The Anatomy of a Good Faction Wars Team -- Part One

I. Drafting for Dummies

"I feel that the draft is really a crapshoot." - Walt Florio, former GM of Stacy's Freak

Draft day is the most exciting time in a Faction Wars season. Unfortunately, a single-day chat draft hasn't taken place since Season 8. In its place in Seasons 9 and 10 has been an email draft that has taken place over the course of several days.

When the revival came to fruition, names were simply drawn from a hat to determine the draft order. Once this season is complete and the GMs begin assembling their war rooms, the draft order will be determined by how they finished Season 10.

The first three picks are given out based on overall regular season records. The team with the worst record will select first. The team with the second worst record will pick second. And the team with the third worst record selects third.

The top three teams, record-wise, advance to the playoffs. Unlike the bottom three, regular season records now mean nothing in terms of the draft order; their playoff outcome determines where they draft. The team that loses in the Wild Card round selects fourth. The team that loses in the Faction Wars Championship selects fifth. And the Faction Wars Champion selects sixth.

The draft continues through round eight (or ten, in the cases of Season 1 and Season 10), snake-style (reversing each round), until each team has a total of ten players. This is typically followed by an unofficial "ninth" (or "eleventh") round, where teams place any injured draftees on their Injured Reserve list and pick up a replacement from the remaining talent pool.

So how should one go about drafting? Picking the best player available, right? Wrong.

"A wrestler that looks good at the time of the draft may end up looking like shit five weeks into the season.  That is the crappy part about being at the mercy of the bookers from the industry.  I draft solely on my gut.  I look at wrestlers that I see promise in and will take them on my gut feeling that they have what it takes to make it and get booked well in the industry." - Walt Florio, former GM of Stacy's Freak

There are certain things that happen in professional wrestling - just as in any other professional sport - that impact the fantasy sport. With pro wrestling, these items included (but are not limited to): injuries, suspensions, dem 'deavors, changes in management, attitude problems, and yes...even death (see: Guerrero, Eddie).

With that in mind, there is still a general consensus as to who makes a good Faction Wars player and GMs adhere to that consensus for the most part. Here are some other drafting strategies that go into creating a team:

1. Your Favorite Wrestlers

Let's face it. Every GM has a favorite wrestler, and they would love to have that guy on their roster. This is why Randy Orton has been perennially a member of Re:Evolution and Stacy's Freak had a ball-and-chain on Edge. Hell, CM Punk has made a Faction Wars career out of being a "favorite wrestler," despite point production that is not on par with other first round picks (or Overall Number One Draft Picks, for that matter).

2. Theme

The eGo Busters like to draft heels. Or dudes with egos. They selected Jeff Jarrett with the Overall Number One Draft Pick in Faction Wars 1.0, Season 1. They selected Triple H with the third overall pick in Faction Wars 2.0, Season 10. If there's a douchebag out there that people hate, Greg Jovi wants him. Who knows, maybe someday Davey Richards will even be an eGo Buster...

In Season 7, The !@#$ers found success with a themed team, retaining and drafting several "kings" and taking on the moniker of The !@#$ing Kings. Triple H (King of Kings), Samoa Joe, CM Punk, Homicide (ROH's Three Kings), and Jeff Hardy (King of the Fairies). They never could, however, acquire the rights to King Booker.

And we're pretty sure the Hitmen spent a good portion of Faction Wars 1.0 as the exclusive home to TNA's Team Canada stable. Their results graphic was even a friggin' maple leaf!

3. Brand

Based on a GM's watching preferences, he may draft more (or less) talent from certain brands. The Hitmen have always been predominantly a TNA stable, while Re:Evolution has been anti-SmackDown in the past. The !@#$ers typically attempt a balanced approach, taking 2-3 players from each brand (RAW, SmackDown, ECW, and TNA). The !@#$ers also tend to trust the ECW brand slightly more than other franchises do.

"If you can get the ECW Champion in the middle of the draft, like I did with Christian (selecting him at the end of round three), you're basically getting a main eventer at the price of a mid-carder. He'll never get lost in the shuffle like, say, MVP or Carlito...and he's a big-time threat come PPV weeks, if he's having a title defense. As far as a second ECW talent goes, if there's a number one contender, he's a good pick. Any guy that's having a feud, or anybody getting the New Talent Initiative push. Those are all good guys to have on your undercard; but you can't get too attached to your second ECW talent, he needs to be expendable." - Jason Coellner, The !@#$ers GM

4. Reputation

If a player has been good in Faction Wars in a past season, he'll probably be good again in a future season. Barring any issues, of course. Guys like Miz, Christian, and Eric Bischoff will always be sought out in the middle portion of a draft because they've always put up respectable numbers. On the flipside, guys like Booker T, UnderTaker, and Sting will be taken late - or not at all - because their point production is nowhere near their position on the card.

"I attack the draft in two halfs. First half, I target guys who are going to be available long term. For instance, I took Triple H first in this draft over Angle. I wanted Angle because he was the sexier pick, but Triple H provides stability, you know, barring injury, he will be there and in a match every week." - Greg Jovi, eGo Busters GM

5. High Risk, High Reward

Thanks to the insight of eGo Busters GM, Greg Jovi, we have added this fifth drafting category: high risk, high reward. In the Season 10 draft, the Hitmen selected Bryan Danielson (in development); Re:Evolution drafted Edge (should be out for the majority of the season, due to injury); the eGo Busters selected Hulk Hogan (had not been fully integrated into TNA's environment just yet); and The !@#$ers drafted Kaval (also in development). Here is Jovi's explanation of why high risk, high reward is a worthwhile investment in the draft:

"The second half is where I'm looking more for high risk high reward guys. Hogan being a good example. To me, there is no point in drafting a guy like...let's say, Tyson Kidd. You might as well take one or two shots in the dark in the last half, because if it doesnt work out, you still have (if you drafted well) a strong base, and you always pick up the Tyson Kidd level guys in free agency if need be." - Greg Jovi, eGo Busters GM

Some of these picks have paid off (Hogan). Some have not (Danielson, Kaval). Some have yet to be determined, like Edge, who is certainly considered to be a great long-term investment, but potentially has no short-term gain. Not to mention, when it comes time, Re:Evolution GM Daniel Woodson will have to settle on two retainees out of Edge, Randy Orton, and AJ Styles.

This theory has paid off in the past as well, when Walt Florio selected Kurt Angle in the latter portion of a draft. Angle had just recently been released from the WWE, was thought to be on a "death watch," and had not been signed to TNA just yet. Florio's selection of Angle was criticized at the time, but a matter of weeks into the season, Angle appeared in TNA. Florio's draftee was no longer a joke, and Angle ended up being traded to the eGo Busters - for a high price.

In conclusion, there is no one way to draft in Faction Wars. Several issues factor into putting together a team, several of which have been discussed at length here. This is by no means an exhaustive list - titleholders, for example, were not even examined. One thing is for certain, though...all strategy goes out the window once a general manager is "on the clock."