you must also know one thing - material of top guys isn't exactly the same as the material we get from tt11 or local shops ... even clubs don't get that special material, if they don't have top player(s), sponsored by someone. I was in a club where from time to time, we'd get some candies - that's how I got my beloved Moonbeam, which, back then, was not even available in our region ...
so it is hard to even compare what they have - yes, maybe Timo Boll is playing with Tenergy05, but how is it prepared? is it boosted? how much boosted. and those things affect game.
as for opening question. you have to find the right spot. the right compromise, if you wish. I played table tennis professionally. even though I didn't play for cca. 20 years, my technique is still quite okay (thankfully my dad/coach was a bit of a visionary and also I invested a bit of time into improving/adapting on my own as well since restart). by pure coincidence I realized, I need a tacky rubber for good serve. I don't need a tacky rubber to create crazy spiny loops, but it sure does help. now, I am currently playing with hard(er) hybrid rubber on FH and soft hybrid rubber on BH, both discovered due to my sickness called EJ (Hi, my name is Jure and I am an Equipment Junkie), and realized that, yes, Omega China Guang is a hell of a rubber but probably a bit too demanding for the level of table tennis I am currently playing (I should play more to really exploit this rubber to 100%). yes, I can block blindfolded with it, yes, I can serve much better with it, yes, opening loops are crazy spiny. but during gameplay, eventhough I am not missing many hits due to rubber, not at all - it just wears me out. it kills me, because I have to be so much more precise, have to hit the ball properly and from there it is just a dominoe effect. so, probably, I will destroy this FH rubber with some more playing (also testing for how durable it is, hopefully it won't destroy me first) and then switch to softer (not as soft as backhand rubber) rubber, just to the comfort of play.
and probably that is what Timo did as well.