Short League - Dark Elves

[Shteve0]

Hi guys!

Grateful for thoughts from anyone with experience running Dark Elves.

I have a six game team that will play four more games before entering the playoffs. In the next two rounds Ill be facing our third place Chaos Dwarf team followed by a lower half Nurgle team.

My Dark Elves:
http://wbbl.nzbbn.com/index.php?section ... obj_id=114

My game 7 opponent:
http://wbbl.nzbbn.com/index.php?section ... obj_id=123

Game 8:
http://wbbl.nzbbn.com/index.php?section ... obj_id=115

Neither opponent will play again before our matchups. Games 9 and 10 look to be against yet another Norse team and the leagues only Wood Elves (1st and 6th overall respectively).

I'm looking at 240k in cash, plus a skillpick on a Blitzer (normal only), but facing a serious underdog next match who is yet to reveal his hand (I doubt hes planning to keep those AV6 hobs).

Any ideas?

[Smeborg]

Hi Steve - is it the fashion in Wellington to play with 11-man rosters? I find it a strange habit.

I play DEs differently to you. I would have 2 Witches, and in a short league (or tournament) a Runner (solely for the Leader). I also give the Linos Block before Dodge, to make a genuine blocking team. I would not have given M-Blow to the Witch, I might have ignored it and given the normal Wrestle (presumably Block is normal for you), although I would likely have given her Juggernaut (cf. Roxana, who can be very nasty). I also wouldn't have taken +AG on a Lino, I reserve it for positionals. But ignoring all those rather profound differences in DE philosophy, I will attempt some advice.

Dodge is the obvious skill for the Blitzer, I can't think of a better.

I suggest you need more players (I usually settle at 13 rostered players for DEs, they are too expensive for 14). 2 WEs are a lot more powerful (and threatening) than 1.

I suggest you need a 3rd re-roll, DEs are hard to play in my experience with only 2. This is compounded in your case by no Wrestle/Block on your prime blitzer (the Witch), and no ball movement skills. Although 13 players and 3 RRs is probably 1 of something too many for the opponents you face in the immediate future.

Both opponents look eminently beatable to me. CDs teams have "only" 6 players with Tackle, and this one has no M-Blow (I take this first on CDs so that they continue to skill up). Against the 5 players without Tackle, your Dodge players can make hay. You have a good chance of winning on numbers (or at least maintaining parity of numbers) by beating up the HGs. The Bulls are very weak without B-Tackle, this should be first skill IMO (then your opponent would have a B-Tackle/Dodge Bull), they can be marked out of the game (making them into glorified Black Orcs). If I were your opponent, I would hire more HGs for a 13 or 14 player roster.

Nurgle, if well coached, ought to be a very difficult opponent for DEs (that is my experience when playing Nurgle, I expect to win these encounters). However, this Nurgle team is again short (only 12 players) and has no skills to threaten DEs (no Wrestle on the Pests, for example, and nothing on the Beast). Take care, a good Nurgle coach will shut down any DE passing and hand-off plays, so you will have to make running plays (well, walking plays, really) on your receives. Nothing to negate all your spammed Dodge (except Tentacles on an unskilled Beast, he is easy to mark out of the game, or to knock down/push away when needed). Don't waste re-rolls on failed Foul Appearance rolls. If I were your opponent, I would fire the -AV Rotter, and hire more rookie Rotters for a 13 or 14 player roster (this allows fouling and a win on numbers).

Hope that helps.

[babass]

i think Steve is trying to min/max his tv (only 11 player, and only 2 team RR), not to play against Nobbla or others cheap starplayers...
dodge is obvious for the blitzer (even against dwarves) so TV137 against tv126.
i would stay with 11 players as well, not to offer nicer inducement to the dwarfs.

[Shteve0]

That Juggernaut's a great shout... I have to say, I'm kicking myself for missing it.

Tbh I'm not trying to avoid spending cash, I'm just not 100% on where to invest it. My big concern is that I'm light on fodder for my next games since I really don't want to load the LOS with dodgers against Corfs T1. With that in mind I'm thinking about a lino and a witch with my cash, banking 60k for down the line.

Development wise I felt the MB and dodge were good matches in our meta; there's lots of block but only one dwarf team, plus dodge helps with mobility, and there's a lot of AV7 around (hence the MB). The AG isn't the most TV efficient, but its proven actually very helpful in the last two matches for taking direct routes through tackle zones (cagebreaking vs goblins) and in pouring rain (vs Norse).

[Smeborg]

Thanks, Steve.

Mainly I think you're just short of players. And maybe you can see why I give Block to the Linos first - it seems better on the LoS.

All the best.

[juck101]

Ag 5 linemen NEEDS leap or dodge at the least. He is a real threat with another skill and I think you gotta go for that first.

I totally agree block first on the linos for many reasons, but you gone dodge now. The witches also need block fairly quickly to offer the 6x power blodge players this side can get with 6spps each. I think at low levels DE are very expensive and in some ways a weak choice for a short season. I would think they are a good side after 15-20 games and a bit lacking in essentials until then I also agree you might gain from a bench and further compounded reasons why the side is a bit expensive to begin and gains in strength later if you look at them at 1500+

Probably without many block players I might be tempted to foul against the Norse. Man that will go either very quickly as a great idea or the reason you got pitch cleared! Just pray nuffle likes the idea of a juicy + foul on the av7 dudes. (works well if they think they are invincible and dont have a bench - less clever if they have 13 or 14)