With catchers on just about any elf team, i usually get wrestle or dodge as the first skill, then the other as the second. reason: the more they stand up the more likely they will get pummeled. They are scorers and ball hogs, so your attention should be on that with them.
No. The reason to get wrestle is to be better ballhawk, ability to wrestle a hole in D line and to get killers down for good booting action. Wussie catcher with wrestle: almost categorically no. Block is a good skill on a catcher, but those guys are utility pieces and often the 1turners. But wrestle comes 1st because your team needs to able to get the ball.stat increases: I would take + to movement in the later skill ups, but not at the beginning where dodge and wrestle will be more beneficial. Strength = always. Armor = never. Agility = probably in the later rounds as well, but you may feel differently. I like my guys on the pitch as much as possible, so I pick a tad more defensively and never grab agility increases for elfs unless they are a thrower. Also, I like my players to do what they need to do in which to be the most effective at what they are suppose to do. Ie: Blitzers are my safety and hole makers. Catchers are generally my scorers unless I have another player with an opportunity to score instead. And my throwers are the ball handlers.
About stats in general: at low TV, take them. Skill choices and stat boosts depend on the environment you play in any case. You definately take AG in every possible scenario. Movement almost always as well as ST. AV is pretty much never as zombo said there.
And here is the 1st flaw of zombo's thinking imho. You have to have sorta fluid players to perform their tasks. Since defending is the big and difficult task you have to think thru that. The real key players in the team are your ball hawk catcher and defensive thrower. Blitzers too in some sense.my choice skill increases:
1-dodge
2-wrestle
3-sure hands (to avoid strip ball)
4-sidestep or fend
5 varies: 5a-nerves of steel or 5a-+1 agility
6 varies: 6a-diving catch or 6b leap
or for 5 and 6, you could go with sprint and sure feet. usually not my fortie, but I might consider it if I get +1 movement (or 2 if I am playing high elves). With the bonus movement, you can skip sidestep or fend as this will be a tad less useful as you will move in to score a whole lot quicker. This will allow you to make a much more simplified one turn TD against your opponent as you can literally move all the way down a whole half of the pitch!
About 1st catcher skill up I've talked about earlier. Wrestle, leap and then stuff to make him better at his job. I can't stress enough that this player is the key in your team. Then we have killer build. Wrestle tackle and Dodge somewhere around the line. And MB when those dubs come. JU as well. 2 blodge SS build for general use and 1turning. Blitzers are pretty standard. I do a tad different though if I am given the option.
stat increases:
Strength = always. Agility = never. armor = never. movement = never.
skills:
if you have a strength increase:
1. dodge
2. frenzy
3. sidestep
4. leap/tackle
5. leap/tackle
This build here is literally to make a gap in the opponent's lines. If I roll doubles, I get mighty blow, then maybe piling on. This build will more often than not get your player stuck in the middle of things if you are not careful. Then again, if you are playing any elf team, you always need to be careful and very strategic.
I told about stats earlier. The role of blitzers is to stop the attack for a sec. Hence dodge, tackle and DT if good rolls don't come. Blitzing back corner of a cage with him does often halt the offense because it forces a blitz backwards. You can dabble with frenzy but i rather take fend and JU as later skills.Normal picks:
1. dodge. if you have dodge already, then leap
2. frenzy
3. jump up
4,5,6. sidestep, dauntless, tackle
Diving tackle if you have sidestep would be an option. worked a few times for me! Sprint and surefeet are good too, but you may have to go with tackle, strip ball, or wrestle then to make a safety kind of player!!!! Very rarely do I have a sixth choice as I usually do get one double or another....
Strip ball is fairly shite skill. Early on it works later on I'd just forget it. And that SB goes to your wrestle catcher anyways. BTW., fuck safety in general, you don't need one. Sprint and surefeet are skills for 1turners, no-one else. Dauntless... rather block catcher. In general guard is the dub skill you really want and it's best with blitzers. But on almost anyone else as well. If you get doubles: These would interrupt any and all choices in the above two categories. Once you get these, then follow the appropriate chart above.
1. Mighty Blow (maybe knocking out that player for the duration of the half will help)
2. Piling on (I only use it on stunned injuries or lightly armored targets, NEVER on breaking any armor higher than 7)
PO. Very risky on an elf since peeps love to foul you. For example, I have a Blitzer from the Dark Elves. My first skill I roll a 7, so i choose dodge. My second skill, I roll double 6's. Obviously, i take the strength. My third level up rolled an 11. I don't choose agility increases for my blitzers, so I would follow the strength chart and choose frenzy. I would choose frenzy first as I would try my best to get injuries on the opposing team or possibly opening up the surfing game against the opponent. My 4th level up, I rolled a 2. That is a double, so i want to pick either piling on or mighty blow. So Mighty Blow I choose as I have a greater increased chance of knocking the opponent down already with less of a chance of the opponent's bloodlust for fouling overcomes them. My 5th and 6th level up, I rolled a 4 and 5 respectively (no doubles), so I would continue down the strength category. I would choose sidestep as my 5th skill, and tackle as my 6th skill to increase odds of knocking the opponent down.
So my blitzer would have m7,s4,a4,a8 with block, dodge, frenzy, Mighty Blow, sidestep, and tackle.
Won't comment too much on EMOs. Pros are a different animal.Throwers
Stat increases:
Strength = always, Agility = always, Armor = in the later skill ups maybe, movement = never.
Skill increases: Dark Elf's runners would get nerves of steel first!
1. Pass.
2. dodge
3. block
4. Dump off.
5. accurate.
6. sure hands.
7. safe throw.
If you get doubles, dodge is obviously the first choice if its not normally available to you. if it is, you might wish to consider getting strong arm. Nothing feels better than throwing long bombs at a 3+ with pass to back you up! If you feel really good about your ability in protecting your ball carrier, then you can go the route of picking all the passing skills first with sure hands before getting blodge and you may wish to reconsider passing on the strength in favor of strong arm. however, this will probably not strengthen your defensive possibilities! Your choice though.
Offensive thrower is a rare case I might pass +ST. Very important to build 2 throwers. Defensive one with blodge SH leap. And if you get +AG early, he becomes the defensive dude. Offensive dude accurate, safe throw, strong arm on dubs. And movement ALWAYS on both guys.Linemen Player
if you want a killer elf, then follow the dark elf path below.
Stat increases:
Strength = always. Armor = never/maybe. Agility = never. Movement = never.
Skill increases:
1. wrestle
2. dodge
3. fend/sidestep (I usually pick fend if they are on the line a lot at this point. always sidestep for dark elves)
4. sneaky player for Dark Elves. All other elves I would choose jump up.
5. dirty player for Dark Elves. All other elves I would choose dauntless or tackle.
6. All linemen elves should be dead by this point, but if not then probably diving tackle. jump up for Dark Elves.
Armour should only be picked if you know if the opponents are not the claw happy teams! If you don't see a lot of claw happy teams, then this might be an option depending on how you feel about it. After all, linemen do take the bulk of the punishment from opponents!
1st lino to level, kick. 2nd, DP. After that mixture of wrestle, dodge and block. They'll die soon enough anyway. SS and fend are good later skills tho.If an elf team has other kinds of players like the Dark Elf's Witch Elf or Assassin, I recommend that you follow the path that would be mostly beneficial to you. Example: For me, witch elves are treated like catchers after they get block instead of wrestle. And assassins are like fragile linemen. Once they get blodge, I get them multiple block (ie: multiple stabbing attacks!!!!). After that I get sidestep, catch, and diving catch in that order.
Gameplay!
Elves are a moving team. Ie: everything they do is about moving your pieces like you would in a chess game. You need to move them to get a better advantage when throwing blocks, make decisive and specific moves to minimize opponent's blocks, slowing down an opponent's offense until they make a mistake, capitalize on gaps in opponent's defenses, and getting ready to throw the ball. They are heavily reliant on role specific jobs and you need to capitalize on that almost everytime! If you don't, you will either get a seriously beat up team or you will lose the bulk of your matches!
When you play against a beat 'em up style of a team, you need to move your players away from the opponent and make strikes when there is an opportunity with minimal risk. For example: You shouldn't be making single die rolls or -2 die rolls for blocks. instead, you should be dodging out and moving into another position to help another team member make a +2 block die roll! Making a cage that isn't surrounded by opponent players as you may find moving around will either be difficult or imaginative will also help. When throwing the ball, unless you are desperate, you should never have to throw it over the opponent's heads or from or into a bunch of opponents! And staying that one square away from the opponent in order to "block" them from running down the field un-opposed is a main tactic of the elves.
Keep yourself as mobile as possible will benefit you the most when playing with any elf team!