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.
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