Butterfly Maze Magic vs DHS Hurricane Long 5: Which Should You Buy?
| Butterfly Maze Magic | DHS Hurricane Long 5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Our rating | 8.3/10 | 8.6/10 |
| feel | medium softness, enveloping dwell, good vibration feedback | hard, powerful |
| handle | AN / FL / ST shakehand | FL/ST |
| plies | 5-ply all wood | 5W+2 Arylate-Carbon |
| speed | ALL+ | OFF+ |
| thickness_mm | 5.9mm | 5.9 |
| weight_g | approx 82-85g | 89 |
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Closer Than the Labels Suggest, With One Big Caveat
Despite very different builds — a roughly USD 50 all-wood 5-ply blade against a premium 7-ply inner-carbon blade — the speed and control gaps here are small. DHS Hurricane Long 5 edges ahead by only 0.5 points on speed (9.5 vs 9.0) and 0.6 on control (9.3 vs 8.7). If you only looked at those two numbers, you would conclude these blades play almost the same. They do not, and the real differences show up on the other three axes: stiffness (1.8 points), consistency (1.6 points), and hardness (1.3 points), all favoring the Hurricane Long 5.
What the Real Gaps Mean
A 1.8-point stiffness gap (5.1 vs 3.3) is significant enough to change shot-making, and it lines up with how each blade is described in its own pros: Maze Magic’s soft, enveloping dwell that aids stroke development versus the Hurricane Long 5’s woody, natural feel with the carbon only stepping in on hard hits and powerful blocks. In other words, the DHS blade behaves like a softer wood blade until you hit it hard, at which point the inner carbon engages — a very different, more conditional kind of stiffness than Maze Magic’s consistently soft flex.
The 1.6-point consistency gap (9.1 vs 7.5) again partly reflects review volume — Maze Magic’s cons note limited online reviews — but also reflects the Hurricane Long 5’s maturity as a design tuned over years for looping style built around tacky rubber, per Revspin and TableTennisDaily coverage.
The Rubber Pairing Is the Real Decision Point
This is the detail that should actually drive your choice, and it is buried in the Hurricane Long 5’s own pros and cons: it comes alive with tacky Chinese rubber, and its cons explicitly warn that players who dislike tacky rubber may not get along with it. If your rubber setup is European or Japanese, non-tacky sponge, the Hurricane Long 5’s headline strengths — elite looping and serve and receive with tacky rubber — simply will not show up in your game. Maze Magic, by contrast, pairs well with a wide range of rubbers from budget to premium, per its own pros, with no such conditional requirement.
Should You Switch?
If you are on a Maze Magic and thinking about the Hurricane Long 5, ask two questions first: are you using or willing to switch to tacky Chinese rubber on your forehand, and has your technique developed enough that its own listed drawback — feels slow if your looping technique is not developed — does not apply to you? If either answer is no, the upgrade will disappoint — you will pay a premium for a heavier (89g vs Maze Magic’s 82 to 85g), pricier blade whose signature qualities depend on rubber and technique you do not yet have.
If both answers are yes — you loop with tacky rubber and have decent topspin technique — the Hurricane Long 5’s large sweet spot and deep, consistent catapult, per its pros, genuinely deliver a step up in spin generation and control for close-to-mid-table attacking play, all while keeping a wood-like feel rather than the harsher directness of an outer-carbon blade.
Weight and Handle
Handle options are similar (Maze Magic: AN/FL/ST; Hurricane Long 5: FL/ST, no AN), but weight is a real difference — around 89g versus roughly 82 to 85g — worth factoring in if you are sensitive to swing weight over a long match.
Bottom Line
Speed and control alone will not tell you much here — they are close. The decision comes down to whether your rubber and technique are ready to unlock what the Hurricane Long 5 actually does well; if not, Maze Magic’s wider rubber compatibility and lighter build remain the safer, cheaper choice.
Frequently asked questions
Is the DHS Hurricane Long 5 much faster than Maze Magic?
Only slightly -- a 0.5-point gap on the axis data (9.5 vs 9.0), one of the smaller speed differences in this dataset.
Does the DHS Hurricane Long 5 work with any rubber?
No -- its own pros and cons specifically say it comes alive with tacky Chinese rubber and that players who dislike tacky rubber may not get along with it.
Is Maze Magic more versatile with rubber choice?
Yes, its own pros state it pairs well with a wide range of rubbers from budget to premium, with no tacky-rubber requirement.
Is the Hurricane Long 5 heavier than Maze Magic?
Yes, at around 89g versus Maze Magic's 82 to 85g, a difference worth factoring in if you are sensitive to swing weight.