Akis with his rules and strategy for UCL fantasy

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Here’s Akis with his rules and strategy for the UCL fantasy which starts today.

Akis with his rules and strategy for UCL fantasy

This is an article for this years UCL Fantasy which launches tomorrow. UCL Fantasy can add a little more Fantasy games “adrenaline” to your lives and may certainly fill the “midweek blank” before we submit our FPL teams for the weekend. :)

I hope you find it interesting and will be glad to have your views on the UCL Fantasy too.




Tips & Rules

Managing your team

One very important (if not the most important) aspect of the game is that “After all matches on a single day have finished and before the next matches start” substitutions or changing your captain is allowed. Therefore, the bench does count. Of course players must be selected from both days so as to have available subs in the bench. So, please prefer the “manual” substitutions against the “automatic”.

No bonus point system exists, however there are minor bonus addition in the rules this year:

– 1 point for every Goal scored from outside the box (in addition to points for scoring)
– 1 point for every three balls recovered

The above are important, but I do not believe are enough to boost the underrated midfielders who are not heavily involved in scoring goals/assists. It is still my opinion that spending too much in midfield is a mistake (except for midfielders with proven goal-scoring ability like Mane, Salah, Sterling, Son (who were classified as forwards last year).

One GK a day: Do spend on two good/reliable (definitely starters) GK to always have two opportunities to earn clean sheet points.

One Captain a day: Plan your captaincy wisely. It is a must that you have an alternative captaincy plan if your captain fails during the first day.

The total value of your initial squad must not exceed €100 million, and €105 million from the round of 16 onwards. Player prices will remain the same until Matchday 4. Upon completion of Matchday 4, player prices will change depending on performance: It is what it is, so do not worry about player prices!

Rotation is not too often in the Champions League – especially the big names. It is very difficult for a Messi, a CR7 or a Lewandowski to sit on the bench.

However, rotation is highly possible on the last Matchdays of the group stage. It is an option to use the wildcard at this time – even though many players prefer to keep it for the knockout stages to minimise impact of surprises or elimination of their players.

Champions League, unfortunately, has become a league of “giants” against “dwarfs”. The group stage is very easy and provides no surprises. The likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Real Madrid often “smash” their poor opponents and this is something that everyone should have in mind when selecting players. A hat-trick hero or clean sheets are not so unusual in the group stages, especially when the “dwarf” will face the “giant”.

Overspend in attack. CR7, Messi, Lewandowski can score “big” in a good day. That’s a fact. Last year Messi scored 12 goals, 3 assists in 10 appearances with an amazing 5.4 spg! Lewa followed with 8 goals in 8 appearances with 3.3 spg and CR7, Aguero, ended the competition with 6 goals and a couple of assists.

Value for money Defenders. Defenders do earn points and should definitely have priority against mid-priced midfielders. As said, it is very easy to have a clean sheet against teams that do not have the quality to compete in the highest level. Finding the attacking defenders is always an extra bonus.

Transfers

The rule states that you can make two free transfers between Matchdays and only one free transfer can be carried forward between Match-days. So, if you have made only one free transfer then the other transfer will be carried so that next Matchday you have 3 free transfers. However, if you don’t make any free transfers, only one of the two transfers will be carried forward to the next Matchday.

So there is an opportunity to make 3 free transfers every two Matchdays and thus to materially change your team. This is an important factor in terms of long-term strategy. Moreover, it seems you must use at least one transfer every Matchday since you are not ever allowed to carry two free transfers.

Unlimited transfers are allowed between group stage and round of 16, so do not worry for the future – just build a team for the group stages.

Be reminded: No free transfers can be carried forward once the knockout phase begins, but there are plenty of free transfers available during the knock-out stages so as to properly manage your team.




My Strategy

The UCL Fantasy is not a marathon. It may not be a sprint either, but imo a good start definitely matters – especially if you consider that template teams will appear in the game format, particularly in the 3 forwards upfront (depending on the fixtures). So my “ground-breaking” strategy” aims to have my team lead the run from the beginning.

MD1: The best possible team for MD1 only.
MD2: Play the “Limitless Wildcard” aiming only for MD2
MD 3-4: Teams will face same opponents (home/away) so it is wise to prepare a team for this MDs set. If I will have a decent team (basis MD1) I will use my free transfers to minor twist my team. If not, I will use the Wildcard aiming mainly for MD3-4.
MD 5-6: Use of free transfers wisely. Consider a -4 hit point to avoid high rotation obstacles during MD6.

I know it is an aggressive strategy with a lot of risks but it has been designed to earn as many points as possible during the first 4 crucial Matchdays. According to my experience the rotation during MD 5-6 can jeopardise the use of a Wildcard, while the absence of some big names during MD6 may lead to low scores and not drastic leader-board changes.

As said, you have unlimited transfers to build a team for the beginning of KO stages and enough transfers onwards to work around your team even without the use of a Wildcard. Obviously, a wildcard is always a shield in the late KO stages against surprises, but there are not plenty of them in the UCL and I believe that the free transfers allowed during the KO stages will be enough for me to always have a decent team and keep the advantage I would (hopefully) have earned during the first Matchdays.

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https://gaming.uefa.com/en/uclfantasy

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