Guy that works for me throws strictly Motiv products. In talking with him and watching him, I would recommend the Tag or the Apex. I have not had any issues with all of the Tags I have sold, but talking to one of my distributors, I guess they have had some cracking issues with the Tag. Hopefully it has been addressed or was just a batch that was having issues.

Not much love for the Panic? I would think that would be the best step down from Redline considering they are both pearls.

I'd look at the Graffiti Tag or Ascent.  Those balls will handle lighter oil pretty well and give you a different overall shape.  One other option that some people overlook is the Tribal Fire.  That ball is a hybrid but it also fits the bill.  In my case on lighter oil, I like that the Tribal Fire will read the mids a little earlier compared to the Tag/Ascent but still has more than enough punch in back.  Plus, the lightbulb style cores have always worked well with my game and this is no exception.

Guy that works for me throws strictly Motiv products. In talking with him and watching him, I would recommend the Tag or the Apex. I have not had any issues with all of the Tags I have sold, but talking to one of my distributors, I guess they have had some cracking issues with the Tag. Hopefully it has been addressed or was just a batch that was having issues.

I think it was the first batches, mine cracked and got it a couple days after it was released, got a new one and the reaction ain't the same at all its still unique since nothing in my arsenal does the same but it is not as strong as the cracked one

Here we go again!

As for a step down, it will depend on how big a jump you are comfortable with.  Jumping to the Tag is a bigger jump than the Panic or the Tribal Fire.  For THS I can see the Tag being a good step down. 

However, for conditions where you don't want as big a jump, having either the Panic or Tribal Fire (Panic being a tad smoother) might be better.  Then from there you can go down again to the Tag and/or Ascent Apex. 

As for a step up, are you looking for the same shape but stronger, or a ball to start with then transition to the Redline?  Early reports have the Redline being a bit more angular than expected.  So same shape but stronger could be the Remix or, with an adjustment of the cover, the Vengeance.  If you want a ball to start with, either the Covert Revolt/Revolt Havoc (stronger) or the Forza (relatively same strength as Redline) could be used.

A lot of ball selection up/down depends a lot on how you plan to attack the shot in question.  Once you have a plan, selecting a ball should be easier.

I drilled my redline 65x5.5x35 because after watching numerous videos of justin reviewing many of the balls it also seems that when he has that layout he says it's great for higher Rev players. With my slower ball speed (16) and higher Rev rate I always struggled with things hooking too much too early