Think Ultimate team/MyTeam meets NFT pack drops meets fantasy football. Interest piqued? UltimateFan may have the game for you.
UltimateFan has created a unique fantasy offering where fantasy managers open packs to determine their squad and build a lineup. When you sign up, you will get a free pack that will include at least one gold card and will give you enough positional variety to fill out a team for your first week of action. To add more players to your team, there are a few options. The standard pack, available free of charge, can be opened once a week on Tuesdays. The silver packs guarantee you at least two silver cards and one gold. The gold packs guarantee two gold and one silver. The packs are not for sale like with Ultimate team or MyTeam but can be had via subscription. The silver package will grant you one silver pack drop per week for a month, while the gold package will grant one gold pack per week.
Ultimate Fan has a special going on right now that provides all users a free weekly gold pack throughout the playoffs. Take advantage of this and see if you can net yourself a gift card or two before the second season wraps up.
UltimateFan’s settings are as follows: touchdowns worth four points for QB’s and six for all other positions. It is full-point PPR with bonus points. Quarterbacks get one point at 200+ yards, two points at 300+ yards, and three points at 350+. On the ground, one point is awarded for 40+ yards, one point for 70+, and three for 100+. Through the air, there is one point for 50+ and one point for 100+. Interceptions and fumbles lost cost one point.
For the team cards, you get five points for a win and -1 for a loss. One point for field goals between 40-49 points, and two for 50+. Furthermore, one point is awarded per sack and two per interception. A special teams touchdown nets you six points. And for the D/ST-like scoring, you get eight points for a shutout, two points for allowing 1-13 points, zero for 14-28, and -3 for 28+. This scoring makes your lineup decision at that spot a critical piece of your weekly lineup decisions. The roster spots are QB, RB, WR, WR, TE, Flex, Team.
Conference Championship Round Pack Results
Ultimate Fan continues to load up users with players/cards from playoff teams. This week, I had some tremendous pulls, but sadly the best pulls were duplicates. I landed DeSean Jackson, Van Jefferson, a Joe Burrow dupe, Matthew Stafford, a Patrick Mahomes dupe, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, and a Travis Kelce dupe.
I added all of the non-duplicates to my roster. The players I transferred out were Marvin Jones, a Cooper Kupp dupe, Robby Anderson, and Emmanuel Sanders. Jones, Anderson, and Sanders all play for a team not active while Kupp is a duplicate. As mentioned in previous weeks, I had been holding out hope that the trading system would be implemented at some point of this season, but time is winding down, so we can safely assume that it is not a feature that we will see until the 2022 season at the earliest.
Conference Championship Round Team-Building Decisions
QB: Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, Kyler Murray, Joe Burrow, Russell Wilson, Kirk Cousins, Matthew Stafford
RB: Jonathan Taylor, Joe Mixon, Austin Ekeler, Nick Chubb, Alvin Kamara, Ezekiel Elliott, Leonard Fournette, Kareem Hunt, Chase Edmonds, Tony Pollard, Derrick Henry, Christian McCaffrey, Miles Sanders, Clyde Edwards-Helaire
WR: Cooper Kupp, Justin Jefferson, Michael Pittman, CeeDee Lamb, Antonio Brown, A.J. Brown, Julio Jones, Tyler Lockett, DeVonta Smith, Brandin Cooks, Marvin Jones, Laviska Shenault, Jarvis Landry, Kenny Golladay, Emmanuel Sanders, Robby Anderson, Will Fuller, Hunter Renfrow, Robert Woods, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Van Jefferson, DeSean Jackson
TE: Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews, Dawson Knox, Mike Gesicki, Dalton Schultz
Team: Chargers, Ravens, Packers, Broncos, Titans
While the above are the players currently on my roster, I can only choose from those who play for an active playoff team. This leaves me with limited options, including just one player to choose from at tight end, none at Team, and two at running back and wide receiver.
QB: Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Matthew Stafford
RB: Joe Mixon, Clyde Edwards-Helaire
WR: Cooper Kupp, Van Jefferson
TE: Travis Kelce
Team: None
Quarterback is the only position where I have any sort of real debate. Joe Burrow and Matthew Stafford are two of the very best quarterbacks in the entire NFL, but Mahomes is the standard-bearer. He may be outscored by players like Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson due to their weekly rushing upside but is a strong bet to outscore Burrow and Stafford in the playoffs. Mahomes is much more willing to run when the postseason starts and has rushed for an average of over 50 yards per game in his last three outings dating back to Week 18. Mahomes will get the tap for this weekend.
At running back, wide receiver, and tight end, I have to play the only players I have rostered who are still in the playoffs. That means I will be starting Joe Mixon and CEH at running back, Kelce at tight end, and Kupp and Jefferson at wide receiver. It is going to be tough to place with no options at Team and with Van as my WR2 but here is hoping for the best.
Now for the golden helmet and the golden football. The golden football doubles the points of anyone who scores a touchdown. I will be placing it on Patrick Mahomes. As per usual, quarterbacks are the most likely to score multiple touchdowns and generally make the most sense to receive the ‘Football D’Or’. The golden helmet doubles the points of any player it is assigned to. The helmet will be going to Cooper Kupp. I did debate here between Kupp and Kelce but will continue to roll with Kupp as long as the Rams are alive in the playoffs. Only landing a Ja’Marr Chase card if the Bengals advance to the Super Bowl to face the Rams would make me seriously consider a pivot.
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Raju Byfield is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Raju, check out his profile and follow him @FantasyContext.
