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My main blade and one of the best values in table tennis equipment. I paid $35 with a discount and I like it more than any of the $150+ blades that I own. Limba/Limba/Ayous construction. My blade is 87g and 6.2mm thickness. The head size is slightly bigger than standard for those of you that switch cut rubbers between different blades. Head heavy which I like for increased spin in serves, flicks, and loops.

Similar to the Xiom Offensive S and Butterfly Petr Korbel but a little stiffer and faster. Great balance, great control, good speed for a 5 Ply wood blade. I’d place the speed at the higher end of Off- or the lower end of Off. It's stiff enough for good directional control with enough flex for effective looping. Good feeling, do everything well, wood blade.

You really can’t go wrong with this blade. I chuckle when I see people describe this as a beginners blade. While beginners could use this blade with control rubbers, this blade has ample speed and performance for 95% of amateur players when paired with an attacking rubber. And 95% of amateur players would play better with this vs their faster, less feeling composite blade. Great blade for a fair price. Highly recommended.

Hey i have buyed the donic bluefire m1 for 6 Months. I have test it out. The Rubber is very Good but if you a amateur then DONT buy this. Because if you Played , you have Good Topspin and spin but you dont have Control. You cant Control any Balls its too hard to do it. I have play this Rubber 3 Months and it was Broken.
(I have played 12 hours per Week).The upper rubber is extremely grippy and very tight. But when it comes to topspin against block, he goes forward powerfully.
Reminds me strongly of the tenergy 05. The rubber is very light on the racket. Sorry for my bad English. (my blade was Dhs 6002)

I've played with both blades with several versions of both blades (straight, concave, small, medium) for over a year and have gotten to know some of the pros and cons of owning them

Background: Blades played for more than 3 months: Galaxy N10, Stiga allround Allround NCT, Zhang Jike ALC, Galaxy Earth 1, Virtuoso+, Virtuoso-. Good technique, lacking experience (3 years of proper play).

Currently playing the Virtuoso- for more than 6 months.

The both blades differ in their outer plies. The limba outer-ply is slightly treated to be a bit harder on the Virtuoso-
View attachment 14617

1. First impressions/handle/Gluing

Both blades are very high quality. The workmanship is top-notch. Nothing to complain about here. You can get them in S/M/L head sizes. Weight is generally around 87-90 grams. From personal experience, straight handle + medium head size is head-heavy for most modern rubbers so keep that in mind. Straight + small head size is slightly head heavy. Concave + small is balanced at the center./handle I tried a friend's flaired+ medium and found it to be more or less balanced at the center too.

You can choose from a variety of handles. For some reason, I found the Virtuoso+'s flaired handle to be quite a bit larger than the Virtuoso-'s flaired handle. Don't go 100% on what I'm saying because I couldn't compare them side by side (bought the Virtuoso- after I sold the Virtuoso+) but it would be good to ask OSP yourself. I had to sell the Virtuoso+ in flaired simply because it didn't feel comfortable but I found the Virtuoso- in flaired to be much more comfortable.

I normally use Free Chack II but for the Virtuoso- I had to use the Free Chack I (stronger glue) because the rubber was simply not sticking that well to the top ply. Perhaps with time it will be easier to glue. I had a similar experience with my Stiga Allround NCT but it got better with time.

2. Playing characteristics.

2 a). Serving/Short game.

Both blades give you good dwell time though the Virtuoso- offers slightly more dwell. Serving was nearly identical with both of these blades. Spin production is similar to the Allround NCT and you can keep with serve short without any problems.

However, I did find that the Virtuoso- gave me slightly better feeling on my receives. It was easier to keep with ball short because of the softer outer ply.

I almost always do a soft spin-flick (either backhand or forehand). If you really want to go for a flipkill, you can get more acceleration with the Virtuoso+ as the top ply is better suited for harder flicks. It was definitely easier to do a spin-flick with the Virtuoso- though.

Wasn't too much difference in the long push but my long pushes aren't a very strong part of my game so I can't compare the performance very well in this department.

2 b) First topspin, spinny looping, drive-looping, mid-distance

Both blades had a relatively high throw angle but there are closer in terms of speed that I had expected. Both blades are noticeably faster than my Allround NCT, which makes the OSP Virtuoso- on the higher side of OFF-. With the Allround NCT, I was really having trouble playing tournaments or training for more than 2 hours, especially with the plastic ball, but both of the blades have enough zip for looping.

The throw angle is still lower than the Allround NCT blade as a direct result of the speed. Perhaps the V- has a slightly higher throw than the + but it's very, very marginal.

It was easy to open against backspin with both blades. The V- is a bit more tolerant of being in the wrong position because it takes less energy to activate the blade. Then again, my forehand rubber is also on the harder side so with a softer one both blades will forgive imperfect footwork. V+ is still much more forgiving compared to say, an ALC blade.

The spin quality is high but it's what I expected after getting used to the blade. My forehand opening shot is my strongest shot and I didn't really see a difference in terms of spin if I compared it with the Allround NCT. However, I did have better quality in my shot compared to the Earth 1 or the ZJK ALC but that's because my timing/contact is not good enough to create that much spin with a koto outer ply. What I'm trying to say is, that you shouldn't expect these blades to magically increase the spin of your loops but it can help you improve your contact (because of the feedback that I'll talk about later), which will improve the spin of your loops.

If you go for a harder loop or a drive-kill, you will feel the increased stiffness of the V+ giving you more zip but for regular looping and for half-distance spinny looping, both blades felt comfortable. However, as I said, the V- gives you a bit more safety.

2 c) Blocking, Countering, Smashing

It depends on your blocking style. If you like to punch or push the ball, or give it bit more speed, you will like the way the V+ blocks. If you like spin-blocking, you will like both of these blades. For an emergency block against a powerful shot, I think the V- gives me a touch more control, but the V+ also doesn't lack control.

For low-spin shots such as countering and smashing, you will feel an increase in speed with the V+.


3 Ball-feeling

As others have pointed out, the vibration that you feel with both blades is very pleasing and you do know where you've contacted the ball and how good your contact was. This is not exclusive to the V+ or V- as other allwood blades give you good feedback as well. I do have to say that the feeling and feedback from these blades and especially the V- were better than anything I've tried and the feeling from the V- was on par with the more expensive Nittaku Acoustic. This can really help non-advanced players improve their game. In the short game, I also felt that I had better feeling with the V- compared to with the V+.

4. Other Feedback

Two higher lever players (TTR 1700 and TTR 1900) than me also tested these blades. The 1900TTR rated player (2200+USATT) went with the V- as he really enjoyed the feeling. The 1700 TTR rated player still plays with his Boll ALC but preferred the V- as well. His reasoning was that if he wanted a blade with great feeling, he would get the V-, if wanted to go the stiffer route, he would rather have something like his Boll ALC.

5 Final thoughts

I think that the V- is a standout blade. It's fast enough and gives you great feeling. Personally, my playing level/rating is at the highest it's been because of how well I've been able to train with this blade. If you want a touch more speed on straight shots, you can get the V+ but the speed difference is not that high and not always felt. If you really want a stiffer all-wood blade, you can check out the other OSP 7 ply allwood blades.

I've played with both blades with several versions of both blades (straight, concave, small, medium) for over a year and have gotten to know some of the pros and cons of owning them

Background: Blades played for more than 3 months: Galaxy N10, Stiga allround Allround NCT, Zhang Jike ALC, Galaxy Earth 1, Virtuoso+, Virtuoso-. Good technique, lacking experience (3 years of proper play).

Currently playing the Virtuoso- for more than 6 months.

The both blades differ in their outer plies. The limba outer-ply is slightly treated to be a bit harder on the Virtuoso-
View attachment 14617

1. First impressions/handle/Gluing

Both blades are very high quality. The workmanship is top-notch. Nothing to complain about here. You can get them in S/M/L head sizes. Weight is generally around 87-90 grams. From personal experience, straight handle + medium head size is head-heavy for most modern rubbers so keep that in mind. Straight + small head size is slightly head heavy. Concave + small is balanced at the center./handle I tried a friend's flaired+ medium and found it to be more or less balanced at the center too.

You can choose from a variety of handles. For some reason, I found the Virtuoso+'s flaired handle to be quite a bit larger than the Virtuoso-'s flaired handle. Don't go 100% on what I'm saying because I couldn't compare them side by side (bought the Virtuoso- after I sold the Virtuoso+) but it would be good to ask OSP yourself. I had to sell the Virtuoso+ in flaired simply because it didn't feel comfortable but I found the Virtuoso- in flaired to be much more comfortable.

I normally use Free Chack II but for the Virtuoso- I had to use the Free Chack I (stronger glue) because the rubber was simply not sticking that well to the top ply. Perhaps with time it will be easier to glue. I had a similar experience with my Stiga Allround NCT but it got better with time.

2. Playing characteristics.

2 a). Serving/Short game.

Both blades give you good dwell time though the Virtuoso- offers slightly more dwell. Serving was nearly identical with both of these blades. Spin production is similar to the Allround NCT and you can keep with serve short without any problems.

However, I did find that the Virtuoso- gave me slightly better feeling on my receives. It was easier to keep with ball short because of the softer outer ply.

I almost always do a soft spin-flick (either backhand or forehand). If you really want to go for a flipkill, you can get more acceleration with the Virtuoso+ as the top ply is better suited for harder flicks. It was definitely easier to do a spin-flick with the Virtuoso- though.

Wasn't too much difference in the long push but my long pushes aren't a very strong part of my game so I can't compare the performance very well in this department.

2 b) First topspin, spinny looping, drive-looping, mid-distance

Both blades had a relatively high throw angle but there are closer in terms of speed that I had expected. Both blades are noticeably faster than my Allround NCT, which makes the OSP Virtuoso- on the higher side of OFF-. With the Allround NCT, I was really having trouble playing tournaments or training for more than 2 hours, especially with the plastic ball, but both of the blades have enough zip for looping.

The throw angle is still lower than the Allround NCT blade as a direct result of the speed. Perhaps the V- has a slightly higher throw than the + but it's very, very marginal.

It was easy to open against backspin with both blades. The V- is a bit more tolerant of being in the wrong position because it takes less energy to activate the blade. Then again, my forehand rubber is also on the harder side so with a softer one both blades will forgive imperfect footwork. V+ is still much more forgiving compared to say, an ALC blade.

The spin quality is high but it's what I expected after getting used to the blade. My forehand opening shot is my strongest shot and I didn't really see a difference in terms of spin if I compared it with the Allround NCT. However, I did have better quality in my shot compared to the Earth 1 or the ZJK ALC but that's because my timing/contact is not good enough to create that much spin with a koto outer ply. What I'm trying to say is, that you shouldn't expect these blades to magically increase the spin of your loops but it can help you improve your contact (because of the feedback that I'll talk about later), which will improve the spin of your loops.

If you go for a harder loop or a drive-kill, you will feel the increased stiffness of the V+ giving you more zip but for regular looping and for half-distance spinny looping, both blades felt comfortable. However, as I said, the V- gives you a bit more safety.

2 c) Blocking, Countering, Smashing

It depends on your blocking style. If you like to punch or push the ball, or give it bit more speed, you will like the way the V+ blocks. If you like spin-blocking, you will like both of these blades. For an emergency block against a powerful shot, I think the V- gives me a touch more control, but the V+ also doesn't lack control.

For low-spin shots such as countering and smashing, you will feel an increase in speed with the V+.


3 Ball-feeling

As others have pointed out, the vibration that you feel with both blades is very pleasing and you do know where you've contacted the ball and how good your contact was. This is not exclusive to the V+ or V- as other allwood blades give you good feedback as well. I do have to say that the feeling and feedback from these blades and especially the V- were better than anything I've tried and the feeling from the V- was on par with the more expensive Nittaku Acoustic. This can really help non-advanced players improve their game. In the short game, I also felt that I had better feeling with the V- compared to with the V+.

4. Other Feedback

Two higher lever players (TTR 1700 and TTR 1900) than me also tested these blades. The 1900TTR rated player (2200+USATT) went with the V- as he really enjoyed the feeling. The 1700 TTR rated player still plays with his Boll ALC but preferred the V- as well. His reasoning was that if he wanted a blade with great feeling, he would get the V-, if wanted to go the stiffer route, he would rather have something like his Boll ALC.

5 Final thoughts

I think that the V- is a standout blade. It's fast enough and gives you great feeling. Personally, my playing level/rating is at the highest it's been because of how well I've been able to train with this blade. If you want a touch more speed on straight shots, you can get the V+ but the speed difference is not that high and not always felt. If you really want a stiffer all-wood blade, you can check out the other OSP 7 ply allwood blades.

Cornilleau Simon Gauzy Quest Blade
Weight: 81g
Type: OFF
Composition: 5 ply (Ovangkole, Kiri)
Rubbers used with blade: Target Pro GT



Written Review:

What’s going on guys it’s Dan from TableTennisDaily, in this review we are joined alongside World Number 13 Simon Gauzy to review his latest personal blades with Cornilleau! The Gauzy blades come in both All+ and OFF.


Forehand:

All wood blades are designed for optimum control and feeling, and the Gauzy quest Blades both possess these attributes in abundance. This fantastic level of control helped me especially when blocking Simon’s relentless forehand topspins. I was really taken aback by the amount of control both blades gave me whilst still maintaining good speed. This was especially apparent with the Quest OFF.

I have used and reviewed a lot of carbon blades recently, this wood blade reminded me how much control and feel you can get on the ball with an All-wood blade. I felt confident on my backhand side especially when playing punch shots.

Sometimes I struggled on high balls. I couldn’t get the balance of playing with maximum power. It was probably due to me over forcing the ball worried of Simon’s incoming attacks, which put me under a lot of pressure. Perhaps it’s also because I am used to a Carbon blade where I get more power without as much effort needed.

Playing backhand and forehand topspin from close to the mid distance worked very well. I felt I could stay relaxed and really swing through the ball without having to worry too much about it going off the end of the table. I could create good amounts of spin when finely brushing the ball during topspin play, and the Quest OFF also gave me great accuracy when it came ball placement.


Blocking and feeling:

When blocking for Simon I had a huge amount of feeling and control on the ball, you can really feel the ball onto the bat when blocking with this OFF wood blade.


Spin:

The dwell is superb with this blade when playing open ups even though the outer wood plys using ovangkole. Ovangkole being a relatively hard wood yet it still allows the ball to sink into the blade and catapults it with great spin. This harder outer wood helps during 5th ball follow up attacks.

Once again even when blocking against Simon’s heavy topspins, the blade gave me the time to feel the ball back onto the table, although I did need to use quite a closed bat angle and delicate touch.

It’s easy to create a good amount of spin with the Gauzy Quest OFF blade. You get a lot of time on the ball due to the ample dwell.

I found a lot of stability with backhand open ups, I could accelerate with a lot of racquet speed and confidence.


Backhand Flicks:

Similar to the backhand open up, the All wood quest off blade helps with gripping the ball when playing backhand flicks over the table.. When I took my time and managed to read the spin on Simon’s serve I got a lot of rotation on the ball which help to set me up for my next shot.


Counter topspin:

I had loads of control on my counter topspin. Even though Simon was loading the ball with ridiculous amounts spin. The ball does not shoot of your bat like you find with carbon blades which tend to be much stiffer and more reactive. The Gauzy quest OFF makes counter spinning much easier and I surprised myself quite a few times on ho
w well I could perform these shots with this blade.

Serving:
Serving with the Quest OFF is a breeze due to the dwell that it’s all wood construction provides. Here are some examples of Simon serving to me. The amount of spin was insane!


Conclusion:

I had a great time filming with Simon Gauzy in the brilliant Ochsenhausen training center,, as you can see from the review we both had a lot of fun.
I was very impressed with the Gauzy quest OFF blade, I really like the feeling and control it gives you. The weight of the blade is very evenly balanced when paired with average weighted tensor rubbers like cornilleau target pro which we used in this review. Some players may prefer a heavier blade for more power, however I found it really comfortable FOR my topspin game as I quite enjoyed the variation of shots you can play it. The Gauzy Quest off blade is noticeably slower than your average ALC Carbon blade for example, although it makes up for this in the control department where it really excels.

I was often blocking for Simon as he put me under a lot of pressure yet I was still able to contain most of his shots. This attribute of the blade I think is its strongest point, it's feeling and control is really is outstanding.

I did find on some occasions that when I wanted to go for all out attack I was quite limited with the blades speed. This is again because the Quest OFF is a wood blade tailored for spin and variation based players rather than for those with an all out attacking game.

As noted before, close to the table punch and counter topspin shots are easy to execute with this blade, this helped my style of play giving me good consistency.

For players starting out or looking to develop their game the Gauzy Quest ALL+ is a high controlled solid allround blade, the soft limba plys gives you great control and feel. The OFF is more suited for all round attacking players who value control and spin over extreme speed. The OFF is definitely faster and more direct than the ALL+ which is slower and but gives you even more control and dwell time.

This is a seriously amazing 5 ply wood attacking blade with Off-/Off speed. For the price, I believe you cannot do any better.

It's a classic Limba/Limba/Ayous blade that has very highly quality, consistency, and performance. Thickness is in the 6.1-6.2mm range which I think is perfect and allows both great looping as well as enough stability and rigidity for accurate blocks and hits. This blade is slightly faster than a Butterfly Petr Korbel and slightly slower than a Tibhar Stratus Power wood, being siblings with the same wood ply construction.

A very well balanced Offensive 5 ply blade for a great price. Nice job Xiom!

If you love the feel, dwell, and control of a limba/ayous wood blade but also appreciate the increased stability and sweet spot of ALC then this is the blade for you.

The cool thing that Butterfly did with the Innerforce layer blade is they placed the ALC layers deeper near the core of the blade. That results in more sensation and feel from the 2 layers of limba contacting the ball with increased stability and accuracy for blocking and hitting as well as power away from the table. Comparing it directly to an all wood blade its short game is great and controlled but when you swing hard that's when the ALC kicks in providing an extra boost.

Slightly slower than a Viscaria or Timo Boll ALC but with better control, feel, and sensation. The only thing I don't like about it is it has a thinner handle. I actually had a friend customize it with a big meaty Tibhar Force Pro black handle and now it's perfect. Great blade.

This is an outstanding 7 ply wood blade and one of the best offensive wood blade that you can buy. It's very well balanced with enough speed and excellent control and feel. I would put the speed in the Off-/Off range, fast enough.

My blade is 6.4mm thick which I think is perfect to allow great blocks and hits while still being flexible enough to also be great at looping. Some 7 ply wood blades in the 6.7-7.0mm range, while great at blocking and hitting, are just too stiff for my looping focused game. Thinner wood blades in the 5.8-6.0mm range loop like a dream but their blocking and hitting accuracy leave something to be desired. This blade can do it all, and do it all well.

If you prefer the feel and sensation of a wood blade vs a composite blade but want a blade that can perform as well as the best ALC blades, look no further. Highly recommended.

I have tried these rubbers in max thickness on my main boy, Butterfly M.Maze OFF.

I used to use Tenergy 05s before but decided to look for cheaper ones to get used to since I'm NOT either sponsored by Butterfly or a billionaire...

It seemed to be tacky straight outta packaging and all seemed to go well since it certainly gave me more consistency in my shots.

After half an hour, I could easily tell that its ability to hold and grab the ball is noticeably inferior compared to Tenergy 05 I used to use.

I would certainly suggest you go for T05s despite it not being so budget friendly; it would feel worse, noticing it's not really worth the money after spending your money to buy this rubber.

For those who have solid techniques and are willing to adjust to this rubber, then this one's for you.

The only good sides I can mention are: Great for better consistency and Not as sensitive to spin.

I'm planning to try out Joola X-plode next time. My coach used to use it and I remember being amazed with the quality of its spin and catapult effect. So this one's looking a lot more positive for me. I will write my review on it here in the future so look for my reviews!

P.S. Andro Rasant is a great alternative for T05s but the only thing is it dies quickly...:L

This is the best slow looping blade of Nexy. Blade feels like slower than Off- sometimes but it is indeed in the Off- class. It feels like a Stiga Offensive classic but feels a tad harder though at the same speed. It has the flex and softness that slow but spinny loopers need. The control is that of an all+ blade coupled with good feel. No bad vibrations felt whatsoever. I got the 83 gram Peter Pan when it first came out. The handle is is very comfortable to the hand and it is very easy to use for players with different levels. Even advanced players will love this blade because control and feel are top notch but it needs an off+ rubber. Even the Karis H would do good with the Peter Pan.

Got mine for 80 grams. Head size is 157 x 150mm. It is indeed lighter than the original Aria but not slower. This is slower than the Tibhar Stratus Powerwood but has more flex and control. This is an Off- to Off 5 ply all wood blade with Limba outer plies. It is a good all around blade for either offensive oriented players or blockers and spinny loopers. Control is very good even when paired with an Evolution MX-P or any other off+ rubbers. The DHS HUrricane 3 was awesome on this blade and also the Globe 999 National rubber, booth boosted. If it is paired with MX-P, this can be as good as far from the table but optimal power is at mid-distance.

A medium-fast blade that is light at about 83-86 grams. I think this is the blade that stands out after Stradivarius among Xiom blades. It is highly underrated and the blade itself has a better feel even when you compared to viscaria and timo boll alc blades. It is slightly slower than viscaria and feels a tad softer but it is already fast at OFF speed (not off+). What sets it apart is that it feels like an all wood blade and has its softness but it has the stability of a composite blade and the speed. What puzzles me is that this blade has gone unnoticed by most EJ's. The blade can definitely be used by players of different styles except defensive choppers. Other than that, the blade is amazing and can be matched with any Chinese, Japanese and Euro rubbers.

Butterfly Marcos Freitas ALC Blade
Weight: 92g
Type: Carbon OFF
Composition: 7 ply
Rubbers used with blade: Tenergy 05


The Butterfly Marcos Freitas blade that was released in 2016. I’m lucky enough to be testing out this blade with none other than Marcos Freitas himself, who’s currently world ranked at 15 with his career best at world number 7!

Marcos Freitas has been using the Michael Maze blade for the last 10 years and wanted his own personal blade to be based upon the same specifications.
The new Marcos Freitas blade is based off the popular Michael Maze blade with a similar 7 ply construction using Limba wood as the outer layer with 2 inner layers of Arylate carbon or “ALC.

The blade comes in a simple and elegant design with excellent craftsmanship. For you guys to get a good understanding on how this blade plays i’m going to be doing some brief comparisons to other popular carbon blades in the Butterfly range like this Boll ALC, Maze and Apolonia ZLC. I really like the handle, it has a nice grip and has the plastic hologram lens for authentication.

Written Review:

Speed:

As always training with a pro is challenging especially when trying to block their quality shots. I could feel the crisp carbon sensation you get with most ALC blades like the Timo Boll ALC, Zhang Jike ALC and Michael Maze blade. One thing I did notice early on was I put some balls off the end of the table which I had to adjust to as the blade felt quite stiff and hard.

When top spinning I liked how I could produce a lot of speed with excellent control. That is an area I like a lot with Butterfly Carbon blades in general, giving you both speed and precision.

Spin:

The amount of spin and depth on the ball when Marcos is away from the table on both the backhand and forehand is quite something!

I found I needed to have a relaxed grip to block Marcos’s incoming shots. The medium hardness of the blade required a loser grip to avoid the ball going directly to the net or off the end of the table, to get that feeling and control.

I found I could play really strong shots from close to the table, I could get huge amount of spin and quality in my topspins. The dwell and the combination of the limba outer wood generates enough feeling to produce spin but not to responsive to lose out on control. This is sometimes the case with other carbon blades such as the Super ZLC versions where the carbon blades are very rapid and responsive.

Again you can see me sometimes struggling in the video to cope with the huge amounts of spin Marcos is able to achieve. Perhaps with a less stiff blade I may have had more of a chance, but of course this blade is for attackers looking for lots of speed and power.

Serves:

Although I was happy with the amount of spin I produced when serving, as you would expect Marcos flicked with absolute ease. With the combination of Tenergy 05 and the Freitas blade I felt good bite and grip when I served. I even managed to surprise Marcos a couple of times. I find it easier to serve more consistently with the Freitas ALC when compared to the Boll ALC due it being slightly less responsive. This is probably because of the freitas ALC’s softer outer limba plys.

Dwell:

Top spinning against backspin worked very well with the Freitas ALC. This blade was in its element when capitalising on the follow up ball. I could play with good power and direction. Having used the Michael Maze blade in the past, I actually feel the Freitas blade is a touch faster but with slightly less dwell. I would say the Timo Boll ALC is a touch faster and slightly crisper, however no where near as fast as the Mizutani Super ZLC. The Freitas blade sits between the speed of a Apolonia ZLC and a Timo Boll ALC but is one of the best ALC blades i have used for producing spin.

I really enjoyed using the Freitas ALC in free gameplay as it gave me the typical ALC carbon feeling and precision that I’ve always liked.


Conclusion
Thanks to Butterfly for giving us the fantastic opportunity to test their latest ALC blade. And also the main man himself Marcos Freitas for featuring in the review.

The Marcos Freitas ALC is another great addition to the Butterfly range with the Portuguese taking inspiration from the Michael Maze blade to create his own personal blade with a similar construction.

The outer veneers of the Freitas ALC comprise of softer Limba wood, this means it is slightly slower than the Timo Boll ALC but allows for more dwell and spin. The limba wood helps play from away from the table producing good arch and depth in shots. Whereas the timo boll alc uses koto as the outer ply which is a harder wood producing a more crisp and faster shot which is in effect harder to control, the Freitas using limba gives more dwell, spin and accuracy.

The timo boll ALC has a koto outer ply which gives more crisp and responsive shot which is slightly harder to control however you will get greater speed with less effort. I feel the Freitas blade was more effective when away from the table. In comparision to the Maze blade, the Freitas ALC is almost indistinguishable apart from being slightly faster, more comfortable and comes in a newly designed handle. The Freitas is thicker than the Boll ALC, Innterforce Layer ALC's and only topped by the Garaydia ALC in terms of thickness.

This Freitas ALC is ideal for players who loved the Maze and want a blade that’s a little easier to control and less responsive than the Timo Boll ALC, with a slightly stiffer feel due to a 0.2mm increase in thickness. The Marcos Freitas ALC is not for beginners and is geared towards players who have a solid technique and can handle a fast carbon blade. This blade in general will suit aggressive attacking players who like a blade with a consistent, medium throw angle.

A lot of people just look at this as Tenergy-lite but if you evaluate it on its own merits it’s a really excellent rubber for those looking for a balanced attack with good control and consistency, while still being dynamic with good spin and speed.

It has the same spring sponge as the Tenergy series, my best comparison being a slightly softer and more forgiving Tenergy 80. It’s throw angle is similar to MX-P or just less than T80 on the Tenergy scale. It also has relatively good spin and speed being just a notch below the most aggressive attacking rubbers.

The other criticism I’ve heard of this rubber is that’s it’s “jack of all trades, but a master of none.” While it doesn’t quite match the spin and looping ability of Tenergy 05 or speed of Tibhar MX-P, if your game is more than just pure looping and utilizes blocking, control, and placement (and you like Butterfly’s spring sponge) then this is an excellent rubber you should give serious consideration.

There's nothing you can't do with this rubber. It offers the dynamic attacking feel of Tenergy while being less spin sensitive and easier to use in the short game.

Update: after initially using this just on the BH side I’m now using using it on FH too. Really like this rubber, can’t find any faults with it and it’s a great fit for my game. Plan on sticking with it.

Horrible ball for competition.
The bounce is very low and when loaded of spin, the ball slips on the table with a very weak bounce.
And yes, it breaks easily.

i have been using the stiga performa ball recently, having switched from the Joola flash 3 star ball. It almost felt exactly like the old celluloid balls from the get go.. the bounce, the spin and the speed that i was getting from this ball was better than the flash, and i could effectively play any shot with it.. it almost felt like magic. I think that stiga has made great improvement with this new perform ball, and it should be used in international competitions as well. I have tried DHS D40+ ball also and it didnt quite have the same bite.. perhaps due to the extra weight of the stiga perform ball.
Highly recommended for all levels of play. Well done stiga!

Tenergy 05 is simply the best pure looping rubber in the world even 10 years after its introduction. It's also still the world standard for non-Chinese professionals and aspiring professional players. The first time I looped with T05 it brought a huge smile to my face, it's a special and unique rubbber indeed. It's fast, but not crazy fast, and has an extremely high throw angle which coupled with its bouncy sponge and grippy topsheet create a perfect looping machine. However, the high throw angle and bounciness that make it such a great looping rubber also make it more challenging to use in the short game. Pushes are easier to pop up high or go long and service return can be difficult unless you are experienced in reading spin. That's why this rubber is more recommended for advanced to pro level players as they can easily mitigate this rubbers weaknesses through ability and practice while fully taking advantage of its outrageously spin and loop potential. Highly recommended for advanced looping attackers.

Tibhar MX-P is a great attacking rubber for offensive players. I will just confirm what many have already said: that if you are a Tenergy 05 user your transition to MX-P will be fairly easy. While they don't feel exactly the same their performance is similar using the same technique. MX-P is a tad faster and harder than T05 and the throw angle is lower. In terms of spin, I think they are fairly similar but T05 is still more spinny on brush strokes with MX-P being equal when the sponge is fully engaged. While I still feel T05 is the best pure looping rubber because of it's higher throw angle and increased bounciness I feel MX-P is the better overall attacking rubber. MX-P has better control and consistency than T05 that results in a superior short game including pushes, blocks, flat hits, and serve returns. It has that advantage while still being 95% as good as T05 in the looping department. An excellent rubber and value. It can be played on either FH or BH but I personally use it on the BH as I prefer a slightly higher throw angle for my FH. Recommended.

I really like this rubber. It does just about everything well and is easy to use. It's the first tensor I used after transitioning from Mark V as a developing player. Good speed and spin with great control and consistency. Excellent for blocking, flat hits, serve return and pushes. Pretty good for looping and serves. The high throw angle makes lifting backspin fairly easy. Can be used effectively on either FH or BH. Not the fastest or spinniest but a good choice for an all around tensor that is highly consistent with good control.

A very tacky, spinny, hard Chinese rubber that can be used by beginners all the way to the professional level. Not that heavy. The tacky rubber along with aggressive brush strokes can produce unmatched spin on loops. It's lack of catapult or bounciness also makes it great for serving and pushes. However it's extreme grip can also make serve returns more challenging if you misread the spin as it is very spin sensitive. Unboosted it's a great rubber to learn to loop with along with a flexible all wood blade. Boosted with Haifu Seamoon (my recommendation) it becomes a powerful mid distance looping tool to compete with Tenergy 05 at the advanced and Pro levels. If you want to try a Chinese rubber to compare against the Euro/Jap tensors try this one. I'd recommend for use on the FH side with a softer and faster Euro rubber on the BH.