This article is part of our DraftKings Rocket League series.
DraftKings contests for Rocket League are up and running featuring the three major regions: North America, Europe and Oceania. Slates have been featuring matches from Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS), which are played in either a best of three, five or seven format. The lineup is relatively simple, featuring $50,000 for four players, including two captains and two flex players. The captain slots will give you 1.5x fantasy points, though costing 1.5x salary, while the flex spots give the standard number of points.
Scores are based on any in-game metric, with more points weighted towards goals, saves and assists, with bonuses for scoring three of any of the above, and added points for high-shooting players. With this in mind, you want to aim for both high-scoring and high-shooting players; teams such as Europe's Renault Vitality lead the league in both goals and assists, while coming in second in shots. While you want to generally pick from the winning team, saves are valued at the same level as assists, and picking players from a team such as AS Monaco or eUnited, who both averaged over six saves per game, could prove to be fantastic value.
When building your roster, you want to keep in mind how important it can be to utilize the captain spots for players you are confident will score a high number of points. With a full $50,000 for only four slots, you can afford to splash the cash for your double captains and look for value picks from less favored teams in your flex spots. It may be worth it, for instance, to pick two superstars such as Fairy Peak and Kaydop for your captain positions and look for a value player such as Arju or Relatingwave, whose prices may take a hit due to being on less favored teams.
You also want to be particularly aware of both sides of the match in Rocket League. Though Spacestation Gaming vs. G2 Esports may look like a fiery match on paper, in reality you could end up with some very tightly contested low-scoring matches like the North American finals (1-2, 0-1, 1-3, 0-3). On the other hand, a match between perhaps sloppier teams such as Ghost Gaming and Cloud 9 could bring in huge points (2-1, 4-1, 2-4, 2-1, 7-1).
The final, and perhaps most important part of Rocket League daily fantasy contests, might be finding the players that link up well. Whether it be Renault Vitality's Kaydop and Fair Peak, Cloud 9's Torment and Gimmick, or any other pairing, the key to success will be finding a combo where you're getting points for the a whole play. Picking two players who have that telepathic connection can see you netting points for a save, an assist, a shot and a goal, all in one sequence.
This is by no means a comprehensive guide to daily fantasy Rocket League, but if you are looking to make your first leap into it, this should help. If you have specific questions or thoughts about matches, you can join our discord chat, which is available for all RotoWire subscribers.
