Slann Team Development Plan

[AviStetto]

I have just started a new Slann team and am curious about some of the development paths that this team can take. I'll present my question in the form of an exercise:
- The objective is to declare the skill paths for a fully developed Slann team.
- The team is comprosed of 6 linemen, 4 catchers, 4 blitzers, and 1 kroxigor.
- The linemen and kroxigor get 2 additional skills each. The catchers and blitzers get 3 skills each.
- 2 linemen, 2 catchers, and 2 blitzers may select 1 doubles skill each; no stat increases.

Here is my first take on the team plan:
Lineman1 - Wrestle, Fend
Lineman2 - Wrestle, Fend
Lineman3 - Wrestle, Fend
Lineman4 - Block, Kick
Lineman5 - Block, Guard*
Lineman6 - Dirty Player, Sneaky Git*
Catcher1 - Kick-Off Return, Sure Hands, Pass*
Catcher2 - Pass Block, Catch, Nerves of Steel*
Catcher3 - Pass Block, Catch, Dodge
Catcher4 - Block, Dauntless, Tackle
Blitzer1 - Block, Mighty Blow, Pile On
Blitzer2 - Block, Mighty Blow, Pile On
Blitzer3 - Block, Guard, Side Step
Blitzer4 - Wrestle, Strip Ball, Tackle
Kroxigor - Guard, Stand Firm


-Avi Stetto

[Wanchor]

You've just started that team? Am I missing something?

Anyway, I think six doubles skills may be a bit optimistic. Things look solid, especially the Wrestle-Fend, but I doubt that your line-frogs will see enough success to gain those skills. Why not take any stat increases, by the way? +1 MA on just about any player on this team is a very enticing idea.

[AviStetto]

Yes, I have just started this team. If I wasn't clear, I'm looking for a development plan. I want to know what a fully developed Slann team could like like. If I have a target in mind, then I can better make decisions on skill choices, purchases, and even which players I need to try to utilize to gain star player points.

As for doubles, 1 in every 6 skill rolls is pretty much the expected value.

I excluded stat increases because I don't want to count on a specific stat increase for a specific player build. I assume that I will get some. I just don't want my plan to depend on them. For this team, I wouldn't turn down ST+1 or AG+1 for any player (except maybe the krox). MA+1 would also be taken in most cases - maybe AV+1 on a vital catcher or a double skill instead in the case of a 5,5 roll.

Creating a big picture plan like this allows me to identify common starting skills by position and the ability to branch the build to a more specialized one if I get that doubles (or stat) roll. My posted plan for linemen points out a problem with the plan: I don't have a doubles/regular branching option for linemen except for the #4 and #5 builds.
- I can start a player with Block and give him Kick or Guard next on a doubles roll.
- If I start a player with Dirty Player for the #6 build, then I am expecting doubles for the second skill. Therefore, the best way to get to the target team is to take Sneaky Git the first time I roll a doubles skill for a lineman.
- For catchers, if I get doubles as a first skill roll, I should start that player on the #1 build with Pass.
- Since none of my Blitzer builds includes a doubles, I can build them in any order (and adjust/branch only on stat increases).


-Avi Stetto

[Joemanji]

Catcher1 - Kick-Off Return, Sure Hands, Pass*
Catcher2 - Pass Block, Catch, Nerves of Steel*
Catcher3 - Pass Block, Catch, Dodge
Catcher4 - Block, Dauntless, Tackle

Definitely not. You want Dodge and Block on your catchers. They need to survive so they can do their thing. Pass Block is marginal at best. What if you play a team that doesn't pass (i.e. 90% of teams)?

[Carnis]

Here is my first take on the team plan:

Linemen:
Sneaky git isnt worth wasting a double. You should take DP as a first skill and then avoid skilling him up any further. The rest of the line is fine, although I wonder if you'd want to have some tackle along.. Your linemen are your best cagebreakers.
Catchers:
Slann can't afford luxury skills like KOR. Surehands is a nobrainer, but only rather after block AND dodge. Pass-block another nono.
Blitzers:
Blitzer 4, why does he need to be a blitzer, cant a lineman do the same?
Blitzer 3 the same could be asked.. Block / Guard / Fend, just one doubles..
Blitzer 1 & 2 are solid, but I wonder if a slann team can reliably play a killing game even with those. I picked piling on on my block kroxigor, havent regretted it but would not necessarily pick up 2 blitzers just to avoid bonehead..

I would probably play (have a slann team with ~30 games):
7-8 Linemen
4 Catcher
0-1 Blitzer
1 Kroxigor
Btw, at the start I had your pass-block/catch cathertypes too, sacked them for general uselessness.

My list:
Linemen:
Lino1: Block/Kick
Lino2: Wrestle/Fend
Lino3: Block/Fend
Lino4: Block/Frenzy? (synergy with leap for crowdpushes, a bit risky though)
Lino5: Wrestle/Tackle
Lino6: Dirty Player
Lino7: Block/Guard*
Catchers:
Catcher1: Block/Dodge/Sidestep
Cathcer2: Block/Dodge/Surehands
Catcher3: Wrestle/Dodge/Dauntless
Catcher4: Block/Dodge/*Guard
Blitzer:
Blitzer: Block/Guard/Side Step
Kroxigor:
Kroxigor: Guard/Stand Firm

I went Block*, Guard, Piling on. But if you don't get block then you should go guard/SF. I rarely see my kroxi being blocked, though.

With 4 RR's 8FF the cost goes up to:
270k skills on linoes
250k skills on catchers
60k skills on blitzer
40k skills on kroxi
420k on linemen
320k on catchers
110k on blitzer
140k on the krox..

A whopping 1890k. Your list is around 800k on the skills, and 1260k on the positionals, add 200k for 4 rerolls and 8 FF for winning about every 2nd game. Your list will go up to 2340k, so you really need to justify every skill in there (pass-block? kick-off-return?), cause the opponents at that level will be brutal.

[one_second_of_insanity]

Okay after playing Slann for a couple of seasons I have a few ideas on how they should run (and need to adjust my team accordingly)

Kroxigor: Guard, Break Tackle Block

He sures up the centre and provides another mobile blitzing option

Catchers: Dodge, Sure Hands, Block, Fend

Sure hands is fantastic when you free the ball up and dodge etc help the catchers move around and survive. NoS is a good doubles skill

Linemen:
Kick, Block
Wrestle, Strip ball 2+
Guard for any and all doubles rolls followed by block

Linemen are generally the ones who do most of the work getting the ball loose on defense while the blitzers and Krox Channel the opposing team and the catchers capitalise on the free ball.

Blitzers: 2 distinct players, Killers and Markers

Killer: Block, Mighty Blow, Piling On

Marker: Dodge, Guard, Sidestep

Already starting with diving tackle and jump up makes these guys good markers and capable of doing killing (with the use of piling on) with jump up mitigating the worst of being left on the floor.

[Ikterus]

I run a fairly successful team and I find the catchers to be the main factors if you want to win games.

You have to realise that Slan doesn't play as any other team!

What Slann do is scoop up balls, often after "impossible" blitzes right into cages exploit other teams fumbles and score, score, score. They are the fastest scorers in the game after Skaven (WE are also fast but need more dicerolls).

Linemen: fodder plus cagebreakers.
Fend + wrestle looks fine for the true linemen buut you want to build some to be blitzers. Give them Wrestle, Strip Ball, Tackle (switch the order for the last two if you want to (depending on prevalens of Sure Hands and Dodge).

Blitzers: You can do without theese. Their main function is to provide Guard. They are also useful to build a half cage along one of the lines to protect a catcher on his way to a 2 turn TD. They cost alot so use as few as possible.

Catchers: Theese are the guys that matter. Dodge is a no brainer! I then go for Side Step. Block is also very important.
One of them can use Sure Hands and NoS to scoop up loose balls.
Guard is brilliant for doubles.
KoR is useless IMO. They have M7 and one guy can therefore reach anywhere on the field and pick up on 2+.

*boast mode on*
I have written some tips in other threads. If you are interested in my views of Slann, do a search in forums.
*boast mode off*

Some people look upon the team differently and have made great builds with killer blitzers as the main players so there many views on this wonderful team.

[Carnis]

A bit of a hijack actually. I just finished another league finals, losing 3-1 to High elves due to an unlucky snake-eyes (after opponent's unlikely strip ball blitz) pickup that changed the pace from a 2-1 grind to an 0-2 climb. Where would you go with this team? I sacked both my niggled&-AV catchers (both at > 50 SPP's & AG5). I'm actually thinking AG5 may be harmful to the overall performance of a slann catcher, due to losing a skill (block, or dodge) and going abysmally expensive after the AG inc.. At least if it comes at a cost in AV or a niggle.

The team:

Code: Select all

1    Teutates         Linefrog  6438    Leap, Very Long Legs, +Wrestle/ST 26 130 000
2                     Linefrog  6338    Leap, Very Long Legs 2 60 000
3    Zeus             Linefrog  6338    Leap, Very Long Legs, +Block/Frenzy/Fend 34 120 000
4    Kotys            Linefrog  6338    Leap, Very Long Legs, +Block/Tackle 24 100 000
5    Cricket Juice    Linefrog  6339    Leap, Very Long Legs, +AV 7 90 000
6                     Linefrog  6338    Leap, Very Long Legs 3  60 000
7    Beach Bum        Linefrog  6338    Leap, Very Long Legs, +Dirty Player 8 80 000    
11   Jarrod Leaper    Catcher   7247    Diving Catch, Leap, Very Long Legs, +Wrestle/Dodge/Dauntless 39 140 000
12                    Catcher   7247    Diving Catch, Leap, Very Long Legs 0 80 000
13                    Catcher   7247    Diving Catch, Leap, Very Long Legs 0 80 000
14   Miss Piggy       Catcher   7247    Diving Catch, Leap, Very Long Legs, +Dodge 10 100 000
23   Long John Silver Blitzer   7337    Diving Tackle, Jump up, Leap, Very Long Legs, +Wrestle/Guard    -AV 21    150 000
31   Fido             Kroxigor  6519    Loner, Bone-Head, Mighty Blow, Prehensive Tail, Thick Skull, +Block/Guard/Piling on/Skill 57 230 000
RE-ROLLS   4    X    50 000    200 000
FAN FACTOR 8    X    10 000    80 000
APOTHECARY 1    X    50 000    50 000
TOTAL COST OF TEAM: 1 750 000

What skill would you pick on the kroxigor? I'm torn between multiple block (killing), juggernaut (killing wrestlers) & stand firm (overall performance).

Would you keep the blitzer, I'm thinking of sacking him, -AV makes him an awfully expensive player when he does go down. He's not *that* spectacular anyway, and wrestle was definedly a mistake..

Would you keep the +AV liner? He's 90k, but essentially a rookie on my turn (no block, dodge, wrestle or tackle). Stays in the field/LOS pretty well, though.

[Ikterus]

The team looks good! I am hoewver surprised at the lack of SPPs on the catchers. Mine hog all the SPPs.

I think you need at least one Strip Baller. Getting the ball on the ground is a sure way to win with Slann.

I'm actually thinking AG5 may be harmful to the overall performance of a slann catcher, due to losing a skill (block, or dodge) and going abysmally expensive after the AG inc..

I belive that AG 5 is one of the best skills a Slann catcher can get! It ehlps dodging and passing but more importanly it helps to pick upp loose balls in hard to reach places. Leap in pick up, pass to safety.
I have a AG5 catcher with Sure Hands and I absolutely love him!

[Carnis]

I have had a about 95% of my SPPs going to the catchers, but I only last game sacked two catchers with a total of 7 skillups. So the two rooks have played 0 games..

You didn't comment on any of the relevant ones though, Blitzer, +AV-liner & kroxi's skill?

I did about 62,5% win-percent with the team over 30 games, am playing less of it nowdays. A lot of the losses came with melting dice, the team is much more dice-heavy than any elven side, due to ultra frail catchers and total lack of both reroll AND survival skills.

[Ikterus]

You didn't comment on any of the relevant ones though, Blitzer, +AV-liner & kroxi's skill?

The blitzer is very expensive for what he does but you need all guard you can get. Sack him as soon as you get another player with guard or when the AV7 gets him injured again.

The AV 9 lino is useful to put on the LoS. Wrestle and fend makes him a great speed bump.

Krox = Stand Firm all the way. SF + tail + guard makes him a great defensive player and a nuisance for all teams, especially those who depend on AG. He is allready a great killer and I'm not fond of multiple block. His Block skill makes me jelaous though...

[SillySod]

As well as considering ideal skills its also pretty important to think about what players you can actually have and how long you might have to have them on the team before they skill up. This is especially useful for Slann because theres no way you can get everything you want even after ten games or more.

Ideally I'd want....

Lineman - wrestle/stripball
Lineman - stripball/wrestle
Lineman - wrestle/fend
Lineman - wrestle/fend
Lineman - wrestle/kick
Lineman - guard/block
Lineman - wrestle/tackle
Lineman - wrestle/guard
Catcher (x4) - dodge/surehands/block/sidestep/guard
Kroxigor - guard/stand firm/block
Blitzer (x3) - block/sidestep/guard/dodge
Blitzer - block/MB/frenzy/PO

Ultimately I'd probably have to make do without the blitzers for a while, its pretty unlikely I'd get them all skilled up the way I want anyway. Any +AG or +ST on a Slann is great, +Ma is probably best taken only by the catchers or a superstar.

Would you keep the blitzer, I'm thinking of sacking him, -AV makes him an awfully expensive player when he does go down. He's not *that* spectacular anyway, and wrestle was definedly a mistake..

Would you keep the +AV liner? He's 90k, but essentially a rookie on my turn (no block, dodge, wrestle or tackle). Stays in the field/LOS pretty well, though.

I wouldnt get rid of either unless I was drowning in cash. I definately wouldnt have taken the +Ma/+Av but now you have it you might as well get some use out of it on the LOS. The blitzer could probably stay - several teams survive with av7 on their key players and although its not ideal I cant see you skilling up another blitzer to replace him in the immidiate future.

[Jural]

Ideally I'd want....

Lineman - wrestle/stripball
Lineman - stripball/wrestle
Lineman - wrestle/fend
Lineman - wrestle/fend
Lineman - wrestle/kick
Lineman - guard/block
Lineman - wrestle/tackle
Lineman - wrestle/guard

Wow, that's a good list. I have the same choices, except I'd change wrestle to block on the kicker, and one of the players with fend.

I think the important thing that SillySod is advocating is that your linemen are weapons, moreso than most teams. So stripball, wrestle, and tackle are totally appropriate on them... whereas on some teams, those skills are wasted on lineman (especially stripball and wrestle.)

[SillySod]

Also, you want at least one strip baller ASAP and should aim to have two before too long.

I always think of the wrestle vs block choice as being about space... wrestle is a slightly better option if your team likes space and you dont mind that player spending some floortime. Perfect for agility team linemen

[Mad Banker]

Here is what I'm thinking as skill choices for my new Slann team (just a rough early draft, I've not thought about more than 3 skills each or much of stats increases or doubles):

Linemen:
1x Kick, Tackle, Wrestle
1x Strip Ball, Wrestle, Tackle
1x Wrestle, Strip Ball, Tackle
1x Wrestle, Dauntless, Strip Ball
1x Hail Mary Pass, Kick Off Return, Sure Hands (on a double for 1st skill)

Blitzers:
2x Dodge, Guard, Side Step
2x Dodge, Side Step, Guard

Catchers:
2x Dodge, Block, Side Step
2x Dodge, Sure Hands, Side Step

Kroxigor:
1x Guard, Break Tackle, Stand Firm