Seven years of drafting, a “Draft We Must” league title, an “International Genie League” title and (most importantl) a Draft Community League Champions Cup title…it’s not often you get to brag about your Fantasy Football achievements so I’m grabbing this opportunity with both hands!
Why the (not so) humble brag? Well, my Togga/Fantrax experience has inadvertently landed me with my biggest and toughest task of all…qualification to the Draft Community Gold League and (in partnership with the Fantasy Football Community) I am tasked with writing about my experience. This is unarguably the toughest league and Twitter so I could genuinely finish dead last…hopefully not eh?
This week is a double header with Gold league clashes with @andrew6569 and @StkSuffolkA as well as an attempt to go 3-0 in the cup against @fpleezeya!
After 12 weeks we’ve achieved an astonishing first…back-to-back Gold League wins! My aim is to talk through my moves and motives more when I pick up a victory…which is why I haven’t done it very often so far!
My opponent Andrew had a run of bad luck himself this week, seeing Connor Gallagher go off ill/injured early on and being forced to start a benched Ryan Sessegnon. I was worried when Trent put up some Trent style numbers and Jadon Sancho assisted but I managed to go into the Fulham v Aston Villa game with a narrow lead, allowing Andreas Pereira and new(ish) signing Aleksander Mitrovic to do the business.
Checking in on the KDB trade, I’m still comparing Son to Salah and Olise to Harrison. As predicted, the two supposed big hitters scored an identical 6.5 points (Son had the trickier fixture) whereas Olise was absolute mustard against Wolves for Palace. When he starts (particularly at home) Olise is going to be a silky Fantrax menace with unlimited upside as was proven right here with a 20.5 point showing with one assist and five key passes. Lovely.
I’ve struggled to stream Goalkeepers in recent weeks but thought Gavin Bazunu was a good option for saves and a potential clean sheet at Bournemouth. For once, I was right on the money as the former City stopper saved three times on his way to a clean sheet and 17.25 points. It shouldn’t be underestimated how valuable a good goalkeeper stream can really be in Fantrax as it sets the tone for a good week and allows other assets to score more poorly than expected.
Andreas Pereira has started collecting the ghost points while the Mitrovic trade continues to be absolutely spectacular. Apart from a certain Norweigan meatshield, it’s hard to argue that Mitro is the best forward in the game right now. A score of 100.25 points is more than respectable and worthy of a comfortable victory to take us to 5-6.
The weekend arrived and it was back down to earth with a very, very heavy bump…
My opponent South Suffolk Analogue just seems to love facing my team. His side put up 125 in the GW2 hammering and was even better this week with an unbeatable 130.25, ensuring I faced the Gameweek’s highest score yet again this season. SSA is having a great season so far and sits third in the league with an 8-4 record. However, I’m sure he wishes he could face my side every week.
My goalkeeper choice was a good one once more and my Fulham lads delivered again in a big way, especially Pereira who is one of the form midfielders in the league right now. However, it was disappointing elsewhere, especially Olise and Sinisterra who are usually partial to the odd ghost point. Not this week.
At one point, I was within 11 point of SSA but a devastating few minutes where Saliba’s clean sheet disappeared and Maddison and Watkins scored meant I was miles behind by the time Kurt Zouma scored a goal that was SOMEHOW allowed despite the clearest handball since Diego Maradonna’s.
My score of 76.25 was once again underwhelming so there’s not many good streamers to speak of this week. However, I can take some consolation from the fact that I would’ve beaten seven other managers with my very mediocre score.
Actually, I’m not sure that is a consolation…
Next week I face @wrigavin who is the only guy in the Gold League unluckier than I am! Out of 108 managers, I have faced the third most points…Gavin is top of that dubious league table! Something has to give this week…
The Champions Cup – The title defence
Now we’re talking! This is becoming my favourite part of the week as all of the good luck I’m lacking in the Gold League is being gifted to me right here in my defence of the cup!
This week in “The Group Of Death” I took on fpl_eeezeya who (thankfully for me) had a similarly underwhelming week. My boys had enough (largely thanks to Pereira’s heroics) to ensure I went 3-0 (yes, three and oh!) and maintain that perfect start to my title defence. Getting out of this group would be an achievement in itself but the start has been perfect and I’m a few wins away from getting into those knockout rounds once again.
My next matchup is the toughest of them all as I face @FantraxFlukes who is at the top of the whole Community League with a league record of 11-1. Eek. Let’s hope the good luck continues here! I’m gonna need it…
Fantasy Football 92 