I recently bought a Sigma Sting and a Tribal Fire looking for a good 1-2 combo for medium and for medium/light oil conditions. I was looking for smooth, predictable balls, with a moderate motion and a delayed hook shape, and since in the Motiv website they are listed as moderate and with a delayed hook, I decided to buy them.

The thing is, I started asking in forums about wether these balls can be a good complement or not, and for the most part I was told that the Fire is almost as strong as the Sting, and most of the people suggested me getting a Venom Shock or an original Tribal so they will be better complement to my Sigma Sting.

I bought the Tribal Fire from bowlerstore.com and they agreed to exchange the ball but I will have to pay $17 for shipping plus a 15% restocking fee, which I found a little expensive, but at the end of the day it is not their fault.

I decided to call Motiv customer service and a really nice lady talked with me, apologized for the issue and offered me to exchange the ball for no charge (The Tribal Fire is still undrilled).

I will take the weekend to watch videos about the bowling balls that I'm thinking might suit my game, and on monday I will go with my bowling coach so we can decide together which ball will be the one I'll be getting.

I just wanted to post this because most of the times we just post to complain about how the companies are, about bad customer services, and I believe that companies deserve to be recognized when they do things right.

Kudos to Motiv!

By the way, I'm between the Venom Shock and the original Tribal... Thoughts? 

I believe everyone needs a venom shock, but you will get more separation between balls with a Tribal...

I've been reading of how a great ball the Venom Shock is, is that more versatile that the original Tribal? Also I mentioned to my coach about the Nationals pattern and he told me that I won't need a ball like the Guru, Jackal, etc, but something more of the likes of the Venom Shock and that reminded me about something you posted earlier. He didn't explained why because he was leaving the alley, but since you said the same I thought you might be able to explain to me why 

The Nationals Pattern is never heavy oil, its a always in the medium oil range and its just flat compared to a THS. A big oil ball will usually beat up the shot and make it harder. A Venom Shock or Covert Revolt to me would be good balls...Covert being a bit stronger....I think the Venom Shock is a great ball and will be in my El Paso bag for sure.....Smoother reacting mid to mid high performance solids have always worked well for me at Nationals...The Venom Shock is also stronger than advertised, but very versatile for me...If you were just going for over all, I would do a Tribal like I said earlier because it will give you more separation in strength and shape

I have the Sigma Sting, Venom Shock and both Tribals(and pretty much every other ball Motiv has made, yes it's a sickness ). I have great results with the original Tribal as a step down from the Sigma Sting both the sand one and the polished one. Since you have the Sting, I would get the Tribal. The Venom Shock is a great ball, but the Sting and Tribal give you more defined shot shapes between them Sting is a low rg ball and the Tribal is a med to high rg ball. They make a great pair.

The Nationals Pattern is never heavy oil, its a always in the medium oil range and its just flat compared to a THS. A big oil ball will usually beat up the shot and make it harder. A Venom Shock or Covert Revolt to me would be good balls...Covert being a bit stronger....I think the Venom Shock is a great ball and will be in my El Paso bag for sure.....Smoother reacting mid to mid high performance solids have always worked well for me at Nationals...The Venom Shock is also stronger than advertised, but very versatile for me...If you were just going for over all, I would do a Tribal like I said earlier because it will give you more separation in strength and shape

Yesterday I read all the reviews about the Venom Shock and the Tribal. From what I read, it looks like the best 1-2 available for THS and other patterns are either the Covert Revolt with the Venom Shock or the Primal Rage with the Tribal since both have the same shot shape and the same motion, correct? If it is, where does the Sigma Sting stands? I read that the Sigma Sting is a great benchmark ball, very versatile, etc... But where does the Sting stands between the Revolt and the Rage? Unfortunately I'm so confused now that I don't know what ball to keep and what ball to exchange, since the Tribal Fire is almost the same as the Sting I will change it for either the Shock or the Tribal, but how about the Sting? Should I keep it? Or should I exchange it for a Covert or for a Rage? I was looking for the Sigma as my to go ball and the Tribal or the Venom for when the lanes start to break down.

And another question, what makes a better 1-2? Something like the Revolt-Venom with same the shot shape or something like the Revolt-Tribal or Rage-Venom so they can complement each other since they are completely different?