Draft night for captains

On draft night, each team's captain picks its players in the draft room. The room is made for phones and works the same way on a computer. Your commissioner sets the order, the clock and what happens when time runs out; Run a draft explains those settings from their side.

Before draft night

Claim your team with the captain link your commissioner sent you, and sign in with Discord. A co-captain can pick too, but only if your commissioner turned on Let co-captains pick.

Your league page shows a Draft night card with the start time. After the commissioner shows the order, the card also lists your pick numbers. It's your way into the room: Open the draft room before the start, Join the draft room while the draft runs and Make your pick when you're on the clock.

Build your pick list

Do this before the draft starts. In the room, open Players and tap + next to each player you want. Then open Pick list to move players up or down with the arrows, or take one off with the X. Your list saves as you go and shows Saved once OVRWire has it.

The list does two jobs. When you're on the clock it's a one-tap shortlist, and if your time runs out it's the first place auto-pick looks. If another team drafts someone on your list, that player drops off it and you get a notice.

Around the room

On a phone the room fills the screen, with four tabs:

• Board shows every pick, who's on the clock and who's up next. Your own picks have a red edge.
• Players lists everyone still available. Search by name or filter by position. Each row shows position and platform, plus any builds and game nights the player gave when they signed up.
• Pick list is your shortlist.
• My team shows your roster so far, your picks left, the roster minimum and your auto-pick switch.

The arrow at the top left takes you back to your league. On a computer, the board, the players and your pick list sit side by side.

When you're on the clock

The top of the screen turns red and says You're on the clock, with a big countdown. If you have a pick list, the room opens it under From your pick list, with a Draft button on every player. If you don't, open Players. Phones that support it also buzz, and your browser tab shows your time left in its title.

Make your pick

1. Tap Draft next to the player you want.
2. A sheet opens with the player and the pick number. Check them.
3. Tap the button that names the player to confirm, or tap Cancel.

The sheet is tied to that one pick. If the pick moves on before you confirm, because your time ran out or the commissioner stepped in, nothing is drafted and the sheet tells you what happened. If another team takes the player first, the sheet tells you to choose someone else. After your pick, a notice stays on your screen until you dismiss it.

The clock

Your commissioner chooses the clock. A live draft is minutes a pick: 2 minutes is the recommended length, and the choices run from 30 seconds to 15 minutes. A slow draft runs over a few days with hours a pick, and its clock can stop for quiet hours, 11 PM to 9 AM unless your commissioner changes them. You can still pick during quiet hours.

If the commissioner pauses the draft, your clock stops and picks wait. When the draft resumes, a 15-second countdown runs before the clock and picks start again.

If you miss your clock

What happens depends on When the clock expires, which your commissioner chose.

With Auto-pick, OVRWire picks for you. It checks your pick list first, then ratings from last season's stats. For players without a rating, it uses the commissioner's ranking, then who joined first. It skips players your team can't take. The room tells you who it picked and why.

Miss two clocks in a row and auto-pick stays on for your later picks. A pick you make yourself starts the count over, and you can switch auto-pick off any time on My team.

With Wait for staff, nothing is picked when time runs out. The clock reads overtime and the draft waits for the commissioner, who can add time or pick for you. You can still make your own pick while it waits.

If the room says Clock problem, no pick has been made. The commissioner can pick for your team or pause the draft.

When the commissioner steps in

A commissioner can pick for any team. If you're on the clock, they're asked to confirm first, and the board and Draft TV mark the pick By commissioner. If they undo or correct a pick, you get a notice with their reason.

If your screen falls behind

If your connection drops, the room says Reconnecting and keeps the last board on screen. The draft keeps going on OVRWire's side, and your screen catches up when the connection is back. While you wait for your turn, keep the room in front: a tab in the background stops checking for new picks until you switch back to it.

After the last pick

When the last pick is in, the room says Draft complete. The commissioner checks the board, can undo or correct a pick, then taps Start the season. When your league's pages are public, the Draft night card on your league page also has Your draft class card to share.

Pings in Discord

If your league's Discord server is connected to the draft, OVRWire pings you in the draft thread when you go on the clock. The message shows the pick and the clock. It has a Draft button for the top player on your pick list (or the first available player if your list is empty) and a Someone else button to choose another. Discord then asks you to confirm before it records the pick.

If your clock is 2 minutes or longer, you also get one last-call reminder when a quarter of the time is left. When the pick is in, OVRWire edits the ping to say what happened, and an edit doesn't notify you again. If auto-pick is on for your team, there's no ping.

Keep going

Watching on a big screen? See Draft TV. Want to rehearse first? Try a practice draft.