Reviews by greenbeanmachine

I bought one of these blades as a backup for my Rosewood NCT V. It feels pretty similar, but not exactly the same. With both of these blades I used tacky Chinese rubbers (Hurricane, Skyline, Xuperman). I left a review of Rosewood NCT V here.

I'm somewhat of a connoisseur of 5-ply outer-hardwood blades. I've used both NCT V and XO models for ~6 months now, and I used Ma Lin Extra Offensive for several years. I've also tried Ebenholz, Emerald, Arctic Wood, Nostalgic, Goiabao, and Offensive Classic. All of these blades have a 5-ply composition of:
hardwood - spruce - ayous - spruce - hardwood
where the type of hardwood varies with the blade. The Rosewood blades use rosewood, Ebenholz and Emerald use ebony wood, Ma Lin Extra Offensive uses walnut wood, etc.

Based on my experience, the characteristic of Rosewood that sets it apart from the other 5-ply outer-hardwood blades is that Rosewood has an extremely nonlinear response to force -- when you hit the ball hard you get a sharp cracking sound and a very fast ball, but if you hit the ball softly you can place the ball very short on the table.

Compared to the NCT V, the rosewood in the XO model feels more muted in its effect. XO feels softer and more flexible, and has more of a linear response compared to NCT V. You still get some "pop" when hitting the ball hard, but not as much. This results in better control and lower throw angle, but you have to provide more of the power on your own. In terms of feeling, this feels somewhere between Ma Lin Extra Offensive and Rosewood NCT V.

Looping is more stable with XO, but flicking and slapping is more powerful with NCT V. As such, XO is more suitable for playing loops far from the table. NCT V is more suitable for attacking close to the table.

I think this is supposed to be a rubber for beginners, because the sponge is very soft. For that purpose it's fine... but there are better options.

This rubber is bouncy and fast, but it bottoms out very easily. This means that
(1) you won't be able to create slow balls because the rubber is very reactive even with a soft touch
(2) you won't be able to create fast powerful balls because the rubber bottoms out when you hit with full strength

These characteristics would make the rubber ideal for someone who has chronic shoulder / arm injuries and cannot afford to put very much effort into their strokes. These people will be able to hit a medium-speed ball with very little effort.

This rubber is very elastic and reactive to spin, but not in a way that would teach a beginner to create their own spin. This rubber allows you to return incoming spin with very little effort, but in a very passive way. The rubber is very reactive, so one learns to counteract spin by simply letting the ball hit the racket while aiming the racket in the right direction. Again, I think this may be an advantage for people with chronic injuries who can't make full strokes.

This rubber is terrible at returning slow spinny balls, especially on the serve. It is very bouncy and reactive to spin.

If you accidentally strike the table with this rubber, it will probably break. Forget about peeling glue off of the sponge and regluing it on a different blade -- the sponge will fall apart if you try to do this.

For all of my criticisms, I will say that this rubber does allow the player to "feel" the ball very well due to its soft sponge.

If you aren't a beginner, don't buy this rubber. If you are a beginner, you have better options. Yasaka Mark V or Yasaka Rakza 7 or DHS Hurricane 3 are all better options (and Hurricane 3 is significantly cheaper).

I already reviewed 802-40 soft here, so I won't repeat things unnecessarily. Mostly I will compare this rubber to the 802-40 soft sponge version.

The red rubber and the black rubber have different sponges. The sponges are different colors, and they have a slightly different feeling.

The red rubber's sponge responds very well to boosting with Falco Tempo Long -- increased speed, spin, and feeling -- whereas the black sheet seems to not respond at all. I'll try again with Haifu Seamoon and post an update. I did not boost the soft 35 degree version of this rubber for comparison, because the sponge would probably become too soft.

The 42 degree version of this rubber can create significantly more spin than the 35 or 38 degree version, but control over the spin is very limited. The place where the spin capability really shines is in the serve, and more generally with short sharp strokes. When serving with this rubber you can make almost as much spin as with inverted rubber -- but you have to serve fast and long. The rubber will only create spin if you add power. As far as I can tell, it is not possible to create a slow spinny ball. With the soft sponge, there are more options to play slow spinny balls.

Touching softly will not engage the sponge, and so it will produce a dead ball (or even an antispin effect). This can be good tactically because it confuses your opponent. Essentially, the rules with this rubber are:
1. hit strongly and sharply to create your own spin (inverted rubber effect)
2. hit with medium strength from the forearm and wrist when flat hitting (classic short pips tactic)
3. hit very softly when giving your opponent's spin back to them (long pips / antispin effect)

Because of the hard sponge, this rubber behaves more like pips-out and less like inverted. It's easier to give knuckleballs and dead no-spin balls compared to the soft sponge version. Engaging the sponge creates spin. The soft sponge always engages, whereas the hard sponge only engages with strong hits.

802-40 soft is sensitive to incoming spin, so it is hard to return high-quality loops from the opponent. 802-40 Mystery III is significantly harder, and so is less sensitive to incoming spin. Blocking loops with this rubber is a lot easier than with the soft version, and usually you can just smack them back for a high-quality counterattack.

However, this harder rubber is less controllable than the soft version in general. It is very bouncy, and without the grippiness of inverted rubber, you have to be very careful about the angle at which you are hitting the ball. This rubber has a weakness with slow balls and is more suited to aggressive attacking, compared to the soft version.

This is a very good blade for beginners looking to build their first custom racket, and it's an excellent blade for experimentation with rubbers. If you are still trying to learn what kind of rubbers you like, then this blade will help you figure it out. There is a reason that the TableTennis11 team uses this blade for testing and reviewing rubbers.

Voodoo Classic is also one of the best blades you can find for its price.

I bought five Voodoo Classic blades for my university's ping pong club and put all different kinds of rubbers on them -- tacky, grippy, tensor, non-tensor, short pips, long pips, etc. Voodoo Classic works very well for making "loaner" rackets that new club members can borrow and try out.

With hard tacky Chinese rubbers like Hurricane and Skyline, this blade flexes and provides a long contact time, allowing you to "grab" and "rip through" the ball with lots of spin. Unfortunately, this makes the racket rather slow, so you will have to provide your own power. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and can actually be a good thing for those who are still learning technique. Softer Chinese rubbers like Battle II will give a bit more speed.

With European rubbers this blade provides a lot of power while also allowing good touch with significant amounts of spin.

Short pips and long pips both feel very controlled on this racket. On the whole, this racket is very good for learning because it provides very good feeling and control.

Voodoo Classic follows a classic popular 5-ply wood composition:
Limba-Limba-Ayous-Limba-Limba
Voodoo Classic is the budget version of this type of blade, and unfortunately this means that the production is not so consistent. The performance may be different between different blades -- some may be unexpectedly fast, some may be unexpectedly slow, etc.

There are higher-quality rackets with the same composition, and if you are looking for better quality and consistency you can try Butterfly Primorac (medium speed), Tibhar Stratus Power Wood (fast) or Butterfly Korbel (extra fast).

If you are a beginner who does not know what kind of equipment you want, I would suggest trying one (or more) of the following:
- Neottec Voodoo Classic with Yasaka Mark V on both sides (old-school option)
- Neottec Voodoo Classic with Yasaka Rakza 7 on both sides (generic EuroJap rubber)
- Neottec Voodoo Classic with Friendship Battle II on both sides (generic Chinese rubber)
- Neottec Voodoo Classic with Kokutaku Blutenkirsche on both sides (most budget-friendly option)

Having the same rubber on both sides is a good idea for beginners. After 3-6 months, the rubbers will wear out and you can try a different rubber on both sides.

If you already know that you like hard tacky Chinese rubbers (especially Skyline rubbers) then I think that the best option for you will be Ma Lin Extra Offensive or a similar blade.

I think that this rubber is very good for playing a traditional Chinese penhold style (short pips FH, optional inverted BH). Serving is quite spinny (especially compared to other short pips) but not as spinny as inverted. Chop-blocking is incredible, and allows you to return extremely spinny and confusing balls to the opponent. If you touch the ball lightly, you can create an antispin effect and give your opponent their own spin. If you dig into the sponge, you can create your own spin. Attacking the ball immediately after the bounce is really nice with this rubber. Punching the ball is very accurate and deceptive, especially with penhold.

I usually play with inverted rubber, and have used 802-40 as my first venture into the world of pips. A lot of the reason I like it is because it was easy to learn, coming from inverted rubber.

If you have experience with pips, or if you play with long pips / antispin, then 802-40 will probably feel very similar to inverted rubber.

In addition to 802-40, I've tried Spinfire, TSP Spectol, TSP Super Spinpips, Dawei 388D-1, and Butterfly Feint Long. 802-40 has been my favorite so far.

Spin: 802-40 is quite spinny for short pips. In order to get spin, you need to dig into the soft sponge. Chopping can create much more spin than brushing. Backspin is easy to do, and the soft sponge allows a lot of variation in backspin. A gentle push will create an empty ball, whereas a forceful push will create heavy backspin. If you can make these strokes look the same to your opponent, you can confuse them a lot. Backspin/sidespin serves are very easy to do. Topspin is harder to do than backspin, and you can't create heavy topspin. You need to brush very lightly to maximize contact time.

Disruptive/confusing effects: 802-40 maintains the ability to confuse opponents and play long-pips-style shots while simultaneously being able to create its own spin. For example, Spinfire is grippier and spinnier than 802-40, but loses out on a lot of the disruptive elements of pips because Spinfire is almost like inverted rubber. To me, 802-40 is the perfect balance -- it can play all types of shots. It can create spin or antispin, depending on how you use it. It can also return dead no-spin balls.

Speed: This rubber is not so fast, in terms of pips. The aspect of speed which is useful is the speed with which you can take the ball after the bounce. You can counterattack a topspin ball (and even get some countertopspin) immediately after the bounce, which can be very surprising to your opponent. This aspect of speed is much more useful than the literal speed at which the ball is moving (which is still pretty fast, but there are faster pips available).

Spin sensitivity: When dealing with heavy topspin loops, you have to be very careful. The ball will penetrate the sponge quite easily (because it is soft) and then the spin will be very potent. There are two options: either you must commit to countertopspin and try to smash the ball back, or you must try to touch the ball very softly to avoid digging into the sponge. If you block, you must block actively. Passive blocking will be very sensitive to spin.

Chopping: I would not recommend 802-40 for backhand chopping because it is so sensitive to spin. There are better options.

I tried a sheet of red Vega China on the backhand side of a penhold Neottec Voodoo Classic.

It plays mostly like an unboosted Hurricane 3, with a bit more speed on certain shots. The differences are:

1. You really need to dig into the sponge to get a spinny ball. Brushing is not great for spin.

2. Blocking is faster. Counterlooping is very easy, and you can just hit straight through the ball for a fast smash.

3. Throw angle is slightly higher than DHS rubbers

4. A little bit less dead than unboosted DHS rubbers -- a bit less control in the short game.

Honestly I can't complain too much. Counterlooping is better than H3, but brush-looping is worse. It's a good rubber and I'll use it until it wears out. But I don't see myself buying this instead of a Hurricane 3 or Skyline 2. DHS rubbers are cheaper and better, in my opinion.

I've played with this blade for a few sessions and I'm already liking it a lot. The thing I noticed right away is how controlled this blade is in the short game. I can receive serves and place them close to the net. I can also return powerful loops very softly. 10/10 in this regard, this blade is incredible in the short game.

This blade seems to be designed for the traditional Chinese style -- aggressive close-to-table play, with lots of chop blocks and flicks. It really excels in this style.

Remarkably, I think this blade is actually faster than a lot of carbon blades, especially when flicking and smacking the ball.

My setup for this blade was:
- Xuperman Powerplay-X FH
- DHS Hurricane 3 BH
- cpen style blade
weight: 210 grams

A bit about me: I've played mostly with 1-ply hinoki blades, and usually use the Nittaku Miyabi. I've also played extensively with the Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive (MLEO) blade. I've also played with the Stiga Dynasty Carbon for a few months now. These are my points of reference when assessing the Rosewood NCT V.

Compared to Ma Lin Extra Offensive: The Rosewood feels halfway between the Ma Lin Extra Offensive and the Dynasty Carbon. Rosewood NCT V feels generally pretty similar to the Ma Lin Extra Offensive -- they have a similar ply construction, after all. The Rosewood has more "pop" than the MLEO -- it's a bit faster, has a higher throw angle, and it makes a cracking sound when you hit the ball. With Ma Lin Extra Offensive, you need to be very active in your blocking, but with Rosewood you can be much more passive, and you can take pace off of the ball more easily. With hard drives, the MLEO is much more forgiving if you don't use the correct racket angle. Rosewood is more forgiving than MLEO when looping far away from the table.

Compared to Dynasty Carbon: The Rosewood has a few characteristics of the Dynasty Carbon as well -- it engages heavily in response to topspin, which allows for good counterattacks, and it allows one to play powerful shots when swinging hard. I think the Rosewood lets you flick the ball faster than Dynasty Carbon, but it is slower and less-controlled on loops.

Compared to hinoki: this blade is much more controlled in the short game but much less controlled when looping far from the table. The feeling is completely different from hinoki.

Short game: This is the place where the Rosewood really shines, in my opinion. Rosewood allows for a more passive short game than Ma Lin Extra Offensive -- it lets you touch the ball with a loose wrist and still return a very spinny ball. With MLEO, you need to block actively to play well in the short game, but with Rosewood you can play passive blocks much more easily. With the Rosewood, I found it quite easy to return powerful loops very slowly and close to the net -- something which surprises my opponents.

Driving: When driving with this blade, keeping your wrist and elbow tense will make a very powerful shot -- almost like a carbon blade. I would say the drive is even faster than the Dynasty Carbon. The stiffness of your wrist really plays a big role in how you play with this blade. If your wrist is loose, you can touch the ball very softly. If your wrist is tense you can smack the ball very hard.

Looping: It seems to me like you have to be very careful when looping. You should have a loose wrist, and try to make very tangential brushing contact with the ball. If your wrist is even a little bit tense, you will smack the ball and it will not be so accurate. But if you can manage to stay relaxed, the loops are very nice and spinny. If you are careful, this blade will generate more spin than Dynasty Carbon. But it is less controlled than Dynasty Carbon -- a small error in technique will result in smacking the ball out of bounds. Furthermore, hitting hard will result in a higher throw angle, so you need to compensate for that as well.

Counterspin/counterattack: This is another really nice aspect of the blade. If you attack a spinny ball, you can press it down hard and make a great counterattack. This will activate the outer layers and make a "pop". Compared to other blades, you need to angle the Rosewood down quite a lot when counterattacking. This takes some time to get used to -- I hit a lot of balls off the table when counterattacking.

Flicking: The flicks are really nice, and it pairs well with the short game that this blade lets you play. I think this blade allows you to flick even faster than the Dynasty Carbon. When playing with this blade, I would try to keep the ball as close to the net as possible, and then flick the ball when my opponent made a small error. Playing a short game with flicking kill-shots is a good way to use this blade.

RPB: Rosewood has a very stable backhand, I think. I usually don't have a very accurate penhold backhand, but it felt very safe when playing with the Rosewood.

Penhold vs handshake: I think that this blade is only particularly good for penholders. Usually I get a cpen blade, and I play both penhold and shakehand with it. Usually, I find that the blade feels pretty similar with both grips. For the Rosewood, this was not the case -- when I tried playing handshake style, there was almost no feeling. I suspect that you need to have fingers in the middle of the paddle (like with a penhold grip) to take full advantage of the feeling and touch that this blade has. It seems like most of the feeling does not get transferred to the handle. But maybe this is different if you get a handshake-style version of this blade.

This is the Dignics 09c substitute that you have been looking for! This rubber can actually compete with Hurricane 3! This is a proper hybrid rubber with amazing playing qualities.

I tried this rubber on a Ma Lin Extra Offensive blade with Hurricane 3 on the other side, and I tried using it on both forehand and backhand. I liked it on both sides but it really shines as a backhand rubber -- the backhand flick is amazing.

I realize that technically this is not a hybrid rubber because it doesn't have a tacky topsheet. But it feels like a hybrid rubber because of the hard sponge. I usually play with extremely hard Chinese rubbers, and T05 Hard feels really natural to me. I've tried other hybrid rubbers, and the ones I like most are Rasanter C53 and Hybrid K3.

I've tried T05 and T05FX, and did not like either of them at all. So I think it's funny that I liked T05 Hard so much; it's truly a very different rubber. T05 and T05FX felt very uncontrollable to me -- if you do not hit with the exactly correct racket angle, your ball will not land on the table. T05 and T05FX are very sensitive to incoming spin, and playing the short game is very difficult. But T05 Hard does not have these issues; it suits the Chinese technique very well.

In particular, you can make slow loops with T05 Hard which you cannot do with the other versions of T05. You can do counterspins without having to worry about having exactly the correct angle. You can brush the ball very nicely if you play with a loose wrist. The short game is much more controlled (I think this is because the ball doesn't sink into the sponge as much, so there is less opportunity to be affected by spin). Despite being slower in the short game, this rubber is much more powerful than the other Tenergy rubbers at high speed. If you want to hit hard, you can really put a lot of energy into the ball. With the other T05 rubbers, I felt like I was bottoming out the rubber on medium-hard shots.

I've also tried Dignics 09c, which I did not like because it has a very high throw angle. T05 Hard still has a higher throw angle than Hurricane 3, but it's moderate and more manageable if you are used to Chinese rubbers. T05 Hard feels somewhat similar to Dignics 05, but even better (in my opinion) because it has a harder sponge.

The loop-drives with T05 Hard are very direct. It feels similar to the loop-drives you get with a Chinese rubber. Since T05 Hard is not tacky, you have to engage the rubber more to produce spin, especially at low speeds. At high speeds, I found that you can hit with similar technique to Hurricane 3 -- H3 grabs the ball more with tackiness, but T05H has a higher throw angle to make up for its lesser grip on the ball.

With T05 Hard, I found it easy to loop far from the table, and even from under the table. The backhand loop feels really good, in particular -- you can create a lot of spin with a short stroke. Hurricane 3 requires a longer stroke to create a comparable amount of spin. When using long strokes, H3 will create more spin, but T05 Hard can come close.

Disclaimer: to control the ball well with T05 Hard, you have to use a very loose wrist. This works well if you play with a head-heavy racket, so you can "throw" the racket at the ball instead of holding it tightly in your hand. I imagine this rubber will be harder to play with if your racket is lighter and you need to control it tightly with your wrist. Luckily, T05 Hard is pretty heavy and lends itself well to being "thrown". It pairs well with Hurricane 3 or Skyline 2, or any other heavy Chinese rubber. My setup ended up being ~205 grams.

Tenergy 05 Hard is still only around 39 degrees on the Chinese scale. I would like to see a Tenergy 05 Extra Hard one day, so they could make something comparable to Hurricane 3, 41 degrees. It would also be cool if they made a harder version of Dignics 05. Honestly, Butterfly should just come out with Hard versions of all of their rubbers.

Allow me to start by saying that this is probably a really good rubber... for professionals. But for amateurs I think most of us are not good enough to take advantage of it. I wanted to see what the hype was about, so I bought a sheet of this rubber (for way too much money) and was not so impressed by the outcome. I've tried several other hybrid rubbers which feel better than this one, including: Tenergy 05 Hard, Rasanter C53, and Tibhar Hybrid K3. Even Dignics 05 feels better to me, and I mainly use Chinese rubbers.

I personally cannot get over how high the throw angle is. It makes it very hard to loop the ball from behind/under the table, which is where I hit a lot of shots. I suppose the high throw angle can be nice when flicking an underspin ball close to the table, but let's be realistic -- no one under a 2000 USATT rating does this in a way that would be benefitted by D09c. Fan Zhendong probably gets some benefit, though.

The sponge hardness is nice, and it allows you to play some very fast shots if you put in the effort. But you have to add some spin -- flat hitting is somewhat unpredictable.

Dignics 09c is very sensitive to incoming spin, so you need to be very precise with how you hit the ball.

D09c generates a lot of spin in a very short stroke. Usually (with Chinese rubbers for example) you need a bigger stroke to generate a sufficient amount of spin. But the high-end of spin with D09c is still less than Chinese rubbers. Same with high-end speed.

Unlike other hybrid rubbers (mentioned above), Dignics 09c is very heavy. Some people might like this but I think most will not. If you want a lighter rubber, K3 and Rasanter C53 are better options.

All in all, I cannot find too many faults with this rubber. It's a great rubber and lots of people use it for a reason. Personally I REALLY dislike the throw angle, and I think there are better options out there for less money. So I will give it 3 stars.

Nittaku Miyabi has a lot of nice qualities. This was my main blade for a long time, and currently I am still using it for about half of my playing time. I have this blade in cpen, jpen, and handshake (FL) but mostly I use the cpen.

I started as a jpen player, and I really like the feeling of one-ply hinoki. If you're a jpen player who is interested in playing cpen, I would recommend this blade -- it's a great way to transition. I should warn you though: if you play with rubber on the backhand, the feeling of the wood will be significantly dampened. The one-ply hinoki doesn't feel as good as it does when you're playing jpen, but it still feels better than any other wood blade I've tried.

Over the time I've played with this blade, I've used:
FH: DHS Skyline 2, DHS Hurricane 3, Xuperman Powerplay-X
BH: DHS Skyline 2, DHS Hurricane 3

The combination I like best is Xuperman Powerplay-X FH, Skyline 2 BH.

Looping: Playing loops with this blade feels like spreading warm butter. The feeling on the ball is incredible, and the wood is soft enough to create a "catapult effect" while also having a long dwell time. I really enjoy looping far from the table. Recently I've tried two of Xu Xin's blades, but still the Miyabi is the one that feels best for playing the iconic "Xu Xin Style" loops and counterattacks from far behind the table.

Driving: The drives with 1-ply hinoki are a dream. Not as nice as when playing jpen, but still really nice. If the ball has any topspin on it, you can take it off the bounce and drive it fast to a hard-to-reach corner of the table.

Blocking: Miyabi is really good for drive-blocking and chop-blocking. Drive blocks must be very active; they can be extremely fast and inconvenient for the opponent. Chop blocks are really nice too: with a small motion of the wrist you can create sidespin, underspin, etc. Several players have asked if I have long pips (I don't) because I was able to block their topspin and return an underspin. It's very easy to create weird uncomfortable balls for your opponent with this blade. It works best if you take the ball directly after the bounce.

Counterspin/counterattack: If you have time to set up a full stroke and counterloop, the counterattack is wonderful. The contact time ensures that you have enough time to grab the ball and throw it in the direction that you want. However, if you are trying to counterattack with a drive stroke, this stroke becomes very unstable unless you take the ball directly off the bounce. For this reason, I tend to play far behind the table so that I have time to play counterloops with a full stroke. Playing close to the table with this blade seems very challenging to me.

Flicks: flicking is ok. It's not as good as Ma Lin Extra Offensive, or Stiga Rosewood. Instead of flat-hitting, it is best to add a bit of topspin to your flicks. This will improve stability.

Control: I would say that the Miyabi has exceptionally good control when playing loops far from the table. The blade is quite fast, and it has very good control when playing fast shots. HOWEVER, it is very difficult to touch the ball lightly and place it close to the net. A very interesting combination, indeed.

Short game: This is the part that I have the most trouble with. A better player than me could probably manage to return the ball softly, but I find it very difficult (especially with two rubbers on the bat, which dampens the feeling of the kiso hinoki). Typically my strategy with this blade is to avoid the short game -- I serve long and return long so we can get to the open rally as quickly as possible.

Fishing/lobbing: I have to add a section on this because I enjoy it so much. This blade is amazing for fishing and lobbing far away from the table. I do this quite frequently in matches, and wait for a good opportunity to counterloop -- something that the Miyabi is also very good at.

Size: Unfortunately I am a large person with big hands, so my fingers cover most of the bat when playing with a smaller blade. This blade is substantially bigger than other kiso hinoki cpen blades I have tried (including Darker Speed 90). I would have chosen Darker if they made bigger blades, but the quality of Miyabi is nearly as good as Darker so I am not too disappointed. The size is the primary reason I chose this blade, but it is not too much of a compromise on quality. If you like bigger blades, this is the one to get.

Durability: Don't bang this blade on the table and it will last a long time.

Personally I think Xu Xin has amazing taste in equipment and this blade is no exception. If you like Skyline 2 rubber, Xuperman rubber, or the Stiga Rosewood blade, you will probably enjoy the Dynasty Carbon.

Stiga Dynasty Carbon is not exactly a "carbon" blade. The carbon layer is extremely thin, and for the most part this feels like a wood blade, much like Ma Lin Extra Offensive or Stiga Rosewood. The carbon gets activated when you hit the ball hard.

I have never seriously played with a carbon blade. I've tried a few of them before and never liked them. Dynasty Carbon is making me change my mind about carbon, and I think I will continue to play with it for at least a few months.

The blade that I usually use is a 1-ply hinoki wood. I have also used Ma Lin Extra Offensive for a long time. These blades are my point of comparison when evaluating the Dynasty Carbon.

For this review I use Skyline 2 blue sponge 41deg on the forehand, and Hurricane 3 40deg on the backhand. Both unboosted. I mostly play with the penhold grip (sometimes shakehand grip), and I use the cpen version of this blade.

I've played with this blade for about 6 weeks and I think it has improved my performance (in terms of being able to beat other players in a match). In fact, this blade felt so good the first time that I played a tournament with it the very next day!

Soft touch: I attribute my increased performance to the blade's soft touch in the serve-receive game -- this blade is phenomenal at giving you the ability to return serves accurately, and to place them shallow on the table to give your opponent trouble. It performs better than my 1-ply kiso hinoki blade in the short game. With soft touches, you have to be very deliberate in your stroke -- you have to add some aspect of power and followthrough, or else your shot will not go far enough. If you are making a short push, you need to make a complete slow pushing motion or a quick jab. It is not sufficient to just touch the ball with the racket and back off (like you can do with hinoki or Ma Lin Extra Offensive). If you touch the ball too softly, it will just die immediately on your side of the table. You need to be very careful and precise with your touch.

Smashing & fast loops: Like I said earlier, the carbon comes out when you are hitting the ball hard. I am still adjusting to this feeling but I find it to be better for some shots and worse for others. The throw angle is much higher than I am used to with all-wood blades, so I have to close the racket a bit more. Smashes are much easier to get past the opponent because of the speed of the carbon. At the same time, it is harder to do a brushing loop -- you have to be very precise in order to activate the wood+rubber without activating the carbon. I don't think I am precise enough to use this blade to its full potential.

Counterspin: This is the one part that I don't like. When your opponent gives you a heavy spin, it's very hard to counterloop it without activating the carbon. I feel that even if you touch a spinny ball lightly, the carbon layer will activate and make a sharp cracking sound. If you are not careful about the racket angle, the ball can go very high and fast. When trying to brush-loop for counterspin, it often activates the carbon and goes long. Instead, I am finding that I need to hit through the ball on the counterloop, activating the carbon and thus smashing the ball (rather than brushing it). I think I am not yet skilled/precise enough to use the blade to its full potential.
Edit, after more time playing with this blade: I have found a way to make good use of how spin activates the carbon with my backhand, making for a very fast flicking backhand counterattack. I still need to figure out how to do this on my forehand, which is a much larger, slower stroke than my backhand is.

Blocking: blocking is amazing, allowing you to return the ball short if you need to. But you need to have a soft touch -- if you press too hard on the ball you will activate the carbon.

Flicks: The flicks are also quite nice, as long as you have the technique. The carbon will be activated on a flick and you will hear a sharp cracking sound. I am personally very fond of the backhand flick, and will go for the backhand flick whenever the ball is close to the next. Banana flick works very well, even for a penholder. The forehand flick is nice as well, but not as good as the Ma Lin Extra Offensive. There is not as much feeling on the flicks as there is with Ma Lin Extra Offensive -- you just have to trust that you are making the right shot.

Slicing: I noticed that this blade gives a very stable slice shot. When I play handshake grip (not my usual grip) I can hit a lot of high-quality slices on both forehand and backhand. With the penhold grip I have managed to make some very good backhand slices (both RPB and TPB).

General feeling: This blade doesn't feel as good as hinoki (sad!) but despite a lack of feeling, it still does a great job of grabbing the ball and imparting spin. The contact time on hard shots is less, I think.

Sound: This is not such an important factor, but you will produce a sharp high-pitched cracking sound when you hit the ball hard, almost like you've broken the ball. It's very satisfying, especially when the ball goes on the table. It may also create an intimidation factor for your opponent

Compared to Ma Lin Extra Offensive: Generally the Dynasty Carbon feels similar to the Ma Lin Extra Offensive. The Dynasty Carbon has the same level of soft touch in the short game, and the flicks are similar as well. The main differences I can find are that the Dynasty Carbon gives less vibration feedback, has a much higher top-end speed, and allows a little bit more of a brushing loop when compared to the Ma Lin Extra Offensive.

Compared to 1-ply hinoki: The Dynasty Carbon does not have nearly as much feeling, and it is not nearly as satisfying to play with compared to 1-ply hinoki. Playing with 1-ply hinoki makes it very easy to make brushing loops; with the Dynasty Carbon it is much harder to brush and you have to be more precise. I think the Dynasty Carbon is superior in the short game because it is not so bouncy -- with hinoki is very hard to play a short game because of how soft and bouncy it is. The flicks and smashes with the Dynasty Carbon are much faster than 1-ply hinoki. I find it easier to play the Xu-Xin-style game (big-swing spinny loops far from the table) using a 1-ply hinoki. Playing with the Dynasty Carbon has made me move closer to the table and play more short game with aggressive flicking shots. This is not bad, but it is different. And I think it has also resulted in me becoming a better player.

Overall, this blade is an impressive piece of craftsmanship which allows the player to play a huge variety of shots. You can hit the ball very slow, and you can hit the ball very fast. I have never tried a blade whose range of speeds is as big as this one. However, because of the huge range, it requires a master of precision (like Xu Xin) to be able to play with it properly. Definitely not a blade for beginners.

I would like to make a note that the blade I received was in kind of poor condition when I got it. A lot of the wood was splintering, and the blade was very rough. Apparently STIGA is known for giving blades that aren't properly finished. I managed to sand and lacquer the blade (and I hope it will be ok after that) but I would expect better quality when paying $230 for a blade. Anyone who buys this blade should make sure to sand and lacquer it before using it.

This is a fantastic blade that allows you to play some really amazing shots with ease. It's made specially for Ma Lin's style, and that shows. I am reviewing the penhold version of this blade (the version that Ma Lin used).

Design: Ma Lin Extra Offensive is designed for playing penhold in the traditional Chinese style (close-to-table attacking and blocking). Shakehand players can still imitate this style -- there is a shakehand player at my club who plays extremely well with this blade -- but be aware that this blade was not designed for shakehand players.

Beginner players: Some people say that this blade is too fast for a beginner. I think this might be a little bit true -- it is pretty fast for a wood blade. But I think anyone can learn well with this blade if you put some slow tacky rubbers on it (I'd recommend Skyline 2 or Hurricane 3, unboosted). If you have experience in another racket sport, or you're at a level where you can keep a consistent rally going, this is a great blade to learn and play with.

Flick & Loop-kill: The place where this blade shines is the forehand flick and the forehand loop-kill. These strokes are so easy to play, and they're very effective at the club level because not many people play the traditional penhold style any more. Penholders will have a great time.

When to hit: Taking the ball right off the bounce is really easy with this blade -- even when looping underspin -- and taking such shots can be incredibly satisfying. You can take the ball at any time, but it's most advantageous to try to play the ball right off the bounce.

Backhand punch: The traditional penhold backhand punch is another place where this blade shines. It's very easy to redirect an opponent's smash and block it to an inconvenient location. This is because the blade has an amazing level of control. You can punch the ball really well with the reverse backhand stroke as well.

Feeling: The feeling of this blade is kind of funny. It doesn't feel like other wood blades, and it doesn't feel like carbon. If I had to describe it, it feels almost like it's hollow when you touch the ball. It gives a lot of feedback in terms of vibration, which some people like and others don't. Vibration is good for learning, though, which is why I think this blade can be good for beginners.

Spin: This blade can create spinny loops from brushing the ball, but they tend to be pretty slow. The low speed can give your opponent an opportunity to counterattack, which is not ideal. Brushing loops will produce a slow (but spinny) ball. Brushing shots are not so satisfying to play, and they leave you feeling like you mishit the ball. Beginners who learn to play with this blade will learn a lot of good techniques, but they will not learn how to play a brushing loop because brushing loops do not feel good.

Fast looping: If you want a fast loop, you need to engage the core of the blade and hit very quickly. This means that looping far from the table will have very low control, compared to other blades which let you hit fast loops with a slower stroke.

My style: I am not very agile and I don't have the best reaction time, but I am tall with a big wingspan, so I tend to play far from the table for a lot of my game. Because of this, the Ma Lin Extra Offensive does not suit my style so well. It's a shame, because I like everything else about this blade, and no other blade competes with this one in the close-to-table game. I played with Ma Lin Extra Offensive for a while and ended up switching to Nittaku Miyabi because of the far-from-table game.

Who should use this blade: Players (particularly penholders) who are agile and reactive enough to play close to the table should seriously consider this blade. Beginners who want to play a fast attack-based game should also consider this blade. Anyone who admires Ma Lin and wants to play like him should try this blade.

This is my favorite rubber of all time. Before I found this rubber, I was using Hurricane 3. All of the characteristics of Hurricane 3 that I like, this rubber has even more. If you like Hurricane 3 I highly suggest trying this rubber.

I currently use Skyline 2 on both sides when I play penhold, and I use it on my backhand (my stronger side) when I play handshake grip.

I do not boost this rubber, as I like to play with it unboosted. I am quite strong so it does not bother me to have to put in extra effort to get a fast ball. Make no mistake, when you hit the ball hard with good technique, it goes FAST, even faster than Tenergy. However, if you do not hit with power and correct technique, the ball will go very slow. This can be beneficial for control in the short game. Because of this I am not sure how to rate the speed of this rubber.

One of the main features of this rubber is that you need to use good Chinese technique -- power comes from your legs, and you need to lightly brush the ball (rather than hit through it). In some ways this is a pro, since it reinforces good technique and makes you learn good technique quickly -- when you hit the ball correctly, you will feel it and it feels very good. However, this is also a con, since you need to make a good quality effort with every single hit. You cannot be lazy, even for a single stroke.

The spin on big loops far from the table is unparalleled. The loop-kill (Ma Lin's signature shot) is incredible -- I see why Ma Lin used this rubber. Control in the short game is amazing. Throw angle is very low (even lower than Hurricane 3).

The main thing I like about this rubber is the feeling -- the ball stays on the rubber for a long time, and you can really "pick up" the ball and "throw" it with Skyline 2. In the short game, you can "pick up" the ball and "drop" it where you want.

There is one downside of Skyline 2, which is that you can't flat hit the ball. Every stroke you make must have spin on it, it's the only way to get a consistent shot. If you try to flat hit, the ball will fly away randomly -- I think it is due to the rubber being extremely sticky.

If you do not boost this rubber and make sure to clean it, it will stay sticky and last for many months.

I got my hands on a sheet of Xuperman Powerplay-X and tried it for a 3-hour playing session tonight. I thought it had some really unique qualities, and wanted to share my thoughts about it.

A bit about me:

I'm around 1500 USATT rating and I typically play 1-sided penhold (with occasional RPB, which I am still learning). Xu Xin is one of my favorite players and I really try to imitate his playing style, so when I heard that he developed a new rubber, I had to try it. Like Xu Xin, I am tall, quick, and strong, and my backhand attack is inconsistent, so I typically try to cover most of the table with my forehand. I also like to hit powerful sidespin loops from far behind (and below) the table -- this is my main strategy for winning points in games.

Most of my playing experience is with tacky Chinese rubbers (Hurricane and Skyline series) and a bit with hybrid rubbers (D09c, K3, Rakza Z) so this is generally what I am comparing to Xuperman when I say it is fast or spinny or whatever. My main reference is Skyline 2, which is what I have been using for the past year.

Skyline 2 is a rubber that was developed for Ma Lin, and used by Xu Xin in his professional career. It's slower and spinnier than the popular Hurricane 3 and it excels at
- short game control and blocking
- loop-kill (somewhere between a loop and a smash, one of Ma Lin's signature shots)
- spinny arcing loops when you take the ball from far behind/below the table (Xu Xin's signature shot)

Usually my racket is Nittaku Miyabi (a 1-ply hinoki blade) with DHS Skyline 2, unboosted, on both sides. Today, I put Xuperman rubber on the forehand of my blade, and left Skyline 2 on the backhand. Unfortunately, the Xuperman rubber only comes in black so I only put it on one side. I did not boost the Xuperman rubber.



Physical properties of the rubber:

Xuperman Powerplay-X is slightly tacky -- not nearly as tacky as DHS Hurricane or Skyline rubbers, but it will briefly hold the ball on the paddle upside down. The sponge feels slightly softer than DHS rubbers. The topsheet and sponge are both quite stretchy.


Playing impressions:

The first thing I noticed was the ease of the loop. Even forehand drives will come off with a substantial amount of spin. I can absolutely see why Xu Xin wanted to develop this rubber and why he likes it. The closest thing I can compare this rubber to was a lightly boosted blue-sponge Hurricane 3. It also felt similar to Andro Rasanter C53.


Sidespin: More than anything, I think this rubber helps to add sidespin -- my sidespin was absolutely deadly today. Even though my loops usually include a lot of sidespin, my playing partner missed a lot of my loops today because they drifted too far to the side. Sidespin serves were very spinny and curvy. I'm not sure what kind of material properties create this sidespin capability, but it was really interesting to play with.

Out-of-position hits: The other main thing I liked about this rubber is that it really helps you when you are in a bad position. With Skyline and Hurricane rubbers, you need to hit all of your shots with perfect Chinese technique (power from your legs, light brushing, etc) in order for it to go on the table. With Xuperman, you can still hit pretty-good shots when you are off-balance, stretching for it, or otherwise in a bad position.

Topspin: The topspin was alright, not as good as Skyline 2. I think my loops are usually around 70% topspin and 30% sidespin, but with the Xuperman rubber, the ratio was reversed.

Speed: In terms of speed, the rubber was quite a bit faster than unboosted Skyline 2. It felt like it had a bit of catapult effect, almost like a tensor rubber. Contact time is less than Skyline 2, but still more than most tensor rubbers. Its speed is similar to Rakza Z in my opinion (but with a much lower throw angle).

Fishing: This rubber reminds me of Skyline 2 with its fishing capabilities. The rubber is a lot bouncier, and so the fishing shots end up being higher than they are with Skyline 2. This makes them harder to smash for the opponent.

Counterspin: This rubber really excelled at counterspin. It's not very sensitive to incoming spin, which is very nice.

Backspin: Backspin is my main complaint about this rubber, it was noticeably lacking in comparison to Skyline 2. I probably need to learn how to use the rubber better, but after 3 hours I did not manage to find a good way to create heavy backspin -- something which is usually a big part of my short game. EDIT: after trying some more, I found that you can create backspin by giving a very sharp jab under the ball -- so sharp that your wrist bounces back after. At the same time, you have to be very relaxed in the wrist and arm. Seems difficult to execute consistently.

Blocking: The blocking is faster than Skyline and Hurricane rubbers, so it is taking me some time to adjust. I thought it was a bit less controlled, but not too bad. With Xuperman rubber you need to control the angle and actively block fast onto the table.

Loop-kill & smash: One of the main reasons I like Skyline 2 is because you can make very fast topspin smashes with it. In fact, smashes with Skyline 2 require some element of topspin -- if you smash with Skyline and don't use topspin, your shot will be very unpredictable. Hurricane 2 and Hurricane 3 have this property to an extent as well.

Xuperman Powerplay-X notably does not have this property. Xuperman rubber allows for flat, no-spin smashes, but you cannot get a very good loop-kill with it.

Throw & Trajectory: The throw angle was a bit higher than Skyline 2 but still pretty low. Able to loop underspin easier than Skyline 2.



Conclusion:

I think I will continue to use blue-sponge Skyline 2 until my next tournament, at least. After that, I think I will give Xuperman a serious try and maybe post a better review once I have learned to use it. I may also try to use it on my backhand in the future.

I really enjoyed the sidespin and security in awkward positions, but I don't think that is worth the downsides. It will be a huge disadvantage for me to lose backspin. Additionally, because Xuperman is faster than Skyline 2, it has less control than Skyline 2. I am strong enough to hit hard with Skyline 2 when I need to, so the increase in speed is not very valuable to me, but if you are not so strong you might find benefit from Xuperman Powerplay-X.

I think this is a very good rubber if your playing style is like Xu Xin's. For other playing styles I am not so sure. I may try playing handshake style with it and update my review.