GameDay Squad is the ultimate dynasty league, allowing you to collect players, identify young talent, and build a team to compete for victory each year. Success in GameDay Squad hinges on your ability to spot talent and trends early.
How I Got Here
When I started playing AFL Fantasy draft format over 10 years ago, I became attached to the players I drafted each year. I loved the idea of drafting deeper leagues to focus on young players. However, since we played a redraft format, we had to re-draft players every season.
We eventually introduced keeper leagues with an emphasis on young talent, but it still didn’t feel quite right. Joining dynasty leagues was a step up, but it wasn’t until I discovered GameDay Squad in 2022 through the Draft Doctors podcast that I found the perfect platform.
The concept of collecting cards and trading them on a market was instantly appealing. Plus, I could use my extensive AFL Fantasy and SuperCoach knowledge to compete for cash prizes.
In my first preseason, I traded cards on the market, bought undervalued ones, and flipped them for profit. It felt like FIFA or Madden Ultimate Team—except I actually got to keep my cards!
Just four weeks into the season, I won a $2,500 weekly cash prize. I invested $2,000 in dividends paying shares, ensuring I could proudly tell my wife I was now a "professional" fantasy player. I used the remaining $500 to buy more packs, pulling some great cards and flipping them for additional profit.
By the end of the year, I finished 6th overall and earned a special prize card, complete with a unique multiplier and my name on it.
In 2024, I returned and won the overall classic competition, earning another exclusive card during a live YouTube draft event and racking up thousands more in prize winnings.
Sign up for GameDay Squad using the code 'BOBAFL' and score 3 free packs to kickstart your fantasy squad
Ultimate Dynasty League -How Does It Work?
If you’ve played FIFA Ultimate Team or Madden Ultimate Team, you’re already familiar with 90% of the GameDay Squad experience. You collect cards to build teams, with the primary difference being that GameDay Squad uses AFL Fantasy stats for scoring—and you don’t lose your cards at the end of the season as they are limited rarity NFT's.
Each card has a rarity and a multiplier:
Legendary: 1/1
Diamond: 1/100
Platinum: 1/50
...and so on, with multipliers like 1.1x, 1.2x, etc.
You use these cards to build teams and compete for weekly and seasonal prizes. Since you need to own the cards to play them, an active marketplace and vibrant community on Discord have emerged, allowing players to buy, sell, and trade cards.
The value of cards fluctuates with player performance, so spotting fantasy talent early gives you a competitive edge.
Why Choose GameDay Squad?
GameDay Squad is the ultimate dynasty league for AFL fans. You can:
Collect and target players you believe will perform well.
Build a portfolio of cards across different rarities to compete at multiple levels.
Profit by playing high-scoring cards in your team or trading them on the market.
Every week, you can field up to four teams and compete for significant prize money across different sports.
Do You Have to Play to Enjoy GDS?
While the AFL Fantasy-style game is my main draw, the thrill of collecting cards—much like Pokémon cards when I was younger—is another highlight. Opening a pack and pulling a rare card worth thousands of dollars is incredibly exciting.
The Game Itself
Reading this, you might worry about it being a pay-to-win game, with only those holding the best cards being able to compete. But that’s not the case!
In GameDay Squad, playing the right players each week is far more important than simply having the highest-rarity cards. This makes it possible to build competitive teams on a budget.
For example:
Starter Competitions are completely free and test your ability to build the best-performing team weekly.
Classic Competitions have only a marginal salary cap increase and rely mostly on free cards.
When analysing the performance of Classic vs. Champion teams, the average scoring difference per player (factoring in multipliers) was just 1-5 points across a 22-player AFL team. This shows that strategy often beats rarity.
When competitions expanded mid-season, I competed in Champion leagues without any diamond cards. Despite this, I finished 3rd in one round and missed 1st place by just 28 points the other rounds I only finished outside the top 20 once. With plenty of affordable, underrated diamond cards now available on the market, competing in Champion leagues is also realistic for newcomers.
Conclusion
GameDay Squad is the ideal platform for AFL fans who love fantasy sports and collecting. It combines strategy, trading, and competition in a way no other league can match.
Whether you’re a seasoned fantasy player or someone looking for a fun and rewarding challenge, GameDay Squad is your ticket to an immersive experience. To start your team with some free players use our code 'BOBAFL' and head here to find more ways to get free packs.
Cheers,
The Goal Practitioner
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