Build & Sim is a Build Mode in Build Settings. It builds the pool and simulates it against your scenarios in one run, so the lineups panel opens with sim metrics on every card. Choose it when you know the contest before you build, or when a playbook or a cloud build needs a simulated pool without a second click.
Before you start
- Read Build Settings overview for the sheet itself.
- Know the contest you will enter, or upload your entries CSV so the scenarios come from it. See Upload your entries.
Step by step
- Open the slate and click the build button at the right end of the toolbar. It reads Simulate when Build Mode is on Build & Sim, and Build when it is not.
- Under Build Mode on the Basic tab, check that Build & Sim is selected. It is the default once you upload an entries file. Click it if it is not.
- Click the Sim tab. It is enabled only in Build & Sim mode.
- Set your scenarios. The tab holds the same controls as the Contest Simulation sheet. See Contest Simulation settings.
- Pick the lineup count in the footer and click Simulate. The panel builds, then simulates, then reveals the pool with every scenario's numbers at once.
The controls that matter
| Control | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Build Only | Builds the pool. Simulate it later from the lineups panel. | Selected with no entries file |
| Build & Sim | Builds the pool, then runs one sim per scenario. The footer button changes from Build to Simulate. | Selected when you upload an entries file |
| When | Now runs at once. 5m to 30m schedules a cloud run that many minutes before lock. | Now |
| Lineup count | The pool size. Essential builds up to 500 lineups per build. Power builds up to 10,000. | The plan cap: 500 on Essential, 10,000 on Power |
| Rebuild | Builds a new pool. To re-run only the sim, use Re-Simulate in the lineups panel. |
How it works
Build & Sim optimizes the pool once, then runs one simulation per scenario over that pool. The scenario list is shared: a scenario you add on the Sim tab is the one the Contest Simulation sheet shows later, and the other way round. With an entries file on the slate, the Sim tab holds one locked scenario per contest you entered.
Build & Sim and Build Only produce the same pool for the same settings. The only difference is whether the sim runs at once. The slate remembers the mode you pick. Until you pick one, the mode follows your entries file: Build & Sim with a file, Build Only without one.
In a playbook, the Sim tab adds the switch Derive sim scenarios from your entries. On, the contests come from the entries file on the slate you run the playbook on. See The playbook editor.
Tips
- Pair Build & Sim with the When scheduler. A cloud run 20 minutes before lock leaves you a simulated pool to fill from.
- Keep Build Only for iteration. A sim on every build costs a minute each.
- Set My Entries on the Sim tab to what you will enter. It decides how many lineups the panel selects after the run.
- A big pool helps the sim more than it helps the build. 500 lineups against a 10,000-entry field gives Win Paths room to pick.
Troubleshooting
"Switch to Build & Sim" : the Sim tab is disabled. Click Build & Sim under Build Mode first.
"Simulation failed. Your lineups are still here." : the build finished but the sim did not. Open the lineups panel and click Simulate.
"This build requests N lineups, but your plan supports up to M per build. Upgrade to Power for a higher per-build cap." : lower the count, or upgrade. See Plans: Essential and Power.
Related
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