Coming back to BB... thoughts on new skills

[mrinprophet]

I wasn't sure exactly where this should go, but given that I was thinking of this in context of a new team I put it here. I'm coming back to the game and noticed there are a few new skills and I wanted to get your thoughts on their usefulness, purpose and what player types or teams typically employ them. I think the last time I was heavily involved was around LRB4, so things like fend, grab, wrestle, juggernaut, etc. are new to me. Some of these, or the redefined older skills, are easier to grasp. The big three for me are fend, grab and wrestle. I have a general idea who these would be utilized, but haven't actually played with them. I've learned that how I think things work is generally much different from how they do from experience. Just ask my wife.

Fend - Defensive skill. My first thought is that it would be useful for low AV, low AG linemen, low AG blitzers to get free, or squishy catchers.

Grab - Offensive skill. Used by the bashier linemen to manipulate the line and throw more blocks. Could be used defensively to open up a cage or create holes to blitz through.

Wrestle - This one puzzles me. My first thought is that this skill was put in to decrease the importance of block and make block less of an auto-choice for most players. Does that sound right, and if so, has it worked?

If you think there's been a significant change to skill that has significantly changed how it is utilized (claw is a big one I noticed) then please share your wisdom.

Oh, and how do the new Dark Elves play given the new players and skills. I'm thinking of playing them for MBBL. Thanks!

[Wylder]

Wrestle is for taking down a blocking ball carrier more reliably. Linos on high movement/agility teams also sometimes take wrestle as a standard choice instead of block to frustrate the progression of cages, but imo thats a secondary use.

Grab is also great for blitzers who regularly have to hit sidesteppers since it cancels this out on a blitz.

Fend is pretty much what you said. It's a great 5th skill pick for catchers, or 2nd skill pick for linos after block.

[Smeborg]

There is another new skill: Juggernaut (which combines well with Block/Frenzy).

Wylder says is for Wrestle. Wrestle + Tackle gives a huge improvement in the odds of bringing down a ball carrier with Block/Dodge, especially at low odds (for example 2 dice, defender chooses). Wrestle is indeed less useful as a defensive skill, although Wrestle/Fend can be quite annoying on Linos, for example on the LoS.

The new skills increase the number of interesting skill combinations that you can make, extending the rock/paper/scissors game that has always existed with BB skills. This gets even more intense if you consider compementary skill combinations on different players. Just one example: a player with Block/Grab can push an opponent to a position where he can be crowd-surfed by another player with Juggernaut/Frenzy.

Hope this helps.

[mrinprophet]

Thanks so much.

I've decided to play Nurgle in the MBBL and have found Smeborg's advice to be very helpful. It'll take a few games to shake the rust off as well as learning the nuances of the new rules.

[Smeborg]

Let us know how you get on.

Nurgle are great fun to play. I "love" them, but I have found them very challenging to play well. Coming up with a coherent development plan for Nurgle is a big challenge too. I don't pretend to have the answers yet.

All the best.

[Grumbledook]

read these:

http://bbtactics.com/fend/
http://bbtactics.com/grab/
http://bbtactics.com/juggernaut/
http://bbtactics.com/wrestle/

[mrinprophet]

Great resource. Thanks 'Dook.