OOAK Table Tennis Forum

It seems Sauer & Tröger has presented the pimp novelty for the season 2020/ 2021 : Hellfire X.Now the Ej experience has come to life !! .

The first question will be about durability.This LP at 39.90€ is expensive but hey, quality + durability works.Let's see what happens

https://sauer-troeger.com/en/hellfire-x ... +Marketing

The perfect balance of speed, control, disturbing effect and spin development is the heart of the long pimple. .....

but ofcourse !!!

The original Hellfire was very good and had many good characteristics. There were many users.
I wonder how the new Hellfire compares, especially the ox version.
The blade is also an important factor. I play with the sauer and troger Zeus blade and this was perfect.

What does Sebastien allude to when he says OX versions will play very different to sponge versions

Is the sponge likely to be a dampening sponge i,e will thicker sponge versions slow the ball down or allow more attacking play like DtecS.

I am looking for more grippy equivalent of DTecS 0.9mm/1.2mm for playing almost MP style

So what are your specs? An MP rubber with a bit of friction with an ESN/Tensor sponge that’s at the same time not spin sensitive? My bet is that it won’t happen.

I tried the original Hellfire with 0.9 sponge. It had a dampening effect and it was too slow for me. I had to put in a great deal of effort to return the ball back over the net.
The ox version was easier for me to return the ball, when playing passively or actively. There was also more effect when playing with the ox version.

Dammit I thought my EJ'ing days were over but since I've been playing with Hellfire for over a year I guess I'll have to try it to see what the difference is.

_________________
2. S&T Black & White / Armstrong SH-I 1.8 / TSP Curl P3 Alpha R OX

Has anyone tried this rubber yet?

_________________
I. Re-Impact Tachi Plus 2019; FH: Nittaku FastArc G-1 1.4mm; BH: Saviga 77 Monster OX
II. Re-Impact Turbo; FH: Spinlord Sandwind 1.5mm; BH: DMS Kamikaze OX
III. Re-Impact Smart; FH: TSP Spinpips RED 2.1mm; BH: Dr. Neubauer Gangster OX
IV. Sauer & Troger Firestarter; FH: Spinlord Waran 1.8mm; BH: Giant Dragon Snowflake OX

Not yet. Have ordered a sheet.

_________________
2. S&T Black & White / Armstrong SH-I 1.8 / TSP Curl P3 Alpha R OX

Had an opportunity to try the Hellfire X in OX yesterday. Seems promising. Pips are hard, long, thin and widely spaced.

On passive blocks, the ball comes up a bit higher than I would like and the spin reversal is okay but not nearly as good as with the Saviga 77 Monster I'm using, but with the Hellfire X, active chop-blocks are super easy and consistent, and then the ball stays low and has more backspin, of course. The great thing about blocking with the Hellfire is that balls just have a way of staying on the table, so that even if I had to scramble to do a quick chicken-wing block on my forehand side, it tended to stay on. As long as you're in the right general range, it's not super sensitive to blade angle.

Attacking is super easy with this rubber. Again, everything stays on the table. Attacks aren't quite as dangerous as with the softer, lower-friction pips of the Saviga 77 Monster, but the difference is that with the Hellfire you can hit OR graze, which gives you more margin for error (meaning, you don't always need to wait until the ball is above net height to attack it).

Chopping seems like a weakness from a first impression. There's no margin for error. A little off one way or the other, and the ball goes into the net or sails long. When it did land, backspin seemed good.

I didn't notice any of the sensitivity to underspin you get with some pips, such as the Bomb Talent.

The rubber is medium speed, slower than the Saviga but faster than something like the Death Metal or Troublemaker. But with the right contact, it's easy to drop the ball short or drive it fast.

Overall, I think that if you're using this rubber for blocking (not chopping) and hitting, it's very forgiving and decently effective, especially if you can mix passive and active blocks and do a mix of taking the ball late and taking it off the bounce. Will see if my impressions change next time I have a chance to give it a go.

_________________
I. Re-Impact Tachi Plus 2019; FH: Nittaku FastArc G-1 1.4mm; BH: Saviga 77 Monster OX
II. Re-Impact Turbo; FH: Spinlord Sandwind 1.5mm; BH: DMS Kamikaze OX
III. Re-Impact Smart; FH: TSP Spinpips RED 2.1mm; BH: Dr. Neubauer Gangster OX
IV. Sauer & Troger Firestarter; FH: Spinlord Waran 1.8mm; BH: Giant Dragon Snowflake OX

Hi TT Thank you for the first impression of this novelty pips. What blade you where using in your first test? I had a chance a brief hit with Hellfire X
on Sauer & Troger new blade Unicorn which really harmonizes with this pip. I can confirm most of your findings. Only passive block I found a bit different from
your test. It was well controlled and flat so it did not pop up. In addition I was able to block topspin short. I think the difference was made by the blade.
The outer ply of Unicorn is made of a hard wood Mansonia (Yanka hardness - 1290). Other good side of this blade is a short and fiat rebound. I found this combo (a forehand rubber was DHS Skyline 3 -60 Medium hard 2.15mm) very promising for all type of pip shots and without weaknesses.

I tried it on the ReImpact Tachi Plus 2019. I'm not suggesting that it quite popped up on passive blocks, just that it stayed a bit higher than I would like and than it stays with some other pips. Could certainly be the combination with my blade, sure.

_________________
I. Re-Impact Tachi Plus 2019; FH: Nittaku FastArc G-1 1.4mm; BH: Saviga 77 Monster OX
II. Re-Impact Turbo; FH: Spinlord Sandwind 1.5mm; BH: DMS Kamikaze OX
III. Re-Impact Smart; FH: TSP Spinpips RED 2.1mm; BH: Dr. Neubauer Gangster OX
IV. Sauer & Troger Firestarter; FH: Spinlord Waran 1.8mm; BH: Giant Dragon Snowflake OX

The above description of Hellfire X is a good reflection of the properties of this novelty pip.
I prepared to sign it after my second about 2.5 Hours test of the Hellfire X.
During the celluloid ball era I was a very successful user of Sauer & Troger bestseller - Hellfire OX for a while.
Even won a National title in my age category by playing with it.
I think they produced another remarkable long pimpled rubber without weaknesses.

I do not think that the Tachi Plus is suitable for this rubber. I tried the original Hellfire in ox and also Troublemaker ox on this blade and found that it was too fast and had less control than when I was using my Zeus blade.
Perhaps the unicorn blade is better suited for Hellfire X.

When you used the original Hellfire in ox during the celluloid era, which blade did you use?
I had the Hellfire on the Zeus blade and this worked very well.
I wonder how the Unicorn compares with the Zeus. Both are produced by the same people.