Dark Elves Strategy Guide

Abuse the fact that void monks are unkillable. Spread upgrades around

Don't forget that you have scrolls! Look out for situations where 1 scroll can force multiple respawns, or to take out pesky heavies, or to splash away spies! 
 
Soul bomb 650 hp units to get multiple -1 ap to kill advantages!

Thanks. This is all good.

Looks pretty good, Art! A few things I would add.
 
1. While it's implied in the "Key Health Thresholds," I would outright state that besides the speciality of making "monster" Void Monks/other units that are virtually invincible, another key strength of the Dark Elves is splitting defensive upgrades around to make multiple super units. A unit with a single Soulstone/Magical Helm plus a Soul Harvest boost/Mana Vial will often be just as efficient as a unit with two defensive upgrades. I find this strategy most effective in making less squishy, but still low investment Impalers that can make offensive trades, but it works for other units too. 
 
2. Given the Wraith's Base HP buff, a simple Soulstone, or even a 15+ HP boost from a Soul Harvest/Mana Vial, will save the Wraith from being 3HKO'd from 300 HP Magical damage (ex. Runemetaled Necromancer/Witch/Wizard, unupgraded Pyros/Soldiers, etc.)  
 
3. For the Tribe matchup, I'd mention the power of the Axethrower in being 3HKOing even upgraded units, thanks to its damage buff. Void Monks will just barely survive with even a +5 HP boost, but anything else needs over 1000 HP in order to survive. Because of this, I wouldn't hesitate to trade an Impaler for an Axethrower.
Incidentally, it's a little more situational, but the 1025 HP mark might be worth noting, as any non Void Monk unit with 1026+ HP will survive getting 1HKO'd by a Runemetaled/Meated Axe Thrower.
 
4. I forget who mentioned it on the forum (sorry! >_<) but in addition to Void Monks, upgraded Necromancers are particularly useful in the TF2 matchup, due to their long range attacking/stomping abilities. Also, perhaps more situationally, Wraiths make good Spy killers in my opinion, as they can naturally 3HKO them (Impalers can too, admittedly), but the Wraiths natural 10% Magic resistance + HP boost upon feeding can make it difficult for TF2's magic heavy offense to retaliate. 
Also, you don't have to list all the numbers, but I would mention that the player will need to keep different "Key Health Thresholds" in mind due to the Engineer's 30% attack boost. 

Nice guide!
 
I would amend the tribe stuff - the real pain now are the axes, and I think TR actually has a favorable matchup against DE now. An axe can 3 shot any upgraded squishy, and commonly can take out VMs up to 960 in 3 shots. Squishies have no chance. Kill axes as priority if you want to use VMs at all, and if you can't get the axes, a necro needs to be employed. I would trade a scroll and sworded necro for the last 2 vanilla axes, they are such a game changer. 
 
The health point for TF is 935, which allows 20% magic resist units to take 3 shots from an upgraded 300 damage unit (390 damage). Think helmed imps and necros, and gemmed VMs, plus a soul bomb. Mana vials only take you to 930, which is not quite enough. Spies do a base backstab of 800, so any extra will do, but after upgrades they do 1040, which is unreasonable to obtain for a squishy without becoming a prime jar target. 
 
Against Shaolin, the wraith kind of counters the shadow, in that you can quickly nom the rewly raised units. 
 
Thats all I have for now, will post more later. :)

 
I wanted to comment on this as well... my impression has always been that necromancers are a distinct second tier to Impalers (mostly because of their 300 power, but also because of their disrupting effect on formations) and void monks ('nuff said). Typically when I see necromancers get upgraded, I think "easy pickings for a kill, and all you have to do is not throw easy kills their way". A Witch Doctor with a runemetal on an attack square can be typhooned into, and while an impaler can yank units into harm's way 9 times out of 10 I'd rather just gear up the impaler and just use the necro for the ranged stomp.
 
Thoughts?

There's something to be said about +3 necros, especially in the TR and TF matchups, where 300 is a reasonable amount of damage to deal. A necro being able to kill and phantom solo is also a significant threat - if he can kill, he can always stomp, and at a further range, with a phantom to gum up the works. 

 
I've heard of this, and just haven't played enough games recently (haven't been queueing for random games... too many senseless curbstomps) to try out the necro/impaler-heavy play vs Tribe, and both that matchup and the TF2 make sense for necros. That said, doesn't that have more to do with the deficiencies of the opponent in that matchup (lack of resistances, spiked armor is negated by life leech, etc.) than with the necro being a "strong offensive unit"?
 
At the end of the day, for those matchups, it doesn't really matter whether the necro is innately strong or just strong in those circumstances, but I feel like it sends the wrong message to new players (the intended audience of this guide, right?) to oversell the necro as a strong choice for equipment investment. Situationally strong? Absolutely. Comparable to the Void Monk and impaler for most matchups? I don't think so.

This is still a benefit, though -- it restricts where the (semi-intelligent) opponent can park his units. It may make him super defensive, opening up a crystal kill, or make him clump up, making VMs more effective. Often the threat of something is just as important as the thing itself.

 
What... is that the maxim of some recently discovered Czech?

A sworded imp is as much a liability as an asset. Most of the time, you'll have to accept that your imp is going to bite it after stomping the downed enemy unit, and you have to leave the imp in a closer position than the necro to threaten. (5 tile threat range for necro and 4 for imp, with 1 AP of move, and allowing 1 AP for imp to retreat after stomping. If imp does not retreat after stomping, I think it's safe to say that it's unlikely the imp will survive against a reasonably decent player).
 
I only make sworded imps if I have to churn or if the opponent has a tank on the way (pallies, shadow, high value 20/20 resist units). Against TF and TR in particular, sworded imps are usually overkill, and imps don't have the range advantage over the other side's heavy hitters (pyro, axe). Their expendibility is their threat, if I get a pyro for an imp, it's not too terrible a loss for me. But a sworded imp for a pyro and a soldier, say, I would consider a bad deal.
 
In a TF or TR match (especially TR), I usually aim to sword a necro at some point as part of my gameplan. A helmed sworded necro ususally forces a jar, since you never get close enough for the spy or heavy to go to work.
 
In the CL and DW match I'm more ambivalent. 20/20 units are hard for +3 necros to deal with, and the grenadier and archer directly compete with the necro in the range 3 space, and have the advantage of splash/damage as well. Still, if the DW has committed to gunner play, sworded necros can be useful. Necros are also excellent in the SL matchup, due to phantoms. Having phantoms to block provides the exception to SL being able to kill anything in their territory with combos - those guys are PESKY. Having said that, sworded imps are also very valuable because of the shadow - necros do not kill shadows. Period.

 
I see your point, and using the threat of the base 300 power from the impaler plus her disruptive potential while spreading the swords around to make necros useful (since a vanilla necro is incredibly boring) and void monks godly seems like a reasonable strategic choice. Part of the issue in my mind is that void monks are so much harder to kill than every other unit on the team while having better self-heal and damage potential that I sometimes find myself looking for excuses not to just throw all my equipment on the void monks in the first place, and when I do, it's because I'm worried about a single unit from the opposition becoming near-unkillable (enemy DE with void monks, for instance), and the necro just isn't going to be able to put out the kind of damage I'll need to take it down.
 
It's definitely food for thought though, and something I'll have to try in DE on TF/TR/SL matchups in particular.