Seasonal RG Champs: condia (NBA) and Lowkey (NHL)
The NBA and NHL seasons are behind us, so now that the dust has settled and everyone has moved on to baseball, let’s take a look back at the seasons that were and give some credit to the top Grinders in winter’s two big sports.
A few notes before we dive into the results:
About the Grinders Rankings
Our rankings consider all of the winning finishes by players who allow RotoGrinders to track their results, and rewards higher finishes in bigger contests with more rankings points. For more information on our ranking system, click here for the updated FAQ, which lays out how points are determined.
This post celebrating the top finishers is the first of many improvements to our rankings system. We want to focus on providing more opportunities for Grinders to compete for honors across different sports and better recognize the top players in our community. New ranking categories and awards will be rolled out in the near future, so keep an eye on the forums for these exciting announcements.
To see the full rankings, or to check out rankings for other sports and see who is currently on top, use the buttons on the top menu, or just start with our overall Grinder Rankings here. You can find your personal rankings by logging into your account, clicking on your name in the top-right corner of the website and selecting “My Profile.”
NBA Rankings
2014/2015 Top NBA Grinder: condia
The only player to eclipse 1,000,000 points in our rankings in NBA this season, the infamous and incredibly talented condia finds himself first in yet another RotoGrinders leaderboard. Very high volume in cash games combined with a couple of fantastic finishes in tournaments added up to a very productive season for condia, who still holds the top spot in our overall Grinder Rankings. The long-time Grinder has been at or near the top of our overall ranks for the past couple of years, and his incredibly high volume of NBA play and success are key factors in his placement atop the standings.
Avoiding lineup scratches and random NBA heartbreak on a daily basis to double up the next nearest competitor in our rankings is a fantastic achievement. It should be noted that condia is able to navigate these potential pitfalls on a seemingly nightly basis on FanDuel, which doesn’t allow the forgiveness of late swap if a player is held out of a lineup after the first game tips off. A sharp mind with a short memory is required in DFS NBA, as it can be very easy to go on tilt when a couple of bad bounces go your way.
Congratulations to condia for another incredible season of DFS NBA. The industry continues to grow, which means there are more players, more tools, more picks and more competitors for condia, and yet he remains at the top (and by a significant margin) in DFS NBA.
The Best of the Rest
MakeItRain84 – 501,556
MakeItRain84 has only been a RotoGrinders member since December of 2014, and joined just in time to start tracking some incredible NBA performances in 2015. High finishes in several high-stakes NBA contests on FanDuel and DraftKings helped MakeItRain84 vault up our rankings and into second place despite not having a full season of contests to work with.
maxdalury – 485,630
Like condia, this is a name that needs no introduction. Maxdalury earned a spot in DraftKings’ live NBA final to top off a great season of tournament play from the king of multi-entry. March was a great month for Max, as he took down a 22,900-man tournament on DK, as well as picking up some very high finishes in other big events that month.
BirdWings – 365,000
One of only two names to appear on both of these lists, BirdWings’ high stakes play was successful across both of the winter sports, earning top-five finishes in both NBA and NHL. A second-place finish in a 50-man high stakes tournament was the crowning achievement for BW in a great NBA season overall.
youdacao – 327,342
A seat in DraftKings’ NBA live final was the highlight for a successful NBA season for youdacao, which featured lots of success in FanDuel tournaments to go with the DK championship appearance.
Troll4MVP – 289,135
The 2014 DraftKings NFL champions found themselves right at home during their preferred NBA grind this winter, earning a top-10 spot in our rankings and a trip to the DK live final. High-stakes success helped boost Team Westbrook/Kobe/Troll4MVP to the top of the leaderboard, a place you can expect to find them quite often moving forward.
CSURam88 – 278,938
The other player to appear on both the NBA and NHL lists, CSURam88 assumed his usual place at a live final with a spot in DK’s NBA championship event to cap off a successful year of fantasy hoops. One of the top Grinders in every spot, Peter found success in tournaments and cash games alike at all sorts of price points this past season.
Petteytheft89 – 260,109
Victory in two high-stakes games earlier this year helped propel petteytheft89 up the NBA leaderboards to complete a solid season of basketball DFS. A top-20 overall Grinder, petterytheft89 found success in tournaments and cash games alike this past season in NBA.
Notorious – 190,209
“I got the dough, got the flow down pizat.” RotoGrinders’ own Notorious finds himself inside the top-10 in NBA, using his in-depth research that went into the Grind Down every day to take down cash games and place well in tournaments alike to grind out a solid season.
Hoop2410 – 170,505
Rounding out the top 10 is RG hoops expert Hoop2410, who like Noto, turned his daily research that went into his picks into a strong showing during the NBA season. Tournaments at every price point show up among Hoop’s top games of this past season, as well as high-stakes cash games, pointing to a strong, balanced season of DFS NBA.
NHL Rankings
2014/2015 Top NHL Grinder: Lowkey
Lowkey is one of the most well-rounded Grinders out there. Ranked ninth in our overall rankings, he finds himself in the top 50 every major professional sport except for basketball. He has had several high finishes in high-stakes hockey contests over the past year, but most of his ranking comes from his solid cash game performances. Lowkey’s profile won’t overwhelm you with big-time tournament victories, but make no mistake, he’s one of the winningest players in DFS, and hockey was no exception this past season. He culminated his NHL success with two seats in the live final on DraftKings.
Hockey saw a healthy amount of growth this past season, with big money live finals and increased tournament sizes on the major DFS sites. But Lowkey emerged as the best of the bunch, playing well in all aspects of NHL DFS en route to a top finish in the sport. It’s tough to be a top Grinder at any one sport, but to take one down while also managing a profile littered with success across every professional sport offered in the industry is a fantastic achievement.
This success across sports has launched Lowkey into the top ten in our overall rankings, a place he seems likely to remain a fixture given his widespread success.
The Best of the Rest
Kcannon – 203,267
Like Lowkey, Kcannon is a well-rounded player who ranks highly in nearly every sport. His profile is littered with top-five finishes in NHL contests, including a qualifier win to earn a seat in DraftKings’ live NHL final.
BirdWings – 184,949
Another NHL leader, another well-rounded Grinder profile. BirdWings is an incredibly consistent player across all sports, and he won his way to a top-three performance in NHL this season. His profile is full of high-stakes cash game victories in hockey, which helped boost his score into this ranking into the six-digit range as one of only three Grinders to earn that many rankings points in NHL this year.
CSURam88 – 90,899
One of the most well-known Grinders in the business, it should come as no surprise that Peter “CSURam88” Jennings finds his way to the top of our NHL rankings at the end of the season. Much like BirdWings, high-stakes cash games were the method of choice for earning NHL ranking points for Peter, and he did well enough to find himself in the top five on the end-of-season leaderboard.
Ainmhithe – 81,929
Ainmhithe is clearly an NHL specialist, and proved to be capable of taking down tournaments and cash games alike all season. A solid player in MLB and NBA as well, Ainmithe excelled on the ice, finding first place in several DraftKings tournaments at fairly high-stakes levels.
Mirage88 – 69,076
When Mirage88 isn’t busy passing me on Victiv leaderboards, you’ll find the name near the top of the charts in NHL contests around the industry. This included earning two seats to FanDuel’s live NHL final. Combine tournament success with plenty of high-stakes cash game wins, and you have the recipe for a highly ranked Grinder.
Yannick8 – 66,370
A true hockey specialist, Yannick8 earned impressive finishes in tournaments on both major sites, including a first-place in a 504-man field on DraftKings last December.
Saulgoodman – 57,749
Better call Saul! Saulgoodman had a terrific day on February 17th, taking down a $100 GPP as well as a $20 GPP on DraftKings to highlight a strong season on the ice.
Mtom347 – 56,950
A high-stakes cash game player, Mtom347 grinded his way to the top of the rankings this year across all sites, with wins on DraftKings, FanDuel, FantasyFeud, FantasyAces, and Victiv. A truly well-rounded NHL Grinder.
Billsfan777 – 43,518
RotoGrinders’ own NHL expert rounds out the top ten, grinding out a solid season complete with a trip to the DraftKings live NHL final, where he earned a respectable 18th place finish.
Congratulations to all of our top Grinders, and best of luck next season to those who wish to see their name up in lights at this time next year!