It's going to be impossible to make a good decision until you know these three things cold. Your roster, the cap, and how you score points. This article won't tell you who to select or what moves to make, but it will tell you what you're working with and how it's all going to work when prices land on August 26.
Like other fantasy formats, your roster, the cap, and the scoring settings are fundamental to how you compete. Everything else in MTC is a consequence of these three rules.
The roster: 12 players
Before the season, you select 12 players and start 9 every week. The shape of your initial roster is where the whole game starts. Your roster: 1 QB / 2 RB / 2 WR / 1 TE / 3 FLEX / 3 BENCH.
The core of your lineup is common to most formats and leagues: 1 QB / 2 RB / 2 WR / 1 TE. The 3 FLEX slots are where the flexibility and creativity come in.
With such a shallow bench, the decisions here actually matter. Do you roster a second QB? Or do you handcuff your stud RB? The answers carry a lot of weight.
I toyed around with kickers, D/ST, and IDPs but it jus...no I didn't lol.
12 slots, 9 of them start.
The cap: $100, and it moves
It's a simple math problem. $100 across 12 players leaves you 8.3 a player. Every player you get above 8.3 is funded by somebody below it.
Every player in the pool has a price, and there is no ceiling on it. Well, I guess technically you couldn't have a player cost more than $56, because you're required to fill out a roster and the starting floor for player prices is 4.0.
Prices will be published 14 days before kickoff, on Wednesday August 26. This is when the draft window opens and you can start selecting your team.
During the season, individual player prices are dynamic and can change up to $0.2 per week. Player prices are not static, and by extension neither is the cap. This is a legit market, driven by the number of managers adding and dropping each player. Get that handcuff RB when he's at 4.0 and watch your cap number jump if you move him off your team after his price has risen because the starter gets hurt. Similarly, keeping an injured player on your team for too long will hurt your cap.
Scoring: full PPR with two twists
Event | Points |
|---|---|
Passing yards | 1 per 25 |
Passing TD | 4 |
Interception | -2 |
Rushing yards | 1 per 10 |
Rushing TD | 6 |
Receiving yards | 1 per 10 |
Receiving TD | 6 |
Reception (RB/WR) | 1.0 |
Reception (TE) | 1.5 |
Fumble lost | -2 |
2-point conversion | 2 |
One note on that last row: 2-point conversions credit the scorer only. The rusher or receiver gets the 2, the passer gets nothing.
Twist 1: TE premium. TEs get 1.5 per reception instead of 1.0. TE is the thinnest position in fantasy, and the premium makes the position worth thinking about spending for instead of streaming.
Twist 2: the captain. One player each week scores at 2.0x. You can pick a new captain each week or ride it out with your guy.
The Call Sheet. Edit your lineup, select your captain, watch the points rack up.
Putting it together
Here's what those three rules look like when they collide. Every price below is made up. Real prices don't exist until August 26, so please don't screenshot these and quote them back to me in September.
$100 across 12 players is 8.3 a man. That's the baseline, and every decision you make gets measured against it.
Say there's an RB you're certain is the RB1 and he's $15. That's 6.7 over the average, and that money has to come from somewhere. Add him and you've got 85 left for 11 players, which is 7.7 each. One pick just moved everybody else down.
Except 3 of your 12 don't score. Fill your bench at the $4 floor and that's 12 for all 3, leaving 88 for the 9 that actually play, 9.8 each. Do both, that RB and the floor bench, and your other 8 starters still come in around 9.1. The stud didn't cost you nearly as much as it looked like he was going to.
Here's the catch though, and it's a real one. A $4 bench player is a 4.0 player. When your WR2 hits his bye in Week 9 or your stud RB tweaks something in warmups, that 4.0 guy is in your lineup putting up 4.0 numbers. Your bench is cheap because it's insurance, and insurance is only cheap right up until you need it.
So which way is right? Stack the starting 9 and run a skeleton bench, or spread it around and never have a hole? I genuinely don't know. I've run the backfill on it and I still don't know. Nobody does until prices land on August 26 and we can all see what things actually cost.
Before you go
One question, and I'd really like the answer: 3 FLEX spots, an all-flex bench, and no mandatory second QB. Are you carrying one anyway, or are you gambling on the bye? Hit reply and let me know, I read all of them.
If you know somebody who'd like this, forward it to the group chat. Somebody has to finish last.
Rob
Move The Chains
P.S. I'll probably start tweeting about it to see if we can drum up some more interest, follow along @witchykinkajou. Launch news lands at the brand page @mtcfantasy. Thanks for being here.