APEX FIELD GUIDE

Build with confidence.

Sign in from your email

Request a sign-in link with your invited email address. Open the email link and choose Continue to APEX to finish signing in. Each link works once. If it expires or was already used, request a new one. If you refresh the confirmation page before continuing, reopen the original email link. Never share a sign-in link with anyone.

Sign in with a password

A password is optional. Accounts start without one, so sign in with an email link first, then open Account and set a password of at least 8 characters. Next time, choose Sign in with password on the sign-in page. To change it later, enter your current password as well. Email links keep working, and APEX never creates an account from the sign-in page.

Start with a slate

Choose your sport, game format, and published slate. Classic and NFL Showdown use different roster rules. GPP/Cash describes your contest strategy; single entry and three max describe your entry count.

NCAAF is DraftKings college football Classic: QB, two RB, three WR, FLEX (RB or WR) and S-FLEX (QB, RB or WR). DraftKings lists tight ends as WR. Every Classic slate with two or more games is listed, Thursday and Friday included, and several can share a day; the slate list shows each one’s game count, and the soonest day’s Main slate opens by default.

NHL is DraftKings hockey Classic: two C, three W, two D, one G and a UTIL. Left and right wings (LW, RW) both fill W, and UTIL takes any skater but never a goalie. Every lineup needs skaters from at least three teams (the goalie does not count) and players from at least two games. Several NHL slates can share a day (Main, Turbo, Late); the slate list shows each one’s game count, and the soonest day’s Main slate opens by default.

Your work saves automatically

Use Sport settings beside the Build button to reach your sport’s construction controls, including on a phone. Set a lineup salary range and choose a build priority. MLB adds team hitter limits; NFL Classic adds FLEX position; PGA adds top-tier golfer and total modeled ownership limits; NASCAR adds track, dominator, and starting-position rules. NCAAF uses the salary range and build priority; its S-FLEX can hold a second quarterback. NHL adds two goalie settings: keeping your goalie away from opposing skaters (on by default) and confirmed goalies only (off by default). Showdown has separate team-balance, kicker, and defense limits. Custom limits remain enforced even if an engine relaxes its default strategy. Tight limits may produce fewer lineups or no feasible build.

Player edits and build settings save after a short pause. Wait for “Saved” before closing a tab. If another tab changed the workspace, resolve the conflict before building. Every successful build saves separately in My Lineups through the slate’s final day (Eastern time). After that day ends, the build, its rosters, and simulation/Analyst results are automatically deleted, including favorites. Export a CSV to keep a copy.

Where do published slates come from?

APEX saves DraftKings slate listings, then a background preparation job loads the player pool, calculates projections, and checks the result. Only a complete, saved pool is published. You do not need to reload or prepare data when opening the optimizer.

Administrators can open Account → Manage slates to see service status, check for new slates, or request preparation. A listed slate with no saved pool is still awaiting preparation. If the worker is offline, the server must be started before preparation can resume.

Projection updates

Check the source update and last-check timestamps above the player table. Apply updated projections when you are ready. Compatible player edits carry forward; removed players are listed. Old lineup sets retain their original projections.

Find and compare players

Filter the player table by position, team, or game, or search by name. Click Player, Pos, Salary, or Projection to sort; click again to reverse the order. Projection sorting follows your manual projection edits; percentage boosts remain a separate build adjustment. Filters and sorting stay in the page address for refreshes, bookmarks, and browser navigation. Clear filters to see the full pool. Filtering never excludes a player from a build; use Exclude for that. Showdown shows one FLEX row per athlete with Captain/FLEX edit controls.

Locks and exposures

A lock includes a player in every lineup. Exclusions remove them from the build. Minimum and maximum exposures control their share of the saved set. For Showdown, choose Captain, FLEX, or either role. A projection edit is the player’s FLEX projection; Captain scoring uses 1.5×. Boosts adjust that projection by a percentage after any manual override.

Some rows carry a model flag. In NFL, a backup QB or a player without a modeled projection is excluded from builds and cannot be locked. In NCAAF, a quarterback the model does not project to start is marked Backup QB and a player with no history is marked as such; their projections are near zero or placeholders. If you know better, enter a projection for that player first, then lock him or set a minimum exposure.

NHL goalies carry a start status: Confirmed (DraftKings or ESPN), Expected (ESPN), Unknown (no signal yet; a small partial projection), or Benched when a teammate is confirmed or expected. A benched goalie projects zero, is excluded from builds and cannot be locked, even with a projection entered. Skaters show their inferred even-strength line (F1 to F4, D1 to D3) and power-play unit (PP1, PP2) when the team’s lines are known. The line number is a rank by combined 5v5 ice time in the team’s last regular-season game, not the coach’s numbering.

NCAAF stacks

The NCAAF default GPP mix is QB + 1 WR in 35% of lineups, QB + 1 WR with a bring-back 25%, QB + 2 WR 15%, QB + 2 WR with a bring-back 10%, and 15% unstacked. Cash builds use pure projection. A stack QB is a projected starter and can fill the QB or S-FLEX slot, so lineups may hold two quarterbacks. A bring-back is a WR or RB from the QB’s opponent, and every lineup uses players from at least two games. Choose Custom stacks to set your own shapes, teams and shares. They work like NFL’s below, with one difference: a bring-back of None keeps the opponent’s WRs and RBs out of those lineups, where NFL leaves them available.

NHL stacks

NHL stacks are built from lines. Lines and power-play units are inferred from each team’s most recent regular-season shift chart, so they can lag a lineup change. F1 to F4 rank a team’s forward trios by combined 5v5 ice time in that game. They are not the coach’s numbering, so F1 is not always the top-salary or PP1 line; the line picker names the players on each line once you choose a team. A team with no such game has unknown lines: a line stack on it takes 2 or 3 of its forwards from any line. The NHL default GPP mix, not yet calibrated, is a 3-man line with a 2-man line in 45% of lineups, a 3-man line with two skaters from another team 30%, three 2-man lines 15%, and a 4-skater team stack 10%. Cash builds use pure projection. Choose Custom stacks to pick each part: a line stack of 2 or 3 forwards (F1 to F4, or any line), optionally with the team’s PP1 defenseman, or a team stack of 2 to 4 skaters, and up to two more parts from other teams. A line part cannot name a team whose lines are unknown; choose Team for it, or leave the team on Auto. Shares work as in NFL below.

NFL custom stacks

In NFL Classic, open Custom stacks & diversity and choose Custom stacks. Pair your QB with same-team WR/TE players and optionally add opposing pass catchers. Choose teams or leave Auto selected. Add stack rows to split a build: specified shares must total 100%, or leave a share blank for the remainder. Settings save with your workspace. Review the saved build warnings if the engine fills a stack shortfall with unstacked lineups.

Simulation results

Run Tournament simulation for estimated ROI, cash rate, and finish probabilities. Scores only reports upside, floor, and Sharpe without ROI. Saved results return with the build on the Simulation tab and lineup cards. Player leverage compares optimal frequency with modeled ownership; portfolio exposure shows how far your entries are over or under that ownership.

Exporting

Open a saved build and select Export DraftKings CSV. Choose the matching DraftKings sport, slate, and format. APEX never submits entries or charges contest fees on your behalf.

Return to a saved build

My Lineups keeps the selected build and your search, sport, format, slate, and favorites filters in the page address. Bookmark that address to reopen the same view after a refresh. These links still require your account; they do not share private builds with other members. The dashboard also keeps a link to your workspace settings after its slate ends; expired lineup sets are no longer available.

Beta access for administrators

Account → Manage beta members lists existing accounts and their access status. Pause or resume a member after reviewing the confirmation. Pausing blocks their access while preserving saved lineups and settings; resuming restores access. Administrator accounts are protected on this page. Up to 50 non-admin members can be active at once.

New invitations still require the administrator’s Supabase setup process. Configure customer email delivery and finish the data-permission and beta readiness checks first. This page does not send invitations or change which sports and pools are available to customers.

Beta limits

Builds are pre-lock, with one active compute job per member and up to 150 lineups per build. Showdown supports build, save, and export. Late swap and billing are not active during beta.

Need support?

Contact the administrator who provided your invitation. Include the slate, approximate time, and the visible error. Do not send passwords or sign-in links.