[Team Blog] OCC - Magnificent Mythos

[Slyspy]

I'm going to attempt a little blog of my OCC High Elf team, Magnificent Mythos.

The name is mostly a tribute to the Greek beer Mythos, which I enjoyed so much of on holiday, but the player names are from actual Greek mythos.

After one unbeaten season in OCC we are now in division 5d. The team tends to enjoy playing to a draw, something which we did six times last season but which I'd like to change. Preferably to winning ways, although our first season 11 game was a draw against the Orcs of bowdy's Cardif The Emancipation. Currently the team looks like this:

Achilles: Blitzer - Block, Dodge, +1ST.
Charon: Blitzer - Block, Guard, Mighty Blow.
Agamemnon: Thrower - Pass, Safe Throw, Block, Dodge.
Erebus: Lino - Kick, -1AV
Evander: Lino - Wrestle.
Leander: Lino - rookie.
Menelaus: Lino - Guard.
Nemesis: Lino - Dodge. MNG
Nikephorus: Lino - Wrestle.
Patroclus: Lino - rookie.
Xanthe: Catcher - Catch, Wrestle, Tackle.
Philandros: Catcher - Catch, Mighty Blow.
Lykourgos: Catcher - Catch, +1AG, Dodge

Rerolls - 4.
TV - 1720.
Treasury - 350 000

Division 5d is an Elf heavy league. There is one Orc, one Undead and one Ogre team, the others being various Elves.

The Mythos crew are pretty low on Dodge for an Elf team and are not exactly designed to counter Elves with only one Tackle player.

Achilles was going to get Tackle, but rolled extra strength instead. Presumably tired of being used as a punching bag. None of the Catchers have Dodge yet which increases reroll use, but they have various base skills and are ripe for development.

Erebus will retire once someone else learns to Kick (Patroclus, I'm looking at you!) and I'd like to train a dedicated Thrower and another Catcher, but don't know which to get so I might get both once Erebus retires.

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Magnificent Mythos 1 - Cardif The Emanciptation 1

Our first game of the season was another score draw. Mythos chose to kick deep and defend in columns, forcing bowdy's Orcs to try for a risky turn eight TD which failed. Menelaus BH himself dodging out in an attempt to surf the Orc receiver who had fumbled the last ditch pass.

The second half started with a Perfect Defence for the Orcs who were defending deep. Mythos dash through gaps in the line while holding the ball deep. Soon the ball flies in Xanthe's hands. A stalwart defence led by the Orc thrower fails to stop the score, but does ensure it happens quickly.

The second Orc drive starts deep, and with only six turns could be tricky. But Mythos have used up their rerolls and their dodging is haphazard. The Orcs reach scoring distance on turn sixteen. Thanks to a saved reroll this time they suceed the last chance score (a hand off, 2D block, a dodge and two GFIs) and the game ends a draw.

I don't think I could have done much more on defence other than make the last chance scores as difficult as possible. All that strength 4 and 5 really made it difficult. I did get to the ball carrier a couple of times, sometimes getting him to spill it, but couldn't truely break the cage.

Achilles leveled and got his extra strength (I really wanted Tackle) and Lykougos his extra agility (I wanted Dodge). Still, mustn't grumble!

Next game is against Wraithlord's Wood Elf team The Rebirth.

His team is pretty battered, with a couple of players out and others carrying injuries. A Strip Ball Wardancer is a pain, but she only has AV6 so we'll see. He has a quality Thrower and Catcher partership to watch out for. No Tree, but I'll likely be giving away some inducements.

I find playing mobile teams really tricky, so I reckon I'm unlikely to remain unbeaten this season.

Edit:

Advice on playing against Wood Elves or on the skill progression of my players, especially the Blitzers, is very welcome.

[Netsmurf]

Against the woodies, kick the ball if you get the chance and then do an elf grind or choose a funny shot out game. You should be able to out bash the Woodies and gain the upper hand

[Narly Bird]

You have a really nice team for just playing 1 season. And so many doubles and stat increases too! If I were you I would focus on skilling up the lvl 2 catchers. They are both really naked without defensive skills (block/dodge). I would just look to score with them actually until they got those skills and then look at scoring with other players.

Regarding your blitzers, it’s a bit hard to say. Normally I would say sidestep and then diving tackle (I really love that build combined with blodge). But the problem is that you are short on tackle. Perhaps tackle on the MB one (I like the MB/Tackle synergy for taking out AV7 dodgers) and sidestep on the S4 one. Or perhaps even tackle on both. But if so, then I would definitely look to sidestep as the following skill.

[Morgred]

Mate.. Your team looks great, in particular your blitzers. They are going to cause an elf heavy league some headaches.

I do agree with Narly tho. Tackle is going to be invaluable. It should definately be priority.

That AG5 catcher will be a star. Id be focusing on getting him some protection skills. He could make an excellent ball hunter eventually. Particularly as i would expect ull see alot of blodge ball carriers.

[Viajero]

Also, seeing you have 320K in the bank and only 3 Dodge players (that´s the price to pay for so many stat increases and doubles!) I would definitely go for the 4th RR right away.

IMHO 4 is the right number for all elves, barring maybe woodies which start with lots of Dodge already, but in your case at 1600 TV and so little Dodge it is more critical.

Not sure what other TV values you have in your group and if you may be giving up a lot of inducements, but I dare to say that 4th RR is a must, at least until you get 5 or 6 Dodge skills in your team.

Go High Elves!

[Slyspy]

Well we won the fight against The Rebirth, but the Wood Elves won the match!

2-3 to Wraithlord.

Although I wounded five and killed one I just couldn't hold them.

On attack they punched a hole though and sent maybe four players though. I marked them up and beat them up while their Thrower held the ball deep in their half. Then in a rush they free up a receiver who rushes into my end zone. The Thrower dashes forwards down a flank and long passes to the waiting Catcher. 0-1!

So we attack. Like the Woodies we have no trouble scoring our first TD, but it seems we score too early since our opponents are able to score a second before half time using much the same routine as before. The speed of the Wood Elf Thrower means that he can easily pick a pass which avoids giving interception chances to my boys who are waiting, while Accurate, Catch and Nerves of Steel make the move relatively simple.

So we start our second half drive 1-2 down. We attack like a bashing team, using a cage to keep the ball safe. Everything works well except that the damn Strip Ball Wardancer keeps making us drop the ball. It doesn't stop our forward motion though and eventually we pitch her off the field and end up one turn away from scoring. Then the other WD Leaps in and knocks the ball carrier over. Another hippy with AG5 then skips into two tackle zones, picks up the ball, dodges out, goes for it, passes it to another Elf who catches it and scores! Turned over for 1-3.

So we are left with a few turns to make the score respectable against a depleted Welf team, which we do with ease. But is is just a consolation as we suffer a defeat after ten games without a loss!

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I really enjoyed this game despite the result. To be honest I'm not sure what I could have done to stop Wraithlord form scoring. His two attacking TDs were just so effortless! Maybe if I'd covered the flanks I'd have had an interception chance, but I'm not convinced I could have stopped them. His defending TD was a typical Elf move of the sort that I've never had the chance to do! I doubt that using a screen instead of a cage would have helped, it was just one of those things pulled off by a quality opponent.

I think the timing of my TD attempts was off, a mark of my inexperience in playing Elven teams. When going for my first TD I think I should have tried to hold off scoring, even at the risk of being dispossessed, in order to deny Wraithlord a chance at scoring twice in the first half. I gave him too much time and so started my drive one down.

Conversely on my second half drive I should have scored more quickly. I had the chance to but tried to hold on to the ball instead. Scoring quickly might have caused the depleted Welf team to go quickly for the winner since I don't think they had the players or durability to score slowly. Then i would have had the last two or three turns in order to equalise.

Sure, it would have been another draw, but I think it would have been a better way to play this particular game.

The replay is in OCC Div5d if anyone fancies watching some hot Elf-on-Elf action!

As ever, any thought are welcome.

Edit:

@ Viajero: I hadn't thought of an extra reroll, preferring instead to invest in more positionals. The lack of Dodge did tell against bowdy's Orcs (and maybe against next week's Ogres!) but against Wraithlord I only used three rerolls all game (one in each half plus one from a kick off result). Since most of my opponents in this league are Elves and therefore the games will involve less running away I'm not sure about extra rerolls.

@ Narly & Morgred: The team had alot of potential but does need alot more Dodge and Tackle. The MB Catcher is getting Block next then maybe Tackle. The AG5 Catcher will get Dodge as will the Wrackler. The Blitzers are a fair way from levelling but at least one will get Tackle. Assuming anyone survives long enough!

[Viajero]

I just eyed the BBManager report of the game and it seems your opponent leaped a whooping 6 times during the game!!. And failed only 1!!

Thats really hard to counter. When a WE team has proper Strip Ball / Leaping day and you have no Sure Hands or decent guard at hand, there is little you can do to prevent lose balls.

Having said that, I ll watch the replay cause I am curious. Typically a decent WE coach will only Leap as a last resort or when there is definitely a clear and immediate advantage in doing so (probability-wise or tactical). Getting a lose ball for the sake of it is not enough. Specially against AG4 teams that can as easily pick it up again, it is the best way to get your WD killed.

So when you say he is a "quality" coach I have some doubts!

[Viajero]

Originally Posted by Slyspy

@ Viajero: I hadn't thought of an extra reroll, preferring instead to invest in more positionals. The lack of Dodge did tell against bowdy's Orcs (and maybe against next week's Ogres!) but against Wraithlord I only used three rerolls all game (one in each half plus one from a kick off result). Since most of my opponents in this league are Elves and therefore the games will involve less running away I'm not sure about extra rerolls.

Ill beg you to reconsider, although it will depend on inducement stuff. The 4th RR is not just to "run away" but also quite often to break through or simply repositioning!

Elves throw a lot of 1D´s, and more often than not you will be left with several necessary dodges to ensure whatever it is that you need for positioning any given turn, wether you were heavily marked in the first place or not.

[Viajero]

Also, regarding defense against Leap, there are certain ways to set up your cage or lose cage that will limit WD ability to Blitz your carrier, even with a Leap.

Option A: I ll see if I can make a diagram, but basically it entails having 2 layered screens between the WD and your carrier, so after the Leap they are left with 1 or 2 risky dodges in order to get to Blitz the carrier. This kind of layered screen may require 5 or 6 pieces, as opposed to the minimum 4 required for your standard cage though.

Option B: If you dont have enough manpower then plan B is creating a loose cage where the "corners" are actually 3 tiles away from your carrier (leaving 2 tiles empty in between), and ensuring the WD therefore requires a 3+ dodge after the Leap in order to blitz the carrier.

An AG5 WD will laugh at these anyways. That is why I prefer AG5 WD to ST4 WD... defense, defense.

[Viajero]

Just watched the replay...

Well, things your opponent did that may not be typical from a "quality" WE coach:

1- Block with an unskilled loner as opening move
2- Dodge a +3 (+AG Catcher into 2 tackle zones) as opening move
3- Attempt a long bomb 4+ pass (Accurate and Pass skills, from the midfield to the TD line!!!). Yes, thats 75% chance but still too risky to do it willy nilly and with a clear recovery and defensive TD chance for you! That is not "quality" coach stuff I assure you.
4- Do a bloody 2D against blitz when there was no reason for it and got a broken collar bone.
5- Do again another long pass (with a lino) at 4+, with a RR in hand, but risking completely a fumble or scatter which could have meant you would have had 2 turns to take the lead...(remember he was kicking first and was going to receive in the 2nd half) he was very lucky with all these rolls.
6- Leaping willy nilly with the AV6 WD. Due to this willi nillyness she got deservedly crowdsurfed by you, although the AV6 miraculously hold again... lucky bastard really.
7- Using the thrower to dodge in 3+ to try and pick up in 3+ on the sideline (!!!!) where he would be desrvedly crowdsurfed right away. WTF, I mean, WTF, really.
8- Leaping willy nilly with the other WD, he managed a 1D block against your wrackle catcher and what does he get? Defender Down? Lucky bastard.
9 - After that in turn 13 or so he uses his +ag cacther to dodge into 2 TZ, pick up and out, dodges 2 times more (one of them completely unnecessary), performs 2 GFI (with sure feet, so well done him) then passes a long pass which is catched in a TZ, the new carrier then dodges merrily (how else) out or marking and goes to TD. Thats is around 25% with no RR and around 47% with RR. Lucky bastard.

All the above point out to a coach that is too happy to take risks! I think i ll stop there cause it seems enough to me. Maybe wrong but the way this guy plays its completely reckless. I may be proved wrong by his statistics but this guy is just throwing dice in a good Nuffle day.

Things you could have done better maybe:

1- Threaten the ball from turn one. Your opponent had 2 early Turnovers in turn 2 (loner) and 3 (double 1 dodge) that you could have exploited if you had been near the ball in those turns.
2- Not to gang up in a tight cage in turn 5 when your opponent had a Wizard. You were lucky only 2 corners got stunned with the fireball. Your opponent had 3/4 of his team stunned or fallen, you could have easily advance the ball forward passing to the cacther or a lineman and lose screen at minimal risk.
3- Use the Guard player to actually guard the carrier in your cages
4- Wait to turn 7 or maybe 8 to score. You scored in 6 when you could have easily put down the Strip Ball WD, and a few others as you did, and then pick up with the ST4 move to one side 3 tiles from the corner and screen again, at least 1 more turn.
5- You have a bloody +AG catcher! In turn 8 you had 3 RR in hand and your opponent left it completely open at the LOS for you to do a 1 turn TD. Try and practice those.
6- 2nd half carrying the ball with the catcher with no block or dodge or the wrestle one. Ripe for the Stripball WD. With your current rig your best defense was the ST4 blitzer as a carrier letting you choose in a 2D in your favour hopefully a both down or attacker down.
7- Not moving with your catcher carrier all the way to the row before TD in turn 11 or 12 after the stripball WD was downed and you had ample margin to screen later. As you did your carrier remained under WD reach and lost the ball again. You were lucky the other WD had a double 1 that turn after the blitz...

My comments as usual to be taken with a pinch of salt. Hindsight and replays are great for a big mouth like mine but, that was no quality coach, methinks, just a lucker

EDIT: Cyanide coach statistics for Wraith lord:

Win%: 35% (53-31-111) quite subaverage. On its own this statistic is not conclusive of anything, but in conjunction with the list above it is a different story. Rest my case. No quality coach. He seems to like WE as he has quite a few teams in his roster list. Their record is quite subpar aswell, so after the game with you he must have had an orgasm.