Bundesliga Fantasy rule changes

We take a look at the Bundesliga Fantasy rule changes ahead of the new campaign. As the the 23/24 season edges closer and closer the game has decided to change a couple of its features and our expert @FPLGunnersaurus covers all of the changes right here.

Highlighting the Bundesliga Fantasy rule changes is vital for fantasy managers. The changes affect the entire structure of the game which will ultimately change how we play and how we plan for the season ahead.

Star Players

Star players are essentially your matchday captains who score you 1.5x their matchday points. You’re allowed a star player in each outfield position. In seasons gone by you’ve been allowed to switch your star player to another yet to play during that particular matchday if he doesn’t do well.

This season however Bundesliga Fantasy have scrapped that option. No longer can you switch your star player to someone yet to play and the player you stick the star on is the only person who will score you 1.5x points. This means that if for example Musiala scored six points and you placed the midfield star on him he would score you nine points. But, you can no longer then switch for example to Florian Wirtz who is yet to play. This makes picking the right star player in each position more vital than ever before. A haul from a starred player could see you gain a massive rank jump against those whose star player flopped.

The downside to this is that if your star player is benched or misses out, you may end up returning very little or nothing at all from him. If your star player misses out on the matchday squad the star doesn’t automatically move to someone else in that position and you’re not able to move it to someone else manually either. The reason you ask for this change? See below.

The Top XI Feature and Auto-subs

Bundesliga Fantasy will no longer allow managers to make manual substitutions across a matchday. In fact, during a matchday there is no manual intervention required whatsoever from managers. Whereas before you could bring in a player from your bench (also changing formation should you wish), Bundesliga Fantasy has automated everything for you with its ‘Top XI’ feature.

At the start of every matchday managers will need to lock in their starting XI in their preferred formation. In addition they need to lock in their bench players (who are as incredibly important) as well as their star players in each outfield position. At the end of each matchday Bundesliga Fantasy will automatically sub in your bench players who score higher than those in their position in your starting XI. For example, you may have Sheraldo Becker who scored 10 points and Timo Werner who scored nine points in your starting XI but have Serhou Guirassy on your bench who scored 15 points. Guirassy will auto-replace Werner at the end of the matchday.

This means that you will always have your highest scoring XI at the end of the matchday. This is based on the formation you selected at the start of the matchday. Bench players can only replace players in your XI from the same position. For example if you had Florian Kainz on your bench (who didn’t need to come in for a midfielder) who scored more than a defender still left in your team then Kainz would not come in and the defender would remain in your starting XI. Your star players can also be auto-subbed if a player from their position on your bench scores higher.

The Top XI Feature & Auto-subs Example

Let’s say you select a 4-4-2 formation at the start of a matchday with the following starting XI and bench, and they score the below points:

GK: Bredlow – three points
DEF: Bensebaini (STAR) – 30 points, Schlotterbeck – 11 points, Grimaldo – 10 points & Scally – two points
MID: Musiala (STAR) – six points, Grifo – 17 points, Olmo – 16 points and Wimmer – eight points
FOR: Muani (STAR) – 27 points and Becker – 10 points.
Bench: GK: Schuhen – five points, DEF: Leite – three points, MID: Reyna – seven points and FOR: Asano – nine points.

In this situation at the end of the matchday the following auto-subs would take place: Bredlow > Schuhen gaining you another two points. Scally > Leite – gaining you another one point. Musiala > Reyna – gaining you another one point. Asano, even though he scored higher than Wimmer, would not come in for him. This is because Asano is classified as a forward and Wimmer a midfielder, with only like for like replacements allowed per your desired formation.

@FPLGunnersarus’ thoughts

Whilst I like that Bundesliga Fantasy has removed the need for manual intervention across the weekend, I can’t say I’m happy about the fact managers can no longer switch star players across the matchday. This was a saving grace for a lot of us as sometimes several options failed before we hit the right player. What’s worse is that we could be without star players entirely at the end of the matchday. The lack of manual intervention will certainly mean the game appeals to more players. However, managers who are long-term players may be put off by the new rule changes.

Part of the fun with Bundesliga Fantasy was staying engaged across the whole matchday. Making those subs to try and move ahead of players who aren’t as engaged with the game and don’t make any subs. This may change the way managers approach selecting their matchday squads.

Do they invest heavily in their starting XI and go cheap on the bench (just making sure their bench players are starters) or do they spread the funds across the entire squad hoping that those bench players will bring on with them some decent sized hauls? Personally I’m leaning towards the former with a weekly 4-4-2 formation. Only time will tell how these new features play out!