Draft strategy: Auction, Standard scoring, Superflex, more
Applying yesterday's post to various formats
I really appreciate the positive feedback to yesterday’s big strategy piece. It hasn’t even been up a full day, but you guys have clearly engaged with it and seemed to really like it.
As I talked about in the intro, the focus was on “home leagues,” or situations with softer ADP than some of the high stakes work I do. That said, I love that exercise because it helps me in those high stakes leagues and tougher draft environments. In that exercise, I’m basically saying, “What are the things I think are most important?”
In an environment where ADP is soft enough that I can basically execute any build, what would that build be? From there, I can start to formulate opinions on the more difficult stuff, where sacrifices have to be made. “OK, I feel strongly these are the things I’d love to execute, but I can’t do all of it, so here are the adjustments I’d make.”
That general line of thinking is important to consider when trying to relate the strategy to all different formats, not just more difficult draft rooms. I’ve already received a ton of questions about how things would change for different league types, and I want to give some specific feedback, but I also want to say that broadly, the goal is the same. As I wrote yesterday: “How we can plan to maximize draft capital while building in adequate roster security and also not sacrificing legitimate league-winning upside.”
Scoring system doesn’t change the pockets of value, or where there might be value late, in a major way. Different auction formats aren’t going to change that much either — you’re just thinking dynamically about where your budget goes. Ultimately, in a season where a certain type of build smashes, it smashes across all formats.
That said, while we’re always looking for outliers, and outliers will hit regardless of format, there are undoubtedly still unique elements. We’re also thinking probabilistically, and the way outlier-ish upside can manifest changes for different profiles, and that influence to the range of outcomes does impact the strength of the bet. It’s a tricky balance, but I just wanted to start by saying I’m probably making smaller adjustments for format than many would think.
But because I’ve already gotten a lot of questions, let’s talk about some of those adjustments. Below you’ll find sections for Half PPR, Standard, auctions, Superflex, Superflex auctions, and two-WR leagues.