I was bowling on a medium condition in league this morning when, to my surprise, I realized that the team we were bowling against were using these pieces:
1. Black Widow Venom
2. RG HyperCell
3. RG Totally Defiant
4. Storm Virtual Gravity(matte surface)
Upon seeing this I immediately put my solids away and went to a weak pearl piece. I abandoned my swing shot, and moved as far right as I possibly could, away from them. My observations are.......YES, the Hyper Cell is a strong piece!! So is the Defiant but more useable on this shot. And YES, the VG is STILL strong as hell, and definitely not needed on this condition, with that surface!!
These guys completely tore up the pattern, especially the middle of the lane. It was ridiculous. I tried for two frames to get a read on a small swing shot, only to have my ball literally die at the pocket once; and jump left by two to three boards one other time, as I missed an easy spare. They had good games early but struggled to even reach the pocket by the third game.
The Totally Defiant seems like a piece I might be able to play with, with surface changes. It definitely snaps on the backend when they dry out, but is otherwise strong and useable, with the right amount of oil.
The Hyper Cell is strong.....hits hard......needs oil. This guy was a fluffer but this ball still screamed....."give me oil!!"
I'm glad I stayed away from them, and managed a reasonable set. They still tore the pattern up so bad I only managed one strike my third game. The rest of my frames were all 9/ or 8/'s !! Unbelievable.