Snake Draft vs Auction Draft for Dynasty Startup

[Dookmarriot]

Auction by a mile. More challenging and more fun. Nothing beats a showdown between owners who both just have to have a certain player. Snake drafts are dull and predictable by comparison in my experience.

[Pac_Eddy]

I just can’t envision the logistics of doing a dynasty live auction, with between 300 and 400 players. Unless you did a 30 second clock, it would take 6 to 8 hours, at one minute, which is very little time to make dynasty decisions. Any more, and you’d spread it over many days. Totally impractical, imho.

I guess you could do a slow auction.... but that would be painful, weeks, months.

It goes slowly at first, but once the most valuable players are gone, it turns into a draft and goes really fast.

[ArrylT]

In a snake draft, if I draw the #12 pick, there is no chance for me to get the top handful of players. That's a tough way to start.

Because trading is illegal? I had the 12 pick in one league, made a quick trade to jump to 1.01 and then immediately after I drafted Beckham the 1.05 owner made me a strong enough offer to move him.

Not saying Auctions are bad - just noting that they are not better than drafts, just different.

If you want a player badly enough in a draft, you use draft capital to get him (and hope no one snipes you).

If you want a player badly enough in an auction, you use auction capital to get him (and hope no one starts a bidding war that prices him out of budget).

[Pac_Eddy]

In a snake draft, if I draw the #12 pick, there is no chance for me to get the top handful of players. That's a tough way to start.

Because trading is illegal? I had the 12 pick in one league, made a quick trade to jump to 1.01 and then immediately after I drafted Beckham the 1.05 owner made me a strong enough offer to move him.

Not saying Auctions are bad - just noting that they are not better than drafts, just different.

If you want a player badly enough in a draft, you use draft capital to get him (and hope no one snipes you).

If you want a player badly enough in an auction, you use auction capital to get him (and hope no one starts a bidding war that prices him out of budget).

You're misunderstanding my point. I'm not saying trading can't be done in a draft.

By no fault of his own, the guy with the #12 now has to spend way more capital to get the player the guy with #1 can have at no extra cost. That's a huge disadvantage for #12 guy.

Auctions allow far more freedom and no excuses as everyone has the exact same resources to get the same players.

[ArrylT]

Well you did say no chance - there is a chance - you just have to be willing to pay it.

Auctions allow for more freedom at the beginning of the auction - but as any owner who spends 75% of their budget on 3 players knows, that freedom is quickly curtailed. And there are plenty of times where players go for a pittance of what they "should be worth" because no one had the budget to price enforce, and plenty of times where you want your favorite sleeper and are forced to buy him at $5 instead of $1 because someone decided to make you spend money.

You do not have to worry about your sleeper players being overly expensive in a draft because (almost) no one takes a "Rico Gathers" in the 10th round of a draft when their ADP is 200+, but some owner in an auction can drive the price up if they have spare $. Nor do you have to be concerned an owner steals Sterling Shepard for $7 because everyone forgot to nominate him earlier, in a draft he'll likely go within a round of his ADP +/-.

Like I said, auctions are different. Different rules and a different mindset is needed to plan / build your team.

[skip]

Well, yeah...because you’ve never tried it lol

[GridironGuerilla]

Okay, at least give me a running start....

Snake draft!

[Pac_Eddy]

Well you did say no chance - there is a chance - you just have to be willing to pay it.

I think you know what I meant.

If we're going to take everything literally and start dissecting the details, I'm out. You won.

[ArrylT]

Well you did say no chance - there is a chance - you just have to be willing to pay it.

I think you know what I meant.

If we're going to take everything literally and start dissecting the details, I'm out. You won.

Won what? lol Not a competition.

However I do think isnt that the point? To go into the nitty gritty of why you think X is better than Y? Anyone can say "X is better than Y because I said so" - does not make it true. So it is better to go into detail sometimes - and thus while not everything should be taken literally - sometimes it is important to clarify things.

I completely agree that yeah it can 'suck' when you get the 1.12 and another owner gets the 1.01 - so if you want to get the guy at 1.01 you have to pay more. I am just noting that the cons for Auction leagues are different - not better or worse - just different.

I think comparing Auction to Draft is sort of like comparing Apples to Oranges - because its a different set of rules and a different style and mindset - and will appeal to different people for different reasons.

speaking of which - does anyone know if there is such a thing as a mock auction - I am assuming that there is but that they are rare?

[Cult of Dionysus]

I thought ESPN has mock auctions... but may be mistaken.

[thebeast]

Well you did say no chance - there is a chance - you just have to be willing to pay it.

I think you know what I meant.

If we're going to take everything literally and start dissecting the details, I'm out. You won.

Won what? lol Not a competition.

However I do think isnt that the point? To go into the nitty gritty of why you think X is better than Y? Anyone can say "X is better than Y because I said so" - does not make it true. So it is better to go into detail sometimes - and thus while not everything should be taken literally - sometimes it is important to clarify things.

I completely agree that yeah it can 'suck' when you get the 1.12 and another owner gets the 1.01 - so if you want to get the guy at 1.01 you have to pay more. I am just noting that the cons for Auction leagues are different - not better or worse - just different.

I think comparing Auction to Draft is sort of like comparing Apples to Oranges - because its a different set of rules and a different style and mindset - and will appeal to different people for different reasons.

speaking of which - does anyone know if there is such a thing as a mock auction - I am assuming that there is but that they are rare?

Would love to know the answer too. I've never done an auction startup in any fashion, a mock would be great. Maybe we can set one up.

[rubber_duck]

Drafts are fun, and watching the picks get traded around during the draft is also entertaining.

But put me in the auction camp as the preferred format.

I would like to add that doing a league with rookie auction but no salary caps is by far the best I have ever played. In this format if you win a player at auction then you own him ... just like you would in a typical draft league. Also, if you don't want to spend all of your money on this year's class, then save some for the next season's auction. It is dynasty so the money doesn't have to be a single season "use it or lose it" proposition.

[Goirish374]

speaking of which - does anyone know if there is such a thing as a mock auction - I am assuming that there is but that they are rare?

mock auctions do exist.

as Cult mentioned, the absolutely excellent ESPN app has a host of mock auction options. the software is excellent. the concerns are that it is for redraft and that...you may have difficulty keeping people in the auction long enough to dive really deep.

also, RSO has mock auctions for their site. they are free and an excellent way to feel for the experience...but it doesn't really translate to other platforms as theirs is so unique.

[MEuRaH]

Auction is the best, but I want to give 3rd round reversal a look if the majority of managers aren't on board with an auction draft.

3rd round reversal was mathematically proven to help keep teams within 2% of talent of one-another (lost the link to prove it). It also allows in-draft trading, which auction startup drafts cannot replicate.

Standard snake draft is the worst. I do not respect any league that uses this method.

[flyersfan1981]

I'm sure this will be a heated debate, but it's not close for me: auction. Give everyone the chance to build their team with any player they see fit.

In a snake draft, if I draw the #12 pick, there is no chance for me to get the top handful of players. That's a tough way to start.

Totally!! Everyone knows there are only 5 players in fantasy worth a damn so if you do a snake, you might as well quit the league if your draft position is outside of 5.

I have built great teams from drafting at the top and drafting at the bottom. In a dynasty I would rather be late in a snake anyway because I would rather two really good players than one elite and then having to wait.

Auction is fine, but to me just not as fun. Both ways require strategy, but don't tell me there isn't a way to get the top handful of players if you draft late in a snake. We have these things called trades.

If auction was so good, why doesn't the NFL do auction? I prefer snake in a startup as long as there are trades allowed because that is the most like the NFL.

Now bring the hate...