Las time I saw anything related to any "ball death" with an Ebonite was with the Mission X and the Pursuit series. After that, they went back to the lab to figure out what to do about it.
Since then, the Ebonite balls I've used, the Challenge and Pivot, have been solid. I only recently swapped out the Pivot for a pair of strong Solids in the Warrior Supreme and Scandal, and brought in the Gamebreaker MVP for the hybrid. Scandal Pearl and Mission Unknown are going to round out the bag, with casting an interested eye in the Maverick.
BL.