We don’t blame you if you haven’t heard of FastDraft yet. It’s a fairly new platform. But it’s high time you found out about this wonderful new best ball site. There has never been a better way to create a portfolio of your favorite fantasy football sleepers and values, then firmly plant your flag on them.

FastDraft drafts are quick (only 60 total players with a 20-second clock). So you get in, get your guys, and get out. There are no waivers, trades, or lineup setting, so you don’t get bogged down. And you can plant your flag on your favorite plays by using your captain boosters to multiply points for certain players - something that’s not typically offered by best ball sites. 

Right now, they have multiple game modes available. With the NFL Draft in the books, you can jump into the rookie contest called Origins (which we broke down recently in this article). They also have an IDP (individual defensive player) version called D-Up, which is rare in this space. But today we are tackling their flagship contest - the Flex Four. That’s the big one with the big bucks on the line!

I had the pleasure recently of talking with FastDraft Founder Matt Kelley on our show this week, so I will link that here for you guys to check out. The rest of this article will let you know the basics as well as some strategies and tips to get started! When you sign up, go to FantasyAlalrm.com/FastDraft and use promo code ALARM, where they will match 100% of your deposit up to $50 if it is your first time playing!
 


FastDraft Flex 4 Basics

The draft itself is simple. It’s a 10-team snake draft that runs for six rounds. Unlike the Origins rookie tournament that we looked at last week, there is no QB spot - only RB, WR, and TE. There are also no positional restrictions, so you could draft running backs at all six spots if you choose. Once the season starts, a “best ball” algorithm slots your four highest-scoring players into your lineup based on who has the best statistics each week. As mentioned in the intro, there are no manual lineup adjustments following the draft, so no waivers, no trades, and no lineup setting. 

FastDraft Flex 4 Scoring

The full rules for the contest can be found here on their website but here is a look at the scoring. It’s pretty typical for the modern fantasy football era.

  • 0.1 points per 2.5 yards passing (1 point per 25 passing yards)
  • 0.1 points per 1 yard rushing (1 point per 10 rushing yards)
  • 0.1 points per 1 yard receiving (1 point per 10 receiving yards)
  • 4 points per passing touchdown
  • 6 points per rushing touchdown
  • 6 points per receiving touchdown
  • 1 points per reception
  • 2 points per 2-point conversion passing
  • 2 points per 2-point conversion rushing
  • 2 points per 2-point conversion receiving
  • -1 point for an interception
  • -2 points for a fumble lost

 

 


 

FastDraft Flex 4 Captain Boosters

Besides the quick drafts and smaller lineups, the Captain Boosters are the other aspect that makes FastDraft fun and unique. Of your six players drafted, you are allowed to assign Captain Boosters to four of them. These will multiply the fantasy points scored by those players, allowing you to plant your flag on specific players you think will excel. Here are the four Captain Booster options.

  • 2.00 times the total fantasy points scored.
  • 1.75 times the total fantasy points scored.
  • 1.50 times the total fantasy points scored.
  • 1.25 times the total fantasy points scored.

FastDraft Origins Entries and Prizes

For this particular contest, you are allowed a maximum of 150 entries with a $5 entry fee. There are $50,000 total prizes, with the top prize being a cool $10,000. The top eight teams will all receive $1K+ as well. If you finish in the top 1,770 teams, you get your money back, which is roughly the top 15% of the max 11,770 entries. 

 

 


 

FastDraft Origins Tips and Advice

2025 Winning Team

First, let’s take a peek at the 2025 winning team. Though it won’t give us all the answers, it can give us some insight into the kind of upside we need to take down a tournament like this. Here are the players, the captain boosters, and the points scored for the players on the winning team (congrats to user Standardvig!):

As you can see, he lost two of his players to season-ending injury, but they happened to be the two guys he did not use a boost on. If you look at PPR scoring at the FLEX position for 2024, the user essentially had the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 9th-ranked players on his team, as well as Alvin Kamara and Christian Watson, who provided spike weeks.

Let’s get into some tips and strategy based on last year’s results and this year’s ADP!

 

 

 

Positional Awareness

Those who know my work know that I’m a huge tight end fan. But there is an unfortunate reality about that tight end position that some might not realize. A tight end has never been the number one FLEX player in fantasy football. And, in PPR formats, a tight end has actually never finished as a top 12 player in a year they were drafted as a top 12 player. Not that it’s not possible - but it hasn’t happened.

And the issue with ADP is that it is often derived from a larger “groupthink” around fantasy football. In most formats, there is a positional scarcity to the tight end position. Tight ends are drafted above where their raw point totals suggest because of that. And, even though there is no designated TE spot in Flex 4, tight ends are still often drafted above where they should probably go. We just saw that the team that won had four guys in the top 10 - the top TEs over the last two seasons finished as FLEX18 and FLEX26.

That said, it IS possible for a TE to make that kind of impact. Travis Kelce and Mark Andrews have had seasons that cracked the top 10. But those were top five tight end seasons of all time. So keep in mind that that is what you essentially need if you are using an early pick on a TE. I’ve been pounding the table for FastDraft to add a tight end premium format, so I’m hoping Matt Kelley and the crew will eventually come through for us!

 

 

 

Unique Builds Might Be Overrated In Flex 4

We talked about unique builds in our article on the Origins contest. And, in a tournament with a limited pool like that, with so much uncertainty surrounding the outcomes of rookie prospects, I do believe that unique builds are key to success there. In this contest, however, I don’t think differentiating yourself via the draft is as necessary.

In this contest, with every play are your disposal, you simply just want to draft the best possible players. As we saw in the inaugural contest, their core four were all top 10 players, and Alvin Kamara was actually the RB1 through six weeks and RB2 through 12 weeks. You might end up reaching for guys you believe in, or you might end up drafting the chalk every time, but the end goal should simply be to assemble the six players that you believe have the most upside. Period. 
 

 

 

Use Multipliers To Create Uniqueness

Now, THIS is where I’m creating uniqueness. Especially if I draft two very similar or even identical teams. Because the multipliers can change everything, and you never know when a guy you took in the second or third round can have a monster season (like Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, and Josh Jacobs last year, for example).

You can assign these multipliers to whoever you want. So, let’s say I start a draft with Christian McCaffrey and Nico Collins because I really like them. I make CMC my 2X and Nico Collins my 1.75. The very next draft, I pick at the swing, and I end up with the same two players. For that one, I can make Nico my 2X with CMC my 1.75X. I’ve now actually diversified my portfolio without deviating from my rankings. THAT is a really cool wrinkle.

 

 

 

Set Your Own Rankings

You are getting in at the ground floor of a fairly new product. Which is super cool -  you’re an early adopter. But I’ve found that the drafts don’t always start right away, as the player base is just starting to grow. You get a notification when the drafts start, but you might not always be staring at your phone, ready to make that pick or two.

Luckily for us, they offer a way to put custom rankings into the app. And, since the drafts are fairly short, it really does not take that long to set them. It truly does help not only for the start of drafts but for mid-draft as well if you autopick. I’m actually at the point where I trust my rankings enough to do the Turbo Mode, where I just let my rankings do the work. It really is a nice feature you should take advantage of. 
 

How To Get Started With FastDraft

Getting set up and started is fairly easy. Go to FantasyAlalrm.com/FastDraft and use promo code ALARM, where they will match 100% of your deposit up to $50 if you are a first-time player. As long as you are in an approved location, you should be able to create an account and start drafting today! This article is on the Flex-4 Tournament, so make sure you select the right one if you are looking to play that version. If you want to learn about the Origins tournament, which is rookies only, check out our write-up on that here!