Stiga Mantra M/H Pro: A Popular Upgrade
Welcome to this issue of the Mushroom Field Guide, which is purely a public-interest column meant as a reference for fellow players. Today’s subject: a popular upgrade — the Stiga Mantra M/H Pro.
Mushroom’s Quick Take
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Stiga’s “Fan-line” Mantra series is versatile and easy to use. After years of proving itself in the market, it has become Stiga’s highest-selling and most influential product. This year Stiga upgraded the Mantra series to further reinvigorate it, splitting it into three hardness grades: Mantra Pro M/H/XH.
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The topsheet is grippy, with a stronger grain texture than the previous-generation Mantra. It fixes the “color inconsistency” problem the Mantra M had. The sponge is yellow cake sponge with nice cell foaming.
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The weight of the Mantra M Pro is a bit unpredictable — the heavy ones run 72 g, the light ones 67 g. The sheet I’m using myself is 67 g, which I’ll tentatively call medium. The Mantra H Pro is medium-to-heavy in weight, and the Mantra XH Pro is on the heavier side. Price is around 180 yuan.
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I’ve already sold dozens of the best-selling M Pro, with basically all positive feedback. My own sheet, on the backhand of a Hayata H2, felt a bit soft to play, with low power — the Hayata H2 is itself soft, and the large surface area disperses power. So the impression the Mantra M Pro gives me is that, compared with the previous generation, it improves quality control and ball-grabbing depth, but overall it’s still fairly soft and not very powerful (related to the soft blade and the rubber’s lighter weight). I’d suggest pairing the M Pro on the backhand of an outer-fiber blade with good support; the H works on both wings; use the XH with caution. When choosing equipment, don’t blindly chase lightweight builds.
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Overall, the Mantra Pro series is a reasonable upgrade, and the small price bump is reasonable too. It retains the ball-grabbing and stable-loop characteristics, is easy to handle, and earns a medium-to-high recommendation.
PS: Everything in the Mushroom Field Guide reflects the author’s subjective impressions. Rubbers vary from sheet to sheet, and pairings with different blades will change things too. Comments and corrections are welcome.