How To Play Fantasy Premier League Draft

Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Draft is completely different to the original game – but what is it and how do you play?

We answer these questions below as part of our FPL Training Academy series, covering all the basics of the game.

Our How to Play FPLpage covers everything you need to know, with guides for complete beginners and managers who want to gain an edge over the competition and win their mini-leagues.

For everything else, including our tips on best players and expert team reveals, see our Ultimate Guide to FPL – there’s plenty of free information but for access to our best stuff and incredible toolbox, you’ll have to become a Hub member.

How to get started in FPL Draft

When you register, or log into your FPL account, you will be prompted to enter some basic details. These include your name and address as well as which team you support.

Once you have gone through this process, all you need to do it click on the ‘Draft’ tab to go this version of the game.

Just like the standard version of FPL, you will select a 15 man squad consisting of:

• Two goalkeepers
• Five defenders
• Five midfielders
• Three forwards

How do I pick my FPL Draft team?

You pick your starting 11 before each Gameweek. The deadline is the same as the regular game which is 90 minutes before the first kick-off.

Your bench is only used if one of your starting players does not play. You order your bench from one to three, so put your best player with the best fixture as number one so they are substituted in first.

One important thing to note is you can pick as many players as you like from a single Premier League team. In the regular game, you can only pick a maximum of three per team.

Also in this format, the players do not have prices. The way FPL Draft works is you cannot select the same player as another manager in your league.

Mini-Leagues in FPL Draft

In the FPL Draft game you are able to create two types of league:

Classic leagues

This is a standard league where the manager with the most points at the end of the season wins.

Head-to-head leagues

In each Gameweek, you will go up against another manager from your league and it will resemble the Premier League table. Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw, and no points for a loss.

If two or more manager’s league points are tied at the end of the season then the manager with the most overall points will win.

League size

You can choose to have a minimum of two and a maximum of 16 managers in a league.

However, it is recommended that you choose no more than eight to ensure all managers get a good distribution of the best FPL players.

If you join a public league then you will be entered into a four, six or eight manager league.

Draft date

The league admin will select a time and day for the Draft to take place. All managers who are playing will need to be present during this time.

It is recommended that you join at least half an hour before the deadline so you can make a list of players you are interested in and add them to your watch list.

What formations can I play in FPL Draft?

The formationstructure is exactly the same as the regular game. You have to play one goalkeeper, at least three defenders and at least one striker. Below are the valid formations you can set your team to.

3-4-3
3-5-2
4-5-1
4-4-2
5-4-1
5-3-2
4-3-3

Don’t worry too much about formations in this game though as you will likely be playing a different one most gameweeks due to the nature of the game.

How do players score points in FPL Draft?

The scoring system is exactly the same as the regular FPL game with one big difference. There is no captain option in the Draft format. A breakdown of the points scoring system can be found below:

Some important things to note:

• A clean sheet is only awarded if a player plays 60 minutes or more (does not include stoppage time). If a player is subbed off with a clean sheet, and his team then concedes a goal, his clean sheet will stay intact.
• If a defender or goalkeeper receives a red card then they will continue to be penalised for goals conceded by their team.
• An assist is awarded for the player who makes the final pass before the goal is scored, rebounds, own goals, and for earning a penalty or free-kick (and is then subsequently scored).

How does the actual draft work?

As mentioned above, it is highly recommended that you make a watchlist of players before your FPL Draft actually starts. This will make the selection of players much easier as you won’t be able to draft all the players you want.

When a player on your list gets picked by another manager, you’ll then know who the next priority is straight away.

If for whatever reason you don’t make your pick when it’s your turn in the allocated time, the game will automatically pick the player at the top of your watchlist.

Draft order

FPL Draft operates in a ‘snake style’ draft. In a snake order draft, the pick order is reversed each round to make it fair.

For example, if there are five managers and team A goes first in round one and team D goes last, then team A will go last one round two, and Team D will go first in round two.

1st Round: Team A, Team B, Team C, Team D
2nd Round: Team D, Team C, Team B, Team A

Rules during the draft

During the Draft, the league admin can pick a time limit for each manager’s turn. This can be set to 30, 90 and 120 seconds. If you do no pick a player in your allocated time slot then:

1. The game will pick the highest priority player from your watchlist who is both available and in a position you still require.

2. Or select the highest ranked available player in the Draft list in a position you still need.

Any new players added to the game less than 24 hours before the scheduled Draft start time will not be available. You can select them in the first waiver however after the Draft. We will talk more about waivers below.

How do I make transfers in FPL Draft 2024/25?

Once the Draft is completed and all managers have picked their desired players, you can still bring unsigned players into your team. In FPL Draft they are called ‘transactions’.

Waivers

This is where you put in a transaction request for a player. This process ensures all managers in the league get a fair chance to add players to their squad.

In a waiver, you are proposing to swap one of your current players for an unsigned player from the player pool.

When you make a waiver request, they will be processed (accepted or failed) 24 hours before the Gameweek deadline.

You can make any number of waiver requests you wish and you can also prioritise them.

The lowest ranked team in your league will get first priority on the waiver. However, if making a waiver before the season starts, the order will be the reverse of the Draft.

Once a waiver is successful, the manager in question will move to the end of the queue for that Gameweek.

Waivers are processed 24 hours before the Gameweek deadline.

Free agency

A free agency transaction is pretty much identical to making a transfer in the regular game where you will obtain that player immediately.

However, in the Draft version, you can make as many transactions as you like as there are no point deductions for making transfers.

Free agency mode gets activated after the waivers have been processed up until the Gameweek deadline.

Player States

Players can be in the following states:

Owned – An owned player is when he is already in a manager’s squad.
Available – This play is in the player pool and can be picked up via a free agency or waiver.
Locked –Locked players will become available for waiver requests at the following deadline.

How do ‘player trades’ work in FPL Draft?

In FPL Draft, managers can trade players with others managers in the same league. You can select your ‘trade policy’ for each individual league you are in. The options are:

1. League Admin approval – With this option trades are permissible but they can only be approved by the league admin. This policy is handy as the admin can keep an eye on any colluding or unruly behavior between managers.

2. Manager approval – This is another handy rule for preventing cheating and colluding. Trades are allowed however managers can vote for the trade to be accepted or not. If 50% of managers object to the trade then it will not be processed.

3. All Trades – With this option there is no approval process. You can trade with other managers and the trades will be processed instantly.

4. No Trades – You can opt for a no-trade policy which means you can only pick up new players from the player pool but not trade with fellow managers in your league.

The trade settings can only be set before the FPL Draft starts and cannot be changed thereafter.

If trades are not approved in instances one and two then approval will be accepted by the waiver deadline.

Making trade offers

Managers can make trade offers right up until the waiver deadline each gameweek.

If your league is set up for trade approval then the deadline will be 24 hours before the waiver deadline.

With a trade offer, you are proposing to swap one or more players to another manager in your league.

You can make trades with multiple positions but it must be like for like as to not break the squad rules.

For example, you can offer two defenders and one midfielder for two defenders and one midfielder.

You cannot offer two defenders and one forward for two defenders and one midfielder. The same player can be offered in multiple trade offers.

You can reverse your trade decision so long as the manager you have proposed to hasn’t accepted the offer. Once the trade is accepted, all other trade offers that involved the accepted players become invalidated.

If a trade is not accepted by the waiver deadline then it will expire. You cannot cancel a trade once it has been accepted.

Trade states

A trade can be in one of the following states:

• Proposed – This is when an offer has been made.
• Withdrawn – When a manager proposes a trade it can be rescinded as long as the receiving manager has not accepted.
• Rejected – A trade is rejected when the receiving manager rejects the trade offered to him.
• Accepted – A trade is accepted when the receiving manager accepts the offered trade.
• Invalid – A trade will become invalid when a player involved in another trade has been accepted.
• Vetoed – Trades which have been accepted by the manager but then vetoed by either the league managers or admin.
• Expired – If the receiving manager does not accept the trade by the deadline.
• Processed – This is a successful trade.

How does the captaincy work in FPL Draft?

As stated earlier, there are no captains in this game.

Player price rises in FPL Draft

The players in the Draft format are not assigned prices, therefore there are no price rises or falls.

What are the deadlines in FPL Draft?

The deadlines for FPL Draft work directly in conjunction with the regular game – 90 minutes before the first kick-off of the Gameweek.

As a consequence, all transactions, starting 11 and substitutes should be set before this time.

How do bonus points work in FPL Draft?

As mentioned earlier, the scoring system for FPL Draft is exactly the same as the regular game and that includes the bonus points system.

The FPL bonus point system is based on statistics supplied by OPTA. It is another important factor in the game because it’s not subjective and can be used to identify players who are ‘bonus magnets’ and those who are not.

The way it works is that players build up their bonus point score (BPS) figures throughout the match by certain actions such as, goals scored, assists, clearances etc.

At the end of the match, the players who have the top three highest BPS score get allocated between one to three extra points – three to the highest and so on.

Players can also get minus BPS for certain actions like being tackled, or receiving a yellow card. The full BPS table is below.

As the season progresses, it becomes clear which players are more likely to accumulate bonus points.

Players like Kevin De Bruyne always do well in this regard as they create many chances and provide a lot of ‘key passes’. Any type of attacking return from these players is likely to lead to bonus points.

Those players who get tackled frequently, and miss a lot of chances, generally will need more than one attacking return to get any bonus points.

Do we get chips in FPL Draft?

There are no chips at all in this format.

Double and blank gameweeks in FPL Draft

Double and Blank Gameweeks count in this game just as they do in regular FPL. The only difference is you will have to plan for them without any Wildcard or chips.

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