Developing dark elves in a bash heavy league

[SunDevil]

Keep the ST4 LineElf until he skills up or nature takes it's course and Nuffle claims him. Either way, he should stick around because he can help your team, regardless of the AV break.

Heck, even if he just becomes a huge target, that could help you win a game if he is drawing attention away from the ball.

[Leftfield010]

Well it's not started well, I think my av is actually 5 with the number of casualties I am getting!

Had one blitzer killed , have two line elves with niggling , one who is -mv and my + at blizter has a niggling and -mv !!

Would you keep he blizter? Only have 60k but I have 3 rr and an apoth

[mattgslater]

Two injuries is automatic dustbin time.

[Hitonagashi]

What Matt said.

I sacked my +AG +ST +MA MB Dodge DE blitzer when he got his -av (in addition to his niggle). Double injuries are really bad.

[DixonCider]

is the 4 blitzer, 7 line elves, two re-rolls with 10k left over the best set up for Dark Elves? I am thinking that is how I will start mine to have a better chance at an apo/re-roll/witch elf faster

or would it be better to swap out two blitzers for line elves and take the third re-roll?

[Hitonagashi]

I like the 4 blitzer setup. 3 rerolls is nice (especially until you have some blodge blitzers), but the extra movement/block can really swing games.

[DixonCider]

I like the 4 blitzer setup. 3 rerolls is nice (especially until you have some blodge blitzers), but the extra movement/block can really swing games.

unfortunately it is either 4 blitzers and two re-rolls or 2 blitzers and 3 re-rolls

[Hitonagashi]

That's what I meant. 3 rerolls is nice, but the extra movement and block make a huge difference, hence, I prefer the 4 blitzer setup.

[DixonCider]

That's what I meant. 3 rerolls is nice, but the extra movement and block make a huge difference, hence, I prefer the 4 blitzer setup.

ah ok, my error.

I think that is the plan for next season... no telling the people in my league please

[spubbbba]

Some go for 4 blitzers, 1 runner and 6 linemen to get quick access to leader, so you may want to consider that.

[DixonCider]

Some go for 4 blitzers, 1 runner and 6 linemen to get quick access to leader, so you may want to consider that.

thinking the runner will take too many sp's

[Khail]

Depends on how you play them. I used mine to recover the ball and he almost always ended up doing a hand off or quick pass to another player later in the drive. You get a Runner for the short term, use him for Leader, and he'll die of natural causes or retire sometime after you can afford your 3rd reroll. I wouldn't bother replacing him when that happens.

I played with 2 runners for a 50some game Dark Elf career, and honestly they're not worth it. They're not terrible, but they're not that great, and eventually the extra AV7 on the pitch catches up with you. Just go for Line Elves, Blitzers, and Witches in the endgame.

[Smeborg]

Depends on how you play them. I used mine to recover the ball and he almost always ended up doing a hand off or quick pass to another player later in the drive. You get a Runner for the short term, use him for Leader, and he'll die of natural causes or retire sometime after you can afford your 3rd reroll. I wouldn't bother replacing him when that happens.

I played with 2 runners for a 50some game Dark Elf career, and honestly they're not worth it. They're not terrible, but they're not that great, and eventually the extra AV7 on the pitch catches up with you. Just go for Line Elves, Blitzers, and Witches in the endgame.

Khail, I agree entirely. I started playing with 2 Runners, got fed up, played with 1, and now I don't bother with them. They are rather weak and not worth it in the long run. Fine in tournaments for Leader, that's about it. I have lost count of the number of games where AV7 has been their downfall.

All the best.

[JJB]

If it's a medium-long term league (say, 15+ games), you might consider getting 1-2 assassins or develop a player or two with shadowing.

Either way, this will only start paying off once you've got block (and dodge probably) and side step as well, so it's a very long term plan.

Then once that player is developed, in the many cases you can't get a direct hit on the ball carrier, it may be easier to leave the shadower next to the ball carrier. Two outcomes:
- the opponent will burn blocks trying to move the shadower away from his ball carrier, meaning the overall movement of his cage will be further slowed down.
- the opponent cannot/does not move the shadower away from your ball carrier, and you increasing the risk of the latter falling as he may have to dodge several times because of being followed by the shadower.

Again, this is really long term and only a secondary addition to all the above techniques mentioned in this thread.

[Smeborg]

JJB - my experience with rostered Assassins has led me to drop them altogether. I do, however, sometimes take them as inducements.

As one of the most expensive, if not the most expensive, team in the game, DEs have to aim at a "final" roster that will cope with player turnover. Player turnover and related money problems are the single biggest issue for them in the medium to long term, and can be quite frustrating.

I am following an obvious trajectory with the DE roster: tried Assassins, didn't like them, tried Runners, didn't quite like them, now I am considering the obvious next step, which would be to play DEs without the Witches (i.e. just Blitzers and Linos). I have seen it done quite well, it seems a bit dull, but it might also be fun, especially in a bashy environment.

All the best.