Undead Wights

Undead Wight Overview:

Wights have changed quite a few times over the years, sometimes having four sometimes only two and with and without strength skill access. The current rules allow you to take two and they also have normal access to strength skills. It is the last part that will perhaps dictate how you decide to utilise them in your team. As they also have AG3 and MV6 they can be quite versatile and built to do a few different roles. Initially on a starting team they will be mainly used traditionally as blitzers as they are the only players on the teams starting with Block. As the team develops though this role may change. As Ghouls are faster and have Dodge they will take over the more mobile blitzing opportunity, especially for sacking ball carriers by taking Wrestle, which would be a bit wasted on a player who already has Block. Wights don’t really have a major drawback though and the only real criticism would be that they are average stat wise but this suits the team well.

Perhaps the best way to utilise them is to help out with the hitting side of the game. As the only other players on the team with strength access normally are the two Mummies, they could do with some assistance. As Wights have better armour than Ghouls and also Regeneration they are far better suited to mixing it up and can also pack more punch.

All Rounder Wight:

• Normal: Guard, Mighty Blow, Tackle/Grab/Stand Firm/Juggernaut/Piling On/Fend
• Doubles: Dodge, Side Step
• Stat Increase: +ST +AG +MV

As the Jack of All Trades kind of player on the team there are quite a few options as far as skill choices go, though the first one should pretty much most of the time be Guard. Undead need to take it to be able to cage the ball well and also help out on defence. It also makes it easier to get two assists for your Mummies so they are rolling three dice blocks instead of two which negates their lack of Block. After that I would take Mighty Blow next, gives the team a bit more bite and removing players from the pitch will help you out and also develop them quicker, there is a case for taking Tackle here though in Dodge heavy environments.

Those are really the key skills for Wights in my eyes, further development would depend on how your team looks, how aggressive you are with them and how you tend to use them in a game. Tackle is helpful if you don’t have much, Grab can make moving a cage easier and set up crowd pushes. Stand Firm combines well with Guard and can be great for closing running lanes for both offence and defence. Juggernaut is good if you blitz with them a lot and target low armoured Wrestle players. Piling On can be great for getting more injuries, though I prefer to keep them on their feet and Fend could also be an option late on.

Doubles would look towards Dodge, as Ghouls have it as well you don’t need to worry about being targeted specifically by Tackle opponents and it obviously helps with mobility and protection. Side Step is also a useful skill if you are in a Tackle heavy league and don’t want Dodge, though I wouldn’t take it if you already have Stand Firm. +ST should never be turned down, same with +AG. For +MV or +AV I would lean towards +MV as their mobility and speed would be more useful and you have other players who should be taking hits on the LOS and from tying up Big Guys.

Undead Wight Summary:

There can be a case to building your Wights as dedicated killer blitzer builds as well. Though with the lack of players on the team with strength skill access and the fact that a caging style suits them best, I feel they suit the team best if you keep them more flexible and build Guard first. The above build should still provide you with some bite and if you want to go the killer route I would also look to add Frenzy in as a skill option as well. I’ve not included it as with the teams overall lack of Guard it could get you in trouble and it causes positional issues, which I would rather not have to deal with with this player type.