Pro Elf Catcher

Borg · Post by **Borg** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 2:29 pm

I played my second game with a new Pro Elf Team and happened to have a Catcher who picked up both MVP awards.

The upgrade roll : 44

I could have picked an obvious General Skill like Block but figured I didn't like to waste a "double" when I get one.

So, I gave my Catcher Accurate and will develop her further as a passer.
8 3 4 7 Accurate ; NOS ; Catch

My reasons for doing so :

- Catchers have 8 Speed as opposed to the Thrower's 6 with no other stat differences, which is a tremendous boost and which allows her to set up deeper, out of reach of opposing players while still being able to reach the same target.

- With AG4 , I reckoned the Catcher would get more out of "Accurate" then out of "Pass", as Accurate allows you to throw longer passes more accurately and allows you to keep her "deeper". (combo's nicely with her 8-Speed.)

- With NOS and Catch already in her repertoire, she's a great passer under pressure and can easily receive the ball after it has been picked up by somebody else.

- That "somebody else" is going to be my regular Thrower which I'd like to develop as a runner now.
She's got Pass to start with but her first upgrade will be Sure Hands.

- With 4 Catchers allowed on a Pro Elf Team, I guess turning one into a Thrower is not going to hurt the effectiveness of the team.

Would you have picked Accurate as well as a first Skill
or if not, what would you have picked ?

bouncergriim · Post by **bouncergriim** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 2:41 pm

Dump off, two catchers running in tandem would work well to keep the ball out of opponents hands. (especially since both have NOS)

Post by **DoubleSkulls** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 5:00 pm

Dump off works great on them. After that I'd have taken guard.

Accurate probably isn't an optimal choice - but good luck with it.

mlindsay2706 · Post by **mlindsay2706** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 5:19 pm

bouncergriim wrote:Dump off, two catchers running in tandem would work well to keep the ball out of opponents hands. (especially since both have NOS)

i agree

using the speed and AG of them you could really rush down the field and as soon as you take a block, lose the ball to the other catcher and carry on.

accurates not a bad choice imo. but id have gone dump off

Little_Rat · Post by **Little_Rat** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 9:17 pm

well I would have dumped the double, the only things my catchers need are dodge and block (in this Order) ^^

Meradanis · Post by **Meradanis** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:48 am

A friend of mine played Elves, he took 'Dump off' on a double for two of his catchers. This combo drove me crazy, he's been able to stall his touchdowns for several rounds in a row. It's pretty hard to do anything against this combo, especially if your opponent does some caging work, too. Worst of all, his players got 1 SSP for every completion...

I don't recommend developing your Catcher into a Thrower. First of all, it's pretty much a waste of his natural skill (catch). While he seems to be quite decent (MA8, AG4, Accurate), he lacks the ability to gain additional passing skills. Although the regular Thrower only has MA6, he can compensate his low movement rate with 'Kick-off return' fairly easy. If you plan to play the team on the long run, I recommend to develop your regular thrower with lots of passing skills. In the end, he'll be more effective than your catcher

howlett · Post by **howlett** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:26 pm

Meradanis wrote: I don't recommend developing your Catcher into a Thrower. First of all, it's pretty much a waste of his natural skill (catch).

At least in this point, i have to disagree. When i am in offence playing elves, i use my first turn to gain 1 SPP and throw a short pass with any elf to my thrower.
Therefore catch is a nice skill for a thrower, too.

mlindsay2706 · Post by **mlindsay2706** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 5:48 pm

thats a point. i guess if you give a thrower catch, he can have the ball throw to him rather than him having to pick it up all the time. with the elves AG, almost any of them could pick it up and throw it reasonably well.

catch wouldnt be my first choice on a thrower though. more of after thought kinda choice. that being said, still interesting point

Evil Git · Post by **Evil Git** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 6:55 pm

i'd have been tempted with leader depending on how many re-rolls you already have. other than that dump off would have been a nice choice as well as the old block, dodge, guard route.

accurate's not the worst skill in the world but it could have been better. but it does give you options on offence if needed (long bomb on a 4 is always nice) hope it works out

El Hombre · Post by **El Hombre** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 7:31 pm

I just finnished an entire league playing Pro Elves, and I don't recommend "accurate"; true you use their speed to get the ball where you want it, but because of their speed you'll be mostly able to get a quick or short pass; so no need for "accurate".

The Dump-off combined with a second catcher (NoS) is an amazing combo. Honestly. Just make sure they are both together in the open. Your opponent has only one blitz...

I also gave one guard: with MV8, you'll be able to get your guard-support virtually everywhere you need it.

Greetz
EH

Lycos · Post by **Lycos** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 7:32 pm

Hmm, not sure I would join the queue for Dump off. I played 13 game season of Dark Elves and my runners (2 from the start) never used it once. I would ask "where is your defence or protection if your ball carrier is that exposed?"

Always a tough question because we all have so many playing styles. I would never take DU because I consider that I would deserve to lose the ball if my protection was that poor. yeah an odd Wardancer here or there but come on, you would take a double skill on that basis?

Guard all the way. With so little ST access in the team (ie NONE!) you grab every chance you get to help the team out and three doubles in say 15 rolls is quite possible. I would take guard every time.

Given in 5 games plus you should have 2 blodging/sidestep blitzers, with a guarder or two you can start to work the blocks and create the holes for the other MV8 catchers.

Post by **voyagers_uk** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 7:40 pm

I'm with Dave, I won two cups with 2 Guard catchers providing very mobile assists all across the pitch

go with Guard!

Darkson · Post by **Darkson** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 7:43 pm

Guard would be my choice as well.

Post by **DoubleSkulls** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:26 pm

I think for me Dump Off edges over Guard - because the catcher has NoS already. On players without NoS then Guard is very often a better choice.

The downside of guard is that to use it you are leaving them next to someone so they are going to get hit more.

fen · Post by **fen** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 8:44 pm

I prefer to take Guard as it's the very skill that Elf teams lack, and the skill that allows them to avoid being out-muscled on pitch. I've seen an elf team in our last set of seasons that had 8 Guard players, he could tangle with all but the very strongest team in our league and come out ok.

Dump Off is a distant second, it's nice but I've noticed that most Dump Off Catchers do not last long.