Lineup Optimizer

Ceiling-first, correlated-sim lineups — built to win tournaments, not min-cash. Upload your DraftKings slate, build from your player pool, download lineups ready to upload back.

📖 How to use the optimizer — click to expand/collapse

✅ Easiest way — the Contest Planner (do it this way)

Register your entries on DraftKings first, then let us fill them all at once — no adding lineups to DK one at a time (that's slow and error-prone, especially your first time). On DK: draftkings.com/entry/upload → Download Entries, then drop that file in Step 1 below. We assign a fitting, unique lineup to every seat you reserved — aggressive ceiling builds for GPPs & single-entries, floor builds for cash — you download one CSV and Upload Entries back to DK. Every seat filled in two clicks.

📺 Watch the 2-minute upload tutorial

The full winning workflow:

Find the shootouts first. Nukes (the games that win millies) cluster in high-scoring games — on the matchups page each game shows a 🔥 Shootout Score and each team a Shootout Signal (why it matters). Build around the top-scoring games; that's where the ceilings live.
Build a tight player pool. ★ your guys on Best Picks or the matchups page (it syncs here) — lean toward high nuke% plays in high Shootout-Score games. Aim for ~30-40 players: pool tightness is the single biggest lever on your odds, and the panel below coaches you live (Sharp / Getting wide / Loose).
Pick your slate (Step 1). We auto-load the week’s DraftKings slates (Sun-Mon, Early Only, Afternoon…) and every Showdown — just choose one from the dropdown. No download needed; salaries are already in the system. Pick a Showdown and we build a single-game Captain lineup (1 CPT at 1.5× + 5 FLEX); pick a classic slate for the full QB/RB/WR/TE/FLEX/DST build. (Already registered across a bunch of contests? Skip the slate and drop your DK entries file instead — see the Contest Planner step below.)
Choose how to build (Step 2). ⭐+🔗 Pool + smart stacks (the default) builds from your pool and lets the sim complete shootout stacks — a pooled QB's pass-catchers and the opponent bring-back. Those pieces ride only on that QB's lineups and are exposure-capped by our 10-year historical player-correlation data (how often each role actually booms alongside its QB — QB↔WR1 ≈ .47, WR2 ≈ .39, TE ≈ .32, bring-back at its real rate), so you get true correlated stacks at the rates the data supports, not random pairings. ⭐ My player pool is pool-only; 🌐 Full slate + boosts uses everyone. Then set your contest type and, for GPPs, 150-300 lineups — your edge is the volume of unique, correlated builds (more shots at the one that hits).
Build & tune your pool right here. In the ⭐ Player pool & boosts panel, search or tab by position (QB/RB/WR/TE/DST), click a ★ to add/remove a player (it syncs with the Best Picks page), nudge any projection with ±, and set a guy’s Min % (a floor — he must land in at least that share of your lineups) or Max % (a cap — at most that share; 0 locks him out).
Hit “Build lineups.” We run thousands of correlated simulations off each player’s ceiling range (when a QB pops, his pass-catchers and the shootout pop with him) and keep the diverse set of builds with the best tournament-relevant upside. We also apply a 🔥 shootout tilt — in high-pace / pass-lean games (the Shootout Signal on the matchups page) we widen ceiling tails, weighted by position from a 2021-25 study (QB nukes hit ~29× more often in shootouts, WR ~4×, so they get the most; RB the least). So the sim leans into stacking the games most likely to run hot. The post-build synopsis shows your exposure and stacks — adjust Min/Max % and rebuild.
Download & upload (Step 3). If you used the Contest Planner (dropped your entries file), download the one CSV and Upload Entries at draftkings.com/entry/upload — every reserved seat is filled at once (the easy way). If you built for a single slate instead, the CSV drops into DK's lineup upload and you'll add each lineup to contests yourself. IDs are already in the right slots either way.
Running all your registered entries at once — the Contest Planner. Instead of a slate, drop your DraftKings entries file (draftkings.com/entry/upload → Download Entries) and we assign a fitting lineup to every entry — ceiling builds for tournaments, floor builds for cash, all unique. Then you steer it:
- Pick what we build. A per-contest Optimize / Keep as-is toggle — flip a contest to Keep to leave those entries on your own hand-built lineups; we only build the ones set to Optimize.
- Split within a contest. Expand any contest to toggle individual entries — optimize some, hand-keep others — and see each entry’s current lineup right there before you decide.
- Never miss a reservation. Contests with reserved seats that still need a lineup are highlighted so you fill every seat you paid for.
- Kept lineups pass through untouched — your hand-built entries ride to the download exactly as they were.
Download the CSV and upload it at draftkings.com/entry/upload → Upload Entries (the Entries page — not Lineup Upload).

Contest types

50/50 / Cash — top ~half cashes. Ceiling pieces with enough floor to clear the line safely.

Multiplier — beat a higher line for a multiple of your entry. A notch more aggressive than cash.

Small GPP — smaller tournaments. Lean into ceiling with some correlation.

Large GPP — big-field, top-heavy. Max ceiling, embrace the low floor — we build for the slate-winning outcome.

Every lineup shows a proj (median) and a ceiling (its 90th-percentile sim outcome). We optimize the ceiling, not the median — the flaw in most optimizers. When multiple lineups are built they’re kept diverse (and never clone the Maniac’s own lineups), so you’re not stacking identical entries.

🏆 Coaching tips — how winners use this

Tighten the pool before you add lineups. Going from 50 → 30 players cuts the possible lineups ~130× — that helps your odds far more than firing more builds. Nail the ~30-40 right guys first.

Anchor to shootouts. Nukes cluster in high-scoring games; build around the top 🔥 Shootout Score games and stack them (QB + pass-catcher + a bring-back).

QB ceiling needs a shootout — a QB nukes ~29× more often in one. Don't roster a QB for upside in a low-total game.

Go wide in large GPPs (150-300 correlated lineups); keep it tight and elite for single-entry and cash.

Use Min %/Max % to force your favorite plays in and cap the guys you're lukewarm on — then rebuild and read the exposure synopsis.

New to all this? Start on the Game Environment 101 page for the strategy, then Matchups → Best Picks → here → Bankroll Builder.

1 · Pick your slate

Already registered your entries? Drop your DraftKings entries file here to fill them all at once (Contest Planner).

Get it at draftkings.com/entry/upload → Download Entries. Or drop a salary CSV for a slate we didn’t auto-load. 📺 Upload tutorial

2 · Configure

Contest type

# Lineups

Build from

🔗 Custom rules — global rules, salary range, exclude players, player groups & if-then rules

🌐 Global rules

One-click rules that apply to every lineup — no need to set them player-by-player.

No QB vs opposing DST — never roster a defense that's playing against your QB (your own-team DST hedge is still allowed). No naked team clusters — at most 2 pass-catchers (WR/TE/RB) from a team unless that team's QB is in the lineup. Keeps a 3-man cluster from sneaking in without its QB, without ever touching a real QB stack.

💰 Salary range

Bound how much of the $50,000 cap each lineup spends. Min = the least it must spend (blank = no minimum). Max = the most it may spend (blank = the full cap) — e.g. set Max to 49,000 to leave at least $1,000 on the table for leverage. Applies to every slate, contest type & the Contest Planner.

Min salary

Max salary

🚫 Exclude players

Players here are never used in any lineup — a hard lock-out. Type a name to add one (or set his Max % to 0 in the pool below for the same effect).

👥 Player groups & if-then rules

Group rule — require or cap a set of players across every lineup. Make a group and say include at least 1 of these (e.g. always play one of your studs) or at most 1 of these (e.g. only one of your $3k dart throws per lineup). If-then rule — conditional: if Player A is in a lineup, then include at least 1 of Player B (a QB always brings a pass-catcher), or exclude to never pair a set with the trigger. Both take multiple players; add as many rules as you like. Applies to every build (manual & Contest Planner). Saved in your browser.

⭐ Player pool & boosts — add/remove players and tune them right here

Click a ★ to add a guy to your pool (syncs with Best Picks). Nudge any projection up/down with ±, or set his Min % (floor — must appear) / Max % (cap). Saved in your browser.