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I know Dakka, we're all sick of those Noob threads. But I'm more of an avid Fantasy player, and never really delved into 40k outside of my little, "Peanut Gallery", if you will.

All I know is that I'd like a fast list. While I know that this is really general, I'd like to point out that I'm not asking for a list to be written for me, I'd just like to know what people's thoughts are on Eldar for tournaments. All I really know is Seer Council and Fire Dragons are pretty much essential. How about Guardian Jetbikes? And Fire Prisms? Is it possible to run Scorpions or Banshees?

Any and all help is appreciated.

I'm no Eldar pro; in fact, I don't own Eldar. A close friend of mine does. From our battles I can tell you the units that have plagued ME the most, but I can't tell you any internet standards. Farseers are very good, especially Eldrad. Let's be real here, a spell check on leadership 10 almost never fails, ever. Eldrad rolls 3d6 for magic and takes away the highest. Guide is a spell that lets one reroll any fail to miss. Fortune is a spell that lets one fail to wound. Together these spells are even more deadly. Fortune lets them reroll failed saves. I've also seen the Avatar dish out some serious pain. Fire Dragons are just plain deadly. Any squad where the the soldiers are all equipped with melta guns and 16 points per model is just wrong. Depending on your style of play, Wraithguard can be used to really good effect provided you keep them in cover, as their guns shred everything imaginable. Troop section and elite section are nothing to write home to mom about. Fire Prisms, especially with focused beams, have a tendency to kill anything cool you might have on the field. They're extremely solid tanks, excellent artillery. Dark Reapers are damn good. Don't listen to any netlist crap. If you play against a mech MEQ player the Tempest Launcher with crack shot will decimate your foe's marines. There will be nothing left. I hate those things *shudders*. Wraithlords are pretty good if used correctly. They are good platforms for heavy weapons, such as Bright Lances and Eldar Missile launchers. Not only that, but they can go toe to toe with any thing non-horde in combat and walk out unharmed. If your opponent focuses on killing that, that's just one more volley of shooting that your FPrisms will live, right?

There are some very good tactical atricle written for Eldar. That said let's get to replying to your post.

Council's are not a must, they are strong but very death-star like.
Guardian jet-bikes are good-ish. They can capture late game objectives with the boost and with the 2 shuriken cannons can load out some good dakka.
Banshees are good, all power weapons, always attack first, but they have to have a transport and if they are ever caught in the open it's game over for them.
Fire Prisms are amazing, but they have to be run in sets of 2 or more. Linked STR10Ap1 beam is very strong.
Fire dragons, all melta squads, at 16pts a piece, widely beleive to be the best unit in the entire codex.

All of the aspect warriors are playable, but if you want to stay on the competitive side, avoid Shining Spears, Swooping Hawks and Dark Reapers(only because Heavy Support has better options).

The most important thing to remember about playing Eldar is that they are specialists. Every unit does ONE thing very well, multi-tasking is not their job. Fire Dragons kill tanks. Banshees kill MEQ. Dire Avengers blast at hordes. Stick to that one simple rule and you should be good.

Welcome to Eldar - girly space elves have big guns and fast cars.

phyrephly has things spot on.

The Farseer+Warlocks on jetbikes are a very powerful unit. But, they're also very expensive. If you take this squad, your entire game focuses on them. If you can keep them alive and avoid getting them bogged down in drawn-out CC fights, you win. If they die or get tarpitted, you loose.

I'm against Jetbikes, but they can work. Don't use all your troop choices on them. Keep them to a single squad in support of DA (or Storm Guardians) in a WS.

Banshees are out, IMO. Eldar don't have an assault vehicle, so getting them into CC is a giant pain. Against newer players, they work really well. But, against experienced players who know how to deal with them, they typically get wiped out in shooting before they ever kill a single model.

Fire Prisms are awesome. Taking 2 of these is my top priority after the Farseer, Fire Dragon squad, and two Dire Avengers.

Fire Dragons are required in any mechdar list (at least as long as we're in 5th edition). Take 1 squad (maybe 2 at 2000pts) in a wave serpent with no upgrades to the WS or squad. 5 Dragons is enough to kill anything, and they won't survive long after that no matter how many you have.

Scorpions aren't viable in mechdar. They're your anti-horde CC squad. But, they have the same problems as Banshees in that they have a very hard time actually getting into CC. Plus, with FNP spam being as prevalent as it is, Banshees outperform Scorpions. (Although, if you want to go with a footdar list, Scorpions work well as outflankers. But, that's an entirely different list.)

You want fast pointy-ears? Go Dark Eldar. They have a shiny new Codex that lets you field the fastest army around!

Howling Banshees are competitive and work for me all the time,i think their a great choice.And you guys forgot that warp spiders and Nightspinners work too,although not THAT great.

Banshees can work but they aren't ideal. If you use them as a counter unit to protect troops you have on objectives they can be ok, but most of the time any troops on an objective are in a Wave Serpent or Falcon, because anything else, annoying, is just flamer bait.

I must admit of all the years I've played Eldar I've not really used Warp Spiders. They seem like an ok unit. Strong weapons, 3+ save, jump packs. I'm just not sure what they are supposed to do? I guess they could deep strike in and surprise someone, or hit the vulnerable armour 10 of a tank (although AP- means -1 to the damage chart. Not so good).

The real problem with the Eldar though is the cost. Everything adds up really quickly, and with some things being nearly completely obtuse to use, most armies fall back on the tried and tested Mechdar. The amount of Str6 shots it can put out is scary, and it gives the troops the vital staying power they need.

They way i use warp spiders is to warp in, Shoot stuff till its dead, and warp out again in the Assault Phase, behind a wall or in cover,it annoys the enemy