FanDuel lineup optimizer
Martian Flow builds FanDuel lineups that respect FanDuel's own rules — the nine-player NFL roster, the single-game MVP seat, the PGA six-golfer roster — and exports the file FanDuel's upload page accepts.
Who it is for
- FanDuel NFL players building more than a handful of lineups for a slate.
- FanDuel single-game players who want to control who holds the MVP spot.
- Golf players entering FanDuel PGA contests.
Built around FanDuel's formats
FanDuel NFL Classic rosters a quarterback, two running backs, three wide receivers, a tight end, a flex and a defense under FanDuel's salary cap. FanDuel Single Game puts one player in the MVP seat, where both his points and his salary count one and a half times, so the seat is a pricing decision as well as a scoring one. Martian Flow models each format as the site defines it — roster, salary cap, premium seat — rather than treating them as one generic game.
FanDuel also limits how many players a lineup can take from one team; the optimizer respects that limit on every lineup it builds.
MVP controls for FanDuel Single Game
Set how often a player holds the MVP seat independently of how often he is rostered, lock or ban a player from the seat, and rotate the MVP through a strong six-player core so you have more than one version of the same game script.
The FanDuel upload file
When the build is done, download a file in FanDuel's upload format, or fill in the entries file FanDuel gives you for a contest you have already joined. Every lineup is validated against FanDuel's roster and salary rules first.
How Gus works
Gus is the analyst built into Martian Flow. He reads the slate you have open — the projections, salaries, game lines, injury and inactive statuses, and recent public reporting — and answers questions about it in plain language: who the value plays are, which game sets up best to stack, how much exposure a player deserves in a 150-lineup portfolio.
When you ask Gus to build, he does not hand you lineups from a black box. He writes a plan — exposures, stacks, Captain or MVP targets — shows it to you, and only builds once you approve it. Every instruction he gives becomes a visible rule in the builder, next to the ones you set yourself, and yours win when the two disagree.
Player exposure
Exposure is how often a player appears across your lineups. Set a minimum, a maximum or an exact figure for any player, as a percentage or a lineup count. On single-game slates the Captain or MVP seat has its own exposure, separate from the player's overall share.
With no exposure rules at all, Martian Flow keeps any one player from taking over the portfolio on its own, and the Balanced strategy holds unruled players to about a third of your lineups.
Locks and exclusions
Lock a player into every lineup or exclude him from all of them in one click. On single-game slates you can lock or ban a player from the Captain/MVP seat specifically. Players ruled out, placed on injured reserve or declared inactive are removed automatically, and if news breaks after you build, you can rebuild only the lineups that are affected.
Stacking
Quarterbacks are paired with their own pass catchers automatically, with no settings at all, because a touchdown pass scores for both. The Stacking section lets you require more: QB + 1 pass catcher, QB + 2, a bring-back from the opposing team, or a custom shape, in whatever share of your lineups you choose.
Defenses are kept away from the offenses they face, so a lineup is never quietly betting against itself.
Portfolio review and diversification
Martian Flow builds a portfolio, not the same lineup 150 times. Lineups are selected together, so the set is diversified by design: exposure is spread, near-duplicates are avoided, and different game scripts get coverage.
After the build, Portfolio Review shows every player's exposure, how the portfolio stacks, how similar the lineups are to each other, whether each of your rules was met, and highly rated players the build left out without a reason you gave.
Contest-ready CSV export
Download your lineups as the upload file DraftKings or FanDuel expects, or fill in the contest's own entries file so every entry is replaced in one upload. Lineups are checked against the site's roster and salary rules before they are exported.
Supported platforms
| Contest | DraftKings | FanDuel |
|---|---|---|
| NFL Classic (main slates) | Yes | Yes |
| NFL Single Game | Yes (Showdown, Captain) | Yes (MVP) |
| PGA tournaments | Yes | Yes |
NBA is in development and not yet available. Martian Flow runs in any modern browser; there is nothing to install.
Questions
- Can I use it for FanDuel single-game contests?
- Yes. FanDuel Single Game is supported with separate MVP exposure, MVP locks and bans, and an MVP rotation option.
- Do I need my own projections?
- No. Published NFL and PGA slates come with Martian Flow projections built in. If you have your own numbers you can upload them, and the optimizer uses yours instead.
- Does Martian Flow guarantee winning lineups?
- No. No tool can. Daily fantasy is decided by games played by real people, and most entries lose. What an optimizer does is build lineups that follow your reasoning and are constructed well — valid, diversified and correlated — so that when your read on the slate is right, your lineups are positioned to benefit.
- Is Martian Flow affiliated with DraftKings or FanDuel?
- No. Martian Flow is independent and is not endorsed or sponsored by either site. It produces the files each site accepts for lineup upload.
Keep reading
Build your first lineups
Pick a slate, set only what you insist on, and review the portfolio before you export it. Or open Gus and ask him what he sees on the slate first.
Start the free trial