What is the Switcharoo

I’ve seen this question popping up a lot in Chat and at /r/FantasyMLS, so I decided to write a quick little post about it. Why did this not come sooner? Well, honestly I was not sure if it was going to work. With the unknown function of the new Toggle Button, it was not clear if the Switcharoo would be possible. However, it looks like it is.

So what is the Switcharoo?

First a warning. Some people view this tactic as an exploit, so you may want to come to an agreement if you’re playing in a league with your friends. In my mind, I like to think of the Switcharoo as and advanced approach to player transfers (Player Transferring 202).

In short, you’re going to use auto and manager subs to attempt to replace a non-playing player with a player who gets a high score.

What do I need?

In order to setup your switcharoo, you’re going to need to have a team with 12 players who are going to play. You’re also going to need one (1) player who is a cheap $4.0m Scrub who plays in one of the last games of the week.

The Setup

I’ll use Round 1 as an example. When you set your starting XI, you are going to use 10 core players and your one (1) $4.0m scrub (SKC’s Rogers). It’s important that this scrub player plays in one of the last games of the Round or the switcharoo will not work. Next, you’ll setup your Bench. Your 1st bench player will be a guy who’s TEAM plays in an early game (La’s Ishizaki) and your 2nd bench player who’s TEAM plays after your 1st bench player (Seattle’s Neagle).

Switcharoo in Action

Scenario 1: Round starts -> Ishizaki racks up a high score -> You leave your subs set to Auto and Ishizaki will replace Rogers at the end of the Round -> Hope Neagle’s score is less than Ishizakis

Scenario 2: Round starts -> Ishizaki scores lower than you hoped -> You switch your subs to Manager and replace Rogers with Neagle before their games have started -> Hope that Neagle scores more points than Ishizaki

Important Notes

This is a very involved way to make transfers that requires you to keep tabs on multiple team’s rosters, player results, and to have easy access to change your team. So if you are new or can not be around to see lineups, I would not recommend it. This method also does not guarantee you will get a higher score. You still have to worry about injuries, player rotations, cards, or general low scoring games. /r/Fantasy user and MLSFB contributor Sescquatch says it well:

And note that there are risks, so it’s not a generate-points-for-free strategy. Leaving aside that you can miscalculate (== “Fingers crossed he does better than Ishizaki”), it relies on this being the only substitutions that are made.

If in an earlier match, another player does not play, you either have to call off the switcheroo by making manual substitutions early, or you’re stuck with the order of your substitutions the way they are, if you let it auto-sub at the end.

Basically, it requires careful attention to all your players and matches as they happen, or it will go wrong.

I hope that short explanation helps answer your  “what is the Switcharoo” questions. How do you feel about this strategy? Exploit or advanced tactic? Share your thoughts and any followup questions here are MLSFB, with me on Twitter, or over at /r/FantasyMLS.