Where to go with lizards

[hancock.tom]

OK New question here. What do you take for Skink doubles if you already have a sure hands?

Five games in

Krox - Block
Saurus - Block
Saurus - Block
Saurus - minus move
Saurus
Saurus (needs 1 sPP to skill up)
Saurus (needs 1 sPP to skill up)
Skink Diving Tackle
Skink Diving Tackle
Skink Sure Hands(needs 1 sPP to skill up)
Skink Sidestep [DOUBLES]

Three rerolls, apoth, 4 FF, 110K

BLOCK - This would turn my sidestepper into the #1 scoring option and I could use him as a long range blitzer. If he got more doubles or a stat boost, this would project well. I'm worried he will hog SPP as the safest handoff target on the team, when I want to start trying to score with sauruses more often.

KICK - This could help take advantage of all the speed on my team, and I don't want to waste a saurus skill up on it. Also half our league is Orcs, Undead, and Norse, and I like Kick against those teams. I'm thinking with kick I can slow them down, play 9 on 11 to start, or grab the ball.

SURE HANDS - I've got one, but he could die and it never hurts to have more, this is the single most important skink skill...

HAIL MARY PASS - Not a real consideration, more just for fun, but would be great for diving catch skinks and the occasional punt. I'm interested to see if anyone has any success with this offense. I'm half joking even mentioning it.

DIRTY PLAYER - Not a real consideration, but combined with sneaky git could help my bashing / man advantage game. The only reason I'm giving this any thought is that I'm bloating up with TV right now and I know I will face some star players. I had to play Roxanna Darknail last night, and I was ready to foul her off the pitch if need be.

I'm 50/50 Block or Kick, but Sure Hands would be a reasonable choice too. What do you think?

[hancock.tom]

One other thing, in addition to my skink skill dilemma, what should I be looking to buy?

I'm not buying a skink until I retire one for not skilling up properly, I'm worried about the TV bloat associated with that....

Last game I barely even used all my rerolls, though I guess that should be the next purchase on my list? I might wait until I've got enough to retire a skink, rebuy him, and get my reroll then so I don't have to worry about so much TV bloat.

Last game I played against Roxanna Darknail, who was leaping on a 2+, grabbing the ball out of tackle zones, and generally kicking ass... So I'm afraid of the TV bloat!!!

[EastCoast]

I'm not an expert Lizardmen coach, but one thing I perfected was the ability to lose skinks quickly, I had 3 die in a single match once, 2 died on failed dodges to empty squares... and no, my opponent didn't have tackle either time.

With this in mind, I'd take on two additional skinks regardless of bloat, a tackle +MB player can take you down almost all by themselves. Having only 1 or 2 skinks left by halftime can lead to some bad times.

As for the doubles... I would take kick, but that's a tough call.

[firebreatherdan]

I have taken wrestle with my 2 double skinks and it has worked well sacking ball carriers and increasing survivability
Hope this helps

[Skipper]

Kick.....I've been waiting 10 games for a double to take kick and so far it just hasn't come my way......but it sure is usefull on this team.

[someone2040]

@hancock.tom
I had a Skink in a similar position to your doubles, where my first one picked up Sure Hands (then picked up AG 4 later) but one of my Sidesteppers got a double after.
I took Block, and this skink turned out to be my super star. Not in that he stole SPPs (Although, in general having block meant he was standing more than others, so he did get his fair share of touchdowns) but he was very annoying after he got diving tackle.

I still think, if a Skink manages to get that skillset, then perhaps Shadowing after (strength 3 would be nice as well ), he'd be the most frustrating thing ever if you can't knock him off his feet.

I wouldn't take Wrestle if going that route though, as you want Block to keep you on your feet so you can use Diving Tackle. Which is why I like Block better than wrestle, as first off, you don't want your skinks getting fouled, and second, after sidestep, diving tackle is in general your best skill left (You can get catch, sprint, sure feet, but I think diving tackle is more useful).

[solarflare]

I would take block.

[hancock.tom]

I ended up taking block but haven't really seen how he will perform because my next opponent was a developed Orc team with piles of tackle, and my skinks had awful butterfingers, resulting in a 1-1 tie.

If I get doubles on a third skink I will probably go kick.