8th Ed. Last Minute Advice: skink item choice

[Gor-rok]

Our next Mighty Empires league is starting, and I need to iron out the item for my skink priest for a 1000 point game against High Elves tomorrow.

He's level 1, and running solo. I hope to hide him behind my main unit and support with Iceshard spell.

I'm torn between:
Plaque of Tepok + extra handler for my salamander + Ironcurse Charm on my general
Ruby Ring -guaranteed firepower every turn
Rod of Storm -good for one big blast
Blood Statuette -could 1 shot a mage or noble, or could be a total waste
Diadem of Power -go for defense

I'm still on the fence here; any advice?

 

[strewart]

All reasonable choices, I'd probably go for the first. The ring is very tempting, but I leaned away since you said he is defensive, and if he is hiding behind your unit he won't get LoS. It would be handy to use the extra PD you will probably have. Keep in mind though that HE mages get +1 to all dispel rolls, so bound items can be easy for them to dispel, for that reason I would stay away from the blood statuette.