If we talk about the hottest blades today, Butterfly’s VISCARIA is definitely at the top of the list, and its structure (Kou head face + external ALC blue carbon + Ayus transition layer + Kiri wood core) is a generation classic (hereinafter referred to as VIS structure). Not only did Butterfly fine-tune this structure, but also developed a series of “nesting” products, such as Ball Spirit, Ball ALC, Zhang Jike ALC, and Lin Gaoyuan ALC. Other brands have also developed their own unique baseplates with reference to this structure, making the VIS structure baseplate family growing and occupying half of the mainstream baseplate market.
The following are a few good similar structured blades that I have come across in the past two years, and I recommend them to you.
Butterfly Viscaria
As the originator of VIS structured blades, we still need to review its performance characteristics and use it as a reference coordinate for VIS structured baseboard performance. The Kou head surface material and external blue carbon ALC brings a hard and crisp hitting feedback feel, fast off the board, good borrowing power and easy to speed up, tung wood core is transparent and easy to control, the overall support is stable, the power is linear, and the feel is true. It has good speed on the near table and high quality after full power on the back table.
The above features make VISCARIA well suited to the technical characteristics of table tennis in the new material 40+ era, with outstanding features and no obvious loopholes, from the national team main level to amateurs, have a large number of fans. Of course, the disadvantages of Viscaria are also obvious: the forehand is woody and not very compatible with domestic sticky sets, and it is not very easy to create arcs after retreating from the table, and easy to get off the net. Overall, this is a very high ceiling but the lower limit is not low.
Yasaka Alnade
This soleplate was once endorsed by Liang Jing Kun, the main player of the country, so players also call it “Big Fat Carbon”. The base plate is an imitation of the VIS structure, but the outer fiber layer has been changed from blue carbon ALC to Kevlar carbon, and from the side of the base plate, I personally think that the transition layer (force material) of the Big Fat Carbon appears to have been charcoal-burned. Some users said that the core of this baseplate was thickened by 0.2mm, but I compared it with my friend’s vis baseplate, and I could not see any thickness difference from the naked eye. The thickness of the base plate is 5.8mm, which is the same as that of VIS.
The difference between the performance of the Big Fat Carbon and the VIS in the middle and near the table is very small, at least 90% similar. The biggest difference lies in the feel, butterfly and Yassaka feel is still quite different, but the feel of this metaphysics is always in the eye of each flower ……VIS faster off the board, the arc is longer, more pressure, but there is a higher demand for power concentration; big fat carbon more ball holding, the arc is relatively fuller, better forgiveness rate, the threshold for use is lower. The threshold of use is lower. When you step back to the middle and far table, the VIS is more solid and counted, while the big fat carbon requires more active power and control of the arc.
Overall, if your ideal base plate is VIS, then Big Fat Carbon is a very suitable base plate for the transition period.
Donic Zhou Yu 3
The Donick Zhouyu 3 is exactly the same structure as the VIS but has been fine-tuned in several aspects. Firstly, the surface has been enlarged. The large surface brings two benefits: firstly, the sweet spot has been increased accordingly, and secondly, the overall deformation ability of the soleplate has been increased. Secondly, the thickness has been reduced, the average thickness is about 5.5mm, which is easier to penetrate than VIS, and the killing power is also reduced, but after all, it is an external carbon fiber base plate, and it can score points after full power. Finally, in order to balance the overall softening of the board by increasing the surface and decreasing the thickness, the ALC layer of the Zhou Yu 3 is slightly thicker than the VIS to strengthen the support of the board, but this has the negative effect of blurring the feel.
It is difficult to compare with the VIS in terms of single-board damage, but the outstanding thing is the good forgiveness rate and table rate, for amateur players, as long as one more board is on the table, it can greatly improve the winning rate. Personally, I would recommend this baseboard for straight players.
Galaxy PRO 01
Galaxy recently launched a new product, which is the king of the VIS structure baseboard in terms of cost performance at this price point. In the past few years, Galaxy’s external fiber baseplate has been criticized by golfers. However, Galaxy has not given up the research and development in the field of fiber baseplates, firstly, it has gained a good reputation in the built-in fiber baseplate, and then it has made a breakthrough in the board making technology recently, and the PRO 01 has completely broken the inherent impression of Galaxy external fiber baseplate among players.
The PRO 01 has a softer feel than the VIS, is slightly inferior to the VIS in terms of speed, but has a better shape-shifting ability, has a stronger spin than the VIS, and is significantly more compatible with the domestic sticky set than the VIS, whether it is paired with a sticky set or an astringent set. The balance between attack and defense is very good. If I had to say the disadvantages, the upper limit of this board is still not as good as VIS, but for this price, what bike do you need?
DHS 506X
The 506X is a completely different structure from the 506 series of blades, from a large core of seven clips of pure wood to the 5+2 structure of the VIS. On the one hand, I can only marvel at Red’s capriciousness in naming the baseplate, but on the other hand, it also shows Red Double Happiness’ confidence in this baseplate.
The 506X has a very fast release speed, I feel that it even surpasses the VIS, the speed is very strong, and with Reddish’s own sticky rubber, it can avoid the “out of control” situation. The speed is very strong, and with Reddish’s own sticky rubber, it can avoid the “out of control” situation. It is a very powerful soleplate, and it is not weak at all, and it also continues the usual surging feel of Red Double Happiness, which makes people have the desire to attack to the end.
If the Galaxy PRO 01 in the same price range is the knight of both offense and defense, then the Red Double Happiness 506X is the berserker of offense. This is a style very different from the traditional VIS structure of the baseboard, with strong offensive and weak characteristics at a glance, very much in line with the “violent style of play” needs.
Butterfly’s own set of products
If your pocket is not bad money, from the butterfly’s own set of products to choose the closest to the VIS product is the lowest difficulty factor approach. Limited space, only give a one-sentence review.
Ball Spirit: spin-enhanced VIS (the overall shape is large, but the support is weak, in the big ball era more like the arc plate)
Ball ALC: Flexibility enhanced VIS (improved speed, best with butterfly rubbers)
Zhang Jike ALC: forehand improved VIS (forehand compatible with sticky set)
Lin GaoYuan ALC: arc improvement VIS (compatible with sticky set and fuller arc, but single-board killing power and penetrating power is reduced)