Fantasy Premier League: How to use the new features in the 2015/16 season

With modified rules and three bonus items, the Fantasy Premier League has an all-new avatar for the 2015/16 seasonThe rapturous applause that nearly takes the roof off, the adrenaline rush when the ball ripples into the net, the rage when a rash tackle comes to greet a player from your beloved club, the English Premier League. It’s all coming back. Not even a fortnight to go for the world’s favourite league to come back and make our weekends worth it again. But the Premier League no longer comes alone. It brings with it the world’s most played and most loved fantasy game - the Fantasy Premier League. More than 3 million people signed up for the game last season and the numbers are expected to spike even higher.However, this season’s Fantasy Premier League was launched more than its mere share of fanfare. The game has also provided us with a few changes in its rules and the introduction of three “Chips” that is sure to get the strategic minds go on overdrive. Lets’s take a look at each of these new features and analyse how they might affect your usual strategy and gameplay.

#1 Change in Wildcard policy

Wildcards allow you to make any number of changes without a points deduction

The Wildcard till now has been the greatest weapon afforded to FPL enthusiasts. For those, still in the fledgling days of the game, the wildcard generally provides the player with a clean slate. Using a wildcard allows managers to make innumerable changes to the side without having to worry about deduction in points that come by the way making transfers.

While the number of wildcards provided to the managers in the new season remains at two, the tweak comes in the form of when you may be allowed to play it. For the past few seasons, managers in the game were afforded a complete recall during the January month in addition to a general wildcard, which you could play at any time, you deemed suitable. Whilst most fans waited for the late double game-weeks in the season, many rather opted to use them early to give them a good start to the season.

The biggest moan was always the January wildcard, which would expire after the first game-week of February commences. Many wished that the FPL would allow them to use the Wildcard at a later stage and, for them, their wishes seem to be answered.

The FPL now gives two wildcards that are subject to be played in two halves of the season. The deadline for the first wildcard is 28 December 2015, whilst the second can only be played after the said date and before any game-week the manager deems it suitable.

So, now you don’t have to moan about having to play that wildcard in the month of January, before you know which of the new signings in January are sure to have an effect. You can also re-ignite your team if it goes through a lean patch early on in the season. This should really make everyone happy.

#2 Chip 1: Bench Boost

Bench Boost Chip

So what are these chips? To quote the official site: “Chips can be used to potentially enhance your team’s performance during the season. Only one chip can be played in a single Gameweek.”

The bench boost seems to be the one with the most potential for you to do most damage. The usage of the chip allows you to accumulate points from not only your first eleven but, the entire squad. A double game week is surely the best place to use this chip. Combine it with a Wildcard to set up the team, and viola! You might have the perfect recipe to let your score go bonkers.

This chip seems to be the juiced up with the most potential and will surely be handy in the latter parts of the season when up to four teams might be having double game weeks. Keep a close eye on Gameweek 27, which falls on the same day as the Capital One Cup final, potentially forcing a fixture re-schedule. Gameweek 30 can also have similar effects with the FA Cup sixth round forcing a calendar clash for the teams involved.

When you take into consideration last year’s Game week 34, where four clubs - Chelsea, Hull, Leicester and Liverpool - appeared twice in the same week, the appeal to use this chip at a later stage, becomes even more appealing. A total of 17 players had produced ten points or more in the game week.

#3 Chip 2: Triple Captain

Triple Captain Chip

The choice of captains plays a huge role in the success of your team throughout the season. As we all know, the captain doubles up the points that he garners from FPL and his selection is always deemed to be of great importance. The triple captain chip accentuates the point even the further.

The chip allows the manager to triple the points scored by the captain for a certain game week. The potency for this chip to do damage is also enhanced when there are double game weeks round the corner.

A look back at last year’s Gameweek 31 and you can surely realise how effective of a weapon this chip can be. Charile Austin and Christian Benteke amassed 21 and 23 points respectively when Aston Villa and QPR were handed out a pair of fixtures in the same Gameweek.

Keeping in mind that the FPL won’t allow more than one chip to be activated for a game week, this will be pretty effective when two teams have double game weeks. A mega double game week, featuring four sides with two games might be more suited for the “Bench Boost” chip, where you can fully utilize the breadth of your squad.

#4 Chip 3: All out attack

All Out Attack Chip

The third and final chip, “All out attack” allows you to line up your team in a 2-5-3 formation for one game week of the season. With most managers opting to go with a 3-4-3 formation for the majority of the season, this basically allows them to play an extra midfielder instead of a defender.

However, the knock here comes for managers who keep a cheap fifth midfielder option to balance out the squad. Thus, before using this chip, you really need to be creative to see that your front eight each have a good round of games from which they can profit. If you are more fond of the 3-5-2, it’s more about finding a suitable time when your third choice forward gets an easy fixture.

This chip, again, would be most beneficial if used in a double game week to provide your extra attacking option with more than an opportunity to shine. You might even be tempted to take a hit for the transfers if you feel that the fixture list for your players will offset any deductions.

However, this chip has the potential to put managers in a quandary. The double game weeks last season saw five goalkeepers and fifteen defenders rack up double-digit scores. In stark contrast, only six forwards and seven midfielders were able to manage such a haul.

But the potential for forwards or marquee midfielders to really skyrocket your score most of the time will always overrule any other urge to stick to your defenders.

#5 Change in Bonus Point System

Bonus Points will be awarded for a variety of factors this season

The bonus point system has also gone some re-structuring of its own. Whilst the introduction of the chips and the change in the policy of using wildcards caught most of attention from the FPL enthusiasts, the changes in the bonus point system seems to have slipped under the radar.

For those unaware, the bonus point system is basically a combination of a number of real-time game data that the FPL uses from Opta to decide which three players were most influential in the game. The points accumulated by each would be scrutinized at the end of each game and the top three would be granted 3, 2 and 1 points in addition to their fantasy scores.

For those who missed the subtle changes that have been made, we can lay them out as follows:

BPS Decrease For Pass Completion

• 2 BPS points awarded for 70 to 79% pass completion (at least 30 passes made) (instead of 3)
• 4 BPS points awarded for 80 to 89% pass completion (at least 30 passes made) (instead of 6)
• 6 BPS points awarded for 90%+ pass completion (at least 30 passes made) (instead of 9)

BPS Increase For Clearances, Blocks and Interceptions (CBI)

• 1 BPS point is now awarded for every 2 CBI (instead of every 3).

BPS Increase For Tackles (net)

• 2 BPS points awarded for every Successful Tackle (net) (instead of 1 BPS point).

BPS Increase for Saves

• 2 BPS Points awarded for every Save (instead of 1 BPS point).

The initial reaction that is invoked by these changes are that; defenders and goalkeepers who have contributed towards not conceding a goal will get a better appreciation from the FPL system. Meanwhile, defenders from dominant sides, who easily complete a number of passes with more than decent pass success rates will take a hit.

The value of the dominant centre-backs in comparison to the full-backs should also be on the rise with a BPS point now granted for every 2 CBI. It also should should further add to the urge of getting goalkeepers on the cheap with a custodian from the “lesser” sides likely to be in more demand with each save now producing 2 BPS points instead of one.

While goals and assists still rule the roost when it comes to racking up BPS points, the slick passing of many midfielders will now be a less valuable resource. Overall, the change in the rules should affect the defenders and goalkeepers more than the attack minded quadrant.