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6 Reviews for XIOM Vega Def

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Vega DEF black 2mm. Uncut : 71g, heavy but in the average of modern rubbers, less heavy than Victas VS>401 or MX-P! I will continue to compare Vega DEF to Vicats VS>401 since those two rubbers share the same DNA! Super hard sponge, super grippy topsheet, many gears etc. The topsheet presents one of the highest traction on the market for a non-tacky rubber (same as 401, according to Anatomic Edge channel on youtube ). I can confirm that it grips the ball like HELL! In terms of hardness, VDEF feels more elastic despite of its hard sponge and overall it feels less hard than 401.

I prefer by far Xiom Vega DEF over VS>401 because VDEF is just a more powerfull and easy to play rubber. VDEF does not have this inert feeling of 401. However, you can chain chops with VDEF almost as easily as the 401, you need to adjust a little at the beginning but nothing too difficult. It is way easier to me to counter loop, fish and topspin. It is a sort of unique rubber with a direct feeling (hard, but not that hard actually). I guess they called it DEF because it allows defensive shots more than any other recent tensor rubbers, but VDEF remains a tensor with a lovely dynamism and many gears. It reminds me of a perfectly tuned H3 Neo , without this typical chinese stickiness.

Update : Vega DEF is definitely a beast at choping, the underspin and the ease you get from it are awesone! It's almost curious that this rubber allows so consitant and easy chops without sacrifying offensive possibilties... Its dynamism is very cleverly dosed. Is it The Holy Grail ?!
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Upgrading previous review.

I tried this rubber on a different blade (Sword D-Magic 9 ply, hinoki side). My last blade was a custom hinoki 5 ply, which I swapped to H3N, and it works very well.
It has significantly improved qualities on this slower 9-ply. Chopping, attacking, and touch are are all more consistent.
There is a grip problem that is still there.
Sometimes when performing a brush loop or counter-looping, the ball will squeak and not will not catch on the surface. However, I don't believe this is specific to this Xiom rubber.
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It is as advertised. For context, I mostly use tacky slow rubbers, so comparisons are made against DHS H3, Skyline, and other Chinese brands.

* A ton of spin at low speeds, including serves. More than most tacky rubbers.
* Creating more spin at high speeds requires digging into ball.
* Do not try to brush loop with this, always dig a little big into ball.
* Near table chops are not good, angle returned is too low to go over net.
* Touch shots are not great, they frequently go too far or too high.
* Decent at blocking higher speed balls or counter looping.
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Something between Xiom tensors and Victas VS>401.
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Good rubber! It is elastic despite the ultra-hard sponge, which makes it very playable.
I would definetly play this if it were not for the high price and the fact that the topsheet still isn't grippy enough.
If they change topsheet or lower price it will be my new FH weapon.
The funny thing about this is that the harder you hit, the more spin it will make. Technique is only secondary. Even smashes arc down significantly. Due to the elastic hardness, this is actually the fastest and most powerful rubber I have ever played. Ma long loops are now easy again, even with 40+ trash balls in humid conditions. But serving and brushing is not so very good, so I am skeptical for now.
Oh yeah, just don't try to play oldschool chopping defense with it, only maybe far away from table. Just play a drive against enemy hard loop, it will be returned with more spin that the incoming ball haha.
More of a powerful allround rubber, or straight up attacking rubber.

Update: I can get this rubber now cheaper, so I will try to play with it permanently. I call this rubber now Mega Death, because of the massive damage it causes to my opponents. This rubber is no joke. With proper form and good physique, it's gonna completely obliterate your opponents block by the third loop drive. But did you know it can play defense, too? Well, I already forgot about that while loop driving my opponents insane. Anyways, it can do everything, and most of that really well. If I can get 4 months of good performance out of it I will remain loyal to this beast.
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Played max version on Primorac Carbon. Very good match in order to tame the beast. Nice feelling of the T5000 with this rubber. The spin is massive, speed is decent with the possibilty to blast your opponent with powerful strokes. Pushes are low and spinny, chops well but only away to the table. The blade also helps the rubber in offensive, the accuracy of the strokes increased ;overall the control of this combination is great.
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