There have been strong rumours over the pre-season that a 'Top 18 Rule' during the Multi-Bye rounds (MBRs) will apply in SuperCoach 2013. This was due to the donut factory being overworked during the MBRs in 2012. While the rumours are quite solid, I have purposely avoided writing articles on this Top 18 Rule until formal confirmation was given. Unfortunately, this has not occurred and SuperCoach has yet to confirm either way. However, AFL Dream Team (now known as 'AFL Fantasy') have recently confirmed via an article: Bye Bye Dream Team Dilemma that they will introduce this Top 18 Rule, which means that SuperCoach will likely follow. The reason is that SuperCoach and AFL Fantasy are created by the same company, Vapormedia and traditionally they follow each other. On that basis, we can safely assume the Top 18 Rule will be introduced into SuperCoach 2013.
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THIS ARTICLE WILL BE UPDATED TO REFLECT CONFIRMED RULES (comment on: 09.02.13)
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Reading the article, it appears that the Top 18 Rule simply means that the:
Final score in a given MBR = Combination of your top 18 scores from your squad in each of the MBRs, regardless of the position.
The format of the MBRs in 2013 are as follows:
Based on the fact that your score will be the top 18 scores of the squad regardless of player position there will no benefit with the DPPs in the MBRs.
Captains in the MBRs
While I may need further confirmation, but if your captain is just the highest score in your squad then selection of your captain is not required nor will the captain loophole be helpful. Thus, you may want to get rid of the 'Floating Donut'. before the MBRs.
Floating Donuts in the MBRs
As mentioned above, there will be no advantage with the Captain Loophole, via the Floating Donut during the MBRs. In addition, there will be no advantage using the EMG Loophole component of the Floating Donut. The simple reason is it doesn't matter which player you start on the field as your SuperCoach score is simply the top 18 regardless if they are on the field or the bench.
Starters, Captains, Vice-Captains and EMGs in the MBRs
It appears based on the above logic, there doesn't appear to be a need to bother about which player to start on the field, who will be captain/vice-captain or who are the emergencies during the MBRs.
Bye Strategy in the MBRs
Based on the Top 18 Rule and the fixture in the MBRs, mathematically, we would want the following:
With all of the above, does it mean that the Bye Strategy is over and out?
I think the new SuperCoach Rules have diminished the Bye Strategy, however I think there is still some merits in picking round 13 players over non-round 13 players, all things being equal. For a background information, please refer to the article: 'Number 13'.
A quick simple example, is the decision to choose Cotchin (rd11) or Murphy (rd13). While Murphy is slightly cheaper than Cotchin, we assume they are the same, price, score the same and play the same amount of games. All things being equal, we should choose Murphy (rd13) over Cotchin (rd11), because at round 12, the person with Murphy who trades in Cotchin will not face a bye, but the person with Cotchin who trades in Murphy will face a bye in round 13. While it is not a major advantage, it is still an advantage.
Side Trading in the MBRs
This is a subtle but very important part of trading.
If you side trade a premium during the MBRs and others upgrades you are behind a premium which in the short term could mean nothing, but in the long term could mean a big disadvantage.
For example, if you trade Murphy (rd13) to Selwood (rd12) before the round 13 Bye and another team trades a rookie (rd13) to Selwood (rd12) then you are behind a premium. While you and the other team trade in Selwood at round 13, and therefore the amount of playing premiums at round 13 is equal, you are actually behind the other team. The reason is at round 14, the other team will bring back Murphy (rd13), while you bring back a player (rd13). You then decided to trade in a premium at round 14, but the other player may also trade a premium at round 14, which negates your additional premium. The other player will continue to trade until he gets 22 premiums, which means you will be on 21 premiums. The other player will stop at 22 premiums and at that round you will finally your 22 premiums. While initially the one premium might not mean much because your way of thinking could be that you will trade a premium in next week, however the problem is created when the other player also trades in a premium to negate you. It may take 5 round before you catch up with the premiums, which means 5 rounds of the other player of having a premium against your non-premium. While in an ideal world, side trading is not done, I done understand it may be necessary to side trade. However, just a friendly reminder to avoid this where possible.
Premium Midfielder in the MBRs
I wrote an article recently called 'Engine Room', which talks about the number of premiums you should start your team with.
The article was based on the normal SuperCoach format rather than the 2013 SuperCoach Top 18 Rule. I will have a think about this more in detail in January, but I think we will need to increase the number of midfielders.
Player Selections versus MBRs
This article is based on assumptions, which may be correct or incorrect, and thus when you need to select players on who you will think will score more. If you think Cotchin will score more than Murphy or Selwood, then you should pick Cotchin. For me, Cotchin, Murphy and Selwood could all score the same and out of them 3, it's a pick out of the hat who will score more and thus when I use these players in my examples, I mention the keywords 'All things being Equal'.
Remember to be successful in SuperCoach, you need to pick the player who you think will score more!!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THIS ARTICLE WILL BE UPDATED TO REFLECT CONFIRMED RULES (comment on: 09.02.13)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reading the article, it appears that the Top 18 Rule simply means that the:
Final score in a given MBR = Combination of your top 18 scores from your squad in each of the MBRs, regardless of the position.
The format of the MBRs in 2013 are as follows:
- Round 11: BRL, FRE, HAW, PTA, RIC, WBD
- Round 12: GEE, MEL, NTH, STK, SYD, WCE
- Round 13: ADE, CAR, COL, ESS, GCS, GWS
Based on the fact that your score will be the top 18 scores of the squad regardless of player position there will no benefit with the DPPs in the MBRs.
Captains in the MBRs
While I may need further confirmation, but if your captain is just the highest score in your squad then selection of your captain is not required nor will the captain loophole be helpful. Thus, you may want to get rid of the 'Floating Donut'. before the MBRs.
Floating Donuts in the MBRs
As mentioned above, there will be no advantage with the Captain Loophole, via the Floating Donut during the MBRs. In addition, there will be no advantage using the EMG Loophole component of the Floating Donut. The simple reason is it doesn't matter which player you start on the field as your SuperCoach score is simply the top 18 regardless if they are on the field or the bench.
Starters, Captains, Vice-Captains and EMGs in the MBRs
It appears based on the above logic, there doesn't appear to be a need to bother about which player to start on the field, who will be captain/vice-captain or who are the emergencies during the MBRs.
Bye Strategy in the MBRs
Based on the Top 18 Rule and the fixture in the MBRs, mathematically, we would want the following:
- Round 11 - 18 players with round 12/13 Byes rounds
- Round 12 - 18 players with round 11/13 Bye rounds
- Round 13 - 18 players with round 11/12 Bye rounds
With all of the above, does it mean that the Bye Strategy is over and out?
I think the new SuperCoach Rules have diminished the Bye Strategy, however I think there is still some merits in picking round 13 players over non-round 13 players, all things being equal. For a background information, please refer to the article: 'Number 13'.
A quick simple example, is the decision to choose Cotchin (rd11) or Murphy (rd13). While Murphy is slightly cheaper than Cotchin, we assume they are the same, price, score the same and play the same amount of games. All things being equal, we should choose Murphy (rd13) over Cotchin (rd11), because at round 12, the person with Murphy who trades in Cotchin will not face a bye, but the person with Cotchin who trades in Murphy will face a bye in round 13. While it is not a major advantage, it is still an advantage.
Side Trading in the MBRs
This is a subtle but very important part of trading.
If you side trade a premium during the MBRs and others upgrades you are behind a premium which in the short term could mean nothing, but in the long term could mean a big disadvantage.
For example, if you trade Murphy (rd13) to Selwood (rd12) before the round 13 Bye and another team trades a rookie (rd13) to Selwood (rd12) then you are behind a premium. While you and the other team trade in Selwood at round 13, and therefore the amount of playing premiums at round 13 is equal, you are actually behind the other team. The reason is at round 14, the other team will bring back Murphy (rd13), while you bring back a player (rd13). You then decided to trade in a premium at round 14, but the other player may also trade a premium at round 14, which negates your additional premium. The other player will continue to trade until he gets 22 premiums, which means you will be on 21 premiums. The other player will stop at 22 premiums and at that round you will finally your 22 premiums. While initially the one premium might not mean much because your way of thinking could be that you will trade a premium in next week, however the problem is created when the other player also trades in a premium to negate you. It may take 5 round before you catch up with the premiums, which means 5 rounds of the other player of having a premium against your non-premium. While in an ideal world, side trading is not done, I done understand it may be necessary to side trade. However, just a friendly reminder to avoid this where possible.
Premium Midfielder in the MBRs
I wrote an article recently called 'Engine Room', which talks about the number of premiums you should start your team with.
The article was based on the normal SuperCoach format rather than the 2013 SuperCoach Top 18 Rule. I will have a think about this more in detail in January, but I think we will need to increase the number of midfielders.
Player Selections versus MBRs
This article is based on assumptions, which may be correct or incorrect, and thus when you need to select players on who you will think will score more. If you think Cotchin will score more than Murphy or Selwood, then you should pick Cotchin. For me, Cotchin, Murphy and Selwood could all score the same and out of them 3, it's a pick out of the hat who will score more and thus when I use these players in my examples, I mention the keywords 'All things being Equal'.
Remember to be successful in SuperCoach, you need to pick the player who you think will score more!!
