Rookie dwarvescoach looking for good runnerskills

Carloz · Post by **Carloz** » Thu May 21, 2009 10:30 am

I've just started with dwarves in our league.
Never played them before.
After my second match I have a normal and a double skill on my runners.
These are my first skills.
For the rest a normal dwarf team (all positionals).

Block and dodge seems to be the obvious choice, but are there more experienced dwarfcoaches who have other ideas?

Thanks!

Grumbledook · Post by **Grumbledook** » Thu May 21, 2009 10:33 am

Block and dodge are the obvious choices ;]

zephard · Post by **zephard** » Thu May 21, 2009 11:19 am

The normal: Block all the way.
The Double: I say Dodge, but could be Guard or Mighty Blow (if you develop runners in to hunters). My +1 MA Runner has become a Hunter, so Mighty Blow would be nice but so would Sprint.

The only reason not to take Dodge, is if you never plan to take Dodge and you got lots of Tackle going to be developed in your league. With only this one having dodge in the whole team means the opponents only two Tackle players is always going to be gunning for him.

Now I can't say I am overly experience since I have only 1 team, haven't been playing them for years only for about 15 games so far.

Go Dodge.

Cookie · Post by **Cookie** » Thu May 21, 2009 11:58 am

I've done both:

In my current league team I have a runner with guard, got the double pretty early in the season before many others in the team had any skills so I got a guard in early doors to help me out. I've found it pretty useful to have a relatively mobile guard assist, especially on defence against fast teams, even more so now that he has block too.

At a recent tournament I rolled a double for my first skill on a runner and went for dodge, I wouldnt rely on it but was handy to have it there if I got bogged down in a slug fest and he was a pretty effective scorer throughout my games.

On reflection for a runner I'd say go for dodge in the first instance as they're primarily there to score your touchdowns and move the ball around.

stashman · Post by **stashman** » Thu May 21, 2009 12:15 pm

SIDE STEP on a double. Awesome with FEND.

BLOCK on a normal roll.

Cramy · Post by **Cramy** » Thu May 21, 2009 1:19 pm

Another vote for Block and Dodge. You do not want to drop the ball with Dwarves. In some games Dodge will be relatively useless (but the threat of dodge is always there), but in other games it will be a godsend. Helps if he gets blitzed by a non-tackle player, and it also helps for that desperate dash to the EZ to score in the last turn of the half.

If your opponent has a few tackle players, try to mark them with longbeards so that they become less effective.

If you get a second double, then Side Step would be amazing.

Don't get me wrong, guard is always good, but all your other players can take guard, so I would not use a double to take guard on a runner.

mubo · Post by **mubo** » Thu May 21, 2009 2:04 pm

Sure feet deserves consideration.
Will help with reaching the EZ, forming a cage following a deep kick, and moving him to give assists.

Block or KOR for the normal roll.

Johnny Blade · Post by **Johnny Blade** » Thu May 21, 2009 2:19 pm

Yeah, I'm not a Dwarf coach, but I found Sure Feet to be really useful for Orc Throwers. Of course, they're slower.

Post by **voyagers_uk** » Thu May 21, 2009 2:20 pm

echo on side step.

won a game when I thought all was lost with that I had miscalculated and was one square short of the end zone. My opponent needed to score to win himself and was setup for a hail mary, but his blitz through my cage from an end-zone square resulted in double push and I happily strolled past him into the end-zone to clos ethe game out.... I actually danced with glee.

Carloz · Post by **Carloz** » Thu May 21, 2009 3:03 pm

Someone tried Kick-off return?
Maybe helpfull against the fast teams who have a Kick player?

Xeterog · Post by **Xeterog** » Thu May 21, 2009 3:15 pm

Kickoff return on one runner is great!

I like to get Leader on one as well...saves 30TV over the cost of a RR (assuming 50k rr's). It always seems like my dwarf teams outpace most other teams in TV, so reducing TV is very useful.

But block should be the 1st skill

after block I like to have one runner with passing skills and one with 'safety' skills such as tackle

Dodge is a good one

Agility +1 or Move +1 (or both) is preferable tho

PubBowler · Post by **PubBowler** » Thu May 21, 2009 7:58 pm

Normal: Block, Kick Off Return, Fend

Doubles: Sure Feet, Side Step

I don't rate Dodge as a double pick on a team that is never going to have lotso of it.
Every even-vaguely developed team has enough Tackle to counter a couple of guys with Dodge.
Spend the TV on something not so easily nullified.

Gaixo · Post by **Gaixo** » Thu May 21, 2009 8:16 pm

I have Kick-off Return and Diving Catch on one of mine (LRB 5.5). It's very handy, as he can often field the ball without risking a turnover, and then can hand it off to someone that's already in a secure position at midfield before running off to become a secondary scoring threat.

Joe Mountainia · Post by **Joe Mountainia** » Mon May 25, 2009 1:53 am

Personally I want at least one runner with dodge and block. At that point against your average guy, the only thing getting the ball out of your hands is a true pow. With block, you don't fall down on a both down. With Dodge, you don't fall down unless they have tackle. With Sure Hands, you don't drop the ball on a push even if they have strip ball. One in 6 shot at getting you to drop the ball is golden.

mattgslater · Post by **mattgslater** » Mon May 25, 2009 5:23 am

2 Runners, 2 positions. Return man and running back. Doubles in parentheses.

Returner (#1): KOR, Accurate, Block (Dodge and becomes Runner, Sure Feet)

Runner (#2): Block, Fend, Nerves of Steel (Dodge, Side Step)

Bring up the returner first, as there are options that will cause you to default to the runner, but not the other way around. Plus, you have lots of Block, but no Kick-Off Return. And your team is highly susceptible to Kick.

10: +MA, no effect on position; just adds to chain.
5, 5: +MA. I could see taking Dodge as a #2 for the runner, but that would be hard; for the returner +MA is truly superb, better than Accurate or Block hands-down, and in fact perhaps a substitute for Accurate.
11: +AG, no effect on position; replaces Accurate on returner.
12: +ST, becomes runner unless already has KOR; in that case replaces Accurate or Block.