Live Lineup Changes is a genius setting for Fantasy EPL. The ability to change your Fantrax roster and make transactions DURING the gameweek adds a whole new level to your experience playing Draft Premier League. No more headaches about starting a rotation risk. No more worries about taking a punt on a random player ahead of the deadline. Live Lineup Changes allow for complete and utter flexibility in your Fantasy EPL starting XI. And it is amazing.
Read below for a deep-dive into Live Lineup Changes from a previously inexperienced user!
Live Lineup Changes on Fantrax
Having come from a "standard scoring" background using OFPL Draft or Draft Fantasy, we were used to a more limited game in terms of scoring and settings. Players only scored points for goals, assists, and clean sheets. Lineups locked at the start of the gameweek. That was the norm to us. That was the game.
So we can see the actual lineups before deciding our roster?... We can make transfers mid-gameweek depending on who is starting?... This is crazy.
When we made the long awaited move over to Fantrax for our Fantasy EPL fix, the Live Lineup Changes setting was pretty mind-blowing. "So we can see the actual lineups before deciding our roster?... We can make transfers mid-gameweek depending on who is starting?... This is crazy. Or maybe it's just how they play Fantasy Sports in the US!!"
We highly recommend making use of this genius setting in Fantrax. Read below to find out why!!
What Are Live Lineup Changes?
So what exactly are Live Lineup Changes? Well, lets break it down for you before delving into the many reasons why this setting is essential.
As we've mentioned above, you are able to see the actual real life lineups before each particular player is locked into your roster (either in your starting XI, or on your bench). Each individual player has a lock deadline of one minute before their particular game kicks off, rather than your whole team locking before the gameweek starts.
This means that you can wait until the lineups are announced one hour before kick-off, and then move players between your starting eleven or bench, as well as add/drop players from the free agent pool. Your star player got injured in the warm-up? Move him to the bench and replace him with a player yet to play. The player you punted on didn't make the starting eleven? Drop him to the free agent pool and pick up another streamer who is yet to play.
When that particular game kicks off your players from that game are locked either in your team or on your bench, and any free agents from those teams are sent to the waiver wire until the next waiver processing. This setting means that your starting eleven is completely flexible throughout the gameweek. You can adjust based on the lineups. You can adjust based on how your head-to-head match-up is developing. There are many tactical decisions to be made throughout the gameweek, which we'll explain below.
To make use of these settings you need lineups to lock one minute before each player's game, and players to be sent to waivers one minute before each game. These settings are taken care of it you select the Fantrax Default Scoring option when starting a new league on Fantrax. The below images display the required settings:
The "Lineups are locked at a" and "Lineups will become locked" settings are the ones you need to allow managers to freely move their players between their starting XI and bench:
And the "Automatically put players on waivers" and "Time before start of game(s) to auto-waiver players" are the ones you need to allow managers to add/drop players after the lineups have been announced. These options are on the Claims/Drops tab of the Transactions & Period header:
Why Live Lineup Changes Are Essential
We touched upon this during the introduction, but the ability to change your Fantrax roster and make transactions during the gameweek does add a whole new level to the Fantasy EPL experience. Once you use it, it will change your life. You'll never go back to the historic setting of having your whole roster lock at the start of the gameweek. Live Lineup Changes allow for complete and utter flexibility in your Draft Premier League roster, and here are the reasons why you need to start using this setting immediately.
No more headaches about starting a rotation risk. No more worries about taking a punt on a random player ahead of the deadline. Live Lineup Changes allow for complete and utter flexibility in your Fantasy EPL starting eleven. And it is amazing.
We'll be the first to admit that this all sounds a bit daunting to begin with. But once you use the setting, you'll understand how simple it is to use. Read below for the many reasons why Live Lineup Changes are essential in Fantasy EPL.
H2H Match-Up Constantly Evolving
Your gameweek head-to-head match-up is constantly evolving, which adds an extra level of excitement and drama. As you can adjust your starting XI during the gameweek, as well as sign free agents, your roster will develop over the course of the gameweek. Your roster could look completely different by the end of the gameweek, and your opponent's could do too!
Adjusting As Gameweek Develops
You can adjust your roster and strategy based on how your head-to-head match-up is developing. If you're heading into the final game of the weekend and you're winning by a small margin, you can change your team to cover your opponent's players. This works particularly well with defenders. Here is an example. You're 15 points ahead and Leicester v Burnley is the final game to be played. You own a Burnley defender, your opponent owns a Leicester defender, and a similar Leicester defender is a free agent. You can drop your Burnley defender for the Leicester defender and cover off any potential Leicester clean sheet!
Similarly, if you're heading into the final game of the weekend and you have ground to make up, you can change your team to take a punt on a more explosive player. Using the example above, after you covered the Leicester clean sheet, your opponent might realize they have a slim chance of victory. So they might drop a steady scoring Burnley midfielder to take a punt on a Leicester attacker who has been given a surprise start. Live Lineup Changes opens up so many different strategy options in real time.
Easier to Stream Players
Streaming players and taking punts is easier with Live Lineups Changes turned on. You can pick up a random player who features in one of the first games of the week, because you know that if he doesn't make the starting XI you can just drop him and move onto the next streamer. This is a key tactic when this setting is enabled. You need to have a couple of open streaming slots in your roster, as you will want to make use of them throughout the gameweek.
As we've said above, your roster is constantly evolving throughout the gameweek, and streaming players is key to this. Being ready and waiting for the lineup announcements the second they go live on Twitter is essential. In competitive leagues, as soon as an unexpected name makes a starting XI, he'll be snapped up within seconds.
Rotational Players Have Added Value
Following on from the above, rotational players have more value if Live Lineup Changes are in use. The back-up players from the bigger teams are largely worth owning, especially in 10 or 12 team leagues. You know that if these kinds of players start they are likely to score well. This setting gives them added value. Let's take Manchester City and Chelsea assets as an example. Owning their attacking players in a league where lineups lock before kick-off is a nightmare; you never know if they are going to start. This setting reduces the impact of rotation roulette, so owning attacking assets from these teams isn't as bad!
No Selection Headaches
A really useful aspect of the Live Lineup Changes setting is that it takes away a lot of the headaches in your team selection. Rather than deliberating over which Manchester City assets will actually play this weekend, you can simply see which players Pep has selected and act accordingly on Fantrax. All you need to do is ensure that you have a back-up option on the bench who plays after Manchester City, so that you can swap that player in if Pep benches your player. This is also good for your mental health; you don't need to stress about the starting XI you select!
Last Minute or Unreported Injuries Can Be Dealt With
Your player got injured in the warm-up? Your player misses out on the match-day squad due to a previously unreported injury? Your player comes down with an illness the morning of the game? These occurrences can be dealt with throughout the gameweek using Live Lineup Changes. If one of these things happen, you can swap the player who misses out with a player from your bench or the free agent pool. Its as simple as that. No more zero scores in your starting XI due to no fault of your own!
No Leaked Lineups
Leaked lineups and "in the know" Twitter accounts are the bane of our lives. They're often wrong and pretty much a waste of time. The Live Lineup Changes setting means there is literally no reason to use these boring, fake accounts pretending they know the lineups before they are announced. In Fantrax, all you need to do is check the official lineup when its announced (at the exact second if you wish), and act accordingly with your roster.
Being able to see the official lineup prior to your players being locked is the future of Fantasy EPL. It takes away a lot of the guessing and luck in predicting who will start, and enables you to act accordingly based on the official team news.
When Not To Use Live Lineup Changes
Despite the Live Lineup Changes being an amazing setting to use in Draft Premier League, there are of course some situations where you might not want to use it. If you have a Fantasy EPL league which spans across multiple time zones, it may give European players a distinct advantage. Managers in the West Coast of the United States or Australia/New Zealand could submit any lineup requests for their league commissioner to act on, but that takes a bit of effort, trust, and objectivity.
And speaking of the West Coast or Australia/New Zealand, this setting probably isn't going to be a good thing if your league is based in those locations. You don't want to be forcing your managers to stay up all night or wake up super early to see the lineups and change their Fantasy EPL team accordingly!
Using the auto-sub feature on Fantrax alleviate the issues mentioned above, and enable you to still make the Live Lineup Changes setting still work. If managers are in tricky timezones, if auto-subs are used then there isn't as much pressure to change your lineup whenever required! And speaking of less pressure, if your league is quire relaxed and don't want to be checking lineups constantly, then a traditional pre-gameweek lineup lock is probably best.
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