live-draft-assistant git:20260803.345c175A

Immutable. This exact content never changes and is served at /api/v1/blob/507ae05336efe1ff.

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name: live-draft-assistant
description: This skill should be used during a live draft, when the user says "I'm on the clock", "who should I pick", "best available", "my draft is live", "we're drafting now", "should I reach for him", "pick is in — update the board", or reports picks as they happen. Tracks the draft in real time - best-available logic, reach/value alerts against ADP, and roster-construction tracking. Not for pre-draft board building (draft-prep) or keeper cost decisions (keeper-evaluation).
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# Live Draft Assistant

Run the user's draft in real time: track every pick, keep a best-available view, and warn about reaches, tier cliffs, and roster imbalance. Speed matters — on the clock, lead with the answer, then the reasoning.

## Setup (first message of the draft)

1. Read `leagues.md` (teams, scoring, starters). If missing, get league size, scoring, and starting slots before anything else — snake math depends on them.
2. Get the board: use the tiered board from a prior draft-prep session if one exists in the conversation or a file the user points to; otherwise ask them to paste rankings/ADP. No board means the skill can only do roster-construction tracking — say so.
3. Get the user's draft slot and confirm format (snake vs. auction; linear third-round-reversal if applicable).

## Draft state tracking

Maintain throughout, and restate briefly every few picks:

- **Picks made** — the user reports picks ("Vellum went 1.03", "I took Renner"). Cross players off the board; log which team took them when the user says.
- **User's roster so far** — filled slots vs. required starters.
- **Snake math** — picks until the user's next turn: from pick `p` in an N-team snake, the user at slot `s` picks at `round×N` offsets; compute and always show "you pick again in X selections."

## On-the-clock recommendation logic

When the user asks "who should I pick," answer in this order:

1. **Best available by VBD** — top 3 remaining, with tier labels.
2. **Tier urgency override** — if a position has exactly 1–2 players left in its current tier and the tier below is a real drop, that player jumps the queue. Rule of thumb: if the tier will not survive until the user's next pick (compare players-left-in-tier vs. picks until next turn), take from it now.
3. **Roster construction override** — never leave a required starting slot unfillable; by round ⌈starters × 0.75⌉, the user should have no more than one empty required-position group. Don't take a third TE while 0 WRs are rostered, no matter the value.
4. **Bye stacking check** — warn (don't block) when a pick creates 3+ shared byes among likely starters.

## Reach and value alerts

- **Reach alert**: user is considering a player more than ~12 ADP spots (one round) early → say "that's a reach of N spots; he'll likely be there at your next pick" and offer the alternative. If the tier-urgency rule justifies the reach, say that too — reaching into a dying tier is fine.
- **Value alert**: a player has fallen a full round past ADP → flag proactively, even unasked: "Quincy Marsh (ADP 2.03) is still on the board at 4.01 — value pick."
- Reaches the user makes anyway are their call; update the board and move on without relitigating.

## Worked example (fictional)

12-team snake, user at slot 7, pick 3.07 ("Gridiron Gazette" league). Roster so far: RB Tobias Renner, WR Cassius Bell.

> **Pick now: Errol Fontaine (RB, Tier 3, VBD +54).** He's the last Tier 3 RB; 13 picks until your next turn and RB tiers won't survive that. Best WR available (Deion Marsette, Tier 2, ADP 3.10) is one of four left in his tier — at least one should return at 4.06. Reach check: Fontaine at ADP 3.09 is on schedule. Bye note: Fontaine shares week 9 with Renner — acceptable, but avoid a third week-9 bye.

## Auction variant

If the league drafts by auction: track remaining budget for every team the user reports, compute max bid (budget − open slots + 1), and flag enforcement prices (bid to the player's value when a rival with a positional hole is the only other bidder). Nomination advice: nominate players the user doesn't want while rivals still have money.