High Elf Catcher Overview:
High Elf Catchers are the fastest ST3 players in the game and when you couple that with having AG4, they can develop into phenomenal players. The high speed and agility combine to make them very manoeuvrable. What is also useful is that they are then also strong enough to hit opposing players, or make it harder for opposing players to hit them, at least without help.
As usual they have some drawbacks and in their case it is their low armour and relatively high cost. They also only start with the Catch skill, so don’t start with any protection or help with moving that would be provided by Dodge like their weaker counterparts start with.
Their low armour and lack of protection giving skills tends to mean that you want to skill them up quickly. Fortunately they are very easy players to skill up with their characteristics, though they may end up hogging the SPP on the team.
When developing them initially you can give them skills which are rather general and helpful for pretty much any role you choose for them. There are a few different directions that you can take them in and whichever way you look to specialise them they can be very good at that job. I think the only kind of role they can’t really fulfil would be one that dishes out damage as like all over Elves they have no access to strength skills.
Fast Scoring High Elf Catcher:
- Normal: Block / Dodge, Side Step / Fend, Sure Feet, Sprint / Diving Catch / Leap
- Doubles: Guard / Nerves of Steel
- Stat Increase: +ST +AG +MV
This is probably the most obvious route that newcomers to the game will look to develop their Catchers, after all they are called Catchers! Personally I don’t think this is a build that you should be building with any of them. They can end up really hogging the SPP and lack some of the skills that would be useful to have on defence, whilst the skills you give them to help them score, quite often they won’t really need.
The first couple of skills should be Block and Dodge, to keep them on their feet, I would go Dodge first unless facing a lot of Tackle players, or facing teams that are already developed. Side Step would help prevent chain blocks and make them harder to mark. It will also make performing one turn touchdowns via pushbacks much easier. Fend will help with protection and avoid some dodges. Sure Feet and then Sprint will increase their reliable movement and Leap will let them get out of tight spots. Diving Catch now will basically work for high agility players to ignore the first tackle zone they are in when trying to catch the ball. It can also help should a pass go wayward though I wouldn’t expect that much from a High Elf team.
For doubles Guard will mean you can assist a team mate who is tying to blitz you free, or Nerves of Steel will let you still catch the ball whilst in traffic. It will combine really well with Leap to make them a very hard receiver to stop scoring. A strength increase will make it harder for the opposing team to hit them. An agility increase will let you dodge through tackle zones easier as well as catching, it will also make Leap more desirable. Between armour or movement the latter would let you score from further out and help for one turn touchdowns.
Good that someone points out that these guys don’t need skills to make scoring easier!
On doubles though i would give at least one MightyBlow.
The reason is, that guards usually take a lot of blocks, because there skill shines most when they have contact to as much oppos as possible. This is nothing I want for my players with the lowest AV.
And if he is the sacker type of player, he does a lot of blocking + ballcarriers usally have lower AV then the rest of team.
Coach, have read through both your articles on HE Catchers & HE Blitzers n found them v helpful. I did want to get your thoughts on the merits of jump up on both these players tho. It keeps your key players in the game for more of the time and means you dont need to send as many players up the pitch to receive a pass as a receiver with jump up is always a threat even if knocked down.
Obviously you dont plan for your HE players to get knocked down but this seems to be somewhat inevitable against strength teams and so this would be a good way of countering it. Would appreciate your thoughts….
While Jump Up is nice to have there is pretty much usually always an overall more useful skill to take.
Your players are fast and agile, you will usually get them Dodge as a priority so getting out of position isn’t really a concern to need those extra three squares of movement.
With regards to a receiving threat as well, you want to ideally throw the ball to someone who is already standing who can then take an action afterwards. If you want to do it to a prone player with Jump Up, they have to stand up and then move into the end zone. Then you have to try and pass to them, you would have moved them further away which makes the pass harder and may increase a chance at being intercepted. The greater issue though is that if the pass fails, you now have one of your more expensive players stood next to the edge of the pitch. If the opposing coach can possibly blitz them into the crowd you can be sure they are likely to attempt it.
Being able to block from prone may also be helpful, though it isn’t something that you really get a lot of use from. I prefer to take skills that will come into play far more often in a match. By all means take it to try it out though, just the way I play I’ve found its uses very marginal.
I was building a sacking Catcher, planning on Wrestle, then Tackle, then Strip Ball. First level got Wretsle, second level got +AG. Now what?!?! He’d make a great scorer now but Wrestle means he’s one of the last people I want holding the ball. I’m thinking Dodge next to keep him alive but then what, keep him as a sacker and go for Tackle then maybe Leap to get into any ball carrier or try to turn him into a scorer with Block to negate my own Wrestle (sounds a bit of a waste of a skill!).
Any advice would be gratefully received!
I’d keep him in the same role you were building for originally. The extra agility means he can dodge through a tackle zone now as easily as an empty square. You can also now consider Leap as a more reliable option which opens up getting to the ball carrier to sack them much easier.
It also helps out on offence as a scoring threat as you can catch in a single tackle zone on a +2 now as well and they start with Catch already. I would probably go Dodge next unless you are sure to face a lot of Tackle heavy teams. The extra protection is useful but combined with that extra agility will make him incredibly mobile. Add Tackle / Strip Ball / Leap in an order of preference based on the types of ball carriers you see the most.
In agile or otherwise not that bashy teams I tend to prefer builds which allow players to do perform a variety of roles. High Elves are a good team for this with their armour and agility.
For catchers I am tempted to make them interceptors, as I don’t feel they need sprint or sure feet and I have linemen who can take wrestle. Something like: Block/Dodge/Nerves of Steel. May go for Tackle/Shadowing/Strip Ball after. That’s probably the best route. Moreso than, say, Diving Catch/Pass Block/Sidestep or Sure Feet. Although Pass Block could come in handy if the pass goes a different place than suspected.