Massive 10 game slate today, and I'm ready for a new day in the NBA. There's a lot of options on a slate this size, which makes building lineups a little tougher. There's a few routes that we can take when building lineups tonight, and I'll be once again doing my best to help you find a good one.
First things first, especially on a big slate like this, is to shrink how many guys and games we're looking at. On big slates like this, I like to pick out a few of my favorite games, and then create a 'script' for how that game could go. This helps me decide on which players I want to use from those games and how I want to stack them up. Sometimes 1 guy from each team in a game is a good play, sometimes 2 from one and then 1 from the other, or 3 from one and none from the other, etc. This helps me narrow in on good plays, as handpicking guys in each position can get tough.
For example;
Today's game with the highest vegas total is the Wizards/Celtics game. The Celtics are a -4.5 and the game total is 234.5. Simply, the projected score is right around 120-115 Celtics. That's some really high fantasy potential for both sides. Even better is, I think the Wizards are going to score even more than that and actually win the game outright! Even better better, is that the Celtics are having rotation issues now and will be super short handed. This makes using players from both teams an easy way to give our lineup a good base of fantasy points.
10 game slates spread out ownership enough where I'm not worried about getting too chalky with this game, so I'll be looking at playing 1 or 2 of the studs from each team and maybe even a value play from one to get a nice little 2-2 or 2-1 stack going. WESTBROOK $10700 is likely to get some pretty high ownership today, but I'm not worried about making my lineup different elsewhere. He's a lock for me today, and I'll be running back with both of SG JAYLEN BROWN $8000 and SF JAYSON TATUM $9400. If this Celtics team scores 120 today, these guys are gonna have a huge part in that. Barring foul trouble, they could play 40 minutes due to the Celtics situation. This gives my lineup a great floor of points, and now I go on with building the rest of my lineup.
There's a bunch of games in great spots today to take a similar approach with, this is just an example of how I would start a lineup build today. The 100k lineup from last night had 3 of the Nets and ran it back with Tyrese Maxey from Philly, so feel free to get weird with your stacks.
I'm going to finish this post with some other games that I'll be looking to stack, and whether it'll be studs or value I'm looking at and who I like.
MIL/UTAH: BOTH Love the idea of a GIANNIS- DIVINCENZO/MITCHELL-BOGDANOVIC 2v2 stack. Milwaukee's rotation should be shorter today without Connaughton and this projected total is big. Milwaukee isn't great against 3 pt shooting either.
BKN/MEMPHIS: VALUE No studs to pay up for but the minutes are going somewhere. Watch out for BRUCE BROWN$3800, CHRIS CHIOZZA $3600, TIMOTHE LUWAWU-CABORROT $4100, or DEANTHONY MELTON $3800 to go 8x today.
ORL/HOU: BOTH Orlando will have tight rotations today, and will need to play well to keep it close. Can find solid value from COLE ANTHONY $5000 and TROSS $5700 to pair up with HARDEN or WALL,. Good matchup for VUC or AG too
SAC/TOR: VALUE If Holmes and Fox are out, this becomes a scary blowout risk for the Kings, but they would have guys in great spots with that news. HALIBURTON $5400 and BAGLEY $5800 would receive most of the minutes/usage boost, but guys like BJELICA $3700, JOSEPH $3800, BUDDY HIELD $5200, and WHITESIDE $4000 become great tournament plays. The Kings are miserable on defense inside, so I love the plays of LOWRY, FVV, and SIAKAM on the other side.
Good luck tonight guys!
Kitty

NBA Breakdown from CheatSheetPros!
Article Link for Screen Shots: https://www.cheatsheetpros.com/post/10-nba-plays-for-wednesday-from-cheatsheetpros
QUICK NEWS AND NOTES:
NBA is changing throughout the day so if you are new to NBA DFS then you need to be ready to make pivotal moves 30 minutes prior to lock. Just another reminder if you are new that was post this NBA CheatSheet every Thursday in our “Free” Facebook group for people to try out. (Link is at the bottom of article.) I post it in the morning and then update and post it again 60-90 minutes prior to lock.
VALUE PLAYS:
It is difficult to project a low priced guy this early in the day. Most of the best value plays pop up inside that last hour prior to lock. I would suggest no matter what tools you are using that when finding a value play look at their FPPM (Fantasy Point Per Minute) production over the season and last 5 games. I see so many “value plays” that are chalky but the guy has a FPPM of 0.65 or 0.72 and they just don’t do anything. I prefer guys with a FPPM over 1.00 but at least over 0.90 at a minimum. Also, a GUARD/CENTER value play usually performs better than a random forward because they are more involved. That’s just my two cents.
PLAYERS THAT WE LIKE ON THE SLATE TONIGHT!
LUKA DONCIC – Luka has the highest ceiling of any player and he is priced under $11k on DK. In his last 6 games played he has hit 86.3 and 87.5 DK points so the main point is that he has done it TWICE and it was not a single random game. The red flag for me is that Utah plays at a very slow pace so use him but don’t lock him in tonight.
STEPHEN CURRY – He is 9300 and has an easy 6x match tonight. He just played MIN and went 34 minutes, took 21 shots and put up 53.5 DKPs. He is a great CASH GAME play tonight as he has around a 5x floor and 6x upside. For that reason I don’t like using him in GPPs as we need to shoot for 6x-7x or higher with the higher cash points this year.
MALCOLM BROGDON – He is 8600 but coming off a 60.3 DK point game tonight and might be without Sabonis. If Sabonis is out his usage rate is around 27%.
MIKE CONLEY – As I am writing this article I noticed Donovan Mitchell was just ruled out. This gives Conley a usage bump from 23% up to 27.2% and priced at only 6100 tonight I have a lot of interest in him. This also puts Jordan Clarkson is play at 5900 who is playing at 1.20 FPPM and should see a boost from his 23 minutes per game.
** NEWS TO MONITOR!** KENDRICK NUNN – Jimmy Butler still OUT, Tyler Herro and Goran Dragic both Q for tonight so Nunn could see another huge minutes boost if one or both of them are ruled out. Make sure to check the updated NBA sheet tonight for the changes because this could be a big one! Nunn is priced at 5700 on DK and playing around a fantasy point per min. This means if he is projected for 35 minutes that is around 35 DKPs putting him at around 6x value.
GORDON HAYWARD – He is priced at 7500 and that still feels a little cheap. He is coming off a 43 DKP game but prior to that he hit 57.3 and 50.5 DKPs. If you have followed me in the chat or read any of my stuff you know mid 7K player with 50 DKP upside is my jam! IND may also be without Sabonis tonight which would help Haywards upside! Hay~Hay for the win! No, I’m not talking about the rock eating chicken from Moana! Sorry that is my comical humor for the day.
DEMAR DEROZAN – He was priced up to almost 9000 earlier this season and he is down to only 7100. Yes this guy is a roller coaster but he has upside at this price tag. In his last 5 games he has 2 games in the mid 20’s (blah!) but he has 3 games over 43 DKPs and that is over 6x value pushing 7x. Game total is a decent 223 with a tight +4 point spread tonight. If he can play 30+ minute she will crush value, the game where he was in the mid 20’s for DKPs he played 27 and 25 minutes and they won one by 20 and lost one by 22. So if the game stays close as Vegas thinks it will he is a good value play tonight!
PHO PLAYERS: I wanted to focus on Mikal Bridges since we are lumping the forwards together but noticed a trend. Mikal has upside with a 51 DKP game on January 22nd where he shot 8 for 15 and grabbed 10 boards and he is priced at only 5300, that is 10x upside! He has several games that are 5x and just shy but the 9x and 10x ceiling is something we need to take down a GPP. Look at our NBA cheatsheet you have DeAndre Ayton – Mikal Bridges – Chis Paul and they are rotating monster games! If you enter a 3 max tourney I would do a lineup with EACH of them. Chris Paul is coming of a 56.8 DKP game, prior was Mikal 51 & Ayton 48.3 and prior to that is was Ayton at 62.3. I WOULD NOT play all 3 together but don’t mind Mikal & Ayton as these seem to pop at the same time.
CLINT CAPELA – This guy has been on FIRE for us as he has smashed every time we wrote him up in an article! He is coming off a short 45 DKP game but prior to that he hit 63.3 and 76 DKPs. Tonight, he gets a BKN team that can’t guard the rim. BKN allowed BAM to put up a 26-10-5 line where they only scored 98 points in the game, the prior game BAM put up a 41-5-9 line and in the game prior against CLE Jarrett Allen and Drummond combined for 38 points and 22 boards. Capela who has been on fire is priced up to 9100 but has easy 50-60 DKP upside against this team.
MYLES TURNER – If Sabonis is OUT (currently Q) I love some Myles Turner at 7500. He has put up 42, 49 and 41.3 DKPs over his last 3 games and he has a massive usage bump with Sabonis off the floor that jumps from 18% to 23.2%. Another mid 7K guy with pushing 50 DKP upside. If Sabonis is in I don’t mind him but don’t love him.
DVP BREAKDOWN, TIERS SCREEN SHOT & TIERS STRATEGY USED LAST NIGHT ARE INCLUDED IN THE ARTICLE LINK ABOVE. Since Reddit does not allow screen shots I am unable to add here but feel free to click the link if you would like to see those items as I enjoy sharing them!
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Thanks for reading & good luck!
Haze

NBA Breakdown from CheatSheetPros!
Article link for screen shots:
https://www.cheatsheetpros.com/post/nba-dfs-plays-stats-for-january-20th
QUICK NEWS AND NOTES:
NBA is changing throughout the day so if you are new to NBA DFS then you need to be ready to make pivotal moves 30 minutes prior to lock. Just another reminder if you are new that was post this NBA CheatSheet every Thursday in our “Free” Facebook group for people to try out. (Link is at the bottom of article.) I post it in the morning and then update and post it again 60-90 minutes prior to lock.
I have so many guys I like on this slate I’m going to hit on a few in each category to get you started!
VALUE PLAYS:
It is difficult to project a low priced guy this early in the day. Most of the best value plays pop up inside that last hour prior to lock. I would suggest no matter what tools you are using that when finding a value play look at their FPPM (Fantasy Point Per Minute) production over the season and last 5 games. I see so many “value plays” that are chalky but the guy has a FPPM of 0.65 or 0.72 and they just don’t do anything. I prefer guys with a FPPM over 1.00 but at least over 0.90 at a minimum. Also, a GUARD/CENTER value play usually performs better than a random forward because they are more involved. That’s just my two cents.
PLAYERS THAT WE LIKE ON THE SLATE TONIGHT!
GUARDS:
STUD:
Luka Doncic – Yes Kyrie at only 9000 is screaming at me but I want to see what happens with Harden and Durant on the floor with him. Before the last game out where they got shut down Luka has put up a usage rate of 41.6, 35.9, 36.3, 36.1 and 36. He does it all for his team and he is always in the mix and his ceiling is unreal at this point. His last 7 games he has put up 36 (dud), 87.5, 59, 78, 58, 77 and 72 DKPs and he is priced at 10,700 on DK. Yes Harden his 61.5 and 79.5 playing 41 and 40 minutes in the same price range but now he also has Kyrie who is going to take shots from him. I prefer Luka here for the pay up stud.
MIDDLE TIER:
Kyle Lowry – Lowry has really popped putting up over 45 DKPs in 2 of his last 3 games. He is always a lock for around 35+ minutes and double digit shots. He is pushing 6x consistently and gives you a solid 5x floor and priced at only 7600 tonight. (TIP: Lowry & Boucher have been popping at the same time so stack them together!) VanVleet has fell from 1.07 down to 0.88 fantasy points per minute and Lowry has jumped from 1.35 up to 1.45 so ride the Lowry train over the VanVleet caboose!
Ja Morant – Had to add a second middle guy because I love some Ja Morant in GPPs. In December he put up 66 and 44 DKPs and his price range was 8400-8700 and his usage at the time was over 30. Now he came back and played 31 minutes putting up only 26.5 DKPs but did take 14 shots on 1/16 and then on 1/18 he played 34 minutes and put up 41.75 DKPs and is still priced down at 7300. Like him for GPPs.
VALUE OPTION:
Shake Milton – GPP dart here as he is only projected for 4.6x value. What jumps out at me is the production when he is on the floor. He is a 0.93 fantasy point per minute player but over his last 5 has been at the 1.22 level which is a +29% increase! He has to compete with Seth Curry, Maxey, Simmons, Harris, Joel Embiid so that is why we are only looking at GPP but he is still projected for 25-30 minutes. Most sites take 25 minutes x 0.93 FPPM and give him around 25 points at 5600 and he shows as “under value”. I look at 30 minutes (giving him a small bump since he is crushing right now) x his last 5 fppm 1.22 and that puts up at 35-38 DKPs crushing value on his 5600 salary. Yes the minutes and production are risky but come on he put up 51 DKPs in 27 minutes on January 14th and then 40.25 DKPs last time on and he didn’t start in either of those two games. Joel Embiid is almost 10K and putting up 40-45 DKPs per game or you can take shot on Shake Milton at half the price putting you in that range.
FORWARDS:
STUD:
Chris Boucher – How can this be anyone else? His price is climbing and will continue to climb. He started off around 5k and now up to 7300 on DK. In his last 6 games he has no less than 37.5 DKPs and has eclipsed the 40 DKP mark 4 times. He went for 46.5 DKPs last time out and that was roughly 6.5x value. He is racking up steals, blocks and boards and gives you a solid floor.
MIDDLE TIER:
Kelly Oubre Jr. – He is only 5500 on DK and 5x value is 27.5 DKPs. He has put up 37, 28 and 31 in his last 5. His last game was 6.9x value his salary and his price only went up 100 dollars. Someone giving you a solid floor with some upside to fill in your lineups and he is SF/PF eligible on DK. I like his consistent 30 minutes per game and playing on a team that always has high team totals and high Vegas spreads. This game has the projected second fastest pace tonight.
VALUE OPTION:
Xavier Tillman – With the injuries Tillman has seen a bump in his playing time from 18 minutes per game up to 28-30 and even got the start last game. He is priced at a low 3500 on DK so we need 21 DKPs for 6x value. He is coming off 23 in his last game and 31 the game prior. Should be a great lock in value tonight. In those two games he is 12 for 21 from the field with 10 boards and 5 steals. (He is also the top GPP Algo play on our NBA CheatSheet!)
CENTERS:
STUD:
Nikola Vucevic – Yes there are other guys that you might consider a stud. But do you really want to pay for Joel Embiid at 9600 went 3 of his last 4 games have been under 42 DKPs? Not me! Sabonis is 9800 and he is a stud but he is a constant 5x returning and I want more upside in my lineup. Sabonis has 50, 53, 46 and 46 DKPs in his last 4 games. Now let’s talk Vucevic who is only 8600 and severely mis-priced. He was 9500 just 4 days ago. Vucevic has put up 48, 69.5, 32, 53 and 58 DKPs in his last 5. He is playing at a fantasy point per min level of 1.60 over his last 5 games and 1.55 on the year.
MIDDLE TIER:
Clint Capela – Bam is another guy who was going to slide into this category. Bam just killed DET putting up 53.25 and 50.75 DKPs facing them on 1/16 and 1/18. Now Capela gets a turn! DET is allowing over 57 DKPs to the opposing C position and over 20 boards per game. Capela is coming off two games where he played 37 and 39 minutes and put up 54.25 DKPs in both games taking 16 shots, grabbing 15 boards and 3.5 blocks per game with 23 and 25 real life points. Capela is ONLY 7600 on DK!
VALUE OPTION:
DeAndre Jordan – He is only 5500 on DK and projected to have a playing time bump from his normal 20-25 minutes per game to the low 30’s. How can you not hit value with boards and assist when you have Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden on your team? Without Kyrie last time out he played 38 minutes and put up 36.5 DKP points for going 6 for 6 from the field with 12 boards, 3 assist and a steal with 2 blocks. Foul trouble and minutes are always a concern but if you need a punt option they should score 120+ PPG from here on out!
DVP BREAKDOWN:
< screen shot - see link at top of page >
Our DVP breakdown will show you the projected pace of the game and we also added an indicator for "pace up" and "pace down" games. You can see total fantasy points allowed, fantasy points allowed to the position, % of total points and then the fantasy points for the players that are playing multiple positions. Not seen in this screen shot we also have the FG% allowed, real life points allowed and rebounds allowed to the position incase you want to be really sneaky.
TIERS CONTEST BREAKDOWN:
< screen shot - see link at top of page >
For the TIERS contest on DK we have added in ownership % for the players to help you make better decisions. You can also see the DKPs over the last 10 games, usage rates, FPPM comparisons for season over last 5 games, projection minutes and our own GPP algo model to help you pick the best players.
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Thanks for reading & good luck!
Haze

Use this DAILY thread below to comment and talk about anything related to hockey, ask quick questions, or any other daily chatter.
This thread is also a hub for links to Game Day Threads, daily stats and standings, and a way to compile recent news and announcements for easy viewing.

Today's Games

Away	Score	Home	Score	Time	GDT	PGT
VAN	3	MIN	0	Final	Link	Link
WSH	1	PHI	3	Final	Link	Link
VGK	6	STL	4	Final	Link	Link
TOR	3	CBJ	4	Final (OT)	Link	Link
CGY	4	WPG	0	Final	Link	Link

Yesterday's Games

Away	Score	Home	Score	Time	Next-Day PGT
NYI	2	FLA	3	Final	Link
NSH	1	ARI	4	Final	Link
TBL	3	BOS	2	Final	Link
COL	4	DAL	0	Final	Link
PIT	3	MTL	4	Final	Link
EDM	3	CHI	4	Final	Link

Playoffs (Stanley Cup Qualifier)

Team	Wins	Team	Wins
PIT	1	MTL	2
CAR	3	NYR	0
NYI	2	FLA	1
TOR	1	CBJ	2
EDM	1	CHI	2
NSH	1	ARI	2
VAN	2	MIN	1
CGY	3	WPG	1

Round-Robin

Eastern

Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OT	P	RP%
1	TBL	2	2	0	0	4	0.657
2	PHI	2	2	0	0	4	0.645
3	WSH	2	0	1	1	1	0.652
4	BOS	2	0	2	0	0	0.714

Western

Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OT	P	RP%
1	COL	2	2	0	0	4	0.657
2	VGK	2	2	0	0	4	0.606
3	STL	2	0	2	0	0	0.662
4	DAL	2	0	2	0	0	0.594

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/hockey stands with BLM and the fight against racism

Though it shouldn't be a surprise with the multitude of threads from players and organizations alike filling /hockey and compiled just down below, we did want to make it explicit that /hockey has and will continue to fight against racism in all its forms.
We think the murder of George Floyd by the hands of police is abhorrent. We will continue to lift the voices of the hockey community that speak up against racism by ensuring their posts make it to /hockey for those to read.
And we will continue to enforce and remove any comments or racist remarks as well as all bigotry, sexism and xenophobia.
For a list of ways to donate, get involved or see how you can be a part of #BLM please follow this fantastic link: https://www.timeout.com/things-to-do/how-to-support-black-lives-matter
Linked is a running catalog of all players, GMs, coaches, and organizations who have spoken up regarding the current news regarding George Floyd and the protests across the US.

Return-to-Play/Playoffs FAQs and COVID-19 News

The spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) is affecting the hockey world. Feel free to discuss it here. If you want medical information about the disease, consult with your physician and/or relevant authorities.

FAQs

NHL's FAQ (16-page PDF) - home, if link doesn't work
Compiled by sandman730 and fireislander. Want to help? Message the mods and we'll give you access.

• What's the timeline to return? The Qualifying Round is ongoing, with the NHL in "Phase 4" (teams can have up to 31 players at hub cities).
• What's the playoff schedule? What is the broadcast/streaming schedule? Here. Most exhibition games and the qualifying round games will be broadcast by the local broadcast networks. Livestreaming options include: NHL.TV in the US (local blackouts apply) and SN Now or NHL Live in Canada. SportsNet's schedule. NHL Press Release.
• What about blackouts for streaming services? See your streaming provider.
• What does the NHL critical dates calendar look like? When is each round expected to start? Here.
• Where are the hub cities? Edmonton is hosting the Western Conference, and Toronto the Eastern. The Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final will take place in Edmonton.
• What does "unfit to participate" mean? This does not necessarily mean the player has tested positive for COVID-19, which will not be disclosed due to privacy. It could mean injury, illness (COVID-19 or otherwise), etc. Typical injury designations (upper body, lower body, illness) will not be used.
• Who has been deemed "unfit to participate"? Here is a link to a list of players. Note: Due to the nature of return-to-play, this list will be constantly changing.
• Who are on the rosters? Rosters for Phase 4.
• Will there be an NHL Bracket challenge? When does it start? Yes! You are welcome to join us here. It appears to start with Round 1.
• How do the games look and sound? Here is a rendering. The NHL uses teams' goal horns and songs, in-arena music compilations, fan-submitted motivational videos and chants, and EA Sports' library of in-game sounds.
• Are they changing the ads on the boards between games? It appears so.
• How will the first overall pick be determined? There will be a subsequent drawing on August 10 at 6pm ET, when the 8 eliminated teams will each have an equal chance (12.5%). If the postseason is cancelled, the 8 lowest seeded qualifying teams will participate in the drawing. NHL press release.
• Will teams be allowed to sign new players to play in this postseason? Yes. They can practice, but cannot play.
• Will statistics for the Qualifying Round and Round-Robin count as playoff stats? Yes.
• How will seeding work? The top 4 seeds will be determined by the Round-Robin, with regular-season points percentage (RP%) as the sole tie-breaker. Matchups for the First and Second Rounds will be determined by seed: the highest remaining seed in each conference will face the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest will face the second-lowest, etc.
• How will overtime work? The round-robin will follow the regular season OT rules, while the qualifying series will follow playoff OT rules. An estimated 66 minutes will be needed between games, so games that go over may result in delays for later games.
• What will the health policies be for Phase 4? Some details can be found here. Phase 4 Protocols (28-page PDF).

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If you have specific feedback about these threads please message the mods. Bot is maintained by sandman730. Message him with any bugs.

Use this DAILY thread below to comment and talk about anything related to hockey, ask quick questions, or any other daily chatter.
This thread is also a hub for links to Game Day Threads, daily stats and standings, and a way to compile recent news and announcements for easy viewing.

Today's Games

Away	Score	Home	Score	Time	GDT	PGT
VGK	4	COL	3	Final (OT)	Link	Link
PHI	4	TBL	1	Final	Link	Link

Yesterday's Games

Away	Score	Home	Score	Time	Next-Day PGT
NYI	5	FLA	1	Final	Link
NSH	3	ARI	4	Final (OT)	Link
PIT	0	MTL	2	Final	Link
EDM	2	CHI	3	Final	Link
TOR	4	CBJ	3	Final (OT)	Link
VAN	5	MIN	4	Final (OT)	Link

Playoffs (Stanley Cup Qualifier)

Team	Wins	Team	Wins
PIT	1	MTL	3
CAR	3	NYR	0
NYI	3	FLA	1
TOR	2	CBJ	2
EDM	1	CHI	3
NSH	1	ARI	3
VAN	3	MIN	1
CGY	3	WPG	1

Round-Robin

Eastern

Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OT	P	RP%
1	PHI	3	3	0	0	6	0.645
2	TBL	3	2	1	0	4	0.657
3	WSH	2	0	1	1	1	0.652
4	BOS	2	0	2	0	0	0.714

Western

Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OT	P	RP%
1	VGK	3	3	0	0	6	0.606
2	COL	3	2	0	1	5	0.657
3	STL	2	0	2	0	0	0.662
4	DAL	2	0	2	0	0	0.594

Regular Threads

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/hockey stands with BLM and the fight against racism

Though it shouldn't be a surprise with the multitude of threads from players and organizations alike filling /hockey and compiled just down below, we did want to make it explicit that /hockey has and will continue to fight against racism in all its forms.
We think the murder of George Floyd by the hands of police is abhorrent. We will continue to lift the voices of the hockey community that speak up against racism by ensuring their posts make it to /hockey for those to read.
And we will continue to enforce and remove any comments or racist remarks as well as all bigotry, sexism and xenophobia.
For a list of ways to donate, get involved or see how you can be a part of #BLM please follow this fantastic link: https://www.timeout.com/things-to-do/how-to-support-black-lives-matter
Linked is a running catalog of all players, GMs, coaches, and organizations who have spoken up regarding the current news regarding George Floyd and the protests across the US.

Return-to-Play/Playoffs FAQs and COVID-19 News

The spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) is affecting the hockey world. Feel free to discuss it here. If you want medical information about the disease, consult with your physician and/or relevant authorities.

FAQs

NHL's FAQ (16-page PDF) - home, if link doesn't work
Compiled by sandman730 and fireislander. Want to help? Message the mods and we'll give you access.

• What's the timeline to return? The Qualifying Round is ongoing, with the NHL in "Phase 4" (teams can have up to 31 players at hub cities).
• What's the playoff schedule? What is the broadcast/streaming schedule? Here. Most exhibition games and the qualifying round games will be broadcast by the local broadcast networks. Livestreaming options include: NHL.TV in the US (local blackouts apply) and SN Now or NHL Live in Canada. SportsNet's schedule. NHL Press Release.
• What about blackouts for streaming services? See your streaming provider.
• What does the NHL critical dates calendar look like? When is each round expected to start? Here.
• Where are the hub cities? Edmonton is hosting the Western Conference, and Toronto the Eastern. The Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final will take place in Edmonton.
• What does "unfit to participate" mean? This does not necessarily mean the player has tested positive for COVID-19, which will not be disclosed due to privacy. It could mean injury, illness (COVID-19 or otherwise), etc. Typical injury designations (upper body, lower body, illness) will not be used.
• Who has been deemed "unfit to participate"? Here is a link to a list of players. Note: Due to the nature of return-to-play, this list will be constantly changing.
• Who are on the rosters? Rosters for Phase 4.
• Will there be an NHL Bracket challenge? When does it start? Yes! You are welcome to join us here. It appears to start with Round 1.
• How do the games look and sound? Here is a rendering. The NHL uses teams' goal horns and songs, in-arena music compilations, fan-submitted motivational videos and chants, and EA Sports' library of in-game sounds.
• Are they changing the ads on the boards between games? It appears so.
• How will the first overall pick be determined? There will be a subsequent drawing on August 10 at 6pm ET, when the 8 eliminated teams will each have an equal chance (12.5%). If the postseason is cancelled, the 8 lowest seeded qualifying teams will participate in the drawing. NHL press release.
• Will teams be allowed to sign new players to play in this postseason? Yes. They can practice, but cannot play.
• Will statistics for the Qualifying Round and Round-Robin count as playoff stats? Yes.
• How will seeding work? The top 4 seeds will be determined by the Round-Robin, with regular-season points percentage (RP%) as the sole tie-breaker. Matchups for the First and Second Rounds will be determined by seed: the highest remaining seed in each conference will face the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest will face the second-lowest, etc.
• How will overtime work? The round-robin will follow the regular season OT rules, while the qualifying series will follow playoff OT rules. An estimated 66 minutes will be needed between games, so games that go over may result in delays for later games.
• What will the health policies be for Phase 4? Some details can be found here. Phase 4 Protocols (28-page PDF).
• What are will the First Round matchups be?

Higher Seed	Lower Seed	Thread
PHI	MTL	Link
TBL	Winner of TOR & CBJ
Winner of WSH & BOS	NYI
Loser of WSH & BOS	CAR
VGK	CHI	Link
COL	ARI	Link
Winner of STL & DAL	CGY
Loser of STL & DAL	VAN

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See this thread for full details and to join the bracket challenge.

Some useful resources

• How to get flair and if you want a flair not yet available request it here
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Use this DAILY thread below to comment and talk about anything related to hockey, ask quick questions, or any other daily chatter.
This thread is also a hub for links to Game Day Threads, daily stats and standings, and a way to compile recent news and announcements for easy viewing.

Today's Games

Away	Score	Home	Score	Time	GDT	PGT
DAL	2	STL	1	Final (SO)	Link	Link
CBJ	3	TOR	0	Final	Link	Link
BOS	1	WSH	2	Final	Link	Link

Yesterday's Games

Away	Score	Home	Score	Time	Next-Day PGT
VGK	4	COL	3	Final (OT)	Link
PHI	4	TBL	1	Final	Link

Playoffs (Stanley Cup Qualifier)

Team	Wins	Team	Wins
PIT	1	MTL	3
CAR	3	NYR	0
NYI	3	FLA	1
TOR	2	CBJ	3
EDM	1	CHI	3
NSH	1	ARI	3
VAN	3	MIN	1
CGY	3	WPG	1

Round-Robin

Eastern

Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OT	P	RP%
1	PHI	3	3	0	0	6	0.645
2	TBL	3	2	1	0	4	0.657
3	WSH	3	1	1	1	3	0.652
4	BOS	3	0	3	0	0	0.714

Western

Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OT	P	RP%
1	VGK	3	3	0	0	6	0.606
2	COL	3	2	0	1	5	0.657
3	DAL	3	1	2	0	2	0.594
4	STL	3	0	2	1	1	0.662

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/hockey stands with BLM and the fight against racism

Though it shouldn't be a surprise with the multitude of threads from players and organizations alike filling /hockey and compiled just down below, we did want to make it explicit that /hockey has and will continue to fight against racism in all its forms.
We think the murder of George Floyd by the hands of police is abhorrent. We will continue to lift the voices of the hockey community that speak up against racism by ensuring their posts make it to /hockey for those to read.
And we will continue to enforce and remove any comments or racist remarks as well as all bigotry, sexism and xenophobia.
For a list of ways to donate, get involved or see how you can be a part of #BLM please follow this fantastic link: https://www.timeout.com/things-to-do/how-to-support-black-lives-matter
Linked is a running catalog of all players, GMs, coaches, and organizations who have spoken up regarding the current news regarding George Floyd and the protests across the US.

Return-to-Play/Playoffs FAQs and COVID-19 News

The spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) is affecting the hockey world. Feel free to discuss it here. If you want medical information about the disease, consult with your physician and/or relevant authorities.

FAQs

NHL's FAQ (16-page PDF) - home, if link doesn't work
Compiled by sandman730 and fireislander. Want to help? Message the mods and we'll give you access.

• What's the playoff schedule? What is the broadcast/streaming schedule? Here. Most exhibition games and the qualifying round games will be broadcast by the local broadcast networks. Livestreaming options include: NHL.TV in the US (local blackouts apply) and SN Now or NHL Live in Canada. SportsNet's schedule. NHL Press Release.
• What about blackouts for streaming services? See your streaming provider.
• What does the NHL critical dates calendar look like? When is each round expected to start? Here.
• Where are the hub cities? Edmonton is hosting the Western Conference, and Toronto the Eastern. The Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final will take place in Edmonton.
• What does "unfit to participate" mean? This does not necessarily mean the player has tested positive for COVID-19, which will not be disclosed due to privacy. It could mean injury, illness (COVID-19 or otherwise), etc. Typical injury designations (upper body, lower body, illness) will not be used.
• Who has been deemed "unfit to participate"? Here is a link to a list of players. Note: Due to the nature of return-to-play, this list will be constantly changing.
• Who are on the rosters? Rosters for Phase 4.
• How do the games look and sound? Here is a rendering. The NHL uses teams' goal horns and songs, in-arena music compilations, fan-submitted motivational videos and chants, and EA Sports' library of in-game sounds.
• Are they changing the ads on the boards between games? It appears so.
• How will the first overall pick be determined? There will be a subsequent drawing on August 10 at 6pm ET, when the 8 eliminated teams will each have an equal chance (12.5%). If the postseason is cancelled, the 8 lowest seeded qualifying teams will participate in the drawing. NHL press release.
• Will teams be allowed to sign new players to play in this postseason? Yes. They can practice, but cannot play.
• How will seeding work? The top 4 seeds are determined by the Round-Robin, with regular-season points percentage (RP%) as the sole tie-breaker. Matchups for the First and Second Rounds will be determined by seed: the highest remaining seed in each conference will face the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest will face the second-lowest, etc.
• How will overtime work? The playoff series will follow playoff OT rules. An estimated 66 minutes will be needed between games, so games that go over may result in delays for later games.
• What will the health policies be for Phase 4? Some details can be found here. Phase 4 Protocols (28-page PDF).
• What are will the First Round matchups be?

Higher Seed	Lower Seed	Thread
PHI	MTL	Link
TBL	CBJ	Link
WSH	NYI	Link
BOS	CAR	Link
VGK	CHI	Link
COL	ARI	Link
DAL	CGY	Link
STL	VAN	Link

Join the /Hockey NHL Bracket Challenge

See this thread for full details and to join the bracket challenge.

Some useful resources

• How to get flair and if you want a flair not yet available request it here
• Rules refresher
• Useful Sidebar Resources and other useful resources
• hockey Discord Server and the hockey Steam Group

If you have specific feedback about these threads please message the mods. Bot is maintained by sandman730. Message him with any bugs.

Ten Reasons why Artifact will be the biggest eSport title, ever
Written by Michael "rokman" Weldon
Hello Artifact! Before I get into the meat of the article, I thought I’d introduce myself. My card game experience comes from the Pokemon Trading Card Game. I started collecting and playing way back in the nineties. After nearly a decade playing casually, I ended up moving toward the competitive scene for a handful of years. I had a few big tournament wins and a lot of success playing the game. There was even a point that I was a paid writer for a Pokemon Trading Card Game website known as SixPrizes, you can see my articles here.
Within the eSports world, I have worked in the production side of things at a few major tournaments. As a Production Assistant and Camera operator, I worked at IGN Pro League 3 in Atlantic City (Here’s a picture of me and Idra), as well as IGN Pro League 5 in Las Vegas (Here’s a photo before we opened the main stage). Live eSports events are so unbelievable to witness, as a fan. Twitch is convenient, but it is just not the same. Being there, LIVE, with people who share your interest, who will shout and scream with you when your favorite team wins? There is nothing like it. You have to go to a live event for your favorite game, if you haven’t already.
The last thing about myself I’d like to cover is what drew me to Artifact. I’ve always been a fan of the RTS genre. DotA, Heroes of Newerth, League of Legends, you name it. If you played HoN, you might remember that “Too Bad it’s Me, Blacksmith” meme? Yeah, that was me. Sorry! Ha!
Truth be told, I’ve had an off-and-on relationship with all of these games. Going from riding a high of winstreaks to the inevitable burning out when paired with casual players who are playing to have fun and goof around. Who even plays games to have fun? Totally insane, right? Sheesh!
So finally, there’s Artifact, a game that I can only blame myself when I lose. One versus one in an RTS style game, based around trading cards, it’s basically the exact type of game I’ve been looking for my entire life. That’s why I’m writing this article on reddit, and that’s why I know Artifact will be the biggest eSport title, ever. Here’s ten reasons that’s going to happen --

1. Valve

Valve has such an incredible track record of PC titles. Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, Portal, Left for Dead, DotA 2, it’s actually unbelievable. And when Artifact was announced at the DotA International 7, it wasn’t received well. But that’s because those people in the crowd were just plain ignorant. (Yeah, I said it!) They were thinking Valve was piggy-backing off of Hearthstone’s success.
I guess you can’t blame them for thinking that, many developers have entered the genre of digital trading card games, but none of them have had Hearthstone’s financial success. And damn, Hearthstone has been an extremely profitable title. In the most recent Financial report from Activision Blizzard, the company was reporting that pre-orders for the Boomsday Project were exceeding any previous expansion. That’s actually off the charts, because Hearthstone has been around for over FOUR YEARS now!
But there’s a few things Hearthstone hasn’t done right, from a competitive standpoint. And now that I think about it, has Blizzard ever handled eSports correctly? If you ask me, they’ve only ever been interested in making games that are popular, which is fine, and clearly worked for them as a business model. But that doesn't translate into a competitive eSport.
But Valve though? Get out of town! They’ve been a major player in eSports for many years. Just take a look at the DotA International’s prize support! Here’s a list of the Top Games awarding prize money across all tournaments. DotA 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive are the top games. But get this, after adding up ALL of the prize support between the next THIRTY games on this list, you STILL don’t exceed the total prize support from DotA 2 and CS:GO. That’s BONKERS!
I know what you’re going to say, and I agree, prize support isn’t everything. But it’s definitely a massive part of a game’s success (And by extension, the developer of that game). Think about all the people involved when a game is successful, other than players. Production crew at live events (I was one of those guys!), camera crews, media companies, eSports organizations, even a company like Twitch, which live streams events. All of this infrastructure keeps the whole thing in motion, so having massive prize support for players is the very reason all of these other companies have spawned underneath a video game title.
And that’s why Valve is the number one reason I think Artifact is going to take over eSports. They know what they are doing. They organize these events. They create the prize pool for the DotA International. And they do that by offering all players the ability to buy cosmetics, with a portion of their purchases funding the actual tournament.
I put all my faith in GabeN and Valve to do this right. They’re the best in the business when it comes to this type of thing. But that’s not the only thing you need to take over eSports. You KIND OF need a good game, right? Well, let me introduce you to --

1. Dr. Richard Garfield

Is there really anything else I need to say? The man himself, the CREATOR of the modern collectible card game. If the out-of-this-world success of Magic the Gathering isn’t enough to convince you, his understanding of skill versus luck in a game should do the trick. This is an hour long presentation he gave. If you haven’t listened to it, you should do so immediately.
Many of the following reasons on my list will reference some of the concepts Dr. Garfield covers in his presentation. Also many mechanics in Artifact are built on these concepts presented here, and because of that, there isn’t much more I need to elaborate on, for now.
If you weren’t aware, Magic the Gathering is the biggest card game, ever. Despite the current drama taking place, Magic the Gathering has been the premier card game to play if you were looking to make a career out of cards. While it isn’t always a profitable career path, there are a small group of players that have raked in quite a bit of prize winnings over the years. Take a look at the Top 200 All-Time Money Leaderboards. That’s some eye-popping dollar signs, if you ask me.
But Dr. Richard Garfield doesn’t only want to cater to that tiny small percent of players, working toward big paychecks, and Magic the Gathering has recognized the different archetypes of players, known as Timmy, Johnny, and Spike. Dr. Garfield has even explained that he builds all kinds of cards, with these different player archetypes in mind.
I’d even say some of the core strategies amongst the four colors in Artifact embody a lot of the Timmy/Johnny/Spike concepts. This is important to mention because it means Dr. Garfield will cater to various playstyles in Artifact, which will allow people to be creative with their decklists, tailored to their individual style. And if you ask me, that is a recipe for some very exciting Artifact games!
So, looking at where we are now, we’ve got Valve developing a game designed by Dr. Richard Garfield. Already, that should be enough for you to believe in this game’s success. But I’m going to break it down even further. For a game to be the number one eSport, I think the most important thing has got to be the most obvious, a --

1. High Skill Ceiling

Let’s take a look at Basketball. There’s many levels of basketball, from friendly pickup games on the street, to community leagues at the local recreation center, to high school, to college, to professional foreign markets, to the very top at professional NBA basketball. In each of these levels, you would imagine anyone in one level could take on a person in a level below theirs, and beat them greater than 99% of the time. While that isn’t always the case (Haven’t you heard of The Professor?) it clearly shows the extremely high skill ceiling of Basketball, just because it can facilitate so many different levels of expertise. This isn’t a difficult concept to grasp, I just wanted to go over it briefly.
For a video game title to completely dominate the eSport world, it has to have an extremely high skill ceiling. And this is a broad concept to cover, so I’m only going to cover one aspect of it, which is the one I think defines it the greatest… Decision making.
In Artifact, the number of decisions you make, and their future impact is one of the biggest elements that separate Artifact from other card games. Within the umbrella of decision making, are concepts like Hero deployment, spending resources in one lane over another, when to give up a lane, and many other specific examples like these. (I’ll probably cover this topic directly in it’s own article at another time.)
Comparing Artifact to Hearthstone, the average number of decisions per game has to be an astronomically different number. Unfortunately, I’m not able to play Artifact currently so I can’t give you these statistics. But I’m basing this assumption off of PAX West game videos that I watched. And I think a lot of people can agree with my assumption here. If not, go ahead and tell my why you disagree in the comments.
By having so many instances where players have to make decisions, even in a perceived simple concept like initiative, your game will automatically open itself up to a high skill ceiling. Bare with me here, I’m going to break this down, as simple as I can…

• Assumption one, Artifact is a game that forces players to make MORE decisions over the course of a single game, when compared to other card games.
• Assumption two, when faced with those decisions, the higher skilled player will make BETTER choices over the course of a game, giving them a higher percentage chance to win.

Similarly to basketball, you would assume that 99% of the time, the higher skilled player will win? Obviously the numbers won’t be that high. Nobody can say for sure what that number is for Artifact, but many experts believe that in Magic the Gathering, the higher skilled player has somewhere around 60 and 70% of winning. Let’s hope Artifact is above that number.
Now let’s take a look at the opposite of skill. That pesky thing that everyone says is the worst part of Artifact. And the one thing I think they are all dead wrong about, of course it’s --

1. RNG

How many different possible unique games of Tic-Tac-Toe are there? The answer is 255,168. That’s every single unique series of plays you can make in Tic-Tac-Toe, period. But how many unique games of Dota 2 are there? Well, before the game even begins there over two quadrillion possible team compositions. (I don’t do math. These guys did though) And that’s before the games even begun!
What about professional sports, like Baseball? I’d say it’s essentially infinite, when taking into consideration so many variables about the athlete's body, different flights of the ball on a pitch, various types of swings, and if the bat makes contact, the nearly infinite points of contact that a baseball could land in a stadium, and that’s not even taking into consideration random things like a player tripping, or a fan in the audience interrupting the play. You get the idea.
This is an incredibly important detail when considering how successful a game can be in the eSports space. Card games are at a massive disadvantage, there’s only so many possible things that can happen, it’s actually a fairly small finite number of unique games, when compared to something like DotA 2.
So what’s the deal with adding in paths in front of creeps? What about the RNG Flop at the beginning of the game? These things are SO INCREDIBLY good for the game, it honestly perturbs me how many people following Artifact are unsure of this design choice. By adding in these variables into the possible unique games of Artifact, it increases the number by a HUGE MARGIN. I would argue this makes Artifact the number one card game, when it comes to the number of possible unique games. But why is this a good thing? Two reasons --

• One, it makes the game more fun to play.

Even with a small deck of forty cards, you’ll have tons of unique games, even when facing opponent decks that are all the same decklist. Each game can be very different based on the minute RNG built into the game! That means you won’t get burn out playing the same decklist. Meta is stale and boring? At least your games will play out slightly different!

• Two, it makes the game so much more interesting to spectate.

How does a player react to certain possible Flops? How does a player recover from poor creep spawns during redeployment phases? These variables create a much more exciting spectating experience! Which brings us to the next point --

1. Spectator eSport

LuminousInverse, SUNSfanTV, SirActionSlacks, and fwosh did such an amazing job commentating games during the PAX West live streams. If you haven’t had a chance to watch them, I’d highly recommend it. During the commentary, in many situations, the commentators would talk about potential lines of play from the Challengers on stage. In almost every scenario, there were multiple plays to choose from, and many of them were fairly equal in perceived value.
In many other card games, there is a clear best play from your hand, every turn, and any other line would be called a “misplay”. But in Artifact, that line separating a viable play and a misplay is quite blurry. Without knowing future creep deployments, some plays could end up being better than others, even when they aren’t necessarily the number one best option at face value. This creates a scenario where commentators have A LOT to talk about during matches, sometimes too much.
On YouTube, you can find a guy making videos named Jackson Walters. I highly recommend his videos and would like to mention him for one specific reason. He uses a program to draw on the screen when he does his gameplay commentary. If you’ve ever seen an NFL broadcast, you would know this is a common feature during a replay. A yellow line, drawing over a freeze frame of the last play.
No other video game I know of uses this type of technology, and Artifact is absolutely an AMAZING candidate to take advantage of it. There is so much going on, when choosing a lane for a hero to go to, when choosing a spot for a creep to spawn in lane, potential pathing of units, all of these examples would make this technology great for commentators to relay pertinent information to the audience.
But those two things aren’t the only thing that makes Artifact a great spectator eSport. And this is a topic that is debated frequently amongst the community. Is Artifact going to have good “streamability” on Twitch? My answer is a resounding YES. Because Valve has done such an unbelievably good job designing the User Interface, a lot of things are clearly displayed to the audience.
Even to people who have very little knowledge of the game, just understanding the basics, they’ll be able to recognize when a player is put in a bad position (Here’s a hint -- there’s giant red X’s all over his units!) and the audience can understand when a player is forced to make a big play to turn things around.
Furthermore, with the UI clearly labeling Tower health and incoming Tower damage, the audience is given obvious indicators for “points” or a way to keep track of the “score” in the game. Which actually isn’t that common amongst many popular eSports titles. Speaking of eSports titles, let’s talk about the biggest thing Artifact has, that other card games don’t --

1. Deck sharing

“Valve is even working on a deck sharing system that will let you lend a deck to a friend for a match just like you would in a physical card game.” Excuse me? I actually can’t believe this! I know a lot of you young people won’t appreciate how awesome of a concept like this really is, but I’m going to break it down for you.
Before the internet existed and everyone had everyone’s decklist, people actually had to work out decks on their own, and with their friends. I personally have spent hundreds of hours “solitairing” decks against no opponent, testing a deck’s consistency and working kinks out of the list. With the current state of electronic card games, people can get detailed statistics of all the top deck lists in the game, what the best players are using on ladder, and so on and so forth. Even in some games, at top tournaments, everyone’s deck list is public knowledge before it begins!
This is not how things have always been. Back in my day, people could go to major tournaments and whip out a completely unknown, Secret.dec, that no one has seen before. That player and his group of friends have already tested it a thousand games against the most popular decks in the meta. When things like this happened, people LOST their freaking minds. And to be honest, this is how some stars were born within some trading card game circles.
With Artifact’s Deck Sharing, Players will be able to put multiple decks together and give them to their friends, without them needing to invest money in the game, bring them in and use them as exclusive testing partners. While this might understandably sound a bit insane, I can see small groups of friends using this feature for testing purposes.
Other than the obvious, it being a gigantic tool to bring more players to Artifact, I’m looking at it from the competitive perspective. I could even solitaire games against myself, playing both decks simultaneously! Nice!
While this feature is great at bringing new players in and keeping the cost of entry low, there is something else Artifact has already taken into consideration, you guessed it --

1. Card accessibility

Black Lotus $6,500. Ancestral Recall $3,363. Time Walk $2,628.
Yikes. This is the exact reason Valve has gone on record stating that they don’t want this to happen. Their first step in preventing this, at least in the first set, which releases on November 28th, is only having three rarities of cards. Common, Uncommon, and Rare. Also guaranteeing that one of the twelve cards included in each two dollar pack is a Rare.
They’re going to take things even further for an electronic trading card game, and allow players to buy and sell cards on the steam marketplace. Looking at it from a business standpoint, how genius is that? They not only sell every card pack in client, but they ALSO get a cut of every transaction made on the secondary market! Absolutely genius! (~15% of all secondary market sales goes right into Valve’s pocket!!!)
As of now, nobody can predict the average costs of cards, or the average cost to create a popular meta deck. But one thing is certain, we won’t have to buy hundreds of booster packs hoping to open some specific super-rare necessary-for-laddering “legendary cards” that can’t be resold in a secondary market! Yeah, I’m looking right at you, Hearthstone!
So we’ve got a situation where the game is designed by Richard Garfield, developed by Valve, has a high skill ceiling, with RNG that makes things interesting, great for spectating, allows deck sharing, and will have accessible cards? What’s even missing in something so amazing like that? Oh, I know, SirActionSlacks favorite topic --

1. The Lore

Let’s say the 482,000 average players of DotA 2 won’t be interested in the amazing game I just described above. Well, I’d call them crazy, but let’s go with this for a moment. What is the one other thing that could potentially make them want to at least open the game and poke around? Yeah, it’s all those interesting characters they’ve known for years, it’s that universe they have spent thousands of hours playing in. A massive chunk of that playerbase might be interested in Artifact, just for the LORE.
And if you haven’t seen it already, definitely check out SirActionSlacks Loregasm videos on youtube. I had no idea how much lore was actually in the DotA universe, and it gave me a whole new appreciation for the game I spent many hours playing.
From the bits and pieces I’ve been able to piece together during the card reveals, inspecting the artwork and reading the flavor text in the tweet’s on the official Artifact Twitter page, it seems to me that the first set will be based around the Bronze Legion and the Red Mist Army.
There’s plenty of great lore to explore there, but it might even give us some clues about the first expansion set for Artifact? Maybe an Abyssal Horde expansion? Or even just a straight up Roseleaf Expansion? Only time will tell…
Even though I covered this subject briefly before, I’d like to mention it again, in it’s own bullet point --

1. Prize support

Remember when I linked the Top 200 All-time Money leaders from Magic the Gathering? Number one on the list is Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa, with total winnings of $497,785. That’s quite a bit of money playing a card game! Well, that is until someone is crowned victor of the first Artifact Tournament, slated for the first quarter of 2019. First place gets a cool $1,000,000. That’s more than DOUBLE any Magic the Gathering player has made... in all of it’s 25 year history! Yikes!
None of the details have been released yet, but if you play close attention to the Artifact website and the Official twitter @PlayArtifact, they’ll be announcing it soon, hopefully. Many players hoping to take a stab at that prize pool are anxiously waiting to hear how they could potentially qualify for the big tournament, myself included.
But as I’ve mentioned before, a giant prize pool isn’t the only key to success as an eSport, it’s many other things. What I would like you to remember, is how many industries can be supported when a prize pool gets that large. But money doesn’t just bring in a bunch of companies underneath it, it also brings in SPONSORS!
Sponsors support all those gaming organizations, that sign pro players to represent them, and allows for such a competitive space to become an eSport. This in turn creates an environment where many people can provide for their families, support each other, and their communities, all from a video game. If that doesn’t get you excited, then you’re truly dead inside. Or your a hundred years old and don’t know what a video game is.
And finally, the above nine things would make a pretty great game, but there’s still one last thing that makes all the difference. In my opinion, it’s the most important piece of success for a video game title to be the number one eSport...

1. Content creators

Here’s a list of some of the best content creators out there right now, making amazing content for Artifact. If you aren’t already following all of these guys, I highly recommend you do so immediately, not just because what they’re making is awesome, but also because they are giving away beta keys!
Artifaction
The Artifaction podcast is hosted by SUNSfanTV and SirActionSlacks. They just held a massive create-a-card competition for 2 beta keys! If you missed it, that’s unfortunate, because it was great watching how miserable these two were after they reviewed over a thousand cards on stream (Which was only half of the submissions!).
BTS Podcast
Hosted by LuminousInverse and Hotbid. One of my favorite podcasts out there right now, these guys are great. Hotbid is a natural talent for keeping the podcast moving and making sure everyone on mic stays opinionated, taking hard stances. That’s what creates discussion, that’s what makes a podcast interesting. Creating debates. I can’t recommend these guys enough!
Artificer’s Guild
This is an all encompassing youtube channel, covering news, card releases, reviews, lore, it’s a great channel to have on subscribe. Check out their videos, they come out every few days!
RobAJG
What a great twitch channel this guy is running! He’s offering gameplay reviews, interviews, card reveals, as well as personal commentary. He does stream a lot of games other than Artifact, but when he streams Artifact, he can bring the house down.
Jackson Walters
While a newer content creator for Artifact (he’s only got three videos up), these videos are absolutely PACKED with amazing information you can break down. He is on another level when it comes to breaking down some pinpoint decision making moments in games. If you want to play on a high level in Artifact, definitely watch his videos.
Swim
Swim is a top Gwent streamer and dabbling with the idea of moving to Artifact. Personally, I think he’d be an amazing addition to the Artifact community and he’s got only one video up currently, breaking down the Black cards and revealing his own card, Slay. Make sure you give him plenty of love because he is a great creator!
Lastly, I’d like to include myself in this list of content creators. You can check out my twitter here.
I’m looking to write more articles like this in the future (If you guys enjoyed it, that is) Some of the topics I’ll be covering are going to be pretty heavy, like this article, but also decklists, analyzing metas and tournament results, maybe patch notes (if Valve decides to patch Artifact and change cards), interviews, pro scene topics, maybe even tracking cards on the marketplace, and predicting future meta shifts! I’d also like to do a card reveal, if Valve is interested in spreading the love. Seriously, Valve, I’d die if you sent me a card reveal...
In conclusion, because of the ten reasons stated above, I believe Artifact will be the biggest eSport title, ever. I’d love to hear why you agree or disagree, so comment below! Also, one last thing, I do have a beta key to give away, if you follow me on twitter @rokmanfilms, I might do something fun to give the key away. I know you fiends are only motivated by the chance of winning a key! Ha!
Thanks for reading! I’ll be posting again soon…

• Michael “rokman” Weldon

ONE LAST THING -- I am interested in being a writer for a publication or website. If you’re interested in adding a writer like me to your team, you can Direct Message me on twitter, message me on Discord at rokman#5483, or message me here on Reddit! Sorry, not sorry, for the shameless plug!

Hey everyone! I posted this last year, and kept it updated from what I can see. I will be hosting a bigger and better list on the new site eventually, but I want to make sure you have all this now, in case you missed it last year! Plus, it's formatted for Reddit. Booyah.
NBA Schedule
ESPN’S Schedule - Simple schedule layout. List format which I like. Will also show you if the game is on national TV, which I also like. If you go back, you can check box scores, which is also extremely helpful if you want to dive into some counting numbers.
Player Health/Lineup News - The first thing you should look at. No use playing someone if they are going to be Out. Also helps you understand who would play for people that are going to miss.
Basketball Monster’s Depth Chart Page: It shows you every player, on every roster. Will let you know who is IN, Questionable, Probable, and if someone is out (as well as their expected return date). Not as good as Rotoworld's old site, but will get you by if needed. Most importantly, though, is it accurately (to 95%) shows you who is Questionable/Probable/Out, etc.
RG’s NBA DFS Twitter List - If you want to stay up to date with everything as it breaks, this is a constant stream of NBA Beat Writers that tell you injury news and other lineup news. If you are waiting pre-lock for something to break, this is the first place you are going to see/hear anything.
RG’s Starting Lineup Page - Will give you the projected starting lineup, as well as the Vegas line/spread, for every game. You can also go forward one day to check tomorrow’s potential starting lineups. One of the reasons I love this, in particular, is if you click on a players name, it gives a detailed game log, including what his individual per game USG rate is.
Popcorn Machine - If you want to see who is on the court with who, and check what a person’s normal rotation looks like (For example, Embiid plays 5 minutes to start a game and then sits out for a bit), this is one of the coolest tools you can find. Great information when you mouse over the lines too.
Statistics
Vegas Spreads/Lines - Another one of the first things to check. While this is always only a guide, and no one can predict how everything will go 100% of the time, there is a reason that Vegas and these other books make money
All of the Vegas and Offshore Odds - I will start this off by saying that, if you want to know what the single be-all end-all book to look at, the best single authority, the answer is Pinnacle. If you want to see their odds, you can click on “Offshore Odds” and they are listed there. I like checking them after I check what the average line is (there is a very small difference constantly between the “VI consensus” and Pinnacle).
Offensive Statistics - In order to know who we should play, we should know the numbers that can point to who has the best chance of performing on any given night. Basketball is a high variance sport, but has much less variance than others. Minutes and usage are king in the NBA. We should know who is going to get both of those
Usage Rate: - What I would consider the single most important factor in determining how good a play someone is.
1- ESPN LINK : I like this one the best. It automatically only uses Qualified players. It is sortable by position, as well.,
2- NBA LINK - this will automatically Remove anyone who has played less than 10 games, and will show you usage over the last 15 games. This is a function not available on ESPN. You can change the values if you would like on the top.
Pace: - Another one of the most important factors. Higher pace = more possessions. More possessions = more of a chance to score fantasy points.
Sortable Pace Rankings - This is the site I use to get pace. The link I have provided will show you season long pace numbers. I like to go to the “season segment” drop down menu on the top and look at the last 15 games for a better idea of how teams have been playing recently.
Fantasy Points Per Minute
FPPM for FD and DK - This shows FPPM for FD and DK, by player. It is sortable by their last 5 games, 10 games, or season long. This will only show you the information for players that are playing that current day. You can’t just look up people, as far as I’ve seen (unfortunately).
NBA With Out/With You - Despite the domain name, a free website that will let you check an incredible amount of information with regards to how different people produce with or without teammates on the court. This, by far, gives the most comprehensive information you are going to find with regards to this, anywhere.
Defensive Statistics: - It is important to know that no single Defensive statistic can adequately tell you everything you need to know. You have to try to look at a plethora of information, and try to learn for yourself who is good, and use that to make your own analysis. My favorite websites for defensive stats are:
DvP and FPPG - This is my go to site. It has DK, FD, Yahoo, DRAFT, Fantasydraft and a few other sites I have never even heard of. It also lets you select a range of dates you want (1, 2, 4, or custom select however many games you want to look at). In addition, there are two options that let you look at only the teams playing today, and an option that lets you add last year’s information to this years and average it all together (for teams that have the same rostecoach/playing style).
DRPM - what I would consider the best individual defensive metric (although, again, nothing is perfect). The only problem here is there is no way to filter out players who have only played 1 or 2 games (or who only get a couple minutes per game) so you have to do a little extra work. Still, allows you to sort by position, so you can see how everyone faces up against one another.
DEF WS - A different look at individual Defense by the NBA. This one doesn’t have as much of a tilt towards Centers. Interesting to also take a look at.
TEAM D EFF - A measure of a team’s defensive efficiency. This is a much better metric than others because it accounts for pace. This is sortable for this season, the last 3 games, the last game, home and away, and also lets you look at last season’s D EFF ratings.
Fouls Per Game - One of the other team stats on this site (I would dig into all of them if you can), this is crucial information when deciding if you are going to pay up for a James Harden or not (among others). If he is going against a team that is prone to foul, he is going to have a higher chance of hitting his ceiling. If he is going against a team that doesn’t foul very often, he will have a lot of his potential points taken away.
Opponents’ Total Rebounds per Game - A great way of gauging how much upside your big men might have tonight, here you can see how many rebounds a team typically gives up on the season (as well as over more recent stretches- same as with D EFF).
Free Things from Paid Websites
Awesemo’s Youtube Channel - Multiple free videos every day. Not required to stream it in order to watch it. They do videos about most sports that are played, with great analysis about stats and process. Videos are also for DK, FD and Yahoo. I strongly recommend the (former redditor JoshEngleman) morning video where they go over everything with a fine toothed comb, with numbers and projected ownerships displayed.
New Stuff
From this point on in the article, I want to list new sites either shown to me by other people, or that I stumbled on myself.
StatMuse - If you have any specific questions, StatMuse will help you. "What are the Eastern Conference Standings?" "How tall is Vucevic?" "How have the Bucks done against the Magic this season?" "Who shoots the most 3s for the Pistons?" All these questions and more are quickly answered in an easy to read format. They did a great job here, and I use it for questions like I listed above. This was shown to me by a reader, so I am just learning it myself. I am sure I have barely scratched the surface here.