RADIO
Koby Hanson's DraftKings DFS lineup picks for Call of Duty on 4/22/23. He analyzes the COD slates and top lineup targets for eSports DFS contests.
Hello there eSports DFS enthusiasts, and welcome back to RotoBaller's coverage of Call of Duty DFS contests for DraftKings! Day one did not go as planned, I had way too much faith in a Legion team that is notorious for not doing well on LAN and I still fell for it. LA Thieves made fools of Minnesota and Optic handled Boston. Atlanta FaZe did what they normally do on LAN and ended up making Seattle look silly. We have a smaller slate for Day three but they should be great games especially those who are still in the winner's bracket.
This is easily one of my favorite sports to cover here at RotoBaller because I play a ton of COD myself and I like to think I'm pretty good at it as well. I have been following the COD League for about five years now and finally get to put all this knowledge to the test! First up we have the Toronto Ultra taking on the Florida Mutineers, after that, we have a couple of titans going against each other as LA Thieves take on the Atlanta FaZe, and lastly, we have the NY Subliners looking to spoil Optic Texas's win streak.
Today, I'll bring you my COD DFS advice, analysis, and lineup picks for eSports DFS contests on DraftKings on Saturday, April 22nd, 2023, at 1:30 PM EST. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @DFSKoby or find me in Discord as I am happy to engage with readers and try to answer your questions!
Call of Duty: Major Four Day Three
Best of 5
- LA Thieves (-115) vs. Atlanta FaZe (-115)
- Optic Texas (-170) vs. NY Subliners (+130)
- Toronto Ultra (TBD) vs. Florida Mutineers (TBD)
Slate Overview
This is going to be the chalk pick of the day, Both of the other games are dead-even in odds whereas this one looks to be a blowout. Ultra is the defending Major Three champs and they might have got off to a rough start during qualifiers but to lose to Florida would be one of the biggest upsets in recent memory. I just don't see it happening, Ultra looked very good in their first game against Boston Breach today where they sent them packing. The duo of Scrappy and CleanX is just going to be too much for this young Florida team. I'll say 3-1 bc Toronto has struggled in SnD, but I think we all know this has a very good chance at a 3-0.
This matchup is a seriously tough one. On one side, I want to say FaZe comes out and dominates as they usually have when it comes to playing against Thieves on LAN. But on the other, I just think Thieves is the better team right now and has only gotten better whereas I would say FaZe has some flaws and regressed a bit. I believe Theives are the better Hardpoint team and have improved in SnD quite a bit. I think this one still goes to game 5 but I'm leaning towards Thieves closing it out this time around.
NYSL looked insanely dominant against Vegas yesterday and that makes this matchup that much harder because it's hard to pick a side with Optic being so good at the moment. Optic has won 11 of their last 12 games including a 3-1 win over NYSL during the Stage 4 qualifiers. My gut says go with Optic, so that is the direction I'm going to go. I do think this could go five maps though, so in the end you just need to have the best overall player from either side.
COD DFS Basics
- Like in CSGO, players receive two points for a kill and are penalized -1 for dying. Therefore, the most straightforward stat to look at here is the K/D ratio.
- You need to roster a team slot on both sites. Teams accrue fantasy points for games won (+4), matches won (+10), and Search and Destroy/Control rounds won (+.5).
- Teams will be playing best-of-five matches on a rotation of various game modes. Those modes and the order in which they are played are as follows: Hardpoint, Search & Destroy, Control, Hardpoint, Search & Destroy.
- In hardpoint rounds, players with positive K/D ratios are usually the highest scorers and these rounds are often the bloodiest.
- They also have changed the game mode from Domination to Control for League play. This will be a lot different in gameplay as it's round-based and not the first to 200. They play first one to three round wins. You win by capturing both points or killing the enemy team until they run out of their lives. One team defends and the other attacks.
- There is a sweep bonus this year as teams and players both can get a 20-point player sweep and a five-point team sweep. In the chance they do sweep, they also get granted a bonus of 20 points for not playing hardpoint and a bonus of five points for not playing the final Search and Destroy map. So that adds up in a sweep to a total of 45 extra points, which will be very crucial this year.
Did you know RotoBaller has a Premium DFS eSports subscription?
Like what you read today? You can show your support for Koby by using promo code KOBY when purchasing an eSports Premium Pass. You get 10% off and full access to all of our Premium eSports cheat sheets, DFS research tools, and optimizer!
COD DFS Captain Considerations
Dashy: He is back on his game. He looked phenomenal in their matchup against Boston on Thursday as he went +32 on 96 kills. He is the most expensive of the Optic players but has shown to be well worth it on LAN as during Major 3 he averaged a 1.15 K/D in HP, a 1.23 in SnD, and a 1.02 in Control. Dashy is the clear option to start all Optic stacks. Shotzzy is a solid pivot if you are looking for something a bit cheaper.
Scrappy: With the high chance of a sweep being possible here, you have to get Scrappy. He has shown to be by far the best player on Toronto and the clear front-runner for Rookie of the Year this season. Although Toronto had a poor qualifying run, Scrappy still averaged a 1.09 in Hardpoint, a 1.00 in SnD, and a 1.20 in Control. Florida is just playing the spoiler at this point and I don't believe they will have anywhere close to the success they had against Vegas.
Other captain plays: Shotzzy, Cellium, Octane, Hydra
COD DFS Value Plays
Kenny: Kenny paid off yesterday, so why not continue to ride the hot hand especially with him as cheap as he has been? He gets a tough matchup against FaZe but with how well he has played in stage four so far, I'll take another shot on him being one of the great value plays of the tournament. He averaged a 1.23 K/D in HP, a 1.07 in SnD, and a 1.14 in Control during the qualifiers. He also went +8 on 90 kills during their matchup against Minnesota on Thursday.
Priestahh: This one might be on the risky side of things but Priestahh continues to not get very much respect from DraftKings. He has a tough matchup but if they play the way they did yesterday against Legion, they have a chance to play spoiler against Optic. I expect this game to go at least four maps but hopefully, we get five for the full effect. In their matchup yesterday Priestahh finished +18 on 49 kills. All we need is for Priestahh to go positive in a close game and it'll pay off his price.
Other value plays: Skyz, Drazah, Huke
COD DFS Stacks
Toronto Ultra: Insight looked good in their first LAN matchup of Major Four. This is going to be much needed for a loser's bracket run from Toronto. Scrappy and CleanX have already shown to be the top players for their team but they need Insight and Hicksy to complement them to return to the Major Three form. They get the perfect matchup to warm up for the rest of the weekend. I believe this will end up being the 3-0 we need to get the slate started off right. It will be chalky but it is the safest team to get the win tomorrow.
Other Team Plays: Optic Texas, LA Thieves, Atlanta FaZe
Summary
TLDR: Toronto 3-0/1, LA Thieves 3-2, Optic 3-2
- Toronto: Scrappy, CleanX, Insight
- Florida: Capsidal
- LA Thieves: Octane, Kenny, Drazah
- Atlanta: Cellium, Simp, Abezy
- Optic: Shotzzy, Dashy, Huke
- NYSL: Hydra, Priestahh
More eSports DFS Analysis
More DFS Lineup Picks and Analysis
RotoBaller Testimonials
Readers of RotoBaller's eSports DFS articles have been winning money on DraftKings and FanDuel regularly. Some of them are winning contests daily and bringing in some serious cheddar. Check one out below and lots more here!
Did you read a RotoBaller article and win too? Send us your screenshots on Twitter @RotoBaller and we'll add it to our winners Hall Of Fame!
Had a member of slack take down the Insomnia Special last night. Pretty cool seeing that @RotoBaller logo up at the top! #Esports #LOL #Draftkings pic.twitter.com/S5FFRSUNB1
— "Thunder Dan" Palyo (@ThunderDanDFS) April 16, 2020
