been elite in and Optic has been awful in.
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: I can't believe this is happening but finally I put Simp back in the captain spot. He has been on an absolute tear and is no longer that top spot. 10.2k is still so much of a reach but this dude is getting it done whether it's a sweep or a 4 map match. He has been nothing but insane lately, He holds a 1.15 K/D in Hardpoint, a 1.12 in SnD, and a 1.26 K/D on Control and he currently has the highest K/D in the league at 1.18. Simply said he's a beast. It's going to be tough to get him in at captain but either way, he should be in your lineup especially when we get him at slightly less than the top price.
Drazah: I will continue to say it, Drazah is underrated! Now that he is in a solid spot in the lineup he has been tearing it up! He has had 111 vs NYS, 113 against London, and then 94 against FaZe in which they were able to take a map from them, something that many teams have struggled to do against FaZe. He now has a fantastic matchup against Paris who is ranked worst in the league along with Seattle. Drazah is in a great cheaper position to score well even if it does go to 4 maps he has the ability to score very well. I love the amount he has been in the hill as well, he has been getting 2-3 minutes of hill time in his last three matches as well and that can be an extra 12-20 points towards their final score. Slasher and Kenny are good options as well but I like Drazahs price the best!
Other captain plays: Cellium, Shotzzy, Kenny, Dashy(GPP), Standy (GPP)
COD DFS Value Plays
Arcitys: I don't get this price, like honestly. I get this is against a good team but the rest of the team is literally 9,800 or more so clearly Arcitys is a great value play. He has had 108 and 107 in their two wins over Optic most recently and he hasn't been playing horribly and as long as we get about 11-12x his price ill be satisfied with his score at 7,400$. Arcitys is going to be insanely high owned so he is definitely a cash play but he is probably the best value play on the slate. In stage 5 so far he has averaged a 1.06 K/D in hardpoint, a 1.60 K/D in SnD, and a 1.02 in Control. 7,400$ really?
Priestahh: Dallas looked very suspect in their loss to Florida. I think this gives hope to Minnesota. They have looked pretty good they took a map from Toronto. This game should be close and I think that it makes sense to grab one of these low-priced players from Minnesota. Priestahh or Attach are good options. In stage 5, Priestahh has been playing pretty well, he has 1.02 K/D in hardpoint, 1.17 in SnD, and 1.24 in Control. 7k is cheap and I think this match at least goes 4 maps which can be good for Priestahh who can definitely score well in this position.
Other value plays: Illey, Attach, FormaL, MajorManiak
COD DFS Stacks
LA Thieves: Atlanta of course is in a great spot and should be highly considered for a stack but there are insanely expensive, LA Thieves is a much more reasonable stack. They also have a great matchup against Paris who hasn't been great and are ranked worst in the league currently. You can make a much more affordable lineup with LA Thieves. My top options are definitely Kenny and Drazah they have been the most consistent and have honestly been the best on the team. Slasher is an elite AR that can take out from long range and if he gets the right maps he can make big plays. John has the experience but his price is just a bit too high for me, in the chance that LA Thieves sweep, John is a great option but I haven't seen or been impressed enough by John to grab him at 8,200. I do think they are the better team in every game mode though, they should definitely win in hardpoint, SnD they have been very good and even was able to beat FaZe on SnD. Control has been their struggle point though but it has for Paris as well. That one is close and I think is the most likely game mode that Paris wins in.
Other Team Plays: Atlanta FaZe, Dallas Empire, Minnesota Rokkr (GPP)
Summary
- TLDR: LA Thieves 3-1, Atlanta FaZe 3-1, Dallas Empire 3-2
- LA Thieves: Kenny, Drazah, Slasher
- Paris Legion: Temp? I guess?
- Atlanta FaZe: All Players
- Optic Chicago: Dashy, Envoy, FormaL
- Dallas Empire: Shotzzy, Vivid
- Minnesota Rokkr: Standy, Priestahh, Attach
More eSports DFS Analysis
More DFS Lineup Picks and Analysis
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