Best Chinese Alternatives to D09c Tier List

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Best Chinese alternatives to D09c Tier List

What is a tier list?

This Tier List ranks readily available and low cost Chinese rubbers according to their performance in matching the standard set by Dignics 09c.

Rubbers are tiered based on the following factors:

Bite on the ball
- Higher ranking rubbers will bite and grip the ball very well, giving the player both control and spin potential
Dwell time - Higher ranking rubbers will hold the ball for a long time on the racket before launching the ball off the racket with power and spin. The ball should be slow off the racket, and kick fast off the table
Catapult - The rubber should provide ample catapult to produce powerful shots
Tackiness - High tackiness provides more spin potential and control
Hardness - Hard rubber is desirable to prevent bottoming out on hard shots
Booster reaction - Top rubbers should react strongly to booster and improve their performance. Alternatively top rubbers should provide high performance without the need for booster
Arc and throw angle - Top rubbers should provide a healthy arc to clear over the net and land onto the table comfortably


S tier - Highest performance of Chinese rubbers matching or exceeding the standard of D09c available at acceptable cost

Loki GTX - Strong reaction to booster, great tackiness, hard, great catapult. Requires the use of baby oil to produce the dwell time and hold on the ball. This rubber is very similar to the look and performance of D09c with the proper tuning, producing powerful loops. Also to be noted: I only ever tested one sheet of GTX and got it to perform this way with a specific method of tuning. I cannot guarantee that every sheet will have the same result from the tuning method.


A tier - Performance is considered to be very high, and are desirable as alternatives to D09c and may only have slight flaws

Loki Arthur China - Very hard rubber that gives excellent spin, excellent arc, and very good looping speed. Feels like you can hold the ball for a long time while imparting unlimited spin. The looping speed is nearly on the level of D09c, and may possibly be improved with booster. Feels quite a bit harder than D09c, and therefore it feels less forgiving. Additionally, it may suffer from bubbling issues.

Yinhe Jupiter 3 - Factory boosted, tacky, catapulty and fast. This rubber doesn’t need to be boosted, but reacts fine to booster. Comes in many choices of hardness, but I like 39-41 on the FH. It is spinny, but feels somewhat speed-oriented along the lines of D09c.

Friendship Bloom Power - Tacky, hard, with some good catapult. Rubber doesn’t need to be boosted, but seems even better with some booster. Much healthier throw angle than its “brother” Battle 2. Provides strong spin, speed, and heavy kick off the table. Recommend the 47d version which feels like 54d on ESN scale. More spin-oriented feeling than D09c.

B tier - Performance is considered to be high and mostly meet the desired criteria. May have more notable flaws that prevent a higher ranking

Yinhe Big Dipper - Similar to Jupiter 3, factory boosted, catapulty and fast. Not as tacky as Jupiter 3 though, reflected in the lower rank. Also reacts quite well to booster and becomes even more powerful. Would recommend 39d or 40d for FH, and 38d for BH. As it is less tacky, this rubber suits the BH better than the other rubbers on this list, and is a great alternative as a bh D09c.

Loki Rxton 3 Pink/Blue - Similar to Arthur China with a hard and bouncy medium-pore sponge and tacky topsheet. However the arc is less pronounced and therefore is a less controlled and less confident rubber than Arthur China. Still, it is fast, hard, spinny, and performs very well.

Double Fish Volant-Phoenix - Less similar to D09c and more similar to H3. Tacky topsheet with hard and dense Chinese sponge. But it does feel somewhat boosted and bouncy and performs very well. All shots feel very consistent and reliable. It's very good unboosted, but rubber does seem to want a little more booster anyway.

Loki Arthur Asia - The price of this rubber has come down quite a lot, which gave me a reason to take a fresh look at this rubber. With booster, it is fast. It has good tackiness and spin. I feel I can hit very powerful loops with this rubber. It does seem to have slightly less arc than Arthur China.

C tier - Performance is considered moderately high. These rubbers may need more technique from the user to bring out their potential or have notable flaws in meeting the criteria.

DHS Hurricane 3 - An excellent rubber for its own style of play, but ranks lower on this list because it is less similar to D09c and the stated criteria. Without booster, this rubber is tacky and somewhat slow, but gives a healthy and comfortable throw angle and arc. With enough booster, it significantly increases in speed and catapult, but still requires more input strength from the user to reach its full potential.

Friendship Battle Max - Kinda sits in between H3 and Battle 2. The speed is a bit faster than H3 and the throw angle is a bit higher than Battle 2. A bit more speed oriented and less spin oriented than H3. A pretty good hard, tacky, Chinese rubber option.

Haifu Whale - Similar in function to H3, but more similar to H8 as it is slightly more speed oriented. Has medium reaction to booster, but not a tremendous reaction. Very good loop control, good speed and spin. All around, very solid performance, but less memorable than higher ranking rubbers.

Loki Rxton 5 - A good rubber that is more similar to H3 than it is to D09c. Hard, tacky, but not as much catapult as desired. Also quality control seems to be a major problem as hardness varies dramatically by batch. This rubber could be dropped lower because of QC issues, but I have it ranked on my memory of its best version.

D tier - Performance is considered to be average. The rubber only meets some of the criteria and has some major flaws

Friendship Battle 2 - Rubber’s most notable flaw is it has a low throw angle and thus is less comfortable to use. Also does not have a strong reaction to booster. But it is hard and tacky and dwelly.

Sanwei Target Pro Blue - Also has a low throw angle and is somewhat uncomfortable to use. Has a medium reaction to booster. Hard and tacky, but not a great dwell time.

Sanwei Target Pro 3 - Almost the same quality and issues as Pro Blue. Slightly slower and and more dwelly than Pro Blue.

E tier - Performance is considered to be low. Rubbers have flaws that define its performance more than its strengths

Sanwei Target National - Extremely low throw angle, too soft sponge, overly tacky, no reaction to booster. This rubber is very hard to use and not recommendable. It is quite fast though.
 
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Giant Dragon real counterpart to dignics, due to similarity of dynamical properties. Tensor sponge of 44 Shore A.
Be happy.
 
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Nice list! Somehow seems Loki-biased a little 😅
Also I don't get what's the problem with the throw angle of B2 (I find it super comfortable to use, it's like a proper chinese rubber, not some mushy tensor 😆 ). I'm pretty sure that the throw angle also is heavily affected by the blade..
 
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Nice list! Somehow seems Loki-biased a little 😅
Also I don't get what's the problem with the throw angle of B2 (I find it super comfortable to use, it's like a proper chinese rubber, not some mushy tensor 😆 ). I'm pretty sure that the throw angle also is heavily affected by the blade..
Well I can definitely see why people like B2, but I just find the throw angle not comfortable. It hurts my shoulder to swing extra upwards. But apart from that, I find that it doesn't react much to booster, and it doens't have the kick that I want. I find Bloom Power has a lot more power.

Loki's got some hits, and also some big misses. So definitely not trying to be biased for them.
 
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Best Chinese alternatives to D09c Tier List

What is a tier list?

This Tier List ranks readily available and low cost Chinese rubbers according to their performance in matching the standard set by Dignics 09c.

Rubbers are tiered based on the following factors:

Bite on the ball
- Higher ranking rubbers will bite and grip the ball very well, giving the player both control and spin potential
Dwell time - Higher ranking rubbers will hold the ball for a long time on the racket before launching the ball off the racket with power and spin. The ball should be slow off the racket, and kick fast off the table
Catapult - The rubber should provide ample catapult to produce powerful shots
Tackiness - High tackiness provides more spin potential and control
Hardness - Hard rubber is desirable to prevent bottoming out on hard shots
Booster reaction - Top rubbers should react strongly to booster and improve their performance. Alternatively top rubbers should provide high performance without the need for booster
Arc and throw angle - Top rubbers should provide a healthy arc to clear over the net and land onto the table comfortably


S tier - Highest performance of Chinese rubbers matching or exceeding the standard of D09c available at acceptable cost

Loki GTX - Strong reaction to booster, great tackiness, hard, great catapult. Requires the use of baby oil to produce the dwell time and hold on the ball. This rubber is very similar to the look and performance of D09c with the proper tuning, producing powerful loops. Also to be noted: I only ever tested one sheet of GTX and got it to perform this way with a specific method of tuning. I cannot guarantee that every sheet will have the same result from the tuning method.


A tier - Performance is considered to be very high, and are desirable as alternatives to D09c and may only have slight flaws

Loki Arthur China - Very hard rubber that gives excellent spin, excellent arc, and very good looping speed. Feels like you can hold the ball for a long time while imparting unlimited spin. The looping speed is nearly on the level of D09c, and may possibly be improved with booster. Feels quite a bit harder than D09c, and therefore it feels less forgiving. Additionally, it may suffer from bubbling issues.

Yinhe Jupiter 3 - Factory boosted, tacky, catapulty and fast. This rubber doesn’t need to be boosted, but reacts fine to booster. Comes in many choices of hardness, but I like 39-41 on the FH. It is spinny, but feels somewhat speed-oriented along the lines of D09c.

Friendship Bloom Power - Tacky, hard, with some good catapult. Rubber doesn’t need to be boosted, but seems even better with some booster. Much healthier throw angle than its “brother” Battle 2. Provides strong spin, speed, and heavy kick off the table. Recommend the 47d version which feels like 54d on ESN scale. More spin-oriented feeling than D09c.

B tier - Performance is considered to be high and mostly meet the desired criteria. May have more notable flaws that prevent a higher ranking

Yinhe Big Dipper - Similar to Jupiter 3, factory boosted, catapulty and fast. Not as tacky as Jupiter 3 though, reflected in the lower rank. Also reacts quite well to booster and becomes even more powerful. Would recommend 39d or 40d for FH, and 38d for BH. As it is less tacky, this rubber suits the BH better than the other rubbers on this list, and is a great alternative as a bh D09c.

C tier - Performance is considered moderately high. These rubbers may need more technique from the user to bring out their potential or have notable flaws in meeting the criteria.

DHS Hurricane 3 - An excellent rubber for its own style of play, but ranks lower on this list because it is less similar to D09c and the stated criteria. Without booster, this rubber is tacky and somewhat slow, but gives a healthy and comfortable throw angle and arc. With enough booster, it significantly increases in speed and catapult, but still requires more input strength from the user to reach its full potential.

Haifu Whale - Similar in function to H3, but more similar to H8 as it is slightly more speed oriented. Has medium reaction to booster, but not a tremendous reaction. Very good loop control, good speed and spin. All around, very solid performance, but less memorable than higher ranking rubbers.

Loki Rxton 5 - A good rubber that is more similar to H3 than it is to D09c. Hard, tacky, but not as much catapult as desired. Also quality control seems to be a major problem as hardness varies dramatically by batch. This rubber could be dropped lower because of QC issues, but I have it ranked on my memory of its best version.

D tier - Performance is considered to be average. The rubber only meets some of the criteria and has some major flaws

Friendship Battle 2 - Rubber’s most notable flaw is it has a low throw angle and thus is less comfortable to use. Also does not have a strong reaction to booster. But it is hard and tacky and dwelly.

Sanwei Target Pro Blue - Also has a low throw angle and is somewhat uncomfortable to use. Has a medium reaction to booster. Hard and tacky, but not a great dwell time.

Sanwei Target Pro 3 - Almost the same quality and issues as Pro Blue. Slightly slower and and more dwelly than Pro Blue.

E tier - Performance is considered to be low. Rubbers have flaws that define its performance more than its strengths

Sanwei Target National - Extremely low throw angle, too soft sponge, overly tacky, no reaction to booster. This rubber is very hard to use and not recommendable. It is quite fast though.
That Yinhe Jupiter 3 Asia and 729 Bloom Power are absolute gold for its price.
I recently switched to this setup (for past time games), FH/BH alternatively- awesome. Tho in my side, Bloom Power is getting hard to come by (no new stock coming in from diff shop/sources).

BTW. Which Big Dipper are you talking abt here?
 
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That Yinhe Jupiter 3 Asia and 729 Bloom Power are absolute gold for its price.
I recently switched to this setup (for past time games), FH/BH alternatively- awesome. Tho in my side, Bloom Power is getting hard to come by (no new stock coming in from diff shop/sources).

BTW. Which Big Dipper are you talking abt here?
I've only tried Big Dipper 1. Yes, I agree Jupiter 3 and Bloom Power are amazing
 
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That Yinhe Jupiter 3 Asia and 729 Bloom Power are absolute gold for its price.
I recently switched to this setup (for past time games), FH/BH alternatively- awesome. Tho in my side, Bloom Power is getting hard to come by (no new stock coming in from diff shop/sources).

BTW. Which Big Dipper are you talking abt here?
You're using 729 Bloom Power on what blade? I'm currently using H3 Neo that I didn't boost but it feels hella soft, I'm thinking of going for either 729 Bloom Power or Sanwei Gear Hyper. I used to use the Bloom Power but on bh not fh.
 
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You're using 729 Bloom Power on what blade? I'm currently using H3 Neo that I didn't boost but it feels hella soft, I'm thinking of going for either 729 Bloom Power or Sanwei Gear Hyper. I used to use the Bloom Power but on bh not fh.
I'm using 729 Bloom Power on my spare - T11s. I find it almost as grippy as B2Gold. I think H3 Neo needs full proper strokes - on my experience I am not utilizing it fully.
 
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You're using 729 Bloom Power on what blade? I'm currently using H3 Neo that I didn't boost but it feels hella soft, I'm thinking of going for either 729 Bloom Power or Sanwei Gear Hyper. I used to use the Bloom Power but on bh not fh.
You can always try harder versions of N3 neo. 40, 41, also commercial version‘s quality control is not top-notch so the issue of softness may be related to that because it shouldn’t feel soft since the top sheet is quite firm as well. Also blue sponge is denser than orange sponge making it harder.
 
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Nice list! Somehow seems Loki-biased a little 😅
Also I don't get what's the problem with the throw angle of B2 (I find it super comfortable to use, it's like a proper chinese rubber, not some mushy tensor 😆 ). I'm pretty sure that the throw angle also is heavily affected by the blade..
Accidentally it is just in plan for me to study your statement regarding the throw angle being heavily affected by the blade. I already tried Battle II Gold Edition on a blade with fairly direct angles (Sunflex Zen OFF 5 - Mansonia top plies, thicker Koto second plies - Mansonia is harder than Koto, similar to Ash), and I need to be careful how I hit, but this racket feels like having a great potential.
I was wondering, if I can get higher throw with Battle II Gold Edition if I use blades with softer top plies.
I have these blades in my reach:
- Neottec Amagi Off- (1mm thick Hinoki top plies! - I have currently rubbers on it, but maybe I am about to scrap them)
- Sanwei HC-3S (thin, maybe 0.3mm Hinoki top plies, thin second plies, soft carbon near the thick core)
- Sanwei HC-1S (pretty thick, maybe 0.8mm Hinoki top plies, similarly thick second plies, ALC near the core)

I am split in decision between Neottec Amagi Off- and Sanwei HC-1S.
 
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While I don't have D09c in any near future at my hands, the most of the other featured rubbers are familiar to me.

Initially, I saw a lot of potentials in Sanwei rubbers, but I had to admit to myself, that I have issues of executing shots consistently, because many of their more advanced rubbers have some kind of difficult or non-linear activation - I think, Sanwei could work more on developing easier to use sponges.

For me, Battle II (standard version) is a B+ only because the sponge thickness is not really MAX - in many circumstances, boosting Battle II rubbers is not a necessity at all. For those people, they could have offered it with 2.20mm thickness as well, and that could mean a somewhat higher throw as well. Otherwise the rubber grips well, and it is very easy to use because of its good linear behavior.

I think, Battle II Provincial orange sponge is somewhat faster, but also has a bit lower throw, which requires fairly conscious vertical posturing - this is a considerable downside - otherwise similarly reliable to the standard version. My rating is B.

I would put Battle II Gold edition at A tier with an emphasis on greater physical requirements to properly engage the sponge, otherwise I experienced excellent stability in very intense rallies (while less tacky than standard, topsheet grip is excellent - I didn't have a single ball, that slipped - I could make both brush loops with higher arc and low fast spinny killer shots, when I wanted - this rubber could be a dream of powerloopers), so it is really a high level rubber. This one could really benefit from a slight, more long term effect boosting. Without boosting, sometimes it can be used nicely in a more defensive/allround manner as well (chops, drop-shots).

I will get my hands soon on a pair of Battle II Pro (the red sheet has red sponge similarly colored as Gold Ed.'s red sheet sponge, the black sheet has blue sponge), and I am curious, how it will compare.

I will do more practice sessions again with my Sanwei rubbers to confirm what I have in mind, but I did some experiments in the past.

When I look at the performance of Target 90 now, I think I'd pick Friendship Battle II Gold Edition without no hesitation instead. It can rack up spin and speed, when hit heavily, but it is just not enough reward for the great physical efforts it needs. It is E rank for me without boosting (Maybe the biggest problem is that I don't want to boost, because it shortens the lifespan of the rubber, and the playing characteristic gains are just temporary - and I don't want to reglue the same rubber many times.)

I did not try Target Blue - maybe I'll get a sheet, but it is low priority for me (I'll completely skip Target National).

With Target Pro 3, the main issue for me is the non-linear activation: it is pretty hard to dose power in hope of accurate placement and desired brush to hit ratio, when used with a power below a certain threshold. However, when the threshold is reached, precision gets better, and I have plenty of spin and speed - at really dangerous levels many times. The rubber topsheet is very dense, but more elastic than one would expect. While the tackiness helps with gripping the ball, I still need to be careful with the insecure low power contacts. I'd give this rubber a tier C- in general, but its flaws are more forgivable on the forehand side.

I'll skip describing the top Yinhe rubber offerings, but I would rather put Jupiter III Asia at A- regarding its capabilities. It is certainly a very well-rounded rubber with no obvious flaws, but misses just a little bit of wow-factor for me. For Big Dipper I, I have about the same experience and rating as the OP. I'll also try Big Dipper II to see the differences.

I will also do more test sessions with Loki Arthur China as well, but I am not really fond of not being able to choose thickness and hardness from the sellers.
 
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I would put Battle II Gold edition at A tier with an emphasis on greater physical requirements to properly engage the sponge, otherwise I experienced excellent stability in very intense rallies (while less tacky than standard, topsheet grip is excellent - I didn't have a single ball, that slipped - I could make both brush loops with higher arc and low fast spinny killer shots, when I wanted - this rubber could be a dream of powerloopers), so it is really a high level rubber. This one could really benefit from a slight, more long term effect boosting. Without boosting, sometimes it can be used nicely in a more defensive/allround manner as well (chops, drop-shots).
B2 Gold is the best rubber I've ever tried. It creates sooo much spin and it is really easy to handle. Not super fast like D09C even with booster but the spin and the feeling... Counter loops work really well because of the low throw but the topspin loops against backspin are amazing too. My dream rubber though I'm not a powerlooper
 
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B2 Gold is the best rubber I've ever tried. It creates sooo much spin and it is really easy to handle. Not super fast like D09C even with booster but the spin and the feeling... Counter loops work really well because of the low throw but the topspin loops against backspin are amazing too. My dream rubber though I'm not a powerlooper
My favorite once in a while too, I've destroyed 10+ sheets of B2 Gold before switching to B2 NT Blue (a big upgrade)
 
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While I don't have D09c in any near future at my hands, the most of the other featured rubbers are familiar to me.

Initially, I saw a lot of potentials in Sanwei rubbers, but I had to admit to myself, that I have issues of executing shots consistently, because many of their more advanced rubbers have some kind of difficult or non-linear activation - I think, Sanwei could work more on developing easier to use sponges.

For me, Battle II (standard version) is a B+ only because the sponge thickness is not really MAX - in many circumstances, boosting Battle II rubbers is not a necessity at all, for those people, they could have sell it with 2.20mm thickness as well, and that could mean a somewhat higher throw as well. Otherwise the rubber grips well, and it is very easy to use because of its good linear behavior.

I think, Battle II Provincial orange sponge is somewhat faster, but also has a bit lover throw, which requires fairly conscious vertical posturing - this is a considerable downside - otherwise similarly reliable to the standard version. My rating is B.

I would put Battle II Gold edition at A tier with an emphasis on greater physical requirements to properly engage the sponge, otherwise I experienced excellent stability in very intense rallies (while less tacky than standard, topsheet grip is excellent - I didn't have a single ball, that slipped - I could make both brush loops with higher arc and low fast spinny killer shots, when I wanted - this rubber could be a dream of powerloopers), so it is really a high level rubber. This one could really benefit from a slight, more long term effect boosting. Without boosting, sometimes it can be used nicely in a more defensive/allround manner as well (chops, drop-shots).

I will get my hands soon on a pair of Battle II Pro (the red sheet has red sponge similarly colored as Gold Ed.'s red sheet sponge, the black sheet has blue sponge), and I am curious, how it will compare.

I will do more practice sessions again with my Sanwei rubbers to confirm what I have in mind, but I did some experiments in the past.

When I look at the performance of Target 90 now, I think I'd pick Friendship Battle II Gold Edition without no hesitation instead. It can rack up spin and spin, when hit heavily, but it is just not enough reward for the great physical efforts it needs. It is E rank for me without boosting (Maybe the biggest problem is that I don't want to boost, because it shortens the lifespan of the rubber, and the playing characteristic gains are just temporary - and I don't want to reglue the same rubber many times.)

I did not try Target Blue - maybe I'll get a sheet, but it is low priority for me (I'll completely skip Target National).

With Target Pro 3, the main issue for me is the non-linear activation: it is pretty hard to dose power in hope of accurate placement and desired brush to hit ratio, when used with a power below a certain threshold. However, when the threshold is reached, precision gets better, and I have plenty of spin and speed - at really dangerous levels many times. The rubber topsheet is very dense, but more elastic than one would expect. While the tackiness helps with gripping the ball, I still need to be careful with the insecure low power contacts. I'd give this rubber a tier C- in general, but its flaws are more forgivable on the forehand side.

I'll skip describing the top Yinhe rubber offerings, but I would rather put Jupiter III Asia at A- regarding its capabilities. It is certainly a very well-rounded rubber with no obvious flaws, but misses just a little bit of wow-factor for me. For Big Dipper I, I have about the same experience and rating as the OP. I'll also try Big Dipper II to see the differences.

I will also do more test sessions with Loki Arthur China as well, but I am not really fond of not being able to choose thickness and hardness from the sellers.

im a huge 729 fanboy so ill try B2 gold after i kill my B2Pro Blue Sponge

im starting to get a hang of B2PBS but i still have slippage issues

im wondering if B2 gold would be a good fit on stiff blades with hard outer ply, i have a Goiabao 5.
 
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im a huge 729 fanboy so ill try B2 gold after i kill my B2Pro Blue Sponge

im starting to get a hang of B2PBS but i still have slippage issues

im wondering if B2 gold would be a good fit on stiff blades with hard outer ply, i have a Goiabao 5.
I played B2 Gold on DHS King 3 and Stiga Dynasty Carbon, both are stiff blades and they felt good
 
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