Blood Bowl Season 3: High Elf Team Review and Guide

Hello Sports Fans! Break out the champagne and caviar, because this week’s Blood Bowl content is all about the finest, most aristocratic, and fanciest lads of them all: High Elves!

Before we dive in, we’d like to thank Games Workshop for providing us with a copy of Spike! Magazine 21 for review purposes.

With the advent of the brand new High Elf team, we can finally say goodbye to the venerable Teams of Legend PDF and say hello to an immediate entrant to the top of the heap of Blood Bowl teams. We’ve been having a spirited discussion (argument) at the Goonhammer offices as to which elf team is now the best, and the only thing we can agree on is that it’s not Elven Union! High Elves are very fast, reasonably tough, can move the ball around with ease, and can even threaten to knock out (or worse!) the toughest players in the game.

They’re definitely one of the most well-rounded and forgiving teams right out of the box, so get out your cravats and snifters, Sports Fans. In this article we’ll touch on what the players do, how to build a roster, and some general tips for playing them. You’re not gonna want to miss these dapper daredevils!

High Elf Thrower and Catchers - Painted by ineptmule

Why Play High Elves?

Easy. This team is stacked. High Elves can really do it all, and with AV 9+ on every player they don’t have to worry as much about getting hit as the other elf teams.

Pros

Great Positionals: Dragon Princes and White Lions would be among the best players on any other team, and they’re both on this team.

Awesome Linemen: Ask any Dark Elf player how happy they are with their 65k, AV9+, elf linemen. They’re not superstars, but with great stats and good armor, they’re easily some of the best linemen in the game.
They Can Do It All: This team’s really good! They’ve got speed, armor, great starting skills, the ability to move the ball around, and those excellent elf statlines. Elf-haters out there are in shambles!

Cons

No One to Throw To: The team’s got a thrower with a bevy of good passing skills, but no one on the roster comes with Catch. A little bit of a non-bo there.

Expensive Progression: In league, this team’s value is going to climb quickly, because as soon as your Princes and Lions level, they’ll immediately want Dodge, and that’s a premium skill.

The Jorts on the Linemen Look Stupid: They do! Look, this is a really good team without a whole lot of weaknesses, and I had to come up with something for #3.

The Players

The Teams of Legend High Elf team and this new one are really quite different. The old version was a passing team, through and through. The new one? Not so much. They’re more of a running and punching team, with a hint of passing, like a passing game LaCroix.

This new version of the team drops all 4 catchers and replaces them with 2 White Lions, who are native removal pieces/ballhawks. This might seem like a downgrade, or potentially a sidegrade, but it’s an upgrade, trust me. High Elf Catchers have always been fine, but White Lions are legitimately great, especially with MA7. The team slots in easily to the top tier, so let’s try to understand why.

Each entry has a bolded portion at the top, and here’s how to decipher it:

The 1st part is the name of the player. Example: High Elf Lineman. In brackets, the first value is price. Example: 65k = 565,000 gp.
Then, we have skill access with primary/secondary. Example: GS/AD means General and Strength skills for primary and Agility and Devious skills for secondary.
- Skills are abbreviated: A = Agility, D = Devious, G = General, M = Mutation, P = Passing, S = Strength
Next is the number you can take on your team. Example: 0-16 means you can take between 0 and 16 of this type of player.
Finally, we have the faction and position of the player. Example: High Elf linemen have the faction keyword Elf, and the position keyword Lineman.

High Elf Lineman [65k, AG/S, 0-16, Elf, Lineman]: With AV9+ and now only costing a mere 65k, what’s not to love about the High Elf Line-o? They also have PA3+, so they can move the ball in a pinch. The only thing they're not really good at is fouling, but hey, I know someone somewhere would argue that. This is the internet, after all. Top tier Lineman.

White ~~Monster~~ Lion [110k, AG/PS, 0-2, Elf, Blitzer]: MA7, Wrestle, and Claws. Claws! On an elf! These guys immediately jump into the A Tier of the Blood Bowl Player tier list, and maybe even make the cut into S. Wrestle is such a good starting skill. And having a player who can threaten AV10+ out of the box is just so dang good. The only thing they’re not great at is carrying the ball, as Wrestle is a disadvantage there, but that’s ok! They’ll find a way to gain SPP, don’t worry about it.

Phoenix Warrior [90k, AGP/S, 0-2, Elf, Thrower]: The best thrower in the game, but you do pay a premium for all those nice passing skills. Too bad he’s got no one to throw to. He’s still really good at what he does, and moving the ball quickly is necessary for elf success, so while he’s a little pricey and maybe not the best fit for this team, the Phoenix Warrior still plays an important role.

Dragon Prince [110k, AG/S, 0-2, Elf, Blitzer, Runner]: The High Elf Blitzer is back, but all growed up! Now with MA8, Steady Footing, and My Ball. Movement 8 makes this player incredibly mobile, and a legit 1-turn-TD threat. A lot of people are in love with Steady Footing, but I’m not sold on it just yet. Either way, it’s very nice to have from the jump. Finally, My Ball is a soft negatrait that makes it so the haughty Dragon Prince can never attempt a hand-off or pass, but that can be easily sidestepped by only giving the ball to a Dragon Prince when they can score that turn. That’s why it’s a “soft” negatrait. Great player, having 2 is absolutely an auto-include in every High Elf roster.

High Elf Linemen - Painted by ineptmule

Starting League Rosters

You’ve got two choices here: Phoenix Warrior or no Phoenix Warrior? The first roster I’ll highlight here is the “out-of-the-box” build, which can be built using only one box of High Elves, but will necessitate rostering Phoenix Warriors at team creation. Here it is:

2 Dragon Princes
1 White Lion
2 Phoenix Warriors
6 Linemen
2 Rerolls
Total: 1,000,000 gp

Personally, I think the next roster is the optimized choice, but this is a great team! The 2 Throwers can cover the whole backfield on kickoff, you’ve got all the positions covered, and you don’t need more than one box of elves to play it (or single players off of ebay if you’re me). It’s perfect for new or thrifty players.

Next, let’s take a look at what I would consider to be a better starting roster with no Phoenix Warriors, but more than 6 linemen:

2 Dragon Princes
2 White Lions
7 Linemen
2 Rerolls
+1 Dedicated Fan
Total: 1,000,000 gp

I’m more interested in developing Princes and Lions over Throwers, as this roster should make obvious. A Phoenix Warrior would make a great 12th player to add to the team, but I think I’d rather start without one. Unfortunately, this does mean you’re on the hook for at least one extra Lineman model, but you were probably gonna buy 2 boxes anyways, am I right? Gotta have 16 players or the team’s not done! I’d probably leave it to the linemen to actually pick up the ball and move it around, only handing it off to the Blitzers when it’s time to score.

League Progression

This team is thirsty for Dodge, so be prepared to see that TV jump up quickly! Also, since they’re an AV9+ team, you probably don’t want more than 12 players on your roster at any point. Or else you’ll be giving up a whole lot of inducement cash.

High Elf Linemen: Kick! Your team is fast and agile, so you can easily capitalize on early drive turnovers and Charge! results on the kickoff table if the ball and your team are in the right position. So why not help yourself with that and give the 1st Line-o to level Kick and start every defensive drive as annoyingly as possible. After that, I would probably not level any other linemen to keep TV manageable until one gets 6 SPP, and then I’d go Tackle, Wrestle, or maybe even Defensive depending on your local meta.

White Lion: Obviously, Dodge is going to be the best first skill-up here. The “wrodger” combo is extremely strong for ballhawking, and the increased mobility of Dodge is huge for a player who wants to be everywhere. After that, though, the choices get really interesting. I love Jump Up on this player as it will keep them mobile and dangerous even on their backs. I think Dauntless has huge potential here, as it combos well with Claw. A lot of those heavy hitters are AV10+, and getting a cheeky armor break on them can be a game changer for the drive. Also, ballhawking classics like Tackle and Strip Ball have a happy home here, as knocking players down is what this guy wants to do.

Phoenix Warrior: Leader is your obvious first choice here, as it’s the cheapest and sometimes easiest way to get that crucial third reroll. After that, I think I’d be done with passing skills, as this dude already has a ton. Block and Dodge are great, but expensive, choices after you’ve levelled up your Leader.
Dragon Prince: To no one's surprise, Dodge is your obvious 1st skill-up for these guys. But after that, the world is your oyster! Want a catcher? Why not pick up Catch and then Nerves of Steel? Don’t have any tacklers yet? Get Tackle! Want more mobility? Hit & Run or Sprint are incredible on this guy! Here’s an idea: save up for Guard! A MA8 guy with Guard is nuts! Go crazy!

High Elf Blitzers - Painted by ineptmule

Tournament Rosters

Your absolute essentials for a High Elf tournament are going to be all 6 of your positionals. Two throwers to cover the field when receiving the kick, lions to remove, and princes to score. After that, get 2 rerolls and fill out the rest of the roster with linemen. Awkwardly, 12 players and 2 rerolls don’t fit at 1.1 million gp, but a roster with 11 players, 2 rerolls, and an apothecary does!

High Elves are an easy tier 1 team, so you won’t have a ton of skills to pass out, so you’ve got to be judicious. One Phoenix Warrior should get Leader, both Dragon Princes want Dodge, and for White Lions, I’d have one with Tackle and one with Dauntless. And if you have anything left over, give a lineman Kick!

Later this month, I’m headed to Adepticon to play in the Stupor Bowl. We’ll be given 1.1 million gp to build a team, and the event has flat tiers, meaning everyone gets 7 skill points to spend. This is what I’d bring were I bringing High Elves:

1 Phoenix Warrior w/ Leader
1 Phoenix Warrior w/ Block
2 Dragon Princes w/ Dodge
1 White Lion w/ Tackle
1 White Lion w/ Dauntless
1 Lineman w/ Kick
4 Linemen
2 Rerolls
Apothecary
Total: 1,095,000

General Tactics

As an elf team, you’ll want to play elfball. The principles of elfball on defense are simple:

Don’t get hit! After all your important moves and blocks are made, try to clear off all of your players by dodging away.
Column Defense! If you’ve never heard of that, check out this article I wrote a while ago that is still, somehow, relevant!
Have a cherry picker! If you have a thrower, keep someone in scoring distance in the opponent’s backfield. It should probably be a Blodging Dragon Prince who’s back there to get the opponent to waste time blitzing backwards. If he’s in range to score if the ball pops out, then you can convert an easy defensive TD.

On offense, elfball is best played by letting the opponent overcommit. Start the drive on one side of the pitch, but not all the way over. Let your opponent commit too many players to blocks on that side of the pitch, and then swing back to the other side and outrun them to the end zone. It takes patience, but it’s an easy way to get points on the board.

Final Thoughts

What a team! I mean, really. GW took what had been a boring but effective elf team and turned it into what many people are calling the best elf team yet. Personally, I think Dark Elves and Wood Elves have a higher skill ceiling, but the High Elf team is really, really good. And unlike the other elf teams, I think this team is perfect for a new coach. They’ve got the speed, skills, and armor to compete with anyone, and are going to make quite a splash. Thanks for reading!

That’s it for now, Sports Fans! Join us later in the week for the High Elf box review, and keep it right here for future tournament, team, and FAQ coverage. Happy blocking!

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