Hero Academy teaches the loop you run on every slate: Import, Build, Simulate, Fill, Export. It teaches on your own slates, with the real controls. It has four parts:
- The welcome card on the Day View asks one question and opens a slate for you.
- The Loop rail in the workspace names your next step and gives you one button for it.
- The Academy tab in the Help & Updates panel holds the lessons, in four tracks.
- Four hints each show one time, next to a real control.
Before you start
- Sign in to DFS Hero. See Create your account.
- Know where the help button and the avatar menu are. See Navigate the app.
Who gets the Academy by itself
DFS Hero decides one time for each account.
- A new account gets the welcome card, the Loop rail, and the hints by themselves.
- An existing account gets them too when it never exported entries or lineups and never finished or skipped the old Hero Academy checklist.
- Every other account opens the Academy from the Academy tab. The welcome card, the rail, and the hints do not start. The lessons are the same.
To turn the welcome card, the rail, and the hints on, click Restart Academy on the Academy tab. See Restart and stop.
The welcome card
The welcome card sits at the top of the Day View slate list. It reads "Welcome to DFS Hero. Every slate runs the same five steps." and shows the five steps. Then it asks: "Did you enter contests for a slate today?"
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Yes | Opens the first slate you entered that has not locked. With no such slate, the card reads "Find your slate in the list and click Open. The search box narrows the list." It stays until you open a slate. |
| No, show me how it works | Opens the next classic slate that locks more than 60 minutes from now. A line under the buttons names that slate. With no such slate on the date, it opens the first classic slate of the next date that has one. |
| The close button | Closes the card until you restart the Academy. The rail and the hints keep working. |
Your answer picks the rail's path: Yes gives the entries path, No gives the no-contests path. Opening a slate from the card changes no build setting.
The card does not show on the Contests tab, on a past date, or after you close it.
The Loop rail
The Loop rail is one row under the workspace toolbar, on a desktop browser. On the left it shows the steps of your path. A passed step has a check, and a bar sits under the current step. In the middle it shows one line and one button. The button runs the real control. On the right are the Academy button, which opens the Academy tab, and the hide button.
The rail has two paths:
- The entries path: Import, Build, Simulate, Fill, Export. The rail uses it when the slate has an entries file, or when you answered Yes.
- The no-contests path: Build, Simulate, Export. The rail uses it in every other case.
Steps on the entries path
| Step | Line | Button |
|---|---|---|
| Import | "Import the entries file for the contests you entered on this slate." | Upload entries opens the Entries popover in the toolbar. |
| Build | "Build your lineups. Build & Sim runs the sim right after the build." With Build Only: "Build your lineups for the contests you entered." | The toolbar button's own label, Simulate or Build. It opens the Build Settings sheet. Nothing runs until you click the button in the sheet's footer. |
| Simulate | "Simulate your contests against this pool." | The Lineups panel's own label, such as Simulate. It opens the simulation settings, as Simulate in the Lineups panel does. |
| Fill | "Write the plan into your saved entries." | Fill N entries runs the same Fill as the Lineups panel footer. |
| Export | "Download your filled entries file." | Export runs the same export as the Entries popover. When your saved entries differ from the preview, it asks Fill, then export or Export as saved. |
| Done | "Upload the file on DraftKings before lock." (or FanDuel) | Got it |
Steps on the no-contests path
| Step | Line | Button |
|---|---|---|
| Build | "Build a pool of lineups. You need no entries file for this step." | Simulate or Build, as on the entries path. |
| Simulate | "Pick a contest under Prefill from Contest, then click Run Simulation." | The Lineups panel's own Simulate label. |
| Export | "Download the lineups in Entries Preview as a CSV." | Download Entries Preview |
| Done | "Next slate, import your entries first so Fill and Late Swap work." | Got it |
Waits, blocks, and lock
- While work runs, the line shows a spinner and the rail shows no button: "Building your lineups...", "Simulating...", "Filling..." or "Syncing...", "Preparing your plan...", or "Loading your lineups...".
- When Fill cannot run, the line tells you why and the rail shows no button. A set the app could not read back reads "We could not confirm your saved entries. Press Reload in the Lineups panel."
- On a locked slate the line reads "This slate is locked. Open a slate that has not locked to run the loop." Open Day View takes you back to the slate list.
- On a locked slate with filled entries, the rail hides. The Swap after lock hint explains the next step there.
Switch the path
Two steps carry a small link under the line. On the Import step, No contests on this slate? moves you to the no-contests path. On the no-contests Build step, Have an entries file? moves you to the entries path. A slate that has an entries file always uses the entries path.
Hide the rail, and when it leaves
- The hide button (Hide the loop rail) removes the rail on every device until you restart the Academy. The welcome card, the hints, and the Academy tab keep working.
- When a slate reaches the Done step, the Done step stays on screen until you click Got it. Got it retires the rail, and the rail does not come back until you restart the Academy.
- When you close the Done step, with Got it or the close button, the steps that slate proves tick in the First slate track. After a restart, this ticks the steps you did before the restart, such as the upload. Fill ticks only when a build filled one of the entries, because an uploaded file can hold lineups already.
- The rail also retires when you complete the First slate track.
- The rail does not show when a playbook is armed on the slate, because Run Playbook runs the whole loop. It does not show on an imported, hand-built, or Combined build tab, on a phone, when you stopped the Academy, or when your account opens the Academy from the Academy tab.
The Academy tab
The Academy tab is in the Help & Updates panel, next to the Help tab. It starts with "Learn DFS Hero on your own slates. Show me opens the real control."
Open it from any of these:
- The help button in the top bar, then the Academy tab.
- Hero Academy in the command palette.
- The Academy button on the Loop rail.
- Learn more on a hint. The tab opens at that hint's track.
While the Academy runs by itself and the First slate track is open, the help button and the Academy tab each count one item for it.
The four tracks
| Track | Lessons |
|---|---|
| First slate: "The five steps you run on every slate." | Open a slate, Import your entries, Build, Simulate, Fill, Export |
| Reading the results: "What the sim numbers on a lineup mean." | Exp. ROI, Win%, Top 1%, Top 5%, Cash%, Negative ROI is normal |
| Week one: "The tools you reach for after your first slate." | Find contests, Cap player exposure, Stack with Correlation, Swap after lock, Check your saved entries, Replay a finished slate, Study a finished contest, Turn on alerts |
| Power tools: "Playbooks, cloud builds and Hero AI on the Power plan." | Save a playbook, Schedule a cloud build, Follow a playbook run, Ask Hero Chat, Read Hero IQ, Read Hero Insights |
The Power tools track shows on the Power plan only. Ask Hero Chat shows only where Hero Chat is turned on.
The First slate track
The top of the track shows your progress, the five steps with a check on each step you passed, and a Watch the Hero Loop row. A click on the row plays the Hero Loop film, "DFS Hero: One Loop, Five Steps, Every Slate", in the tab. The film plays only when you click it. Until the track is complete, a note reads "No contests yet? Build, Simulate against a contest and Download Entries Preview also completes this track."
Each lesson on your path has a tick. You cannot tick one by hand. Do the action and the tick lands. On the no-contests path, Import your entries and Fill show a dash, because they are not steps of that path.
| Lesson | What ticks it |
|---|---|
| Open a slate | A slate tab holds a slate. |
| Import your entries | An entries file uploads. |
| Build | A build completes, in the workspace or as a cloud build. |
| Simulate | A sim result lands on a build. |
| Fill | A Fill writes at least one lineup into your entries. This counts the Lineups panel Fill, a Fill from the export choice, Hero Chat, a playbook run, and a cloud run. A Live Sync write does not count. |
| Export | On the entries path, your entries file downloads. On the no-contests path, the Entries Preview CSV downloads. |
The track is complete on either path:
- The entries path: Import your entries, Build, Simulate, Fill, and Export.
- The no-contests path: Build, Simulate, and the Entries Preview download.
An export of entries that you never filled does not complete the entries path. The count reads "of 6" on the entries path and "of 4" on the no-contests path.
Show me and Read more
Click a lesson to open it. It shows two or three sentences and up to two buttons. When the tab opens on the First slate track, the next lesson you have not done opens by itself.
- Show me closes the Help & Updates panel, then acts on the real control. It opens the control, such as the Entries popover, the Build Settings sheet, the Swap sheet, or a page. Or it puts an outline and a short card on the control, with Got it. When no slate is open, a workspace lesson first opens the slate the welcome card would pick.
- Show me shows only when its control can act now. For example, Fill needs a slate with entries and a build. Study a finished contest and Follow a playbook run have no Show me.
- Read more opens the help article on the Help tab of the same panel. Its back button, Hero Academy, returns to the Academy tab with that lesson open.
Restart and stop
The end of the Academy tab holds two buttons.
- Restart Academy clears your Academy progress on your account and on this device. The welcome card, the rail, and the hints start again, whatever your account had before. Another device that still has DFS Hero open keeps its own copy until you reload DFS Hero there, and it can send its old ticks back.
- Stop the Academy stops the welcome card, the rail, the hints, and the count on the help button, on every device. The Academy tab and its lessons stay. The button shows only while the Academy runs by itself.
The one-time hints
| Hint | When it shows | Where it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Exp. ROI | A sim result lands on a build while the Lineups panel is open. | On the left of the Lineups panel, so the sim numbers stay clear. |
| Swap after lock | Games started on a slate where you have filled entries, on a sport with late swap. | Under the Swap button in the workspace toolbar. |
| Replay a finished slate | You view a date on the Day View where one of your slates with entries can be scored. | Under the Replay button of the first such slate in My slates. |
| Save a playbook | On the Power plan, a build completes after your first build, and you never ran a playbook. | Under the playbook selector in the workspace toolbar. |
Each hint has Learn more, which opens the Academy tab at the matching track, and Got it. Escape closes a hint, and so does a click on its control.
Rules for every hint:
- A hint shows one time for your account. After it shows, it does not show again on any device.
- One hint shows at a time.
- No hint shows while the Help & Updates panel is open or while another dialog covers the screen.
- Hints show on a desktop browser only.
- Hints show only while the Academy runs by itself.
On a phone
The phone gets the welcome card and the Academy tab. It has no Loop rail and no hints. When you answer the welcome card on a phone, the Academy tab opens at the First slate track. A Show me that only outlines a control is hidden on a phone. A Show me that opens something, such as a slate or a page, still works. To open the Academy tab, click Help & Updates in the avatar menu, then click the Academy tab.
Progress on your other devices
Your Academy progress is saved to your account. A tick you earn on one device shows on another device after you reload DFS Hero there. A tick never goes back to open by itself. Only Restart Academy clears it.
Tips
- Answer the welcome card before you open a slate yourself. The answer sets the rail's path.
- Upload your entries before you build. With an entries file the build button reads Simulate, because Build & Sim is the default. See Upload your entries.
- Use the First slate track as your plan for one slate. It follows The DFS Hero loop.
- Use Restart Academy when someone new sits at your screen.
Troubleshooting
The welcome card does not show : your account opens the Academy from the Academy tab, or you already closed the card. The card also hides on the Contests tab and on a past date. Click Restart Academy on the Academy tab to see it again on this device.
The Loop rail does not show : the rail is for a desktop browser. Check that you did not hide it, that you did not click Got it on a Done step, and that no playbook is armed. Imported, hand-built, and Combined build tabs have no rail. An account that opens the Academy from the Academy tab gets no rail until you click Restart Academy.
The rail shows a line but no button : work is still running, or Fill is blocked. The line names the reason. Fix it in the Lineups panel, then the button comes back.
The rail sends me to the Day View : the slate is locked. Open a slate that has not locked.
The Fill tick did not land : a Live Sync write does not count, and a Fill that wrote no lineup does not count. Click Fill N entries in the Lineups panel footer.
A hint never showed : each hint shows one time only. It also waits while the Help & Updates panel or another dialog is open, and it never shows on a phone.
A lesson has no Show me : its control cannot act now. Open a slate, upload entries, or build first, then open the lesson again.
My progress differs on another device : reload DFS Hero on that device.
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