Blood Bowl Season 3: Wood Elf Team Guide

The reclusive Elves of Athel Loren might generally enjoy sitting in their trees and contemplating the beauty of nature, but there are a fair few who have the urge to show the world that they are absolutely amazing natural athletes. On the Blood Bowl field, Wood Elf teams have long been some of the finest in the game, and after some changes in Blood Bowl's Third Season, we're going to give you the complete guide to getting the best from their updated roster.

Pros

One of the fastest and most agile teams in the game
Wardancers are stars straight out of the box
Need very few skills to be effective

Cons

Fragile and expensive players
Unique playstyle that can be tough to master
Double 1s ruin everything

The Roster

Wood Elf Linemen

Wood Elf Lineman by King_Ghidra

One of the least humble linemen in the game, even the most average Wood Elf is a potential star on the field. With MA7 and AG2+ they can cover huge ground and skip round defenses with ease. The flip side is at AV8+ they can be removed just as easily. But with Third Season bringing a price drop to 65k, team building got easier and more forgiving for Wood Elves than ever.

Your linemen will be at the core of your play; forming your screens, dodging away from opponents to reduce the number of blocks you take, but also still doing the old-fashioned lineman job of standing on the LOS, or marking something really important and scary to give you a positional advantage.

Typically, Wood Elf linos have been built around the skills of Dodge, Block and/or Wrestle. With the changes to Elite skills in Third Season, Blodge has become an expensive combo, but it still does tremendous work. Kick is another popular pick for one lineman on the team, and many coaches will tell you it is a game-winner.

Thrower

Wood Elf Thrower by King_Ghidra

Throwers mainly had to live with the niche of being Leader caddies in Second Season, or slinging the odd ball as part of one- or two-turn touchdown efforts, but they are more attractive in Third Season after a price cut and the addition of a niche but good skill, Safe Pair Of Hands. Ultimately they probably make your roster based on how the money adds up, and how much you favour passing over hand-offs, which are often trivial for Wood Elves given their huge MA and AG.

As before, Primary access to Leader is one of the more attractive things about Throwers. Otherwise, Dodge and Block are, as always, strong upgrade options.

Catcher

Wood Elf Catcher by King_Ghidra

Like many other teams in the game, Wood Elves saw one a 0-4 positional reduced to 0-2 in Third Season. In this case it was the Catcher, long one of the most versatile pieces of the team and certainly not just a touchdown-scorer. The two that remain saw a nice buff, getting the much-missed Sprint skill back, and having their PA improved. The Sprint change puts easy One-Turning back on the menu for Wood Elves, so the Catcher will remain one of the most critical parts of the team.

Arguably the most important thing to note about Catchers is that they are ST2, which makes them extra-vulnerable and means they have to be used very carefully. Dodge helps with this, but using them as the backline of your screen, and not hanging them out in the open, will be smart plays.

Block and/or Sidestep are great starting skills for Catchers, the former to keep them alive, the latter to assist with one-turns and general annoyance. Catchers can be built for more versatile duties, even as ball-hawks, but with the Wardancers on the team it’s probably not necessary. Guard is an interesting option though, that can help the team in many ways. Stat ups, particularly MA or AG, are also worth saving for.

Wardancer

Wood Elf Wardancer by King_Ghidra

One of the most powerful and feared players in the entire game, Wardancers are by far the most important part of the whole team. Huge movement range, great agility, blodge out of the box, and a Leap option to boot, means these players are capable of pulling off heroic plays on both sides of the ball, and often don’t break a sweat doing it.

Developing your dancers generally means building them to attack ball carriers. Strip Ball and Tackle are the primary choices in this respect, and having one dancer with each is ideal. For the tackler, Mighty Blow is a nice follow-up skill that lets them become a true hitter. Sidestep is a generally strong skill for dancers that has good synergy with Blodge and can help in multiple ways, from preventing surfs, to scoring one-turn TD’s. Third Season has now brought Hit And Run to the Wardancer table, and it looks very attractive as skill that naturally complements their blitzing and movement style. There are a number of other possible options for dancers, including spicy picks like Frenzy, but that is one for the advanced players. Stat ups (MA, ST, and AG) are also amazing options.

Loren Forest Treeman

Treemen by King_Ghidra

The only elf team to get a Big Guy, the Treeman is pretty much the opposite of a Wood Elf in every way. Incredibly slow, strong, and tough, it provides a completely unique option to the team. Many coaches are torn by the benefits of the Treeman, because fielding one player who explicitly can’t play the team’s natural style can feel like shooting yourself in the foot; and few things are as frustrating as when it Takes Root early in a drive. But the upside -- having an anchor piece that can not only take hits and lock up opponents, but can also dish a little hurt out itself -- is arguably well worth it. Trees have traditionally been acquired down the line of team development, not least because of their price, but with changes to linemen costs, starting with one is not an unreasonable option.

Skill-wise, Block (a secondary), and Guard are perennial favourites. Grab is very useful for keeping opponents close, and can also be used to facilitate one-turn touchdown attempts.

Stars

Deeproot Strongbranch by @blackarkminiatures on Instagram

As one of the more expensive teams in the game, Wood Elves don’t generally see a lot of star action, but thanks to access to the Woodland League they actually have a fair few cheaper options.

The premium picks from the Elven Kingdoms league include the likes of Jeremiah Kool, Roxanna Darknail, Jordell Freshbreeze and Eldril Sidewinder, who are all extremely strong and fit naturally into the Wood Elf gameplan.

The good Woodland stars include both the big trees, Deeproot and Maple, which can replace or complement your own tree option, while Rowana Forestfoot is an interesting take that can potentially get a Guard assist into opponent cages to aid your attacks on the ball.

Tactics And Playstyle

Coral Cove Crawdads Wood Elf team by @churlishminis on Insta

Wood Elves are probably the elfiest elf team in the game, favouring an approach that shuns physical contact and focuses on using their agility and movement to outmaneuver opponents and threaten breakaway plays on both attack and defense. We’ve covered some of the core tactical elements of Wood Elf play previously in our agility teams guide, and mastering screening and the basics of attacking cages is absolutely essential to play this team well.

Wood Elves have further unique opportunities and approaches to the game because of the Wardancers. It’s hard to overestimate how important they are to the success of the team, so using them effectively is the next most important thing to master. Despite Blodge, Wardancers are still fragile, and opponents will not hesitate to gang foul them in the event they do end up on the floor, so protecting them and not just blindly throwing them into harm’s way is one of the first things to note. In the same vein, on defense, dancers are often at their best sitting in the back lines of your screens, whilst staying in range of the opponent’s lines and, ideally, the ball. Having this constant threat hanging over your opponent will force them to play carefully and commit players to protect their ball properly at all times. Offensively, they do make great ball carriers, but they are also likely to be your primary blitzers until you acquire more skills on other players, so it can be better to carry on another piece so that the Wardancers can clear the way.

Ultimately, be it on offense or defense, a Wood Elf drive will often see them playing a cagey keep-away style until a critical moment is reached, when they either go all in and make a dive up the pitch, or a dive for the ball. As a coach, recognising that moment is one of the main skills you want to develop. The state of the turn counter, the damage you have received, your position on the field, and the rerolls you have remaining are all factors to consider to work out when it is time to act.

Starting team Builds

Converted Wood Elf team by DrAlps

League Play

Starting 1m GC builds got much better for Wood Elves in Third Season, and multiple options are now available without having to make dire sacrifices. Whichever route you go, always take both Wardancers.

2 x Wardancers
1 x Catcher
1 x Thrower
7 x Wood Elf Linemen
2 x Team Rerolls

This is a good generic build that covers all bases. You can swap the Thrower for a second Catcher if you prefer.

League Development

The ultimate goal for woodies will be to have both Wardancers, both Catchers, one Thrower, the Treeman, 12-13 players total, at least 3 Team Rerolls, and the Apothecary.

I would consider the third reroll and the apo to be the most important purchases, as your base team is capable of winning games just fine, so keeping it healthy and giving yourself more of a safety net are more important than adding players.

Tournament Play

2 x Wardancers
1 x Treeman
2 x Catcher
6 x Wood Elf Linemen
2 x Team Rerolls
1 x Apothecary

This is a barebones 1.1m GC build that has little comfort factor but gives you a lot of fantastic players. As with the league build, you can swap a Catcher for a Thrower, which you might want to do here just to take Leader. The apo is crucial for keeping the dancers or catchers around in case you suffer an early KO or Badly Hurt. At higher gold values you can add the third reroll, or upgrade a Lineman to a Thrower, or even look at high-impact low-cost inducements.

Tournament Skills

The priority is Strip Ball and Tackle (or whatever other flavour of skill you prefer) on your Wardancers. If you only have two rostered rerolls, Leader on a Thrower is a good next option. If the rules pack allows a Secondary, then Block on the Treeman is a great use of it; otherwise, Guard or Grab. Block and/or Sidestep catchers are another great investment. Having at least one Block or Wrestle Linemen can really help take the blitzing pressure off your dancers, while more Dodge is never a bad choice, and Kick can also be a strong option.

Tier

GW have placed Wood Elves in Tier 1, which feels appropriate. They need very few skills to play their game; and as one of the traditionally strongest teams, who have received some beneficial changes, we should expect them to be among the very best teams in the meta as Third Season shakes out.

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Tags: Blood Bowl | blood bowl season 3