First Impressions
The Storm Alpha Crux is BACK! Do you care?

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Tamer Elbaga (Lefty)
Style: Tweener
RPM: 365 rpm
PAP: 5 1/8 & 3/8 up
Average Speed: 18.5 mph (at release)
Axis tilt: low
Axis rotation: medium/high
Test Equipment: 14 Pounds
Layout: 50 x 4.75 x 45

Tyler Church (Righty)
Style: Power Player
RPM: 425 rpm
PAP: 5 1/2 & 1/2 up
Average Speed: 19 mph (at release)
Axis tilt: low
Axis rotation: medium
Test Equipment: 14 Pounds
Layout: 50 x 5.25 x 50

Bryan Hoffman (Righty)
Style: Stroker
RPM: 280 rpm
PAP: 4 1/2 & 1 1/2 up
Average Speed: 18.5 mph (at release)
Axis tilt: high
Axis rotation: medium
Test Equipment: 14 Pounds
Layout: 55 x 4.75 x 45

Sean Jensen (Righty)
Style: Stroker
RPM: 450 rpm
PAP: 5 & 1/2 up
Average Speed: 20 mph (at release)
Axis tilt: high
Axis rotation: medium
Test Equipment: 14 Pounds
Layout: 55 x 4.75 x 45

“Keep in mind that coverstock accounts for 70% of ball reaction, but the core creates the dynamic shape of the reaction. Your driller will alter the shape to suit your game.”

Pattern
THS: 44ft, 25.8ml, 12:1 ratio
Sport: TBD

Specs
The Storm Alpha Crux uses the Catalyst AI asymmetric core inside the new GI-26 Solid Reactive coverstock.

15 pound = RG of 2.51, diff of .051, mb of .015
14 pound = RG of 2.53, diff of .053, mb of .013
Coverstock finish: 2000 abralon

Alright we had 4 testers for this session, giving us some varying perspectives on the Alpha Crux, or this iteration of a re-release. Firstly, they added the AI core and updated the cover to deal with new oils. I don’t want to rewrite old reviews here. The Alpha Crux still behaves as it used to. It’s meant for heavy to medium-heavy conditions. It has the same kind of roll that you might recall. What makes it a little different from many big balls is more of the smooth shape that may not appear as forward as some big pieces that are strongly asymmetric. What I really want to talk about are the nuances to help you understand this ball. Yes it was very popular previously, especially on sport patterns because it is smooth but strong. The big thing is it can be manipulated and I’ll explain. That’s not always a great thing for bowlers who don’t have consistent releases.

Power Player’s Perspective
So I started with Tyler and his look was fantastic. It’s a little strong for this pattern out of the gate but he is able to manage it. Specifically, the reason why it looks so good for him is his high track and slightly rev dominant roll. The Alpha rewards touch but generally wants to be rolled. The core wants time to make it’s transition. It starts to transition like a normal big core but needs a little time to complete the roundness. Tyler’s rev dominance is the perfect match up in this case.

Now looking at Sean, as he tests, he tries different things. You can see that the shots where the Alpha has time to roll look great. We thought the pattern is not quite heavy enough for this ball but it’s still a good showing of how this ball behaves. If he tries to push it through, it doesn’t quite want to make a full transition and looks almost lazy. When he tries to square up, it does look a bit too strong because it does start up early still. He can roll it a little more forward and get it to carry from direct but it kind of felt lost on this pattern. Deep enough with a softer roll and it worked. He compared to his Motiv Jackal Onyx and you see how much more definitive the Onyx is downlane. Just a different experience. It’s not as sensitive to release adjustments, it kind of forces the motion. This is preferred for most bowlers because most are not as versatile as pros. It’s easier to know what a ball does and just use it when it’s the right time, as opposed to one ball that you can manipulate many ways.

Tweener’s Take
For me, the Alpha Crux also felt like a bit much for this pattern. But ultimately, it didn’t make me feel super comfortable. I tried a few different things to settle it in. Although I have a very high track, sometimes I also can have very high rotation. The ball absolutely hated when my rotation was too high because the ball then goes a little longer and because it needs some time to turn over, it just looks lazy. I just had to finesse the hell out of it to make it look decent. Not the right strength or shape for me for this pattern. I had my Roto Grip X-Cell and Transformer on hand. The X-Cell you see the same thing I mentioned with Sean’s Onyx, it is more defined motion downlane so it looked significantly better. The Transformer also has medium strength cover with a pretty strong core and that looked great as well. So way better match ups here.

Stroker’s Stance
For Bryan, he has a lot of tilt but he also had a similar middling look as me for a similar reason, even though our rolls are quite different. In his case, his tilt pushes the ball down lane and without the rev rate, the ball takes it’s sweet little time to turn over which unfortunately leads to soft deflective hits. He had a narrow window. It was OK but again not a true matchup here.

I tested it on the 2025 Doubles/Singles USBC Open Championship pattern. This is a longer higher volume pattern. It plays pretty direct and it makes a lot more sense for me here. I tend to finesse more on sport shots as well so that helped. It’s early and starts up and then has that relatively slower roll back. I don’t want to call it lazy but then look at the reaction compared to the Transformer and X-Cell. The Transformer is obviously cleaner and way mo re downlane action, in fact stone 8 first shot. The X-Cell for me looks like the sweet spot. The difference is the way it spins up downlane before the pins.

Final Thoughts
Let’s just wrap up. There is a reason why a bowler like Kris Prather can totally get on with the Alpha Crux and for me it looks mid. Kris is an extremely high level bowler and one with some of the best touch in the world. My take is that most bowlers don’t have that capability. So if your style matches up, like a rev dominant, slower speed bowler, you might absolutely love this ball. If you like to grip and rip and have very high speed, you may wind up with some inconsistency. This is a Strong Defined ball on paper but it only works like that for the rev dominant style and more like a Strong Control for speed dominant.

Thanks for watching.