Star Player needing to be re-done

[Akalabeth]

I'll start close to home
Lottabottol (220k), 8338, Loner, Catch, Diving Tackle, Jump Up, Leap, Pass Block, Shadowing, Very Long Legs

<snip>

Using the same price and tweaking the skills (which I know were not meant to be ultimate) I'd suggest:
Lottabottol (220k), 8338, Loner, Catch, Diving Tackle, Jump Up, Leap, Wrestle, Shadowing, Very Long Legs (loose Pass Block)

These aren't gigantic changes but it gives these SP some chance to see the pitch one day.

You do realize this guy is geared towards running interference don't you? And more importantly, intercepting the ball. That's why he has shadow, passblock, catch. With 8 move he has a better than 50% chance to shadow anyone in the game (except gutter runners). Passblock and leap gives him the ability to get on any receiver and if he doesn't catch it to then follow them to the endzone or until he can diving tackle them.

Wrestle does nothing for this guy.

And yeah, of course he's going to suck against Bash teams. Bash don't pass the ball. Spend the money on a wizard instead. Nothing breaks a cage like a fireball.

[Greyhound]

I do realise that, but a shadowing player without Block or Dodge is not a threat, you can usually block or blitz him away. He doesn't even have sidestep.

Pass Block is useful against which teams? Passing teams, and all of these have AV7 which means you are much better (IMHO) going for Hemlock and save yourself the money. The elves with AV8 would have the move and the agility to pass far away from the Pass Block range.

The player is fun but the cost is not really going to save you from a team which outskills you by 12 skills

[Akalabeth]

I do realise that, but a shadowing player without Block or Dodge is not a threat, you can usually block or blitz him away. He doesn't even have sidestep.

That's why he has passblock. So he doesn't have to stand beside the guy when he's waiting for the ball. He can move in as the ball is thrown. He can still get blitzed of course.

Not everyone is going to take shadowing into consideration either, because it's a skill no one ever takes. Like passblock. I've stopped at least one touchdown this season with a rookie DE Assassin because the Vamp coach didn't know about shadowing.

Pass Block is useful against which teams? Passing teams, and all of these have AV7 which means you are much better (IMHO) going for Hemlock and save yourself the money. The elves with AV8 would have the move and the agility to pass far away from the Pass Block range.

If the Elves want to score next turn, they need to put catchers downfield. You know where these are on your turn, so you put regular chumps on them. Now what, either the Elves throw a short pass to these guys and hope for no interception, or the Elves move their catchers first and then throw the pass. Or maybe they hit your chumps and clear a lane. In the latter two cases, that's where passblock comes in. In other words, you can have guys covering the established lanes, then the passblock guy covers the new lanes that the elves try to make (in theory)

Everyone says pass block is a shit skill. But who actually takes it? Anyone? I've taken it a few times, and I've gotten people in interception position. If nothing else, it makes it harder for your opponent because they're going to go out of their way to avoid him. And if you got another regular guy who already has passblock, together they can cover a lot of the field (if not all of it). Slann teams with AG4 VLL catchers should have at least one passblock guy as it is. You're intercepting on a 4+ in the clear!

And if you're playing an elf team with Slann. It's probably going to be a shoot out. The one time you can stop their drive might be the one time you need to win.

[Greyhound]

I totally see how it fits the slanns, my question was: what is it doing in the Lizardmen team!
You can't use a loner without sure hands or pass as a passer so you can't use him to pass the ball reliably.
For 250 you can put a skink merc with equal speed and mobility and buy a wizard to blast the ball from the elves.

I have no problem with the skills you mentioned, I see how they fit, I am just asking how many time you saw a lizardman coach spend their inducement money on either of the two slanns?

I started making the model for these 2 but I soon realised I would never spend the money on them unless it's a friendly "what if"" game.

I think they're fun, nice and quirky, the slanns and lizardmen do work together so it's a good idea (on paper), but in reality I can't see the logic behind overcoming 250k of TV difference with either of these. They are too expensive and do not complete the team at all unlike many other star players.

[Akalabeth]

I totally see how it fits the slanns, my question was: what is it doing in the Lizardmen team!

You do realize that Lizardmen and Slann have the EXACT SAME selection for Star Players right? It's just a flavour thing because the two races are so connected. If you can make use of him, go for it. If not forget 'im. Lots of Star Players have crappy skills.

I'm playing Dark Elves right now for example, and look at Hubris Rakarth. A strength 4 DE Blitzer with Dirty Player? Who's going to foul with a 260k star player? I like fouling as much as the next guy, but unless it's late game and I absolutely need a guy on the ground stunned (or I'm just doing a cheap shot t15 or t16) I would never foul with the guy. Even jump up is not great on this guy, he has no skills to complement it

Btw:
Hubris 7448 - Loner, Block, Dirty Player, Jump Up, Mighty Blow, Strip Ball

Jump Up is a great skill but it requires you to get knocked on your ass to use it. Other players like Lottolbottol have diving tackle, or maybe someone has piling on, so they compliment one another.

But in general, it seems like a lot of the players are a bit of a mish-mash and might have a selection of skills that a person would not generally aim for.

[Greyhound]

Ok Hubris may not be perfect but I've seen him played. Lottabotl never in the Lizzies team.

[Akalabeth]

Ok Hubris may not be perfect but I've seen him played. Lottabotl never in the Lizzies team.

Oh I'm not saying he's as bad. Obviously Hubris has some good skills. Just that a lot of the starplayers are a mixed bag for flavour's sake.

A lot of starplayers are available for different teams and obviously each will have varying appeal for each depending upon that team's strength and focus. Maybe for the lizzies Lottabotl's useless, but for the Slann is doable?

Just like there's the one Elf SP who plays for all the 3 elf teams and he's basically a catcher but for the DE's he's less useful (imo) because they focus on a running game, not a passing game. So personally I probably would never take the guy. But as a HE or WE player I might.

Either way. The lizards have 4-6 star players available, so as long as 2-3 of them are pretty good the team should do alright.

[Greyhound]

Ok that's my point actually: having SP which are not design to be worth picking in your list is my only grudge.

Yes we have some cross-SP who can play in several teams, and they have different level of utility depending on the team but at least they are fun and bring "something".

I don't really like Helmut but he plays for the lizzies and he brings a nice ability to chainsaw your opponent.

Lizzards have:
Morg (worth something)
Slibli (I like him but he's expensive)
Hemlock (awesome)
Helmut Wolf (debatable)

and that's it.

The other two are irrelevant. Why not add something which brings a new twist? Leaping is fun but when the players can't block, pass, and can only catch in the least throwing team it's a waste of SP.

If there was a MV3 skink or frog, with Sure hands guy who could pick up the ball at least that would be something considering when you're the underdog. and with the frog and lizard theme there was room for something new like a prehensile tongue, a tackler or anything the lizzards don't do normally.

[gandresch]

Hi,

last season i took 3 of the stars for Slann (except this catcher guy). The two Slann stars are very expensive and that is, what makes them less interesting. They have no Block/Wrestle/Dodge/Pro and making Pass actions or leaping is quite dangerous because of the Loner.
Lottabottol is a good star. PB is a good skill in combination with leap and Shadowing/DT. What makes this guy interesting is, that you can have 5 guys with DT on the field and one with tail. That makes it more difficult for scoring teams to even move.
The catcher guy is way to expensive. AV7, neither Block nor Dodge and 270k? No thank you.

Those guys need more safety in their abilities. Wrestle on Lottabottol would be great (cost increase by 20k) and giving the catcher guy Dodge would at least make me think about hiring him for the game.

Hemlock and Slibli are great stars and for 270k i would always favor Slibli over the catcher guy in any match up.

Greets,
gan