Fantasy managers got a taste of FPL Challenge during the Beta late last season, with over a million people participating.
Feedback from those managers have helped to shape this season's game.
Season-long mini-leagues
Last season in FPL Challenge, any Fantasy points earned in a Gameweek soon disappeared, with managers starting from zero again for the following Gameweek.
This season, while you can still dip in and out of FPL Challenge and play for individual Gameweeks, you’ll also now have the option of making it a season-long competition, accumulating a combined points score over the campaign.
You will be able to compete in the overall global league or create a mini-league with your friends to see who will come out on top, just like in Fantasy Premier League.
There will be some BIG prizes up for grabs, which will match the seasonal prizes in Fantasy.
'Events' start with 5-a-side
This season, you will be able to compete to win “events”. Events are a collection of Gameweeks in FPL Challenge which all have the same theme.
In your mini-leagues, you’ll be able to see the points being scored across the events, in addition to the overall season-long standings.
It’s a competition within a competition, allowing managers to focus on winning their mini-league over just a handful of Gameweeks.
To kick off the season, we launch with a 5-a-side event, which will run across the first four Gameweeks.
For each of the challenges in this event, you only have to pick five players! Here’s the schedule...
GW1: Debut
Unlimited budget and you can use any formation.
GW2: All Out Attack
Goals are worth double points. The budget is £35.0m. You must pick one goalkeeper and four forwards.
GW3: Promoted Punt
Only players from promoted clubs are available. The budget is £24.0m. You can pick any formation.
GW4: Too Big at the Back
Clean sheets are worth double points. The budget is £30.0m. You must pick two goalkeepers and three defenders.
Rank badges
For the more competitive managers among you, you will have the chance to earn and improve a rank badge. Your rank badge will appear on your player profile and across your leagues in FPL Challenge.
Rank badges are earned through your performances across recent Gameweeks. The better you are, the higher your rank badge will be!
You’ll have to play in five Gameweeks to be placed at your initial rank. Then you will move up and down the ranks each week depending on your performance in FPL Challenge.
There are eight rank badges, ranging from "Bronze" at the bottom to "Legend" for those who are in the top one per cent.
Each rank badge has five stars of progress, to show how close you are to reaching the next rank.
No substitutes or vice-captains
Last season, experienced Fantasy managers were able to exploit their ability to make transfers throughout a Gameweek - selling any player whose fixture had not yet started - while also getting auto-substitutions.
Essentially, they gave themselves two chances to earn points, and the same tactic could be used with the captaincy and vice-captaincy.
Due to this, and with the aim being to make the game as simple and as fun as possible, we have removed the substitutes bench and vice-captain options in FPL Challenge. You will now only ever have to pick up to a maximum of 11 starting players.
We hope you enjoy the season in Challenge!
