Sure Feet (Agility)
The Player may re-roll the D6 if he us Knocked Down when trying to Go For It. A Player may only use the Sure Feet skill once per turn.
Overview:
Sure Feet is a great skill to have, though often there are a lot of preferable choices to take instead. Some players start with it which is handy, especially as it isn’t one they would choose. Being able to control the space and movement side of the game can make the difference between winning and losing. With the ability to reroll your attempts to go for it, you can try and move players further on occasions where you would elect not to do so without Sure Feet.
It is great for saving on rerolls and also opens up the possibility to go for it if you have already used a reroll that turn. Without the reroll failing a go for it can often feel like a very cheap way to turnover and possible injure your own player. You could say then that Sure Feet provides some extra safety to your player’s life as well. The extra range of movement gives quite a lot of benefits too. You can keep up with faster players easier, out manoeuvre slower ones to a greater degree, move those extra squares to prove or cancel out assists, cover the extra spaces to build a secure cage etc. If your ball carrier has broken through the opposition line and is looking to out run them, you can force their defenders to have to do go for its, or even better if you succeed in doing yours, get entirely out of range of their players. I’m sure you can probably think of plenty of other occasions that doing reliable go for its can be helpful.
One word of caution when doing go for its still is when you have used Sure Feet on the first go for it, you should pause and consider if you really need to do the second one. Obviously the odds of success for a go for it are pretty good, but that doesn’t mean they don’t fail, just like one die blocks. If you have a reroll handy still and you don’t mind using it then by all means go ahead.
Benefits:
- Greater range of reliable movement
- Player falls over less often
Useful to:
As I’ve mentioned it is a useful skill for every player, though not necessarily more useful than an alternative skill, especially if that player needs a double to get it. My personal favourite player types to get Sure Feet for are Throwers and other ball carriers. The extra movement can cut out interceptions, make the passing range shorter and cover more of the backfield when going to pick the ball up after the kick off. These are obviously all useful things to be able to do with reliability. Some Throwers can get it on a normal skill, while others will need a double for it, there are probably more important doubles still for those players but if you roll multiple double increases then give Sure Feet some consideration.
Ball carriers (which can often be a Thrower) benefit from the greater range of movement, either to make sure they can get in cover, have the movement to avoid dodges, or to just simply outrun the opposing players. Another option are players built to be one turn scorers, though as I don’t recommend developing such a a player I include this for purely reference. The last player who can make good use of Sure Feet are Ball and Chain players. You will usually want to keep your rerolls for other things than go for its with a Ball and Chain player. Though the extra movement on them can provide you with more chances to damage the other team. They are also typically slow players too, so giving them greater range can also create more space as opponents try to stay out of their way.
I would suggest that any other player can make greater use of another skill choice that they would have available to them. One that you may consider needing Sure Feet that I wouldn’t suggest take it are receivers. They are usually fast enough that they can get to the end zone without having to need to go for it (over two turns). A receiver makes better use of skills that give them protection or make them more useful for when the team is defending.
February 26th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
I have to agree. Sure feet seems like a good skill but most players have so many other demands on skill choices that it is hard to justify. The burst players from cages is probably the safest but as ball carriers sure hands seems like a better first skill (not to mention Block or Dodge to stay standing) and throwers have so many skills to help the throwing game to get. Seems like something which might start showing up at the 3-4 skill level.
February 26th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
Indeed, I should have probably mentioned that it is a later taken skill rather than one of the first options you would take.
The individual player development articles should make that pretty obvious though.
February 28th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
Sure feet is also comfortable for frenzy players, specially those that have low MA. Frenzy + low MA frequently have to make GFI to finish their frenzy AND it can be a handy skill to have when moving away from the sidelines after a crowdsurf.
February 28th, 2010 at 4:00 pm
Good Point, thanks for highlighting it.
April 1st, 2011 at 9:53 am
It’s one of the best skills for Snotlings, I’d say equally good as Diving Tackle. Snotlings only have normal access to Agility skills, quickly running out of options to choose. And with basic MV5, every additional square of movement is extra precious, especially that despite being slow, they are one of the most maneuverable players in the game, starting with Dodge, Stunty and Titchy.
May 31st, 2011 at 9:58 am
I’ve been strongly considering a HE catcher build with Wrestle, Strip Ball and Sure Feet (obviously this puts Sure Feet in the ‘later’ category still), in order to have a 9.5 movement ball blitzer. Seems like a decent choice, at least a player that your opponent ‘has’ to consider – and you can hide him behind his friends and still get around the corner and to the ball carrier (hopefully).
May 31st, 2011 at 11:15 am
This really would be more relevant to the High Elf Catcher article than Sure Feet as it is player rather than skill specific. I personally wouldn’t take it before getting Tackle and Side Step though. On fast players you don’t usually move them their full movement every turn anyway. Team Rerolls can replicate Sure Feet if you still have one to use, though you can’t replicate not having Tackle or Side Step.
November 17th, 2011 at 4:34 pm
I’m going to have to disagree with you here. Passers usually have such a long wish list of skills that they don’t have room for Sure Feet. Indeed, if a passer is having to go for it to get into a shorter range pass, they’d be better off getting a skill like Accurate or Strong Arm and reduce the number of rolls involved in the play. And on the other hand, if you are a squishy team you probably don’t have the option of extending the drive an extra turn to try to get recievers another two squares closer to the end zone. A good defender will be able to keep you on the line of skrimmage, keep recievers knocked down or covered in tackle zones. You may also not have the time to spare, as often winning with the squishy team means doing a turn 8 or turn 16 score. Generally speaking, if you can push a reciver to where he can get to the end zone on two go for its, you’re going to take that option. I’ve never regretted sure feet on a reciever. It’s almost as much a no brainer as block on a blocker, because 2+ wt. a reroll is worlds better than 2+ without one. Generally I can’t afford to put it on every reciever, because some comprimise with developing them in defensive roles must be made, but on an offense minded catcher its a golden skill. You generally can’t depend on team rerolls for go for it, because go for its are generally the very last thing you are doing on your turn.
November 22nd, 2011 at 12:00 am
I wasn’t suggesting to take it before skills like Accurate, I was listing players who would find the skill useful at some point in their development. Not that they should take it as their first skill, please see the individual player articles for skill selection priority.