How to choose a Showdown captain

What the Captain does to the lineup

A DraftKings NFL Showdown lineup is six players from a single game. One of them is the Captain. That player’s score is multiplied by 1.5, and that player’s salary is multiplied by 1.5 before it counts against the salary cap. The other five spots are FLEX. They score at the normal rate and cost the normal salary.

Because the Captain costs more and scores more, the rest of the lineup has to live with what that choice leaves. A name you cannot build around is not a captain you can use. Getting this spot right is how the whole entry stays on one version of the game.

Start with the game script

Start with the game script, not the biggest name on the slate. A game script is the version of the game you expect: which side scores, and how those points arrive. A pass-heavy script points at the quarterback and the receivers who benefit. A lower-scoring script points at the runners and the defense.

The Captain should be the player who scores the most if that script shows up. The FLEX spots should agree with it. If the script is wrong, the lineup is wrong together, which is what it means to call the game before you pick the name. The captain we use on a given slate is that call, and it stays with NFL and Everything subscribers.

Keep the lineup on one story

Correlation means two players’ DraftKings scores tend to rise and fall together. On one game, that usually means teammates who benefit from the same scoring, and sometimes a player from the other side if that side has to answer.

The Captain sets the script. The other spots should still make sense if that script is right. A lineup of unrelated names can look balanced and still have no version of the game in which they score together. The useful lineup is the one that fits one story.

Cash games and tournaments want different captains

A cash game, including a double-up, pays a similar prize to about half the field. You need to clear the cash line. The captain that fits the script the contest is built around is the one that keeps you near that line.

A tournament, also called a GPP, pays most of the prize to the top. You need a higher ceiling, and you need the lineup to differ from the crowd in a place that can actually separate you. That difference is leverage. It is not a reason to ignore the script. It is a reason to ask whether a less popular captain still fits the game you called.

Why leverage matters

Leverage matters because Showdown multiplies one player. If that player scores and fewer lineups rostered him, you gain on the field from the points and from the 1.5 multiplier those lineups do not have. If he does not score, you give the points back just as fast.

In a cash game, chasing that gap is how entries miss the cash line. In a tournament, ignoring it is how a good score still finishes in the middle, because the popular captain scored for everyone else too. Call the script first. Then decide whether the popular captain is the one that script supports.

What a better captain process gets you

A clearer captain process leaves you with a lineup you can explain before lock. In a cash game, that is a real chance to clear the line without needing a script you never called. In a tournament, it is a way to be different only where the game can still support it.

You will still lose weeks. The public results include those weeks. They cover a small sample of slates, so read them as a starting point and not a promise of what happens next. Subscribers get the captain and the builds for the slate, filled into the entries file they upload.

Keep reading

• Showdown strategy
• double-ups
• Captain in the glossary
• how to play DraftKings
• FAQ
• how it’s built
• results
• NFL this week

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