Metal Ball Base
Weight: 8.4g plus up to six 1/4" Metal Balls (1.05g each)
4 Layer System base with built in Right SG
Tip is a somewhat shallow, slightly rounded off Sharp tip. This becomes more rounded with wear.
Generally a fresh tip is acceptable albeit with some issues regaining balance when destabilised.
With wear to a more rounded shape, stability of the tip, as well as defensive ability, tends to improve slightly, resulting in more suitable performance for the Compact customisations the Blade Base is used in.
Gimmick is slots for metal balls, it comes with two. These are intended to roll outwards due to centripetal motion when the Base is spinning quickly, increasing stability, and then rolling inwards as this reduces to retain RPM more effectively. However, the gimmick has little effect overall (in fact, it doesn't even function very well as the shallow slope of the pockets mean the balls only require very minimal rotational velocity to remain in the outward position), and usually it is better to trade it off for the additional weight of extra metal balls.
Unable to use a Heavy Metal Core, however the Metal Balls compensate for this deficiency,
Good stamina and balance.
Tip Shape allows it to avoid scraping even at sharp angles allowing good precession, more than compensating for the rather mediocre shape of the base, resulting in solid stamina for a compact Blade Base.
Metal Change tipped bases catch the tornado ridge better, so Customize Metal Change Base in particular tends to be more defensively capable, but Metal Ball Base has a significant advantage in being more passive thus less likely to collide at the tornado ridge (which gives less breathing room to survive hits).
Overall very good for compacts, generally being a reliable performer all-around.
Consistency of movement and performance and decent defense also makes it one of the more useful Blade Bases for testing against.
Ball Configurations:
Metal Ball Base has 6 Legal Slots for Balls, allowing for use of up to 6 1/4" Metal Balls.
Up to two balls may be placed in each pocket, and an additional two in the slots on the underside of the BB.
Generally, it is best to fill out the pockets first and lastly the two slots at the bottom - as the weight distribution is already compact, there is little to benefit by loading up the centre of the weight distribution first and it does have an impact on Stamina.
With 4 Balls, Metal Ball Base is 1g lighter than Metal Change Base with a Heavy Metal Core, with 6 Balls, it is 1g heavier.
While performance increases moving upwards from 0 to 4 Balls, a noticeable amount of stamina is traded off moving from 4 Balls to 6 Balls due to weight distribution, thus both 4 and 6 Balls are considered two separate but equal configurations.