All Things Vital Downhill Fantasy

Well I didn’t ruin any of the juniors world champs.  Maybe things are turning around 😂

USDH!!!!!

thought i fucked up, turns out i did not fuck up 😂

think i did fuck up by not checking the full start list for juniors... I had Ryder Lawrence on my team? Did he end up with a DNS due to practice incident or am I just that dumb? sigh... thought he had qualied in with a decent time...

EDIT oh wasnt seeing full results... seems like he probly had a get off i really need to stop playing fantasy... always cursing the riders. Giambi also fell back but Tomlinson did ok. hows that Bode Burke pick, eh? Everybody got that one I presume?

Looks like it was just unlucky. Seems he finished but made a mistake between splits 1 and 2

i need to stop playin... my luck is so bad in my own life I'm leeching shit on to these kids just by pickin em 😖

EDIT man i feel at a loss this round... maybe its been a while eh? the womens qualies are almost perfectly aligned with their fantasy values... so if they were to run the same way i barely see where to make good points aside from a single lower pick.

and as far as mens go im still conflicted on the ol 1st place pick. seems like Loic is the shoe in here but points wise still unsure if that spend is worth. gonna have to snoop the leaders teams after this round lol. get back in to it for the rest of the series.

I must've missed the memo that the Junior position values would change completely for this round, screwed up my whole strategy. I know the cost allocation scheme has changed throughout the rounds but now its also the points allocation yet the rules page still show the original points system https://www.vitalmtb.com/fantasy.  Have I missed something? 

Yes. It was stated in the junior world champs page (and on articles I think) that the fantasy is worth double the points at worlds. My strategy was also screwed up due to the cost allocation so I just came up with a new one.

It's just double points for all rounds this week, so exactly the same points dropoff as you go down the results. Doesn't change anything to how you would pick your team, but this round will matter more for the "overall" season.

The cost of riders and fixed budget for juniors vs elites is what is shaking things up. Also the fact that so many more people qualify to the finals, I don't think the buying all the wildcards strategy will work this week.

I think all of us that overtook Sspomer in the rankings deserve some vital socks or something! 

Prize for round 2 was just delivered! Thanks Vital 🤩

My bad for not seeing this. I tried recalling my message but it's out there, cannot be taken back now that all the replies are coming.  I'm just being a sore loser :D because I'm enjoying the Fantasy so much this year. Thanks for the reply, I'm sure now that I've taken note of all the rules I'll do better

interested in how the values turn out with the budget split this time.

i think i had a decent run given loics placing but a couple of my picks also crashed out it seems. otherwise i had some serious performers per cost spent.

Jason with the insider trading. You're supposed to get 1st with insider trading!!

(copy my homework but make it look a lil different...)

Remaining budget? Zero. Monster Energy? In the fridge. Pirate stream? Bookmarked. Chair? Ergonomically adjusted. Clown make up for thinking any of my picks matter in a mud race? APPLIED.

Letsfuggingo

I messed up my picks n the league I’m leading thinking qualies were cancelled as well and it was top 30/10 in the overall going into the finals

Plenty of time. I chose to make one slight change to my roster. Wanted to diversify and try to get more picks given the conditions. Not bank too much on any single rider.

that's what i've been doing the entire season hahaha, too much of a pussy to spend bank on one rider and gamble 

I mean shit usually I'd say in the dry you can make calls from qualies but... Andorra was quite dry and fast and the 2 guys most saw as top dog crashed out. So in between mudders and dry races with loose over hard dust... It's just a fun gamble every round. Thank christ we're not putting real dollars on this lol

It's close to the end of the season so let's talk betting.

The absolute best bang for your buck is elite females. Because you can change your team after qualies you know 100% the top ten going to finals. So you have much better odds of picking the winner (1/10 vs 1/30 for men, ignoring past performance).

But what is a lot more interesting are the guaranteed payouts. For example this weekend I have:

Elise, Phoebe, Valentina, and Veronika add up to $171k and so long as they all finish their runs even at the bottom of the results sheet, will have a guaranteed payout of 260 points. This is cheaper and more payout than correctly choosing the winner (unless there is a huge upset).

We just printing money at this stage.

I did something similar. Think I didn't take VRS though.

Well I HOPE that's the case Eoin because my smooth brained self dropped Andi Kolb (fairly low on the qualies) to take 2 women instead. And while I was punching the air when I saw the mens elite results, at least the Phoebe pick seems like one of the best/better bang for your bucks this round. And I wouldn't have had that pick without dumping someone... Just dumped the wrong one -_-

Did the 'value' of juniors ever change? I had heard before there was almost no reason to choose juniors at all. Basically just pick one of the most out performing ones for each gender. (But I assume the odds scenario is also favorable for their cats when compared to elite men.)

I did take Reece but I'm assuming almost everyone did. For that price, EZ pick. Had Ronan. Had Thirion. Had Estaque. But otherwise looks like another average performance by me. Had Max A. But did dump Erice for Sacha which... Sucks but ultimately points paid probly not a huge difference. This year has been a hilarious crap shoot. LG, VDA, now this. Love it.

GAH, didn't even crack top 100. Shout out to Phoebe for salvaging my mess of a team. Dropped Kolb for Phoebe and Widman which was still a net gain on points. But the rest of my team fell apart. I dunno how the top guys find those ways to scrape points with sub 25k picks. I need to learn how to actually pick juniors. And just spread out more picks overall. If a lower rider washes out, you lose 25-50k. If a high pick washes out, just by chance, you flush 75-100k or more

So if we seemingly won a prize, do we need to do anything? Or do we just wait for dreamy Vital staff to sweep us off our feet and shower us with praise and gifts? 

AREK HAS BEEN OVERTAKEN

THE ERA OF STEVE HAS ARRIVED

Wish there was a more solid way to know mathematically who is still in it. I'm assuming anybody near the top is really gonna play to win last round and aren't just casual users throwin darts at a wall (tho this seasons conditions may benefit from that).

I suppose if average score is ~650, and you think some of the top performers will score closely, realistically you don't wanna be 650 off the top spot to even have a chance. So because of that I'd say you kinda gotta be in the top 10 as of now, tho I'll give Ali the the benefit of the doubt as the number one user from so long ago. That would be an epic comeback if they managed to basically win last round and reclaim top spot.

But the Steve Arek battle is REAL. More exciting than the racing itself lol

Yep, it's a two horse race at this point, I think.

I'm sitting 450 off Steve, but 3rd through 14th is only separated by only 410, so there is still plenty of opportunity for some last-round moves to round out the top 5. I'm scared.