SuperCoach AFL Draft for dummies: Simple guide for new starters
If you play SuperCoach but haven’t tried Draft yet, you’re missing out on one of the most exciting formats in fantasy sports – where every player is unique, every pick matters, and your league feels more like a real-life coach’s war room.
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SuperCoach Draft is booming. What’s driving more and more players to try out this exciting format?
And how is Draft different to traditional SuperCoach Classic?
For players who are new to Draft, we have all the answers to help you embark on a journey that’s an addictive mix of strategy, banter and bragging rights.
Key to know is that Draft might seem like a more intense and difficult format to play, but in reality it’s generally simpler and more ‘real’ because each player picked is yours and yours alone.
Unlike Classic, where anyone can pick the same players under a salary cap, SuperCoach Draft is all about exclusivity – once you draft a player, they’re in your squad, creating fierce head-to-head rivalries and legendary league moments.
And each week there’s no need to worry about fluctuating prices and buying or selling players for salary cap gains.
It’s all about trading, holding or jumping on the waiver wire to boost your squad’s opportunity to win.
It doesn’t matter what a player is valued at – it only matters how much you value them and how much you can convince others in your league to trade with you.
If Luka Doncic can happen, anything can happen.
Winning makes it even sweeter, so whether you’re a SuperCoach veteran or a total newbie, here’s everything you need to know to pick the right format and dominate this season.
What is the difference between draft and classic?
SuperCoach Classic is SuperCoach’s traditional fantasy sports format where you select a squad of players within a set salary cap.
Your team scores points each week based on the real-life performances of the players you’ve chosen.
You can make trades throughout the season to improve your team, manage injuries, and adjust to player form or fixture challenges.
Classic is all about finding the best-value players and creating a balanced squad that can outscore the competition.
SuperCoach Draft takes fantasy to another level by introducing a live player draft.
The format is becoming increasingly popular in Australia with the rise of NFL and NBA fantasy games.
Each coach takes turns selecting players, and once a player is picked, they’re off the board –only one team can ‘own’ that player.
A Draft event can be anything from a big get-together with mates, with food and drinks and fun, to an online Draft that can be held over several days – ideal for players with busy lives.
There’s no salary cap, so your strategy revolves around making smart picks and managing your roster through trades and waiver wire pick-ups during the season.
The waiver wire lists all players not selected in your league available for selection before the next round. The pick order is determined by ladder position.
Key differences between classic and draft
CLASSIC:
Any team can select the same player within the salary cap
Focus on balancing your budget, trading, and finding the best-value players
Compete in leagues and overall rankings based on weekly points scored
Standardised rules apply across leagues
DRAFT:
Each player is unique to one team in the league
Build your team during a live draft and rely on trades and waivers for adjustments
True head-to-head competition where you face a different opponent each week
League settings can be heavily customised, including squad sizes, scoring rules, captains and bye-round formats
Both formats offer unique challenges and fun, but Draft’s player exclusivity and head-to-head battles make it a favorite for creating intense rivalries among mates.
Key tips
We have shared key tips from SuperCoach Draft expert writers including Alexie Beovich in recent seasons.
Here are some of the best.
PREPARE EARLY, DO YOUR HOMEWORK & MOCK DRAFT!
Every league has a stats nerd who has spreadsheets going and does arguably too much preparation, while there’s also the guy who does no study and just wings it at the draft. And while on occasion the guy who does no work can somehow still beat you, in my experience the players who do a bit of study usually perform better.
You don’t want to be the guy who hasn’t been paying attention to the pre-season news and drafts injured players. Try and have a rough plan for the positions you want to have covered in the first five or so rounds, and check out our draft rankings so you know which guys to prioritise.
The other best way to prepare is by doing mock drafts. You can join temporary mock drafts with other real people or with autodraft bots, and if you can join one with other people you can get a good sense of where players are being drafted. It can also give you practice for picking players under pressure, and also experiment with your draft strategy. It may also reveal some hidden gems who weren’t on your radar at all. Just don’t mock draft with your league mates or you’ll risk giving away some of your strategy!
DRAFT LOCKED-IN GUNS EARLY
I say it every year, but the early rounds if the draft is not the time to be making crazy picks or drafting someone on gut feel. The first 2-3 rounds should be reserved for only drafting the proven guns.
Every year there is some fool in your league who will take a punt on someone silly in the first few rounds and someone goes way earlier than they should.
By passing over proven guns for someone like this, you’re allowing your league rivals to get massive value from the players you passed on.
Make sure you spend your early draft picks on the best of the best. Don’t take any risks here.
FILL YOUR LOW-DEPTH POSITIONS EARLY
While you do want to take the proven guns early, if possible you also want to use your early picks to try and fill the key low-depth positions.
This is draft, so obviously once one of your rivals drafts a player, no one else can have them. So once the best options at a certain position are gone, you could be stuck with a very mediocre player there.
Now this doesn’t mean you should reach on a player and draft them earlier just to fill a position, but it does mean you need to be aware of the shortage of quality options at these positions when drafting.
LOOK FOR VALUE: DRAFT PLAYERS WITH UPSIDE MID-LATE
Now we’re getting into the real meaty part of the draft. While the first few rounds are important for loading your team with guns, the mid-rounds can truly decide who comes out of the draft with the best looking team. While the focus of the early rounds is getting guns, the other teams are also getting guns, so the midgame is where you want to fill out the rest of your spine, get some reliable base scoring guys and fill any gaps in your team. Often some of the players you land in these rounds can end up being some of your best pointscorers overall!
Make sure you keep your eye some players who you think will go later in drafts but have the potential to breakout, and don’t be afraid to finally take some risks here.
YOU DON’T WIN YOUR LEAGUE AT THE DRAFT
Now while the draft day itself is the most important day of the SuperCoach season, it isn’t the be-all and end-all, and if you fall apart at the draft it isn’t the end of the world. I have seen teams who have been forced to auto-draft due to unforeseen circumstances come back and win their leagues. The secret is to make smart trades and waiver wire moves throughout the season. Every year there will be someone who goes undrafted or is dropped and ends up being a SuperCoach league winner.
Not to mention that depending on your league settings you could still end up making finals with a losing record. You don’t need to necessarily finish first to make finals.
PAY ATTENTION TO OTHER TEAMS
You’ll want to keep a tally of who the other teams in your league have drafted and what positions they have covered, especially the people on either side of you in the draft. If you know that someone picking after you (and other teams picking before your next pick) all need a certain position player, then its probably not a position you can afford to wait on. And vice versa, if you notice all the teams around you have already drafted a key-position player, then you can probably afford to wait a while to draft one, because most people won’t be drafting two in quick succession.
PLAN YOUR DRAFT PICKS
It is imperative that you head into your draft with at least a rough idea of players you can 1) reasonably expect to land at your draft position, and 2) players you want in your team to fill key positions early. For example, if you have the third pick overall you can reasonably expect to get one of the key spine guns. But if you’re drafting at eight you’re more likely going to be looking at a fringe – or risky – star with your first pick. If you have done some mock drafts you should have a pretty good idea of who you can land at your draft position and know the kinds of players who will likely still be on the draft board when it comes back around to you.
It’s vitally important that you head into the Draft with a rough idea of players you want, positions you want to fill early and players you can reasonably expect to get with your draft spot. If you’ve done some mock drafts than you should be pretty confident of who you can get with your first pick and the players who are likely to still be available when it comes back around to you.
NAIL YOUR PLAYER ASSESSMENTS
Your pre-draft board is your best friend on draft night. Take the time to evaluate players, position depth, and rankings.
Create a Top 12 for each position in your league.
Expand that into a Top 30-50 overall board so you’re prepared to pivot quickly under pressure.
Go even deeper if you can – having a list of 100 ranked players will help you find steals in later rounds.
The goal is to stay calm and confident, even when the clock is ticking, so you can snag the talent you want.
HAVE BACK-UP PICKS IN MIND … AND BACK-UPS FOR YOUR BACK-UPS
While it is vitally important to have a plan of attack, it is also key to have a plan for when the unexpected happens. Sometimes someone will draft a player early, or someone you weren’t expecting to be available goes undrafted before your turn. Either way you need to have a response plan. Between each of your picks you need to be thinking about who you want to target next, and also have a back-up pick. And a back-up for that back-up. Many times in draft you will have one or two guys in mind for you next pick and they both get picked right before you. And you don’t want to be caught panic picking or reaching on someone else.
KNOW YOUR LEAGUE SETTINGS
Not all leagues have the same settings, and knowing how best to take advantage of these could completely change your draft strategy. Particularly with byes, some leagues could be considering drastic rule changes, or changes to team sizes.
Obviously, if your leagues opt to play during the big bye rounds, you want to avoid picking players from teams who miss two of these rounds. If your league has fewer than 10 teams in it, the importance of drafting players in the low-depth spine positions becomes far less important. And if your league has no captaincy, then the players who have reliable base stats become more valuable, or if you play in leagues with a custom league, some positions become even less important. It all depends on what your league looks like, but being prepared and having a plan relevant to your league settings could make a massive difference.
BONUS TIP - Have fun and enjoy your Draft Day!
And last but not least just as a bonus tip, don’t forget to have fun! While winning your league and shoving it in your mates’ faces is obviously a lot fun, don’t let it consume you and take it too seriously. After all it is just a game!
Originally published as SuperCoach AFL Draft for dummies: Simple guide for new starters
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