Its not every day you turn €25 into €50,000. However, that’s exactly what FanTeam player, ‘drimacus’ did as he won the €250,000 Champions League Group Stage contest! Below is an exclusive interview with ‘drimacus’ following his huge win.
FT – Hello Drimacus! Tell us something about yourself.
Drimacus – Hello! I’m 36, I work in the sports media industry and I’ve been into the Fantasy Football games for almost 20 years now, starting with The UEFA’s Champions League fantasy football game launched in the early 2000’s, and more recently the well known FPL, where I have two top 2K finishes in the last few years. I’ve only recently joined FanTeam so until a few months ago I was only used to playing against friends and colleagues in mini leagues and never with the chance to win such high prizes.
FT – Congratulations on winning our Champions League Group Stage Tournament! You finished in first place and took home €50,000 with an entry of only €25 per team. Drimacus, how do you feel?
Drimacus – Thank you! It still feels unreal but it sure is a great feeling to win against a field of over 8000 teams. At the beginning of the tournament I was hoping for a top 20 finish but winning the whole competition it’s just WOW!
FT – You entered with 10 teams in total while other users joined with 200 teams. That means you turned €250 into €50,000! It seems like it is all about quality, not quantity for you?
Drimacus – I actually managed to get into the money with 7 of the 10 teams. Being used to playing with a single team a season in the classic games made me feel that 10 teams are already a lot of extra options and it felt like the right amount for this certain type of tournament.
FT – You finished the last Gameweek without a goalkeeper! How did that happen?
Drimacus – I’ve started the season with two cheap options: Porto’s Marchesin, mainly for the fixtures against Olympiacos and Marseille and Barcelona’s Neto who was sure to play for the first two gameweeks. During the tournament I never got to transfer Neto out and before the last gameweek I expected Marchesin to play with pretty good odds to get a clean sheet. I knew there was a chance that he would get rested but I didn’t feel that it was worth to take a hit (-4) in order to bring another keeper. I must say that i had the two free transfers planned out in order to make changes in the attack and midfield.
FT – Where did you watch the last matches and did you have the leaderboard open while watching?
Drimacus – I’ve watched them at home as there aren’t many other options due to the Covid-19 situation. The leaderboard is almost always on during a tournament that I play 🙂 However, for the last 20 minutes of the games my focus was almost 100% on a certain game.
FT – Did you use any optimisers or spreadsheets to manage your teams?
Drimacus – I didn’t feel the need for it as it was a shorter tournament than a season long one and my 10 teams were divided into three big templates. I had them all in an Excel spreadsheet at the beginning but I didn’t get to really use it as the gameweeks went by.
FT – How much time each week did you spend on your UCL FanTeam teams?
Drimacus – Given the nature of my job I am pretty up to date with what happens in the world of football so I had my work cut a little bit short. I was 100% on the teams for a few hours before each deadline and of course during the games to check how my player picks were performing.
FT – What are the main differences in strategy when playing a “season game” over 6 gameweeks, compared to traditional daily fantasy for one round?
Drimacus – The longer the season, the better. At least for me, as the volatility is lower in a season game and a good fantasy pick has a better chance to perform well over a few gameweeks rather than in a single one. In the one round traditional daily fantasy it’s mostly about getting the right combination of players, but a “season game” brings an extra level strategy wise. It’s not only about the starting “11” you pick but also about the subs, the fixtures of each team, how and when you use the transfers or deciding if you spend points in order to make extra transfers.
FT – What was your initial reaction to seeing the €50,000 on your FanTeam account?
Drimacus – It was and still is hard to believe, but I’m getting used to it 🙂
FT – What are you going to do with the money?
Drimacus – I’ve never really thought that I would win such a prize so I don’t really have a plan for it. I might just use most of it as a down payment for a new house.
FT – Will you keep on playing on FanTeam?
Drimacus – For sure! First of all I’m still involved in the Premier League season long game which was the main reason I’ve joined your site. Also, I like your daily CS:GO tournaments and the ones covering Premier League, Champions League and Europa League.
One day, it could be you having this interview with us! Head over to our Lobby and take a look at the large selection of fantasy competitions available.
Thanks,
FanTeam
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