4a - 24 Carat (willpower68) vs Wraith Gate Slavers (darkelf)
12-player DE with blodge all over vs 13-player Skaven without even a single Tackle... Well that certainly looks promising.
DE choose to receive, and thanks to the Skaven formation, get an easy hit on the front-most Gutter Runner with their own Tackler, breaking his neck! So apo gets used on fixing that, and it's down to the 9 remaining rats to stop the drive. But then, DE push down a side in a hurry, and try to double-GFI their MB Blitzer in as cover and, well...
Fear and respect the GFI! With the ball-carrier getting easily blitzed in the face, he panics and Dump-Offs, scattering the ball to the ground even though he just got pushed. But even given this golden opportunity, Skaven do
not try to pick the ball up with just one elf tackle-zone on it and rather just crowd around it... Which DE makes use of by just pushing a surrounding rat onto it, bouncing the ball away from them, and show just how easy it is to dodge into a tacklezone, pick up a ball there and dodge back out.
But as everyone sees, Skaven still have a chance to 1d-blitz the Runner with their Stormvermin up there! But instead they choose to just stand in their way, but luckily DE score fast rather than stalling in their superior position.
Skaven drive starts with a High Kick, which they use for a Gutter Runner to catch the ball... only for him to run ahead and hand the ball to their Thrower. Who won't even move that turn! Surely it would've been better to just have the Thrower try to catch the ball right away and then walk into the cage? Or at least keep the ball on the Gutter Runner a moment longer, seeing how the blodge+sidestep Blitzer is within range to just bust into the cage and mark the Thrower?
Now, Skaven do easily open up a path through the middle, and could use the free linerat there to blitz an elf off a Gutter Runner... But instead, they pass
to the linerat, who then runs ahead and hands the ball off to a Gutter Runner (who is still in a tacklezone). Why? Why not just run the Thrower there and make the pass with him then?
And this
still leaves DE with 2 turns to score back. Skaven do get a Perfect Defense on kick-off, but mostly use it to move their players heavily towards one side, so the DE can run a ton of people down the other. But then their gamble becomes evident when DE ignore the Pass Block Gutter in their way and run forward to make the pass, with the ball ending in his intercepting hands! He hands it ahead, and Skaven score on turn 8! I still don't think I like the odds of that as the master plan.
SECOND HALF
Things suddenly look a lot better, with Skaven receiving while being 2-1 in the lead. So what better time for Elves to get... a Blitz! They run all up in that business and catch the ball!
Of course, they're also right next to the Dauntless+Wrestle+Strip Gutter Runner, who springs the ball loose, and this time Skaven retrieve it from in front of an elf with their +AG linerat. Elves bust in and mark him from all sides, and it's once again time to pick from a couple of options!
Skaven could dodge a Gutter in as an assist, then blitz with the ball-carrier himself, since while everyone around him is a blodger, even a push would enable him to dodge into the clear... Or they could do something with chainpushes, even in the worst case enabling the linerat to hand the ball to a Gutter Runner while only marked by a single elf... But Skaven think they see yet another option!
Yes, they blitz an elf so that no tacklezones are cleared at all, and in fact move then to block their own dodging paths! And then try to go for a dodge into 2 tackle zones, injuring the +AG linerat off, dropping the ball in front of elves, who pick it up and score because you cannot give away a goal better than that.
Still, the game is just 2-2, and Skaven should be able to handle this since they are receiving... And once again, they cage up tightly in the middle, so DE can surround them as they please.
But Skaven open up the path with their Horns Wrestle linerat, and then start dodging past the Sidestep Tackle Blitzer... And while elves do get a blitz against the Wrestle ball-carrier with a line-elf, they only get pushes, while not putting any of their
actually threatening players up there (rather using them to hit rats around the LOS). Now that would be a golden opportunity for Skaven to stall for a bit, with no Frenzy or Tackle or Sidestep around, while their own dodgers are all up there! So they do NOT.
And now Elves have 4 turns to score back and turn this thing into a draw. And while Skaven actually KO one lineman and injure another, Elves just go around them and hand the ball to their Wrestle Witch in a tight sidecage on turn 14.
Now, the lowest Blitzer there is the one with Sidestep, so he cannot be used for anything fun. But the rats would only need to get two pushes (against all them blodgers) in order to chainpush the Witch off the pitch...
And instead of that, Skaven swarm around it and go for the hardest option once again, trying to go into 4 tacklezones rather than do it from below and 'only' go into 2. So that fails, Elves push the single Gutter Runner out of their way and score.
With one turn left, Skaven have a prime opportunity to still win with a one-turner. But they don't even try, and settle for the 3-3 draw. And then they don't even foul any elves at the end of the match!