Carrier Blitzer: what next?

[mattgslater]

Went Guard. Really can't have enough.

[JJB]

Boring!

[mattgslater]

Basic is versatile. His track will follow with Stand Firm next and Tackle at 51, Dodge doubles. Guard is good. More Guard is better. It's not always the single best choice, but it's never a bad one. In particular, the SLRD playbook demands a boatload of it against developed opposition. Added bennie: Guard on AG4 guy encourages me to distribute the football old-school, and on Orcs that's still goodness.

Added added bennie: I'm playing moneyball. I love to grind and bash, and I love to be able to play a variety of matches. The Orkyzona Wildsquigz haven't performed up to their potential in part because they're a tournament team and Ranked matchmaking is a different animal, and in part because they're really not designed to thrive in an open perpetual format. People like to look at them, and their record isn't great, but a lot of coaches shy away from them, so I get only the same games over and over. So then I started playing teams like Aztec Philosophy and Armpittsburgh Stolen, and then I played the Chainsmurfs. I learned something: coaches would rather take on a harder game that they were more likely to survive than an easier game that is more likely to kill them. That's part of why I'm doing this no-MB-until-Star-Player experiment.

I'm revisiting skill path. The old Cult of Position bash playbook was written for other rulebooks, though it still works for mobility. Sure, parts of it, especially the Orcish Conveyor Belt, remain relevant and have even gotten better (Grab!), but these days my play has been more about building from the fundamentals up, and the three most fundamental skills are B, D, and G. So fundamental that I only need one letter each. Since he can take one of those, he should, no?

Linemen: Block (11), Block (11), Block (6), Rookie (1).
Next Block lino with normal skill takes Tackle. Other two take Fend. Doubles is Guard, duh. Orcs with 11 Guard, bwahahahahaha. Rookie Lino takes DP/Wrestle, or Guard/Block on 1st doubles, or DP/SG on 2nd doubles (try fouler as marker, could actually make SG useful on SLRD). How's that for boring, JJB? I'm just getting the basics down now so I can start riffing later.

BOBs: G/B (18), G (14), G (9), Rookie (0).
Next G BOB to skill gets Block, Rookie gets Guard. After that, Guard players get Block until one doubles (SS) or one of the Block guys hits 25 SPP. Then it's Stand Firm (SS instead on doubles) after Guard, and Block can wait for #3 (ignore doubles). Then MB is the universal #4. Optimally ST will come instead of SF, but I don't really care.

Blitzers: this is where I'm uncertain. +AG/SH/G (35), Fz/T(22), G(12), G(11)
I want Tackle/Frenzy guy to also take Guard and SF. But the team's rules let him take MB at 51 SPP, and a team with so little MB and so much SF/G wants a POMBer at 76, so really I think he's going to end up SF-less until Legend status.
The ones with Guard will skill long before I get SF BOBs. SF+ST3 isn't bad, but it dies a lot without proper support. Tackle next? That might leave me with 4 in short order: that's a lot. Maybe the Linos should all take Fend second? Meh. This no-MB thing is making me take picks I'm not sure about, or at least make my picks in an order that gives me the jitters.

If I'm going G-SF with BOBs, I should probably hire a Troll, huh? I'm also going to be running a Dirty Player, so a 13th man might be smart. That would put me in the 1.6 range, not too bad.

[Kikurasis]

Next G BOB to skill gets Block, Rookie gets Guard.

This, I'd actually disagree with. The rookie BOB should take Block next, and Guard second. You have enough Guard on the team to support him (if he even needs it), and Block turns those 11% failures into 3%.

I would take Tackle on both Blitzers with just Guard next. And the Tackle/Frenzy guy, I would likely take either PO or Juggernaut. Jugger is a great sideline killer, so you push on 5/6 rolls, plus you can hunt down those squishy AV7 Wrestlers with him. But, PO is a safe bet too.

[mattgslater]

Next G BOB to skill gets Block, Rookie gets Guard.

This, I'd actually disagree with. The rookie BOB should take Block next, and Guard second. You have enough Guard on the team to support him (if he even needs it), and Block turns those 11% failures into 3%.

I would take Tackle on both Blitzers with just Guard next. And the Tackle/Frenzy guy, I would likely take either PO or Juggernaut. Jugger is a great sideline killer, so you push on 5/6 rolls, plus you can hunt down those squishy AV7 Wrestlers with him. But, PO is a safe bet too.

How much Guard you need depends on what you want to do with it. I plan on smothering my opponent, constricting him, tightening the noose. I'm not using to engineer 2d blocks so much as to deny them. That requires a big investment.