Single game DFS optimizer for Showdown and MVP contests
In a single game there are only two teams' worth of players, so every lineup looks like every other one — except for who sits in the Captain or MVP seat and which way you think the game goes. Martian Flow is built around those two decisions.
Try it free on FanDuel single game. Pick your MVP, a fade or a stack, and a risk setting; we build 3 lineups from your choices with the same engine. No account needed.
Build 3 free lineupsWho it is for
- DraftKings Showdown players building several Captain variations.
- FanDuel Single Game players who want to control the MVP seat.
- Anyone who has watched a single-game build repeat the same six players with no plan.
Captain and MVP exposure
The premium seat has its own exposure, separate from a player's overall share. Decide how often a player captains, lock or ban him from the seat, and let the optimizer spread the premium seat across the players who have a real case for it. The seat multiplies a player's salary as well as his points, so the best Captain is not simply the highest projection — the optimizer prices every version exactly as the site does.
MVP rotation
The same six players with a different Captain or MVP is a meaningful variation: the same game script with a different bet on who produces the ceiling. Martian Flow allows a few strong versions of a core on its own, and an explicit MVP rotation takes your strongest core and builds one lineup for each MVP with a legitimate case — affordable at the premium price and close to the best version.
Game scripts, not six random players
Single-game lineups are shaped around how the game might go — a shootout, one team controlling it, a low-scoring grind. The optimizer rejects constructions that contradict themselves, such as a defense rostered against an opposing Captain, and a quarterback MVP with two of his own pass catchers is a one-click stack preset.
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
- What is the difference between a Captain and an MVP?
- They are the same idea on two sites: DraftKings calls the premium seat Captain, FanDuel calls it MVP. The player in it scores one and a half times his points and costs one and a half times his salary, so filling it well is about value at the higher price, not just the biggest projection.
- Can I rotate different MVPs through the same core?
- Yes. Turn on MVP rotation in the Stacking section, or ask Gus to take your strongest core and rotate the viable MVP options through it.
- 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.
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