I currently have a Lock for oil and a Ride for dry. Been using my IQ Tour and my IQ Tour Nano for medium conditions. Both balls have tons of games on them. Looking to replace both IQ's. I would not be against switching to a different company if I can find a true benchmark ball. I also can just buy a new IQ Tour and Nano but thought I would see what you guys are using today as your benchmark ball. Black Ops or the IQ -30 are a few of the balls I have in mind. I also thought about buying another Lock and polishing it up to use as my benchmark ball. Tournament time around the corner so I want to get my arsenal in shape before then. Thanks

I don't know how you throw the ball but I wouldn't consider the Lock a benchmark ball for most people. I'd say the IQ Tour Solid, Gamebreaker 2, Venom Shock, Legion Solid, or Black Ops (with a surface change).

My ball speed is 15.5 with a medium rev rate.  A game is playing out . That is why I like the Ride so much. I am looking for 2 new balls to fit between my Lock and the Ride.

External Cell looks like a nice ball to start the night out with. Anybody use one for their benchmark?

My ball speed is 15.5 with a medium rev rate.  A game is playing out . That is why I like the Ride so much. I am looking for 2 new balls to fit between my Lock and the Ride.

Is that ball speed at the pins or the heads?

External Cell looks like a nice ball to start the night out with. Anybody use one for their benchmark?

While it's polished, it is a solid and it is a stronger asymmetric. That CAN make it problematic when drilling it. Your driller needs to be more knowledgeable than the average driller I know, to do it correctly. He has to know your style almost personally also.
That said, one COULD drill and prepare the surface of the EC to fill both roles you want.

The only problem with most stronger asymmetrics that most people don't realize is that while they can be drilled to have many ball reactions, once drilled that reaction is almost fixed. You should always throw that ball with the release from which the driller got your release delivery specs. This is because ll those specs are USUALLY necessary to drill the ball correctly for you. Once you use that ball with another release, you USUALLY change one of more of those release/delivery factors. That will make the ball react differently.

(FYI by stronger asymmetrics, I mean those with higher MB strengths. Many asymmetrics now have MB strengths (also called intermediate differential) closer to the minimum to be taken into consideration,.008", according to Mo Pinel, the asymmetric core guru. Many are in the .009" - .015" range. Of course once drilled, that number USUALLY goes up.)

External Cell looks like a nice ball to start the night out with. Anybody use one for their benchmark?

For the last year and change, I have been using the Hyper Cell Skid, which has the same core and same hook potential as the Eternal Cell (but different hook shape) as my benchmark ball.  It is one of my favorite balls of all time. 

If you want to stay Storm/Roto the following would be a good arsenal for various conditions:

Lock - hook monster
Eternal Cell - polished solid for length and backend pop
IQ Tour - smooth solid
Ride - dry

From this you might be missing a pearl that's a little stronger than the Ride.  Maybe swap out the IQ Tour Solid and go with the IQ Tour Pearl.  Depends on what's more important to you.

The best benchmark ball I have thrown since my Ransom Demand is the DV8 Deviant.  It is a ball with predictable motion.  I have thrown it on med to med/heavy conditions with success.  I was able to tame an over/under condition with it as well.  If you want your benchmark ball to be versatile on a variety of conditions and be predictable then I would highly recommend the Deviant.