It’s no secret that I’m an Elf fan… they suit my playstyle exactly as I love to play fast and loose in order to outmanoeuvre my opponents. While I had 3 incredibly enjoyable seasons with my Dark Elves (including a very recent Cup Victory!), they’re not quite my favourites. Nope, instead, it’s the Elven Union! (or Pro Elves…or Elves….)

They may not be as sturdy as the AV8 Elf Teams or have such game-changing players like the Wardancers or Witch Elves, but they just score… and score… and score! Their Catchers are probably the best in the game and their Blitzers are just 6SPP away from the glory that is Blodgestep where they become probably the best ball harassers at early TV. It’s just so fun to flood the backline with 4 Nerves of Steel Catchers and just be like… “What you gonna do?!, while your opponent tries to find ways to stop to inevitable pass and score. They’re not quite as good on defence as their Dark Elf cousins, especially as everyone bar the Blitzers have AV7, but they’re much, much cheaper so losing linemen isn’t going to hurt nearly as much as doing so on the other teams.

They feel very much like an all or nothing team, at least in terms of the Elven ones anyway. The game plan is very much to just keep scoring as much as you can, because your team is going to fall the pieces sooner rather than later. Fortunately, you have the pieces to do so and we’ll talk about those as we head into the Elven Union Starting Rosters!

The Long Bomb, 2 ReRolls, TV1000 Elven Union Starting Rosters:

Elves got more expensive!!!

The old go-to build used to be as above, but with 3 rerolls, giving you a nice well-rounded roster and more than enough rerolls for the odd failed dodge or Rush. But as of the 2020 rules update, Throwers and Blitzers have gone up to 5k each, meaning the old build is 15k too expensive for the new edition.

For this particular build, I’ve kept the roster the same but simply dropped the RR’s down to just 2. It’s not the worst but it does mean on defence you’ll have to play with a little more care and make some smart decisions in terms of positioning and when to dodge. Unlike Wood Elf Linemen, yours are only MV6 so are pretty average when it comes to moving them around and AG2+ isn’t always a guarantee. There’s no Dodge at all on this team so you have a little less leeway now without that extra RR. You have less than half the amount of gold leftover for the third ReRoll, but with the new Winnings rules you should be able to get it back in 2 games assuming you score plenty… which you should be doing as Elf Union anyway! It does mean you have to wait a little longer for the Apothecary and more cautious players may want to grab that first… or just score lots and get them both at the same time.

You are, even for an elf team, all about passing so it’s nice that the Union Thrower didn’t get screwed over with PA3+, instead retaining their 2+ roll, even if he’s 5k more expensive for it. I’ll always take 2 Blitzers for this team as they’re so vital early on, plus the 2 catchers for double the scoring threat.

Safety First, 3 ReRolls, TV1000 Elven Union Starting Rosters:

Elves got more expensive!!!

This is a slight variation to get all 3 ReRolls with the new Elven Union costs by basically dropping a Catcher for a Lineman. This one is really for those who feel they need the extra ReRroll early on as a bit of a safety net. For me, you need to keep the two Blitzers on the team as they’re your only source of AV8 and allow you to control the sidelines a bit better. The single Catcher is going to be a bit of a target so keep him far away from any scary threats, particularly anyone with Mighty Blow. He might hog SPP for a game or two but with the new rules, you could always bank it for a time while you save up cash for the second Catcher.

It wouldn’t be hard to score with the Blitzers or even Linemen either, all of which care going to be catching on a 2+ assuming no tackle zones are ruining your expertly crafted passing plays. It’s not quite as ridiculous as passing to a Catcher but the extra reroll may help you in a pinch.

An Elven Flood, 3 ReRolls, TV1000 Elf Starting Roster:

Do you just want to fill your opponent’s backline with Elves? Do you want to give your opponent too many targets to choose from? Would you like to be Skaven but just …. better! (note: this is the author’s ludicrous opinion, feel free to ignore).

Well then…. pick 4 Catchers and just pop them in the backfield. Against slow teams with a high line, there’s not much they can do as they won’t be able to crowd enough of your players and can only blitz once, meaning you’ll be Catching on a 2+ (thanks to NoS) and score. Even against faster teams, you’ll probably end up scoring easily anyway or at least forcing your opponent to be wildly out of position as they attempt to cover each Catcher. A smart Coach will, of course, make sure you can’t get past his line by setting up correctly, but more often than not it only takes a quick blitz to break through and cause problems. Once you get Dodge on these things they become even more of a pain to deal with unless the enemy coach has some fast moving tackle.

The biggest weakness is no Blitzers, which means no Block on the team until you build up the cash to get one, which you should prioritise!

An Elven Flood, 3 ReRolls, TV1000 Elf Starting Roster:

This build is a slight variation on the above, but you trade out the fourth Catcher for a Blitzer. You still have plenty of Catchers to flood the backline with, but now you have the BlockStep to create space and put pressure on the ball. This wouldn’t be too bad on defence either, as unlike their Woodie cousins, Union Catchers are still S3 so with their high Movement they for decent sweepers early on.

Honestly, that’s what you should be doing with at least one of you catchers anyway, creating a Ball Hawk by giving them Wrestle early on. At MV8 they are stupidly fast and will outpace or keep up with pretty much everyone early on in a League, giving you a really good way to get the ball out of carriers hands after a few level ups. I’d even be tempted to turn one of them into a faux-Witch Elf with Frenzy as the third skill after Dodge and Wrestle… that’ll certainly keep your opponents on their toes!

Elven Union Rosters, Conclusion:

Elven Union will probably always remain my favourite team, at least in terms of the Elves. They may be paper thin but unlike the others, they’re much cheaper to replace and come with offensive threats pretty much unmatched early on. In my mind (and my fellow elf coach Marv may disagree!), they’re better at the passing game than the currently absent (as of writing) High Elves thanks to Nerves of Steel. The Blitzers are fantastic early on and only get better as they level up, creating plenty of space for your Catchers to bleed through while also being perfect at harassing the ball carrier. I love ’em!

Also, the models look great…. probably my personal favourite of the current plastic teams outside of the Halfings. We also got to watch a great Elven Union run in Season 3 by the Celleborns’ Misfits, managing a very promising 5th in Division 2 and a very well earned Semi-Final place in the Cup, all in their first GRUMBBL Season as well!

Anyway I hope you enjoyed this look at the Elven Union Starting Rosters, we’re slowly getting there with our 2020 guides, so check them out, if you haven’t already.