Human Throwers

Human Thrower Overview:

Throwers are quite important players on the Human team and they have two main uses. First up is building one to run with the ball and the other built to throw the ball. Depending on your initial starting roster will dictate somewhat which you should build first. If you start with two then you can start building both Thrower types from game one. If you start with only one (or none and buy one shortly after) then I would recommend going the runner build first.

Their starting skills of Sure Hands and Pass are really useful in regards to the flexibility of the team. Sure hands means that the ball is safe from strip ball and you are also not using rerolls to pick it up in the first place. Not to mention that you are more successful in picking it up. Having Pass again saves the rerolls and increases the chances of passing should you choose to do so. Being able to pass it more reliably than most players means your opponent will have to consider it as an option that you may do it, compared to a ball carrier without Pass. Due to the average agility of Humans though you shouldn’t be looking to pass the ball a great distance, as even with Pass it isn’t really a high success rate.

As Throwers have access to Passing skills it is tempting to load up on them straight away. The two different builds I recommend will go into more detail regarding the skill choices but I wanted to mention Leader. As Human teams have a lot of built in skill rerolls and fairly cheap players and team rerolls, I don’t recommend taking Leader. You can really load up your starting roster if you take less rerolls and go for Leader though, so it can be an option though not one I like personally. The Throwers on my team are more useful on the pitch if they take other skills and if he gets injured I not only lose the Sure Hands and Pass but one of my rerolls as well.

Running Thrower:

• Normal: Block, Accurate/Tackle, Fend
• Doubles: Dodge/Guard, Sure Feet/Side Step
• Stat Increase: Any (+MV over +AV though)

This is the build I feel Human teams should try and get first. Thankfully it shouldn’t be too hard as they will usually be the ones picking the ball up and then you just have to run it in for a touchdown. Do this twice and you get the first skill which should be Block. This keeps him alive longer and really protects the ball well. Block and Sure Hands are the staple skills for a ball carrier as it makes it harder for leaping Wardancers to knock it loose. Having Block also means you can use him in defence as well, he can take hits more and it is handy to have him about to pick up the ball if you knock it loose. Should this happen hopefully there is someone speedy nearby (a Blitzer of Catcher) you can pass it off to, so they can carry it away from the action to the other teams end zone.

After Block you can either go for Accurate which improves your passing ability should the running play go awry and gives you another threat the opposistion need to consider. Alternativley if you want to make him more defensive you can go for Tackle, especially if your team is lacking it and you are in a Dodge heavy leauge.

Doubles, Dodge is a good choice as it lets him move away if he gets marked as well as making him harder to knock over. Alternatively Guard can always be handy for the defensive duty, I would probably give the edge to Dodge though. Going on from that Side Step can be useful on a doubles or Sure Feet, easier go for its either to decrease passing range or to run in for the score. Normal rolls Fend can be a pain and also counters Frenzy.

Be careful not to keep scoring with this guy over and over, getting Block quickly is great but after that I would look to pass/hand off to a team mate to score (preferably a Blitzer). If the situation is touch and go and you don’t have a reroll for the catch, then I would just run it in with the Thrower (if possible).

Passing Thrower:

• Normal: Accurate, Safe Throw, Block
• Doubles: Strong Arm, Dodge/Sure Feet
• Stat Increase: +AG +MV +ST

This is perhaps the more obvious build and one rookie coaches would probably be looking to go for straight away. The skills are all pretty self explanatory and obviously the threat of having a player who can reliably pass the ball a long way can really open up the field. For instance you can decide to sit back really deep after picking the ball up and then hopefully bypass the oncoming opposition and then out run them with your Catchers. A deep passing ability also helps should you only have two turns left to score in a half as well. Obviously this guy is more likely to go down if he gets hit, so you should try and avoid that happening!

Human Thrower Summary:

As you can see there are two quite different ways to build your Throwers and they perform different roles, both of which come in handy for the team. For stat increases +AG on either is great, pick the ball up easier, throw it better and can dodge away from trouble easier as well. A +ST is more useful on the runner style, harder to knock him over and can blitz out of trouble in more spots (though I rarely recommend blocking with the ball carrier if you can avoid it). Should your other Thrower get +ST, then I would change plan and also build him as a running type. You can get away without a deep threat passer and you don’t want to be passing up +ST. Getting +MV is great for both as well, the extra square you can move obviously lets you cover more of the field to go collect loose balls. Makes throwing ranges shorter and lets you outrun more opposition. Due to all those choices I can’t see you ever really taking +AV the movement is more useful.