EYBBL Season 6 Final pt. 2 - It lurks in the deep!

Hello again Blood Bowl fans, and welcome to the second installment of our pre-final analysis.

This time, we are looking at last season’s champions, the Naggarond Sea Drakes.

The Dark Elves are going into the match with a lot on the line - this could be the chance for them to become the first team in league history to win two champioships back to back, their coach being the first to take a team to two consecutive finals.

The Sea Drakes went into this season as a strong contender, having been re-drafted from Season 5. We know a lot of pre-season speculation put them on top of the league, but those dreams were dashed by a surprising Snotling blinder, with both teams finishing on 24 points and the Snolings narrowly securing the lead by 1 bonus point!

With a 5-0-1 record themselves, the Sea Drakes matched the Tigers on performance throughout, but it’s always about those pesky bonus points, which secure the tops spots when they matter!

In the two play-off rounds, they’ve been unstoppable and one more win will secure them eternal glory in the history books of the East Yorkshire Blood Bowl League.

Let’s take a look at the roster:

#2 Lineman (Kick)

#3 Lineman (Block)

#5 Lineman (Block)

#4 Blitzer (Dodge, Tackle, Sidestep, Block)

#8 Witch Elf (Block, Tackle, Sidestep, Dodge, Jump Up, Frenzy)

#7 Runner (On the Ball, Dodge, Sure Hands, Dump Off)

#10 Witch Elf (Block, Sidestep, Tackle, Dodge, Jump Up, Frenzy)

#1 Lineman

Sideline Staff:

1x Apohecary and 310,000gp in the bank.

Will the Dark Elves assert complete dominance?

A lot to get into here!

Firstly, at 1,040,000gp the team value is massive - this alone should afford the Tiranoc Tigers a couple of game-levelling inducements.

The Sea Drakes coach could also elect to spend some of the team’s own treasury to bag themselves some shiny new toys, going all out in the most important game of the season. This would come at a cost, however, as it would extend the same courtesy to the Tigers who could then get some toys of their own - high risk, high reward!

Looking at the star-studded roster, we can see some interesting matchups beginning to form up.

A lineman is only as good as the skills they have, and the Sea Drakes are not lacking in that department. Kick always proves great for ball control, allowing the Dark Elves a narrower window of error when delivering a deep kick-off.

Kick deep and get to the ball before your opponent has a chance to pick it up and form a cage - a classic from an Elf playbook. They could also opt for a shallow on-side kick and, if they get lucky scoring a Blitz on the kick-off table, they could deliver an automatic loss of posession to the Tigers in their turn.

With the amount of Block on this team, particularly on the other two linemen, the team is showing serious offensive capability. The Tigers will have to think hard about where to commit their players and which fights to choose - their armour value of 8 would almost gurantee disaster if a block or blitz doesn't go their way. A stunned player can be a problem, but when the KO’s and Casualties start mounting up, the game can tip to one side in the blink of a squig's eye.

The Tigers will also have to think hard about committing their Catchers and Blitzer - Dodge on any elf player makes a safe bet for marking, and guarantees a touchdown 99% of the time, but the Sea Drakes are coming prepared; the Tackle on the highly maneuverable Blitzer and two Witch Elves threatens a lot of opportunity for scoring.

With their speed only being exceeded by the Union Catchers, the Sea Drakes ought to be able to appear anywhere on the pitch when needed (not to mention bringing a healthy number of Dodge players themselves) and with the previously mentioned offensive capabilities, getting through that wall of Block/Tackle might be a challenge without sustaining some serious casualties.

The Sidestep, combined with the Block/Dodge combo also mirrors that of the Catchers and Bltzer from Tiranoc; throw Jump-Up into the mix and you have yourself a cage diving trio that could utilise that Tackle to ensure an early sack to the Tigers’ ball carrier.

The skills are heavily concentrated on those three stars, though, so an agressive aproach from the Tigers resulting in the removal of those three players early, could mean easy sailing for the rest of the game, only time and dice will tell (and we know how reliable those are).

As is often the case with Elf teams, they can field 3 players on the pitch and still score quite comfortably, so it may very well be anyone's game - our minds are cast back here to the thrilling Season 3 final between the Wood Elves of coach Coultas and the Slann of Coach Lilly which ended in a 5-5 scorline at the end of overtime, being narrowly won by the Wood Elves with a penalty kick-off.

We digress, and even though the passing capability seems to have passed the Dark Elves by (pun intended), the Sea Drakes Thrower can still pull his weight here. On the Ball could prove incredibly useful in getting under the kick-off early, saving them from wasting valuable movement and getting the offense going immediately. Sure Hands will also help them scoop the ball up, should that 2+ pick-up inevitably fail. Re-roll 1 into a 1, anyone?

And, while a lot of coaches tend to scoff at Dump-Off, it can be an enormously useful skill in a pinch. Have a Witch Elf or Blitzer hovering in quick pass range, and when that sack is declared, the ball gets snapped back to safety. The Tigers are going to have to make sure all their options are covered to prevent a surprise breakthrough!

This will be one for the books; it's brute strength and staggering agility, age-old rivals clashing heads in a feud that's sure to settle some grudges (and break up some families, we're sure). Which Elf will prove themselves superior and lift the EYBBL Season 6 trophy?

Join us live from the MLG Home Stadium or on the Mighty Lancer Games Twitch channel to witness a Blood Bowl night to remember.

We'll see you on the pitch!