A beginners guide to playing KFC SuperCoach Draft
Looking for something to spice up isolation? Welcome to KFC SuperCoach Draft, where you become a list manager and experience the thrills and spills of your own draft night. We walk you through how to get involved.
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New to the game of KFC SuperCoach Draft?
You are about to embark on arguably the most enjoyable format of SuperCoach there is.
The exciting game allows SuperCoaches to play the role of a list manager and draft a side from scratch.
Unlike SuperCoach Classic, once a player is picked they are off the board – meaning there is only one Brodie Grundy, Max Gawn and Patrick Dangerfield to choose from.
Add inter-league trading between teams and you’ve got a SuperCoach game like no other.
There’s no better time to create a draft league – a draft night with a host of your mate’s being the perfect way to spice up isolation.
Lock in your own draft night (lets face it – we’ve all got plenty of time on our hands) and experience the thrills and spills of this fun-filled format.
And don’t worry about the season having already begun – you can start your SuperCoach Draft league with no issues!
Let’s walk through how to get involved.
REGISTER FOR SUPERCOACH
If you haven’t registered for SuperCoach 2020, you’ll have to do that first.
Those that already have, jump to the next step!
CREATE OR JOIN A LEAGUE
In order to play SuperCoach Draft, you must create or join a league.
But before you do that, you need to choose a team name – if you aren’t happy with the name, you can change it later in settings.
If you wish to create a league of your own, it can be either ‘private’ or ‘public’. In a private league, you’ll be the league commissioner and you need to invite the people you wish to play with to your league. A public league will be advertised on the site, open for anyone to join until all spots are filled.
To join a mate’s private league, simply click the ‘join a league’ tab and type in the six-digit code.
For those that can’t get a group of friends to commit to a draft league, don’t worry, you can still play! Join a public league of your choice by browsing the unfilled leagues on the ‘join a league’ page.
And you can play in up to five different draft leagues with five teams, using the ‘Switch/Join league button once you’re in a league.
CUSTOMISE YOUR LEAGUE
Now, it is time to customise your league for the season ahead!
PUBLIC LEAGUES
Unfortunately, there are less options at your disposal when customising your public league, but you still have control over most features.
As league creator you have the ability to:
– Name your league
-Set the number of teams included (any even number fmo 4-20)
-Decide how your season will be structured (ie. When head-to-head games/finals begin)
-Decide how many players each team has to draft
Oh and perhaps the most important role of all, choosing the draft date and time.
There are eight different squad and field options to choose from varying from 12 total players to 22.
In the draft each player will have 60 seconds to take their pick, with a ‘snake’ draft order. In a public league, the player with pick No. 1 will have the last selection of the second round (pick 16), the next player will possess pick 2 and 15, and so on.
If you run out of time, a player will be auto-selected for you.
You’re on the clock.
PRIVATE LEAGUES
Private league creators – listen up. There are a host of ways to innovate your draft experience to suit you and your mates.
You are able to customise all the settings of public leagues plus a stack of extras everything from when finals in your league begin, to allowing a rolling lockout from when games kick-off on the weekend.
As private league commissioner, you have greater flexibility with the draft night and options with scoring and trading rules.
As the boss of your own private league, you are able to decide:
-The draft type, order and how long players will have to select
-Scoring options such as rolling lockout, captains/vice captains, auto-emergency
-Trading between teams in your league and the trade waiver wire
-Whether you wish to make your league a ‘keeper league’
We go into further detail about these features below.
TEAMS, TRADING AND GAMEPLAY SETTINGS
Yes, there are even more ways to make your league unique.
You can choose whether your league has captains (scoring double points), a rolling lockout and automatic emergency for non-scoring players on field.
Likewise, you can choose whether members within the league can trade players, and a host of options for selecting undrafted free agents once the draft is completed.
Advice: Keeping trading is a must with the ‘up to five players’ setting – it makes for a very enjoyable season when league members aren’t afraid to hit the trade button.
DRAFT SET-UP
Along with the draft date and time, private league creators can play with other features of the draft. These include how many players each team will have to draft, the time allotted for each team to make their selection and the order of proceedings in the draft.
The draft order is possibly the most confusing and important part of the process, so we’ll give it an in-depth look.
How the draft order is set out will depend on which order you select “linear”, “snake” or “banzai”.
Let’s see how these orders will look in a 10-team league.
In the linear order, getting the first pick is the greatest advantage, with the order of picks staying the same each round.
First pick will have selections No. 1 and 10, second will have No. 2 and 11, and so on.
In a snake order, the player with the first pick will then have the last pick of the second round.
For example, if you had the first selection in a 10-team league and chose Collingwood ruckman Brodie Grundy, you would have to wait another 19 selections until your next choice at pick 20.
You would then have another selection at 21, before waiting until No. 40 for your fourth draft pick.
This is why having a pick somewhere in the middle can be an advantage if there is no clear standout.
In that same league, someone with pick five could snare Carlton beast Patrick Cripps and Swans defender Jake Lloyd with their second pick at No. 1.5
The banzai format is like snake until the end of Round 2, but instead of reversing again in Round 3, the selections stay the same as Round 2. It then returns to a regular snake order. Yep, it confused me too.
Essentially, it means player with pick No. 1 will also have pick 20, 30 and 31.
Ultimately though, how the draft pans out will depend on what those before you select.
WARNING: Just don’t let the timer run out and auto-select a player – as The Phantom did with his first pick last year, selecting Tom Mitchell who was sidelined for the season with injury.
KEEPER LEAGUES
One of the interesting options here is making the league a keeper league.
In this form of Draft, teams remain the exact same across however many years you wish to play together.
It brings different tactics into play; do you draft for the now and try to win this year’s flag, or instead do you draft for sustained success?
It makes young guns like No. 1 draft pick Matt Rowell and breakout contender Hugh McCluggage more valuable.
The Draft
Following the admin work, now it’s onto the part we’ve all been waiting for – the draft.
This will begin on the date and time you or the league admin has selected. Be sure to put it in your diary.
Here you will draft the players who will fill your team and make or break your season – so draft carefully!
FINAL WORD
Enjoy what is sure to be a bumpy ride as you battle injury, form slumps, draft regret, failed trades and everything in between.
Best of luck for the season ahead, and happy drafting.
MORE SUPERCOACH NEWS:
KFC SuperCoach is back for the 2020 AFL season restart - with bonus trades
KFC SuperCoach winners and losers from AFL COVID-19 shutdown
Tim Michell reveals his five Round 2 trades for KFC SuperCoach