- Phaze Star

First Impressions
The Storm Phaze Star, released in April 2019 as an international special edition (overseas release), brings an exciting combination to the popular Phaze line, one that wasn't standardized on the US market until years later with the Phaze V. Visually, the ball comes in a striking mix of anthracite, bronze and purple (Charcoal/Bronze/Purple), finished off with a 1500-grit polished factory finish. Technically, Storm combines two of the most successful components in company history here: the fast-revving Velocity Core (2.48 RG, 0.051 diff at 15 lbs) and the proven R2S Pearl Reactive coverstock. This pairing promises a reaction that fans of the series will recognize immediately, but with a noticeably cleaner motion through the heads than the legendary Phaze II. The "Root Beer" scent rounds out the package. Unlike many modern balls that rely on extremely aggressive covers, the Phaze Star trusts the clean R2S formula to save energy for the backend.
Comparison
Compared directly to the Storm Phaze II (solid), the Phaze Star behaves in a completely complementary way. Where the Phaze II reads early and creates a round, smooth motion through the midlane, the Phaze Star glides effortlessly through the heads and saves all of its dynamics for the area past the oil pattern. It is noticeably longer and more angular than its solid counterpart. Compared to the Storm Hy-Road Pearl, which uses the same R2S Pearl coverstock, the Phaze Star shows earlier rotation thanks to its Velocity Core (low RG) and reads the midlane more strongly than the Hy-Road's high-RG core. That makes the Phaze Star more controllable than a Hy-Road, but livelier than a Phaze II. Against an asymmetrical pearl ball like the Storm AstroPhysiX (released shortly afterward), the Phaze Star is rounder in its motion at the breakpoint and is somewhat more forgiving of imperfect releases, since it doesn't react quite as drastically to friction as the AstroPhysiX's Atomic Core.
On the Lanes
The Storm Phaze Star is the ideal "step-down" ball when your benchmark ball (like a Phaze II or Idol) starts hooking too early or burning up energy. Its strength lies on medium oil patterns and typical house shots that have already seen some play. Once the heads burn up, the R2S Pearl cover helps get the ball cleanly through the front part of the lane without losing its willingness to roll. It works excellently if you need to open up your angle to the pocket and want a trustworthy reaction at the breakpoint that is strong but not uncontrollable. On very heavy oil, though, the ball could skid too long (over/under reaction), while on extremely dry lanes it may react too aggressively on the backend. It fills the gap perfectly between strong solids and weaker dry-lane balls like the Storm Tropical Surge.