Daily Fantasy Sports
Sharp App
Season Long Fantasy
Free Month
Wall of Champions
Discord

Counter-Strike GO – Playbook

Counter-Strike GO – Playbook – Player Selection – DraftKings

The most important part of building a lineup is how we choose to select our players.  We want to make sure that our lineups will capitalize on the most points we can gain. While not hurting our other players from also gaining points.  This page in the CSGO playbook will help you decide how to select players for your lineups. I am putting this in order from newest to CSGO DFS to more advanced If you missed part one and feel you know nothing about CSGO please start with part 1 (HERE).  Did you know that we have notes for most slates of CSGO? They are normally out around midnight eastern and can be found (HERE). We also have been working on projections to help make selecting the best lineup even easier and those can be found (HERE).

Player Selection-

With fantasy Counter-Strike GO being so fresh on Draftkings there is a debate on what the correct lineup construction will be. There have been several different approaches that have taken the top spot in larger GPPs.  I will discuss the options and when to use each build to get the most from it.  We are focusing on DraftKings because FanDuel is still new and their pricing is very different.  I will be bringing a section for FanDuel so keep an eye out once we start to gather more information.

To Stack or Not Too Stack-

While CSGO is a team sport, for DFS it can be looked at much more like an individual sport.  Unlike esports like LoL, a lineup can win without being full of stacks. It is also okay to put players from both sides of the match in the same lineup as both sides will get kills and be able to score points.  The best player from the losing team will normally outscore the 4th or 5th player from the winning team.

The most effective builds being played so far are a a 3,2,1 stack; 2,2,1,1 stack; a 2,1,1,1,1 stack; and 3,1,1,1 stack.  There have been other stacks that have also won, but these have been the ones most seen. One of these four builds will be the most optimal.  When looking at each number those are the number of players per team. A game with four teams from the team a through team d it would look like this for 2,2,1,1:

Team A, Team A, Team B, Team B, Team C, Team D.

Rules for 3-man Stack-

It is okay to stack a player against your players, but the exception to that rule is when you are stacking a 3-man.  For a team of three to score the most points they need to finish 2-0. There should be many kills, very few deaths, and the least amount of rounds played to get to 16 wins.  If your stack hits optimal then it will be very hard for the opposite opponent to score points and will hold the lineup back.

This also means three-player stacks are best in games where there is a high probability of a game going 2-0.  This is because of that GLA bonus that comes from not playing 30 rounds. If a player scores 100 points in the first two games they will gain roughly half their points in place of having to play map 3.  If the player were to play a game three that would require their team to have lost at least one map and that could hurt their kill/death average (KDA). A 2-0 win is more or less the same as a 3-0 win for the players.

Knowing the Team Dynamic-

Teams have five players with each player performing a role.  There are no specific roles that a player must play in-game,  While a player may normally play in a certain role its possible for roles to change in some games.  For most teams, the standard is the player who carries the team,  If this was football they would be the quarterback (player A). One close or equally good player.  They are the RB for a team (player B). The third player fills a lurking or clutch role or will be the team’s AWPer, This player is more of a WR (player C). There is a player who will help push and often goes first as a live bait type situation.  They protect the QB and RB much like the offensive line (player D). Finally, there is a player whose job is gaining intel and often is the in-game leader who is calling plays and rotations and would be a player-coach(player E).  

Who Do We Focus On-

The most likely to benefit us in DFS is player A, and Player B and these are who we will use as our 2-player stacks.  Player C and player D may be switched when the main AWPer for a team is not player A or B.  Player D can produce scores if their entry duels end positively for them by out skilling or outplaying the opponent. It is a very risky ask, and should only be used for extreme value. Finally, player E is seldom worth looking at.  There are teams where this may not be true, but generally speaking, this player does not go positive KDA.  They serve as a bank to buy better weapons for better players.

Who to Select for 3-man Stacks-

Player C fills an important role often in CSGO that can produce beneficial stats for DFS.  There is more risk from how the player is used in-game.  Player C who lurks is often alone and cut off from their team.  The lack of support relies on the player outperforming the opponent or being overwhelmed without scoring points.  On the terrorist side, player C pushes other bomb sites that are not being hit to distract the opponents on site.  That player may also wrap around for entry into the bomb site from another angle. On the CT side, they are often left on a bombsite with less help and are required to hold the first push by themselves.  If this player does well it often helps their team win, and it also racks up points. 

When player C is the AWPer-

Some teams use their 4th player to do the lurking and intel gathering. Their 3rd player’s job is to use a powerful sniper that costs the most of any used rifle in-game.  This player has the most range as the scope of the weapon and the power allows them to do accurate damage with one bullet.   It has the downside of having a slow setup time and is harder to use when in a closer range.  In situations where the 3rd player is also the AWPer for a team, it can sometimes be a good play to skip one of the top players and use the 3rd player to save salary.

How to Break This Into a Lineup-

When you are 3-stacking a team you will often focus on the players from players A, B, and C.  Some teams the 4th or 5th priced player, are the better play.  This is from the way pricing is laid out and not the role played.  The price is not a good indicator of what the players’ role is on the team.  There are also teams where the whole unit can be used as they all offer fantasy value upside.  For larger GPPs, some players D or E will have big games and produce large scores for a very low salary.