RADIO
Hello there eSports DFS enthusiasts, and welcome back to RotoBaller's coverage of Call of Duty DFS contests for DraftKings! It has been a while! The CDL was on a mid-season break and had a little Pro-Am Tournament this last week, something you might see me reference throughout the article. LAG somehow managed the most miraculous lower bracket run and won the Major 2 with a sub! However, when it came to the Pro-Am tournament they looked awful and got smoked losing all three of their play-in games.
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! Having that Pro-Am tournament was pretty nice to give us a good look at these teams right before the qualifiers and we aren't going into it cold with little to go off of. LA Thieves takes on London Royal Ravens in the first matchup, Optic Texas takes on the Major 2 champs in LA Guerrillas, and Lastly, the Pro-Am winners in NYSL take on the Atlanta FaZe in our final match of the day.
Today I'll be bringing you my COD DFS advice, analysis, and lineup picks for eSports DFS contests on DraftKings on Friday, May 13th, 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 Qualifiers
Best of 5
- London Royal Ravens (+140) vs. LA Thieves (-185)
- Optic Texas (-300) vs. LA Guerrillas (+205)
- NYSL (+188) vs. Atlanta FaZe (-260)
Slate Overview
LA Thieves made a role change and moved Kenny to a pure SMG role and Drazah back to a Flex role and it made all the difference in the world as they made it to the finals of the Pro-Am before losing to NYSL. They looked so much better all around and Octane has been playing much better as well. London on the other hand looked rough in the Pro-Am only beating the one Amateur team in their group stage. With Gismo going to the bench as well, they have brought on Harry. And to say I was not impressed would be an understatement. In fact, one of the group matches was this very game where LA Thieves won 3-1 and really could have won 3-0 had they clutched up in a very close SnD game. I think history repeats itself and we see LAT get back into form and get the Major 3 run started.
Optic Texas is still without Illey coming into the qualifiers and this time will have Prolute sub in for him instead of General as they had in the Pro-Am. This leaves LAG open for the upset. However, I think even with Prolute subbing in with very little time. The way LAG looked during the Pro-Am made very hesitant on them. They got swept by Boston and lost to both Paris Legion and Toronto Ultras Academy team 3-2. So give me Optic and Prolute to get the win. Illey is listed on DK but do NOT play him!
This is an interesting matchup. NYSL is coming off a great run during the Pro-Am and the switch from Neptune to Kismet looks to be a very good one. Unfortunately... DK didn't do us any favors and Kismet is not listed for NYSL so we can't even play him. Atlanta was looking like a solid contender but lost to Optic in the quarterfinals in what was a fantastic match. I think this match is a bit closer to a pick-em than the odds show. NYSL looked very good and could pose a threat during the Major 3 Qualifiers. Atlanta is always a team you can never go against because as soon as you do, they will come out and sweep. So having both sides of this game could be a good move. NYSL will probably be the higher owned of the underdogs. I do believe this game comes down to whoever wins the Control. So either 3-1 Atlanta or NYSL 3-2.
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
Dashy: Optic had a bit of an up and down Pro-Am but Dashy was the one consistent thing from this team. He crushed it as he had a 1.31 K/D in Hardpoint, a 1.53 in SnD, and a .94 K/D in Control. I love this matchup for him too, where they could either sweep LAG or end up with an extra hardpoint map that Dashy can crush on. He is a little bit more expensive at 9,600$ but from what I have seen he is worth it. He has a very high floor scoring at least 111 DKP or better in all but 4 games scored by DK this season. His ceiling is incredibly high as well as he has scored 130+ in 5 games as well. Shotzzy gets more engagements but Dashy is dying much less and it's all about that K/D!
Cellium: Kind of hard to avoid this guy, 9k and the cheapest of the big three for the Atlanta FaZe. The dude has been on fire this season and during the Pro-Am carried a 1.48 K/D in Hardpoint over 7 maps which is insane. He also held a 1.10 in SnD and a 1.47 in Control. Cellium has been a different breed and we should take advantage of it. This game could be a super close one and that can lead to a lot of kills for Cellium. Abezy has been struggling and I can't pay 9,800$ for Simp right now. This is a top-tier play and as long as he is around this low 9k range, I'll continue to play it.
Other captain plays: Envoy, Shotzzy, Simp, Hydra, Huke(GPP)
COD DFS Value Plays
Drazah: Drazah has looked to have benefited the most from the role switch with him and Kenny because he has turned up! He took a very slight hit in his Engagements but his K/D has improved drastically. He was averaging anywhere between a .80-95 during Major 2 but after the switch, he increased it drastically to a 1.16 in Hardpoint, a 1.14 in SnD, and a .92 in Control. We are getting him at a great price at 7,800$. He is the cheapest for LA Thieves but has been much better than Kenny K/D-wise and is cheaper than him. I do think LA Thieves wins too and that should be in part of Drazah playing much better as well as the whole team.
PaulEhx: I know the matchup is necessarily favorable but PaulEhx was a big part of their run during the Pro-Am and to see him as cheap as he is on DK at 6,200$. It's hard to pass that up. Especially with there being a good chance that this goes the distance. During the Pro-Am, PaulEhx averaged a .99 K/D in Hardpoint, a 1.43 in SnD, and a 1.07 in Control. He is just too cheap for someone I know can perform and break a slate. With how well NYSL has done recently, he probably will be decently owned so even if he fails to perform it might not be the worst-case scenario. But at that price, it is worth the risk.
Other value plays: Scump, Arcitys, Afro(GPP/Punt), Zero(GPP), C6
COD DFS Stacks
LA Thieves: With Optic having a new sub, and NYSL playing the way they are. I believe that LAT is the safest play for tomorrow's slate. And I really like the team other than Kenny who is getting a ton of engagements but he is also dying quite a bit so taking him is a bit of a risk. Envoy is quite expensive but has shown that he can have games where he is untouchable and break a slate. This year hasn't been very good for Octane but after seeing what he did during the Pro-Am I have been reassured that he is back. He looked incredible and like the Human Turret that we saw in MW and CW Seasons. Lastly, Drazah has been great since the role switch and is the cheapest on the team and a great place to start your stacks for LAT. London looked poor during the Pro-Am and did just recently lose to LAT as well.
Other Team Plays: Optic Texas, Atlanta FaZe, NYSL(GPP)
Note: Illey, Gismo, Gunless, and Neptune are all not playing for their teams! Do not play these players!!!!
Summary
- TLDR: LAT 3-1, Optic 3-1, NYSL 3-2
- LAT: Envoy, Octane, Drazah
- London: Afro, Zero
- Optic: Dashy, Shotzzy, Scump
- LAG: Huke
- NYSL: Hydra, PaulEhx
- FaZe: Cellium, Simp
More eSports DFS Analysis
More DFS Lineup Picks and Analysis
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