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.
