How To Survive the MLS Fantasy Playoff

The regular season may be over, but MLS Fantasy is about to kick it up a notch. In case you forgot, the rules are going to change now that the playoffs have started and this guild should help you navigate those changes so you can get the most out of your transfers.

Here’s a link to the Official 2013 MLS Cup Bracket.

Keep reading after the break for full details. (Updated 10/29 with Wildcard and PK Shootout info)

Playoff Teams

First, I’ll just take a moment to highlight the teams who made the playoffs. Remember that the teams that are 4th and 5th will be playing a 1 game playoff for the “opportunity” to go against the winner of their conference. The 4th place team will host the 5th place team. After this, both the Conference Semi-finals and finals will be a 2 game aggregate series and there will be an opportunity to make player changes between each leg.

East

1. New York
2. Sporting Kansas City
3. New England
4. Houston – Wildcard
5. Montreal – Wildcard

West

1. Portland
2. Real Salt Lake
3. Los Angeles
4. Seattle – Wildcard
5. Colorado – Wildcard

Player Cap Increase

All season we’ve been limited to a 3 player cap from each team, but with the start of the Wildcard playoffs the limit has now increased to EIGHT! This number will increase to TWELVE for the MLS Cup game.

More Free Transfers

To go along with the increased player cap, every manager will also receive more free transfers each week. It starts with a new Wildcard after week 36 ends. Then you will get 10 transfers to prepare for the first leg of the semifinals. The rest of the playoff rounds alternate between 4 and 6 (Semi Leg 2 – 4, Conference Final  Leg 1 – 6, Conference Final Leg 2 – 4, MLS Cup – 6)

Player Prices Locked

Player prices are NOT going to increase for the rest of the season. This means two things: 1) pay attention to the price difference for players you may want to bring back into your team after the Wildcard round. 2) TAKE YOUR TIME. There is no reason to rush your transfers. Take the time to looks at stats, wait for injury reports, and see what starting lineups are going to be.

Cautions Reset

No need to worry about the yellow card accumulations going into the playoffs, everything will be reset. If a player does get a 5th yellow, they just get a fine and will serve the ban next season.

Wildcard

Do you still have a wild card left? If so, you WILL be able to use that during the playoffs.

Extra Time and Shootout

Only events during regular time and extra time will be used to determine a player’s score. If a game goes to a PK shootout, those goals will not count.

Those are the basics. I’ll be posting our ELO rankings for the playoffs and out Wildcard picks later this week. If you have any questions about the format, or anything else, please leave a comment or come to the r/FantasyMLS forum. You can also leave a message on our Facebook page or you can find us on Twitter @FantasyMLSTips.