The World Cup is up and running and so is the fantasy game. With four games played every day, quite a few players from teams must have played already, giving you a decent understanding where your team stands with respect to others.
As discussed in the last post, the WC fantasy game is quite different to the Premier League version, and one of the points of disparity is chips.
The chips available at your disposal are:
- Wildcard: Unlimited transfers for the GW
- 12th Man: An additional player scores points for your team but this player cannot be substituted or captained. No budget/team restrictions apply.
- Power Captain: The highest scorer for the gameweek automatically becomes the captain
The natural question to ask is, what is the best time to use these chips? Well, good for you, that is exactly what this post addresses.
Wildcard
This chip is the only one we absolutely 100% recommend using during the group stages. The game format provides for a de facto wildcard between GW 3 and GW 4, i.e, between the last group match games and first knockout round.
Now, one thing to note is the usage of language by FIFA when describing the chip. It “will allow you to make unlimited transfers within a specific round”. “Within”.
This means that we can continue to make transfers even when the gameweek has started, unlike FPL, where the team freezes.
Given that a team must have been optimised before GW1 keeping at least the next two matches in mind, GW3 seems like the best time to play this chip.
GW3 also seems like the best time for teams who have mathematically qualified to rotate their squads. And a WC chip allows us to play that rotation.
12th Man
The knockout stage seems like a good time to use this, with a slight caveat. We have an underlying assumption that at least one team will get a relatively easier fixture. This chip will allow us to get four players from that team.
Alternatively, if two outsider teams play each other in the KO rounds, their players will likely not make your fantasy team. However, this chip allows us to gamble on one of their players as a differential.
Power Captain
The way the game is played, virtual managers can change captains if their initial one has not performed well. With group stages, and even the first few KO rounds being played over multiple days, we can maximise our captain points that way.
The trouble arises at the business end of the tournament, with very limited captaincy options during Semis and Finals. We never know which player decides to own the stage, but Power Captain allows us to keep the armband free and wait for that player.