DraftKings Call of Duty: Friday Cheat Sheet

Games (EDT)

• 4:00 p.m. Los Angeles Guerrillas vs. Toronto Ultra
• 5:30 p.m. Seattle Surge vs. Atlanta FaZe
• 6:40 p.m. Chicago Huntsmen vs. Florida Mutineers
• 8:30 p.m. Minnesota Rokkr vs. Dallas Empire

LAG (3-11) vs. TOR (4-8)

It's been awhile since we've seen the Ultra, as the Toronto-based team hasn't played in a league tournament since the Florida home series all the way back at the beginning of May. Ironically, their last matchup was against the Guerrillas in a five-game set that ultimately saw the Los Angeles squad make it to the finals of the aforementioned tournament. I would be shocked if a similar elongated series didn't occur in this one, as both Los Angeles and Toronto are way too up-and-down to sweep an opponent.

Unless something drastic changes for the individual lineups (please Ultra, sub in CleanX), I think you're going to need to slot at least two players in from this matchup, and more than likely will mandate you use a captain spot on one of those players as well.

I'm going to lean Guerrillas as the series winner essentially by default, as I could see either team taking the win, but the most important part of this equation is how many games are played. Methodz is essentially the sole consistent slayer on the Ultra, whereas the Guerrillas have a number of guys that can go off in a given match. You're not necessarily stacking this contest, but when you have just three games to work off of from a DFS perspective, you also can't be picky.

Prediction: LAG 3-2

LAG Players to Target: AquA ($8,000), Decemate ($7,800), Vivid ($7,000)

TOR Player to Target: Methodz ($9,200), MeTTalZ ($7,200)

SEA (4-12) vs. ATL (15-2)

I say there's really only three games to work off of because, well, this is a lopsided contest. The legendary Karma announced his retirement last week in yet another low point for the Seattle franchise, who previously lost their final match of their respective homestand against an opponent they had beaten four times throughout the season. Pandur will slot into the starting lineup in his stead, but until their attitude and chemistry issues are fixed, it doesn't really matter who is starting.

Octane is one of the highest-priced players on this slate for a reason, as he's essentially the only consistent and reliable option left for the Surge at this point. I could see a tournament lineup featuring the superstar slayer as a roll of the dice in case this series gets to four games, but the unrelenting wave of poor attitudes, abysmal team chemistry and lack of motivation from Seattle have me thinking this will be a quick sweep in which no one will have much DFS utility.

Prediction: ATL 3-0

Avoid all players unless looking for contrarian plays, save for $3,000 FaZe Team

CHI (16-4) vs. FLA (9-8)

I'm a bit stunned to see the two highest-priced player's of Friday's slate come from the Mutineers, despite DraftKings easily favoring the Huntsmen. The latter makes complete sense to me, considering the Huntsmen did win the Seattle home series in their first official tournament with Prestinni in the starting lineup. But it's strange to see both Fero and Skyz so high despite any sort of success in their last tournament.

Complicating the matter further will be the addition of Owakening, who is expected to start this weekend in place of Maux. Arguably one of the premiere online slayers among amateur-level players, I fully expect Owakening to carve out a large chunk of the slaying production for his team. I'm not sure that matters much against the Huntsmen, who should win everything aside from perhaps the Search and Destroy, but we've seen in the past minimum-level players having a major DK impact even in a three-game series. That hinders the potential of Skyz and Fero further though, to the point where I'd rather have someone like Octane, who I know will produce even in a three-game series, if I felt like I needed to pay up for someone.

Prediction: CHI 3-1

CHI Players to Target: FormaL ($9,400), Scump ($7,400)

FLA Players to Target: Owakening ($5,400)

MIN (12-10) vs. DAL (13-6)

This is the hardest series to predict, and one that if I were setting a bunch of tournament lineups, would essentially be my pivot point.

There's three ways this series can go. The most likely scenario is the Empire continuing their dominance, particularly against a Rokkr team that has looked extremely flat in the last two tournaments. If that's the case, loading up on high-potential players like Shotzzy or Huke make sense as a one-off, considering a potential 3-0 shutout would fall right in line with three of the four projected outcomes Friday.

However, I'm not certain that's going to happen. The Rokkr absolutely need this tournament to rejuvenate some life into the rest of their season, particularly with a number of difficult matchups in the tournaments to come. It's also their home series, and while it means less considering it's played online, I still think it means "something", however you want to quantify it. A bad showing in this matchup essentially dooms the Rokkr to yet another mid-tier finish, so the pressure is on to pull out any sort of creative stops they might have.

There is also a minuscule possibility that the Rokkr ultimately win outright, particularly if claims of bad Internet connections continue to waft through the Empire. Even in that unlikely scenario you'd have to imagine the Empire win at least one map given their sheer talent differential, so it stands to reason using an assortment of Empire players works under any scenario, particularly with other matchups posing less-than-suitable replacements. Using a handful of Rokkr players in addition to the Empire comes with a massive risk, but the reward is certainly there if it somehow goes to a five-game series, and I doubt many people will be on this series with more attention grabbing teams like FaZe or the Huntsmen also a part of the slate.

Prediction: DAL 3-1

MIN Players to Target: Assault ($8,200), Alexx ($7,600)

DAL Players to Target: Shotzyy ($9,800), Huke ($8,400), Clayster ($8,200), iLLeY ($7,600)