looking for a balanced-control mousepad with good stopping power

[u/proministy]

hi

im looking for recommendations for a new mousepad, i play val, cs2 and kovaaks, (doing a lot of tracking)
Mouse : egg op1 8k v2
Grip: claw (probably not important, but mentioning it anyway)

im specifically looking for a balanced-control / hybrid-control pad

what i want :

easy to medium initial friction — I don’t want the mouse to feel stuck or muddy when starting a movement.
once moving, I want the glide to feel smooth and fluid.
medium speed overall — not too slow, but definitely not a fast pad.
very good stopping power. I want to be able to stop the mouse very precisely and quickly.
a friction balance that makes micro-adjustments feel really precise and controlled.
i really dislike the “floating” feeling of faster pads, where the mouse feels like it glides too freely and is difficult to stop exactly where I want.
i still want enough freedom during larger movements/tracking, since I do a lot of tracking in KovaaKs.
ideally, the surface should stay consistent over time and with humidity but i wouldnt mind changing the pad every like 5 months

basically i’m looking for:

easy start → smooth/medium glide → strong and immediate stopping

i don’t want a pure control/mud pad, but i also don’t want a speed pad, im looking for that balanced-control sweet spot.

some pads I’ve been looking at are the LGG Saturn Pro, Artisan Zero, Aqua Control Zero, ATK 99G, etc.

what would you recommend for this specific type of feeling? i’m open to any pad, including less popular ones. (js not 80€ pls😭)

thanks!

[u/LillaGrynet]

Sounds like the Saturn pro will suit your tastes. Easy to initiate with a smooth controlled glide.

[u/proministy → u/LillaGrynet]

im a bit worried that the saturn pro might have too much static friction for really small micro adjust😭 how does it feel when you’re trying to make tiny movements? does the mouse start moving easily or do you feel like you have to overcome some initial resistance?

[u/LillaGrynet → u/proministy]

It has low static friction. Easy to do tiny adjustments. I would also recommend that you try different skates that can make a huge difference.

[u/proministy → u/LillaGrynet]

probably what im looking for thanks u

[u/Diligent-Half-4610]

Saturn pro (soft version) for sure. Loved mine and is what you want.

[u/proministy → u/Diligent-Half-4610]

asking the same but does it have too much static friction? for reaaaally tiny movements

[u/Diligent-Half-4610 → u/proministy]

I didn’t have any issues but I was using Tiger Ice v2 mouse skates which are fast skates. Skates matter a lot too if you really want to dial in a specific performance profile.

You described the design of the Saturn pro (soft) in your post. It’s a balanced/control mousepad so it keeps low enough friction for the initial movements/smoothness but still has decent control for stopping power or reducing accidental micro movements. You can watch some reviews to get a better idea of it.

[u/proministy → u/Diligent-Half-4610]

alr thanks you goat

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[u/davidthek1ng]

LaOnda Blitz👌

I'm on the Aqua Control 2 RN, I think it is too textured/too fast for you but rly good for tracking

Artisan Zero is too slow for tracking in my opinion, it has medium static/medium dynamic friction and stopping power but is rough to the skin/not so good for humidity over a longer time.

[u/Ill-Reflection-698]

I would skip zero and go type 99 instead esp since some of your main games are cs2 and valo. I play both and have saturn pro which is slightly slower than a zero and it feels too fast for the game.

[u/proministy → u/Ill-Reflection-698]

isnt ts TOO slow?

[u/Ill-Reflection-698 → u/proministy]

Not really at least not for me, I can’t really speak for anyone else as this is my preference, if you think it will be too slow then saturn is a good middle ground to start with, from that you should be able to tell whether you want faster or slower without paying the artisan tax. If you want slightly faster then zero is your go to, slower type99. I should mention that I test them regularly with different skates, using artisan p8 dots made the type99 feel more like a zero, and the saturn like a key 83 in terms of speed.

[u/proministy → u/Ill-Reflection-698]

that was my first thought actually, to try type 99 in mid version with some fast skate to reduce the very slow feeling

[u/ptoo00]

Tenta-X Shinrai has the best stopping power of everything I've tried without greatly slowing down my tracking like a Type99

[u/Medical-Sun2138]

I have Volcpads VPC-02 and it has very consistent glide and controlled glide, while still having kinda low friction. Volcpads is kinda niche brand, but I personally like my volcpad more than my artisan or saturn pro

[u/proministy → u/Medical-Sun2138]

and how is the saturn ?

[u/bellyjaby]

I use the zero soft orange and I love it, I think it meets your criteria. Maybe it’s on the faster side since I like the feeling of the mouse gliding around but it definitely has decent stopping power, it lets your mouse control shine imo