BBA Balancer
Late G-Revolution red recolour of Galeon with special BBA stickers.
Weight: 5.0g total
Small two part Attack Ring, both parts are of similar shape, the Free Spinning Sub Ring is designed to disperse force from impacts.
Due to their thin construction, both parts are rather fragile, which is a bad property for an Attack Ring that is used for Defense Types, as they have to absorb most of the force of collisions with opponents (rather than the energy being dispersed by the Beyblade moving away when hit).
Weight: 3.7g
Small AR with relatively low recoil in either direction.
However, the general oval shape formed by the small size of the wings of the AR means it is somewhat easier to land hard hits on than Tiger Defenser, for example, which acts against the low recoil of its contact points to a small extent. However, it is still an excellent defensive choice and takes hits very well.
Generally the best Right-Spin Core AR for use with any defensive SAR due to its low recoil, and a fantastic option in Left Spin though there it faces competition from Hasbro's version of Twin Horn and War Monkey.
With War Lion SAR:
A slightly less aggressive alternative to Tiger Defenser, with marginally more defense when used with WDs other than Wide Defense or Wide Survivor (which obstruct access to Tiger Defenser's contact points, and in Right Spin this means Tiger Defenser's better weight distribution gives it an edge over War Lion).
The lack of Upper Attack slopes or any effective Smash Attack means compacts using it are generally less versatile than their Tiger Defenser-sporting counterparts.
A notable advantage over Tiger Defenser is that War Lion doesn't have much recoil in Left Spin, whereas Tiger Defenser, while by no means high recoil, does perform noticeably worse in this direction. However, alternatives such as Hasbro's and Takara's Twin Horn ARs and Scissor Attacker are also available, and often perform slightly better.
In general, very useful for Compacts, Zombies and all types of Defense Customs.
With Dragon Saucer SAR:
War Lion also sees use with Dragon Saucer's SAR, where its well balanced weight distribution and small size works well with the general properties of the Sub Ring to make an Attack Ring suitable for Defense and Stamina types. Such setups do suffer more from vertical interference, but it is nonetheless a good choice, and the best choice for the SAR in Right Spin as well as an excellent one in Left.
With War Monkey SAR:
War Monkey SAR performs similarly to War Lion SAR here, mostly being useful if one breaks their SAR. It provides a larger free spinning area, but slightly more recoil in Right Spin.
Overall this is an effective setup, and again the best Right-Spin choice for the SAR.
With Screw Zeus:
War Lion can also be used to fix Screw Zeus in place in either spin direction, however the SAR can come loose, and the aggressive nature of Screw Zeus can present a breakage risk.
For pure smash, it adds nothing to Screw Zeus's Attack ability and thus is outclassed by more aggressive Core ARs such as Great Dragon and Dragon Breaker,
For Traditional Upper Attack, it is one of two ARs which effectively expose Screw Zeus' slopes for this, though the slightly less effective but less risky War Monkey is likely a better choice.
Weight: 1.3g
Small profile and low recoil make it useful with just about anything that is capable of holding a Sub AR.
However, this small profile notably makes it less useful on Gyro Engine Gear combinations, which prefer more surface area in their Sub-ARs.
With Defensive ARs:
The low recoil and minor defensive bonus offered by War Lion SAR are its main selling points.
However due to gaps it leaves between the AR and WD, it can also be a liability by allowing thin Attack Rings at similar heights to catch between the two to deliver explosive KOs.
Dragon Saucer SAR does not suffer from this and offers more significant defense against Smash Attack and situational strengths and weaknesses that should be weighed up by the user based on their local metagame, primarily greater issues with vertical hits.
It also faces competition with War Monkey, which provides more coverage area in Left Spin, though War Lion has lower recoil in Right Spin.
With Aggressive ARs:
The purpose of using War Lion SAR with aggressive Attack Rings is to fulfil the legality requirement of using an SAR if a slot is available without obstructing the contact points of the Attack Ring.
Primary competitive use is with Dragon Breaker and Great Dragon which are very competitive with their contact points exposed, however it can even be used with Dark Wing as a backup should its more suitable stock SAR be lost.
With SG Wing Base:
The small size of War Lion SAR makes it an ideal choice for SG Wing Base, again it is serving the role of filling a required slot without getting in the way (in this case by scraping or causing recoil).
Decent, but the Base itself still scrapes and is outclassed as a result.
Weight (Regular Mold): 15.3g
Weight (Indent Mold): 15.5g
Generally outclassed by Ten Heavy for all purposes, being suited to the exact same combinations but being lighter. Heavy Attack is also superior on combinations which protect it from contact.
Eight Heavy can successfully be used in Compact Customizations, being slightly heavier on average than Heavy, with slightly lower WD recoil, however Ten Heavy is still a superior choice.
Takara and Sono Kong Eight Heavy Weight Disks have a shallow indentation on one side around the centre of the Weight Disk, as well as sharper edges. There is only a minor weight difference between the Takara and Hasbro molds and as such they perform practically identically, though SonoKong WD's are lighter due to smaller size (which also means they don't fit well on standard SGs). Takara may have used the Hasbro mold in later production, particularly once production moved to China.
Fairly competitive in Compacts and Traditional Upper Attack and a backup choice for Weight Defense, Semi Flat Base Stamina Combos and Force Smash. Usable for Driger V2 Combos but aside from the Driger V2 (Hasbro Magnacore Version) the stock Weight Disk is outright superior.
Spin Gear: Right Spin Gear
Note: BBA Balancer does not include a Metal Weight Gear
Weight: 1.1g each (Shells)
Standard SG System Shells.
Incompatible with Neo Cores, and thus certain MagneSystem Blade Bases, though Wyborg's SG (Auto Change Version) SG Core Part can be used to allow use with some.`
Generally Neo Shells are preferred for their greater compatibility, mostly their ability to use Neo Cores. For Right Spin, this is particularly relevant with the Heavy Metal Core.
Generally uses a Metal Weight Gear with all compatible SG Cores. This gear helps reduce wobbling/rattling and adds a small amount of weight. It does not, however, work as a gear in any capacity.
Nonetheless, per BBA Survivor, BBA Attacker, BBA Defenser and BBA Balancer having Regular SGs but no Metal Weight Gear, it is not required for legality.
This allows Right Spin Gear Shells to produce the lightest SG setup in the game when using SG (Auto Change Version) and no metal Weight Gear.
Note: The correct name for this part is "Gear" however this name is commonly used to avoid confusion with the Metal Weight Gear in standard SGs.
Weight: 0.61g
Small core part to fit into the Base and be clipped to by the Base Clips, holding the Beyblade together. Also used as a ripcord gear by Bearing Gyros Beyblades.
The plastic part is the second lightest of all Core parts, being just slightly heavier than Wyborg's SG (Auto Change Version) core part.
Incompatible with certain MagneSystem Blade Bases as the tip shafts are too wide for the hole in its base.
With Neo SG Shells, it creates one of the lightest setups, making for what is theoretically the best SG for most attack types not requiring a Neo core or their own shafts, though the difference is generally theoretical only, due to the minimal weight difference, and often going heavier is better for rotational recoil control.
Useful for completely optimizing a Spiral Change Base zombie (which are the only competitive stamina types that do not require a gimmicked SG), as cores are not useful for recoil control due to its low friction and the lighter weight in the centre slightly improves survival. Technically SG (Auto Change Version) may be superior as it does fit, but the difference is likely to be too small to measure.
Weight: 4.7g
SG version of Semi-Flat Base.
Tip is slightly differently angled from Semi-Flat Base, being more shallow. Wears quite quickly.
Semi flat tip is nice, being predictable and not difficult to use, but Metal Change Base has better attack, defense, and survival, while Metal Ball Base once worn has a similar but more effective tip shape due to better precession.
It is generally outperformed as a result of these factors.
In addition, Metal Ball Base with Six Metal Balls has a similarly well-behaved tip but 1g more weight.
Nonetheless, it is a competitive part for Compact Customizations as it does work well and they remain competitive using it - just perhaps slightly less capable than with alternatives.
Overall
While War Lion alone makes BBA Balancer a worthy purchase for any blader, one should consider the many alternatives before making up their mind. Driger S in particular should be given some thought as it comes with a more competitive Blade Base, evenly matched (and marginally less fragile) Attack Ring and identical WD and SG, and can usually be found at a slightly cheaper price. Obviously Galeon also exists, being mostly the same Beyblade and generally cheaper. Overall, BBA Balancer is a good purchase but not a must have, and players looking for War Lion are generally better off looking at Galeon itself.