Fantrax Strategies to Be Cautious With

No one wants to come last in their Fantrax leagues. Being out of the title race/playoff chase early in the season stings. Playing Fantasy EPL in Fantrax will allow managers to adopt all sorts of strategies/or lack thereof that will influence their league standings. I am here to give you sure-fire strategies that will certainly send you to the bottom of the table and that you should avoid at all costs! Click here for details on how you can access our 23/24 Draft Kit.

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Fantrax Strategies to Be Cautious With

Here we find a collection of Fantrax EPL strategies to be cautious with, courtesy of our Draft Genie!

Draft and Hold

Draft and hold is not the most common strategy but I see it every single season - even in some of the most competitive leagues. "Draft and hold" is when you make no trades are not very active on the waiver wire or in free agency. Not trading is one - and I wouldn't advocate it - but the big issue here is the lack of activity after the draft. Players get injured, rotated, lose their spot, enter poor form, or maybe even switch teams! Making sure you are constantly adjusting your roster accordingly is very crucial.

I have seen teams hold players for way too long. Matt Doherty is the perfect example. His first start wasn't until October 8. That is quite some time to hold a defender with no guarantee that he will ever play. After 3 successive starts, and a high score of 12.5, his next start was December 26. I saw multiple managers roster him basically until mid January. What a waste of a roster spot. Managers unwilling to change their teams will suffer in the long run. Again, I am not saying you must trade, make big drops, or must submit 15 waivers a week. But I am just insisting that being inactive is almost a surefire way to come in last place in your league. Even with a busy life, be sure to check in on your team 1-2 times a week just to see if any changes need to be made - whether it be trades or free agency pickups to improve your chances for that week or the near future.

"It's a Long Season"

This is an oft-repeated phrased used in so many leagues. Managers always use this to justify their interesting pickups/holds, not starting a full XI, or playing defenders/goalkeepers with questionable matchups. I personally am very against this logic/thinking. It encourages taking unnecessary losses and holding average players that might only be slightly better than others on the waiver wire. Every matchup matters in my opinion, and the biggest way to ensure you have a chance to win each week is to simply start 11 starting players. There are obviously a few exceptions to this. Your first round pick like Salah/Bruno isn't in the XI but obviously these players can score 15+ from the bench so it may be worth the gamble to play them from the bench. It goes without saying but if one of your top assets gets a late injury and you have no backups, then it definitely isn't worth dropping an elite player. Lastly, it's a blank gameweek and you can only start 9 players or you must drop players that are providing you great value every week. In these cases, the drop also isn't worth it.

Holding on to average players that don't start the last game of the gameweek simply because you worry someone else will pick them up is not the right move. Say a player like Dan Burn isn't starting in the final game of the gameweek. While he is a solid asset, his 7.1 PPM isn't going to change the course of your season. You would be better off trying to win your gameweek, especially if you are within 15-20 points, by dropping Burn for another starter.

Injured players also fall into this category. You will see me hammer home this point in multiple articles, but players hurt for 6 weeks or more that aren't elite/secondary elite assets are not worth holding. Especially if it's during a busy period like Christmas. That player could miss 8 starts or maybe more. Having an open spot to pickup in-form players or ones with good matchups will be a much better solution to keep you at the top end of the table.

Relying on Name Value

Love this topic. Name value refers to players who have done well in the past or were taken early in the draft and hold a certain amount of value just because of their name or maybe even the team they play for. Relying on this rigid valuation can see you plummet down the table fast. The biggest thing here is to not fall for big name players and over pay for them in trades when they are seriously underperforming. The likes of Sterling, Mount, and Sancho are all examples in which managers seriously overpaid for them last season because their name means they are "too good to stay this bad" - this thinking almost always ends poorly for managers.

A key thing to remember is that each season is a clean slate for players and teams. Sure, you have to predict who will do what come draft day, and those that have consistently performed for years in a row should be safer picks, but there is still uncertainty around most assets. Don't get sucked into draft day value as being the only value that matters - remember Lingard was taken between rounds 4-5 in most leagues last season, and the likes of March and Almiron largely went undrafted. Trading and pick ups need to be based on the current season, or current patch. If you want to buy low on a top asset be sure they have at least shown some signs of life in this current season and that their manager still fully trusts them before going all in. You will usually need to overpay for name value even when said player is underperforming, and this in itself is a strategy than can cause you to finish bottom of the table.

Getting Emotionally Attached

Many managers are guilty of this, myself included. You just don't want to let go of a certain player no matter how good the trade offer, or how bad the form/injury. At the end of the day this is a fantasy game, and while rostering your favourite assets is a lot more fun, it isn't always the right move. I will admit to being very guilty here when it comes to United assets, my boy Demarai Gray, and even the former starlet Dele Alli. Either I refuse very beneficial trade offers or I just can't cut them loose despite not starting for 6 straight games. This strategy actually has lost me quite a few games, either due to missing out on a trade that I will never be offered again, with my players decreasing in value and the others increasing, or me being stuck with starting a non-starter and losing a gameweek by 5 points (yes that happened just last year).

By trading away or dropping your favourite players you aren't all of a sudden losing faith in them, you are just doing what is best for your roster. Sometimes this is the way that you need to go. You can still cheer and enjoy watching that player, even if it may be more fun to see them do well on your team. Don't get caught up in the emotions of being a fan, and remember this is a game you are trying to win!

Being in Too Many Leagues

I'm guilty as charged on this one. Sometimes managers miss the Fantrax season so much they sign up for way more leagues than they can handle. Obviously Fantrax isn't the top priority in life, and you need to be able to be active and competitive in the leagues you choose. Being in 4+ leagues is likely too much. You need to set waivers for 4 teams, make gameday swaps for 4 teams, and deal with trade offers for 4 teams. It is a lot to handle, especially if you know you have other major life commitments. During the mid-week games this is where you really start to see managers struggle. Whether it be school, work, practice, or family-life managers will miss midweek swaps at least once.

Being in too many leagues means 1-2 of them will always take a backseat. It isn't really possible to equally devote your attention to all of your leagues when you start to reach 5-6 leagues. The ones you prioritize will get most of your time and attention, while the others you may be fighting just to stay out of the relegation zone. Of course you will prioritize the leagues in which you are doing better because who doesn't like to win? But this also isn't fair to your commissioners or your fellow managers who are hoping to compete with all active teams. My recommendation for newer managers is to start with 1-2 leagues then see how you do. At most I don't think any manager should be in more than 4 leagues.

Tips for Staying Alive in Your League:

• Always Set Waivers - Make sure to check when your league's waiver wire dates are, and for any in-season changes. The most important waivers of the weeks are always the first run after the gameweek. Be sure to set in motion any necessary moves up so you don't miss out on easy targets.

• Don't Give Up Early in the Season - Being near the bottom after 6 weeks isn't a great start, and sometimes managers just lose hope and put the league on the backburner. There is still time to make amends and potentially climb your way into a playoff spot or a money pay-out spot. Keep making changes, trades, and staying active to see what you can do, and at worse learn for next season.

• Stacking - I have a love-hate relationship with this strategy. When done right it can be successful, when done wrong it can be detrimental. Be sure to check out my Free Agents FC articles to see my advice when trying to stack.

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