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Pros
  • Feeling
  • Flexible
  • Gears
Cons
  • Passive play
  • Head heavy
Initial Impressions:
As soon as I received the package, I noticed a beautiful box with a white/creamish color and is a pleasure to watch. As I slide the inner compartment, I noticed that the blade is more beautiful than the box. The wings are polished and doesn't require sanding. My blade weighs 91g as I like it heavy.

I couldn't wait to try it out, slapped Dignics 05 on both sides.

During the weekend, I eagerly ran to the club and started to test the blade.

Practice Drills:
Kicked-off the test with slow forehand drives and the first thing that I noticed is, this feels like a wooden blade that is fast like a composite one. As I was playing after a long time (because of lockdown situation), most of my drives went long and I had less consistency. The blade felt head heavy rated at 2 on a scale of 5.

Once I got used to this feeling (approx. 15 minutes) of FH drives, I took a step back from the table and went for a big swing top-spin. It went long and I missed. The feeling I had during the topspin, was similar to acoustic carbon inner. I was not at all happy that I missed and I tried a big swing again with a minor angle adjustment; also went long and missed. I realized that this blade is not meant for big swings and I need a higher skillset to tackle this blade to make a big swing.

I decided to do a compact stroke (same step back from table) and Voila!, it landed on the table with a quality spin almost similar to a big swing, with less speed than I am used to. All compact strokes were of good quality spin and I had a satisfactory practice drill. I had a similar experience with Hinoki blades Darker Speed 90 and 7p2a.7t. Big swings did not work on those as well.

The sweet spot on this blade is huge and I did not have any bad experience when the ball hit on the ends.

The blade has a medium-low throw and I am sure that this blade will not work well with harder sponges without boosters. (p.s. I consider Garaydia T5000 as low throw). I feel that I made a mistake by slapping Dignics05 and should've gone for Tenergy 05 or Tenergy 80. This doesn't mean that Dignics05 is not compatible with this blade, just a personal preference. The blade feels soft on finger as well as palms.

Next thing I wanted to see is how it performs on touch and serves; hence, I started off with a slow backspin serve and it didn't go long (as I had expected). The ball stayed on the table with a quality spin. My practice partner was surprised and mentioned that this blade is unique. Touch shots were nice, short and close to the net. I spent a good time on touch shots on the table and did some flicks.

I spent almost 2 hours practicing with the blade and decided to go for a match and see how it performs.

Match Play
As my opponent saw the performance of the blade during serves, I decided not to spin for the first game and will unlock that during the next game. I decided to go with all no spin/less spin serves within the table and focus on the rally, ball placements get points in a technical way; this worked beautifully and won the first match.
Second match, I decided to go aggressive top-spin and counter top-spin game, with no spin-serves; I lost 2 points as I forgot the key "no big-swings". I managed to continue rallies; ultimately lost the game as most of my top-spins went long despite of short-compact strokes.

Third match, I decided to go with "spin everything" strategy. My opponent was surprised with the spin potential; he couldn't receive my serves as he usually does and was disturbed throughout the game. Heavy spin loops were efficient and he couldn't block it. During this game, I had a beautiful moment I'd like to share. Game score was 7-1 up, it was my serve, I had planned to do a side-top spin serve to get a high ball to attack it and win.
I served and got a high ball on extreme FH side, I attacked it with a high speed, less spin drive and he managed to block it to my BH side. I was out of position to attack it with BH top-spin and decided to chop the ball; the ball landed on the table with great spin near the net and my opponent couldn't return and drops it on the net. I was surprised what wonders this blade could do.

Conclusion

This blade is not meant for beginners, and requires a high skill/technical knowledge to fully utilize its potential. It is a flexible blade with lot of gears. It has a slight vibration to it and I fear that low weight blade (below 85g) may have a hollow feeling. Mine did not have. Passive blocks wont work on this blade, you have to be active all the time to utilize its potential. Hard rubbers are a big big no, if you do not boost it.

This blade is unique and has a similar performance like hinoki all wood blades. Spinners and Loopers, this is one of the holy grail blades for you.
Speed
6.5
Control
7
Hardness
5
Durability
8
Pros
  • Spin
  • Blocks
  • Speed
I just wanted to give this rubber a try as I loved Rasant Grip.

Initial Impressions:
Looping: Tenergy 05 alternative slightly low on speed from mid distance.
Blocks: Less sensitive to incoming spin and can easily make placements on table
Power Loops: Perfect rubber for power loops and backhand openings
Spin: The rubber grabs the ball really well, making it a good weapon for spiny serves.

If you are looking for a controlled spinny rubber to play from close to mid distance, this is the best one available in the market.
If you find MXP - harder and Tenergy 05 difficult to control, but still want that premium grippy feel, this one is for you.
Speed
8
Spin
9.5
Durability
9
Control
7
Pros
  • Feeling
  • Handle
  • Blocks
Cons
  • Headshape
Bought this amazing blade last week and played for approx 50 hours. and the feeling is WOW even after all these sessions.
It is a simple 5-ply blade with the outerply as top notch spruce wood. The blade gives a good power from mid distance looping and close to the table blocks are just amazing. Punch blocks are a con as this blade is not meant for that. I have tried Hurricane 3 Neo Provincial Orange and Hexer Grip rubbers on this blade and extremely happy with the results. This is my 2nd Love after Virtuoso+
Speed
8.5
Control
9.5
Hardness
4
Durability
8
Pros
  • Tons of Feeling
  • Handle Comfort
  • Craftsmanship
Cons
  • BH Punch Blocks
Before I post the review of this amazing blade, here is the list of blades that I have and played with during my EJing time:

Premade Bats:
- GKI KungFu Dx
- GKI Offensive XX
- Donic schildkrot Carbotec 7000

Assembled:

- Stiga Offensive Classic WRB [GKI Hybrid GX(Max) + GKI Hybrid GX(Max)]
- Stiga Allround Evolution [Vega Pro(Max) + Vega Pro(Max)]
- Nittaku Septear [Evolution MXP(1.9-2.0) + Gold Arc 5 42.5(2.0)]
- Xiom Feel ZX1 [Evolution MXP(Max) + Omega V Pro(Max)]
- Stiga Arctic Wood [Rakza X(Max) + Omega V Asia(Max)]
- Nittaku Ma Long 7 [Hurricane 3 Turbo(Max) + (Hurricane 3 Turbo(Max)]
- Yinhe U1 VB [Palio Drunken Dragon(2.2) + Palio Conqueror(2.2)]
- BBCharlie 9-10-9 [Yinhe Sun(Max) + Yinhe Moon Speed(Max)]
- Xiom Feel ZX3 [Omega V Euro(Max) + Hurricane 3 Neo National(Max)]
- Drinkhall Powerspin Carbon [Aurus Prime(Max) + Omega VII pro(Max)]

And finally, my EJing days came to an end with this master piece.

Blade Composition:

Limba + Arylate-Carbon (ALC) + Limba + Ayous + Limba + Arylate-Carbon (ALC) + Limba


First Impressions:


Excellent Craftsmanship and Extremely comfortable handle. Once you get this blade out of the box, the first thing I noticed was the looks. Damn!
I paired them with Evolution MXP on both the sides. During warmup, I was astonished to get this feeling of ball grab + a slight vibration which tells you where did the ball contact blade.

Speed:

I noticed from free point forehand rallies that the speed of this blade is similar to Viscaria. Precision shots were like a piece of cake and easy to execute.

Spin:

Spin is one of the best qualities of this blade. If your game is focused on spin, your search for "my blade" ends here.

Control:

Controlling offensive shots close to the table was very easy; however, away from table, I had to focus on brushing the ball well to generate extreme power.
p.s. this does not mean that the blade is slow.


Counterloop and blocking:
This is the area where I am currently focusing on with this blade and I had to adjust my technique to get the ball on the table.


Which rubbers should you consider pairing with?
The throw angle of this blade is medium and you should pair hard rubbers to make sure you get that precise powerloop near the edge of the table.
MXP
Omega VII Pro
Omega V Pro
Gold Arc 8
Rasanter R 47

Conclusion:
If you are looking a blade which will give you the perfect balance between speed, spin and control without loosing the feeling; stop searching and get this one.
Speed
8.5
Control
9
Hardness
5
Durability
10
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