RotoTalk: Surviving Solo

by Kevin Dahle (rotokevin) Last Updated 2012-05-08 18:40:09

Daily Joust’s Solo Survivor Tournaments are unlike any other game you’ll encounter in the daily fantasy world. As such, there is a entirely different set of strategies that one needs to employ to take one down. Let’s start by understanding the beast and then craft an approach to slay it.

Solo Survivor Explained

As we discussed last week, the concept of a solo contest is quite simple – hit the target, get paid. For baseball, if you hit 60 points, you win. Each day of the SST offers the player the option to enter up to 3 teams – playing individual solos at the $5, $11 and $22 levels. You only need to win of the three to advance and you get paid the regular solo prizes along your quest to survival supremacy. Each day, all players that fail to reach the target are eliminated until only one remains. The Solo Survivor Tournament adds another layer in that not only do you get paid for getting to 60 each day, but if you are the last man standing, there is also a grand prize to be had. It’s a significant prize, too. It starts as a $250 prize, but if no one lasts 4 days, that $250 is added to the next week’s SST. This week we all get to play for a $500 pool. If no one goes 4 days, we jump to $750 next week. The money gets very real, very quickly.

Solo Strategy Recap

Just as a quick reminder, here’s a recap of the scoring and an example of a winning stat total.

Scoring

There, now that we understand the scoring, what does it take to crack the 60-point level? Not much, actually:

8 hitters: 10 hits, 15 total bases, 5 runs, 5 RBI
Pitcher: 6 IP, 6 hits, 3 walks, 2 earned runs, 4 strikeouts, win

If you add that up, your hitters deliver a little more than one hit each and average 1.5 bases per hit. That isn’t so bad. Putting together this line will earn you 45 points from those wielding bats. The pitching line appears more than attainable for an average big leaguer with decent run support…the win is key here. That stat line is worth 16. 45 + 16 = 61 = survival, baby!

Three Wishes

As discussed earlier, you basically get three shots each day to survive. The amount you care to invest each day will determine how many entries you want, but what do you do with those three entries? The general approach is to put your “best” lineup at the $22 level and your “worst” lineup in the $5 entry. That make sense given that there are actual prizes at stake at each of these levels as well. But what separates your best team from your worst? Should there be a significant variation between the teams? Good questions.

My general approach is to find a core of 4 or 5 hitters that I feel confident about and use them in all three of my entries. If I’ve done my homework correctly, that core should provide a solid base toward reaching 60. From there, I try to find 3 useful starting pitchers and use one in each lineup with the most confident selection in the $22 game. The remaining 3 or 4 hitters will vary from lineup to lineup based on salary cap constraints, but will almost certainly be unique to each lineup. I’ve already put significant stock in a core group of hitters. Should any of those flame out, I’m going to need some variability in the supporting cast to hopefully get through to the next day.

And now, a lineup…

Seeing as how the SST kicks off today, here is one of the lineups I’ll be using in hopes of surviving to play tomorrow. If you’re new to Daily Fantasy, you could try a lineup similar to this out in the Daily Freeroll on Joust. There’s also a 40% Deposit Bonus on your first deposit.