Introducing Fantasy

After a long wait, HLTV.org's Fantasy game is back! While there are similarities to our previous game, Dreamteam, the focus is now on drafting players and competing against friends in smaller leagues, where bragging rights are on the line.

Today we are glad to announce our new Fantasy game. Ever since shutting down our previous Dreamteam manager game, we have wanted to replace it with a better version. The new Fantasy game is radically different from Dreamteam, with the main difference being the introduction of draft phases and leagues. This means that instead of playing against all other users, the game will be played in small leagues, where a certain player can be owned by only one team.

Since the game consists of small independent leagues, you must either create your own league and invite your friends, or get invite links from other users to participate in theirs. A total of 6 leagues can be played at the same time.

Play against friends

This radically changes the game as trading during the tournament is not an option, so the live draft phase becomes paramount to winning. We feel this format will be better suited for the short CS events, where there is no fixed league structure in place.

During long events, there will be several draft phases. For example, during a Major there will be a draft phase between the Swiss stage and the playoffs. Here, teams and players that did not make it to the playoffs are kicked out of the game and everyone drafts again, with the winner of the previous stage having the first pick.

Live player draft

Since the draft depends on the picks of other users in the league, it is now done live and must be completed in one sitting. To avoid users having to drop out in case they cannot make it to the draft, a pre-draft can be set. A pre-draft is a prioritized list of players a user wants to have on his team, so in case the user is not there to pick himself, the player highest on his list that is available will be picked during each round of the draft. When creating a league, the administrator picks the time of the draft, so make sure a proper time is picked for the planned participants—the live draft with some trash talk is a big part of the game.

Players will be selected with a "snake draft" which means that the user who picks first in the first round will be the last to pick in the second round, and the user who is last to pick in the first round will be the first in the second one. The pick order for the first draft is drawn randomly while in subsequent draft phases (eg., after a group stage finishes), the winner of the previous phase goes first.

First event: BLAST Pro Series São Paulo!

Our first, test event for the Fantasy game will be BLAST Pro Series São Paulo, here we will only run a single draft phase, since the event is so short. The draft phase must be completed before the matches start. During the event, points are handed out to players that perform well, additionally, roles can be assigned, giving bonuses if you pick the right role for a player, or a penalty if the role is a poor fit. Go to HLTV.org/fantasy to play the game, which is completely free to play.

This is the first test of the game, so bugs may have snuck in, please report them in the Bugs and improvement forum if you find any. The game is also still subject to heavy changes, so let us hear your thoughts about the various elements of it.

To see the game in action, be sure to tune in to the upcoming episode of HLTV Confirmed on Twitch, scheduled for Monday 20:00 , where our panel featuring SPUNJ, BanKs, Striker, and Professeur will be drafting their teams live on stream.