Elven Union teams are often thought of as a passing team and it’s the combination of the Thrower & Catcher that has given them that reputation. Despite BB2020 toning down the passing game a little, these elves still want to be looking for that decisive pass to their Catchers and the pair are a constant offensive threat to all teams.

The Elven Union Throwers thankfully escaped the silliness that is giving some of the Throwers PA3+, and for 75k are pretty good in their role as deliverer of balls to the Catchers. They’re not too expensive either and the usual AG2+ for Elves means they’re going to be picking up the ball pretty regularly. As with all Passing players, they’re going to look to their skills to maximise their effectiveness as they only come with Pass as standard.

Tragically (depending on who you ask), Strong Arm has become Throw Team Mate exclusive, meaning they can’t keep piling on the +1 modifiers.

Randomised Skills:

While you’ll be making good use of the Passing column, you’ll be better off picking your skills as opposed to randomising them. Stuff like Dump Off & Hail Mary, while fun, just don’t really find much use overall.

The Typical Passer | Elven Union Thrower Build

Primaries: Sure Hands, Accurate, Cannoneer, Block/Dodge, Nerves of Steel, Safe Throw/Cloud Burster
Characteristics: PA

This Elf is all about throwing the ball and making damn sure it gets to its target. Throwing is a little trickier these days so they’re going to need every modifier available. Unfortunately, Completions only generate 1 SPP each, so you’re going to have to wait a little while until you get the full set of skills. It might be worth grabbing a few Touchdowns with this player early on just to give them a boost, their AG2+ will definitely help them here if you can keep the opponent their backs with the rest of your team. If you do get manage to get some and get lucky with an MVP or 2, trying for PA1+ will help massively as it means you can Long pass on a 2+  when combined with Cannoneer. If you don’t roll it, MV is still useful as it basically gives you an extra square of passing range.

Sure Hands is your usual starting point, giving you an easier time picking up the ball and protection from Strip Ball. From there, Accurate should come before Cannoneer as Short Passes are your bread & butter, your Catchers are more than fast enough to not need Long Passes/Bombs and you should be able to get roughly near the LoS if your Blitzers and Line-elves do their job properly. You’ll still want Cannoneer though, as it makes your Scoring threat range pretty darn big and means they can be further away from the fight, thus safer.

From there, Block gives you some defence against blitzes and gives you a Block player on Defense, but if you find yourself being targeted by Sackers with Wrestle, Dodge might be a better bet. I personally love Nerves of steel, as it means you still Pass from tackle zones, although you do run the risk of interferences if you do so.

With a maximum of 6 advancements, you can’t get both Safe Throw & Cloud Burster, which would be ideal. You could forgo Block/Dodge if you wanted but I feel you’d get better utility from them. Of the two, I’d go with Safe Throw, just as you can probably wait another turn to avoid a chance at an Interference and ideally you should never be giving them away freely anyway. Whereas Elf coaches are fully aware of the ever-present threat of the dreaded double ones, so not only does Safe Throw mean the ball stays in your hands, it actually prevents a turnover too, meaning anyone you haven’t activated can come and protect the ball carrier while you set up another scoring attempt. It’s up to you, by this point in the league you’ll be keenly aware of the types of teams you’re against, so build accordingly.

The Recovery Elf | Elven Union Thrower Build

Primaries: Block, Sure Hands, Nerves of Steel, Accurate, Dodge, Safe Throw/Cloud Burster
Characteristics: PA/AG

This Thrower is going to be a little more in the thick of things and partake in the defensive formation a little more As such, Block is going to be the obvious first choice due to it being so… good. Following that, Sure Hands is great for picking up loose balls your Blitzers knock free, then using Nerves of Steel to pass to a nearby Catcher who can run away with it.

From there it’s just about increasing their overall utility. Dodge will keep them up as well as allowing them to get away after having recovered the ball. Compared to the previous Thrower, you’re not looking for big plays, so Accurate is all you’ll need here. Again with only 6 Advancements available, you’ll need to choose between Safe Throw and Cloud Burster. In contrast, I’d go for Cloud Burster, simply because this Thrower isn’t going to have as much space to operate compared to the previous build, thus you’re going to find yourself having to deal with Interferences more often. A Fumble isn’t going to be too bad either, as you should have surrounding teammates to assist in defending, then re-recovering the ball. afterwards.

Again, PA is super useful, but AG might be a good shout as it means you can recover the ball even with tackle zones around it.

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They do pretty much what they say on the tin really! While not as safe to use as the Legends High Elf Thrower, or as speedy as the Woodie version, the Elven Union Thrower can be built into a great passer of balls. More importantly, they’re coupled with the best Catcher in the game, meaning that when they do pass, which is pretty often, you’re going to be scoring… and scoring… and scoring some more! It’s hard to think of a better offensive pairing really and we’ll talk more about that in the Catcher build!

That’s it for the Elven Union Thrower Build, Head over to the Elven Union Blitzer, Catcher & Linemen builds for more BB2020 player advancement guides!