Our DFS providers at FanDuel and DraftKings have introduced a new way to play DFS baseball on their platforms this season. First, FanDuel gave us “Mixup” and then DraftKings quickly followed suit with their version dubbed “Arcade Mode”. In short, these “new age” methods of play provide a smaller roster and therefore a quicker entry into contests. Believe it or not, they didn’t do it just to confuse us and make the lobbies more crowded. We’ve heard from some of our users about what to make of these contests and how to approach them. We’ll spend this week’s DFS MLB Strategy article looking at what they are, what they are not and some general approaches to FanDuel’s MixUp and DraftKings’ Arcade mode.

We’ll start with what they are. They are a smaller roster, as we mentioned. That’s about where the similarities end. You see, FanDuel is taking a weekly approach, providing users a different experience each time with different “themes”. It could be “Road Warriors” where you can only choose players playing away from home. Or, this week’s is “The Great Outdoors” which features only players that are playing in games outdoors (no Domes).  So, the theme changes each week. While that sounds like it can be a lot to track, the site does if for you. It just changes up the available players.

With “Arcade Mode” from DraftKings. You choose one pitcher and five hitters - regardless of position. So, the balance between starting pitchers and hitters in Arcade Mode is a bit different from the standard game. With the standard roster construction, you’ll see a 1:4 SP:H ratio. With Arcade, you’re getting one more hitter for your one starting pitcher.  Another thing that DraftKings did to make this a “quicker” hitting contest in that Arcade Mode will have shorter slates - different from standard games - to give a result faster than the traditional contests. Finally, they also added a few additional quirky scoring additions to make it more “fun”. That can also be read as “random”. We’ll talk about what this means later on. These offensive scoring additions include points for plate appearances, sacrifice flies and bonuses for the type of hit and a home run/stolen base combo (if a player hits a homerun and steals a base in the same game) and “first hit” (meaning, a bonus for the first hit of a game).

There are differences between the two as you can see. But, let’s take a moment to talk about what this is NOT. It is not a safe haven from “sharks”. By adding in quirky scoring and different slates, the providers are attempting to provide an opportunity for the everyday player to compete more consistently and more quickly. While that’s great on the surface, the fact that the “sharks” are essentially programming masters, capable of spitting out hundreds of lineups on a daily basis - the will figure this out too. There still multiple entries allowed in these contests and the “sharks” love that. Heck, it will take them less time to come up and enter them too, right?  I will say that the contests are smaller and less attractive to these experienced players, but money is money and they will infiltrate any way they can to take your money.  If you are a casual player, looking for a quicker fix, this is a good option for you. Just try to find the single-entries contests if you can. There is still strategy required here to set the best lineup(s) in Mixup and Arcade Mode.

Let’s talk about a general strategy for these smaller-sided games. While there are plenty of them, let’s focus on a general viewpoint. For Mixup, it will vary a bit more, but for this week, when you have two starting pitchers and three hitters, you can feel confident using your bankroll to load up on starting pitchers. Since they use their standard MLB scoring, identifying the two top starting pitchers is paramount to your success. Once you’ve done that, you can find the boom-or-bust bats to fill in at lower prices and hope for the best.

With Arcade Mode, let’s focus on the scoring additions and how they change things. DraftKings’ version of the game has a set one starting pitcher and five hitters each week. So, finding that one starting pitcher, like standard play, is very important. When picking your hitters, there are more rewards for leadoff hitters (plate appearances) and average hitters (first hit). Then, the home run/stolen base combo bonus screams power/speed combo guys. And, since there are no position requirements with either of these, you can load up on leadoff guys that possess these attributes and load up on them.  You still must pick players from at least two different MLB games and you can’t have more than two hitters from one MLB team. There are still “cash” (Head-to-Head; Double-Up; 50-50) and tournament (GPP, multiplayer) contests within Arcade Mode. So, the same principles you’d apply to cash and GPP games apply here. In cash games, look for lower risk arms with a high floor that won’t hurt you and fill in with hitters that consistently put the ball in play. For GPP’s, feel free to get crazy and find the lesser owned players with high ceilings and low floors. For hitters, get the “three true outcome” guys (walk, strikeout, home run) like Miguel Sano and just about every Milwaukee Brewer bat  to fill in with.

All-in-all, this is an attempt to provide a new way to play that caters more to the casual player, looking for a quick fix - both with roster construction and scoring/payouts. Both sites have accomplished this and even though it’s not perfect and creates some confusion, if you take your time and heed the advice you can readily find here at Fantasy Alarm, you can become a Mixup or Arcade Mode Master.

As always, when you have questions, feel free to post in the #FANation boards and/or hit me up on twitter @NickBernsFA.