Approaching the new Champions League season, The FPL Manual shares his insights on how to play your season’s UCL Fantasy chips with the analogy of the popular business TV show – Succession.
🎶Champione Champione Ole Ole Ole 🎶
The UEFA Champions League officially return in less than a fortnight. Yet again we await the Clash of the biggest clubs in Europe as they dig it out for a place at the finals at Wembley, in June 2024.
However in order to be a champion, you need a plan, and a strategy to stand out from other teams or in this case other #UCLFantasy managers by knowing the right time to play your chips and gain an advantage over your mini-league rivals.
I will be breaking down the game chips, what they mean and when it appears best to use them.
We have two chips in the game:
🔹Wildcard
🔹Limitless
The Wildcard chip gives you unlimited transfers and could be used to remove the entire 15 players in a team and replace them permanently.
The Limitless chip also gives you not just unlimited transfers but also unlimited budget to select a new team just for a single matchday after which your original team will return to how it was previously. It is sort of like the Freehit chip in FPL but with no budget restrictions.
Note: Once you use any of your chips, it is gone for the rest of the season
The best time to use your chips in most cases is during the group stages as UCL Fantasy managers will get another free Wildcard by the Round of 16 and increased transfers in the latter stages.
So when do we play these chips?
Feelings a bit inspired by the just concluded Succession series, I have decided to name these strategies based on fixtures and possible team rotation ahead
🔹The Killer 💪
🔹The Diplomat 🍷
🔹The Loyalist 😇
Before I get into it properly, I would like to lay down some established abbreviations:
- Wildcard: WC
- Limitless: LL
- Matchday: MD
Never watched Succession? Don’t be frightened. This article helps to ease your understanding of which move best fits your risk appetite/character trait.
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UCL Fantasy Teams to Target
First of all, let’s deduce the major underdogs in the competition. These are the teams we want to target
- Group A – Copenhagen
- Group C – Braga/Union Berlin
- Group G – Crvena Zvezda/Young Boys
- Group H – Antwerp
Note: *any group omitted here have fairly tough teams*
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UCL Fantasy Chip Strategy
Strategy 1: The Killer (LL MD 2/WC MD 3)
Another synonym for “Kill” is to quash or smash. The Killer move is being a ruthless manager and playing your chips very early on in the game to attack the easier fixtures.
The plan here is to play Limitless in MD 2 and wildcard afterwards. Being a killer, you can pick a squad that plays against underdogs and capitalize on having a good start with the aim of getting rid of these players in MD2.
eg. Man City vs Crvena Zvezda. Triple up on City assets in MD 1, get rid of others except Haaland for MD 2 & WC them back in MD 3 So you get the idea, right?
Other examples:
- Young Boys vs. Leipzig: Triple up on Leipzig assets and get rid when they face City in MD 2.
- Barcelona vs. Antwerp: Triple up on Barca assets and get rid when they face Porto in MD 2.
After which you get to play your WC to get in-form players, though this appears optimal on paper but has a few cons which is planning ahead for MD 5/6 when a few teams have secured qualification and tend to rotate players after.
Luckily we get two FTs each Matchday, so this helps navigate that Pep-roulette headache coming
“FT” = Free Transfer
Strategy 2: The Diplomat (WC MD 3/LL MD 5 or 6)
The Diplomat is a tactful person, watches a few games and analyzes stats waiting for the perfect moment to strike and surprise everyone. The plan here is to wait for at least one MD and WC for MD 3 aware of the reverse fixtures in MD 4.
Let’s put this into context. MD 3 and MD 4 fixtures is just a few weeks apart from each other and both opponents who played each other in MD 3 get a reverse fixture the following matchday
As a diplomat, you are lowkey a killer in these weeks targeting weaker opposition who fell short in MD 1 & 2, then holding the LL chip to get away with team rotations ahead.
Probable games to target:
- Napoli vs U. Berlin
- Bayern vs Galatasaray
- Man U vs Copenhagen
- Porto vs Antwerp
Strategy 3: The Loyalist (WC MD 3/LL MD 6 or latter stages)
Heard the popular quote “Good things come to those who wait.”
The Loyalist is loyal to the course and not be moved by the killer or the diplomat, this manager is solely focused on the long run and waiting for his moment, Not a very popular strategy but it has worked for some in past seasons. The loyalist is also tactful so such a manager would either Wildcard in MD 3 or MD 4 and save the LL chip for much later when the unknown fixtures in the later stages are drawn or vice versa (LL MD3/4/WC later).
Oh but the Loyalist manager is not naive, there is room for opportunity to delay the WC till MD 5/6 or apply the Diplomat move and play the Limitless chip in one of these weeks.
Probable games to target:
MD5
- Bayern vs Copahegen
- PSG vs Newcastle
MD6
- Leipzig vs YB or
- Target Group F
In conclusion, there are a lot of strategies #UCLFantasy managers can use. Even some I may have not mentioned but this is centered around a Succession theme and best fits the narrative.
Also, feel free to use whatever strategy fits you best if any of mine is invalid 👍
Credit: Succession (2018-2023)
You can find UCL Fantasy resources for the 23/24 season here.
Hello everyone, I’m a Podcaster who recently discovered a new urge for writing new content on all things fantasy football with focus on #FPL, #UCLFantasy and #AfricaFantasy (Afcon Fantasy)
Feel free to read my articles and share for other fantasy managers to help them in their fantasy team