The best mousepads you can get - Artisan buyer's guide

[@ViscoseOCE]

Hi! An important disclaimer if you are looking to buy one of the pads I talked about here is that I'd recommend not getting them off of amazon, you can get them for much cheaper either through artisan's website or one of their resellers. Link: www.artisan-jp.com/nj_index_eng.html/ Off the top of my head maxgaming sells artisan pads in EU, ausmodshop does for AU and JPgaming is available for the US, but personally I've always gotten them through artisan's official website. Also just for full transparency, artisan did send me some of the pads I used for testing in this video, but I had purchased easily 15 artisans before that and there was no expectation on their end that I would cover them in a review. Some other notes and disclaimers: If the pad you want comes in both classic and fx versions, I'd recommend the fx. It's slightly more expensive but has stitched edges meaning it should last longer, and it's not that much more expensive regardless. The mid bases in my experience are a fair bit worse than the soft and xsofts, they stuck ok to my desk but trying them on other surfaces was a bit inconsistent. If you're having issues with one, try putting a few drops of water on the desk where the mousepad would sit and putting the pad on top of that, it's helped a lot for me in the past. I know I was a bit harsh on the otsu here and when editing that segment I did realize that I hadn't actually used the original black otsu since I sold my first one back in 2022, I've tried 2 red ones since but given how different the black and orange zeros feel there is a chance that I just don't like the red one as much, but I remember the characteristics of both being pretty similar. I probably will try a black otsu at some point in the future, but can't justify the purchase at the moment and am happy enough with that segment of the video as is. There is also a slight difference in surface between the orange and brown raidens, the orange feels a bit more textured and slightly faster, but not to the degree that the orange and black zero differ. It's a pretty subtle difference, and that extra speed will probably vanish after the break in period. When I talk about durability here I'm referring to the point of first perceived difference in speed vs a fresh pad, the pads remain good after that time period, just good and slightly slower.

[@Rizzlas]

The best for me are Maxgaming (in Europe) , I bought an Artisan Zero, I got it pretty fast and the price is correct , since it's the same price if you import the pad from Japan :D

[@megalugia8]

Jpgamingusa is the best for USA for artisan pads they come the fastest and the shipping is cheapest. Great vid viscose!!

[@Sgttv]

How often do you wash your pads Viscouse? I washed my GSR-SEII after ordering the Zero as an experiment and to my surprise it´s alsmost as new. Waaaaay too fast for me now tho and that´s why I am asking :D

[@rihito4152]

Ausmodshop if you live in Australia is probably the best.

[@Aspect_Yuh]

i translated the yen to aud and for xl is like around 50-60 but when odering on ausmodshop its 100 so idk

[@kozihugs]

Viscose over here feeding into all of our easy-to-influence spending habits

[@pinguefy]

by far the best vid to date on this subject!! the amount of effort and attention put into every second of this video is crazy

[@ABSENTA1M]

W glaze

[@slycepeetza4613]

W glaze

[@Redflame6987]

W glaze

[@frnchfryR6]

Into the stone

[@MeltedSlushyyy]

W glaze

[@raiden6976]

viscose posted time to base my financial decisions around her opinion (op1 8k was glorious thank you so much)

[@obsu]

can i use my wooden desk

[@jackl7566]

that certainly is an option

[@kozihugs]

Yeah, personally, i'm a marble countertop kinda guy

[@tim2k74]

I‘ll do a review to that and I think it‘s very possible using cloth skates

[@NeurosGenesis]

No. Big Mousepad will come after you if you do.

[@lepari9986]

Yes if it's an artisan furniture 🥁

[@sillyvei]

so grateful to have you and pinguefy in the community, tysm for your efforts into providing valuable resources

[@ViscoseOCE]

❤️❤️

[@ppeez]

Optimum has given extensive reviews on a lot of mousepads, especially artisan, long ago

[@the9th96]

I had been using an old razer hard mousepad for probably a decade before my younger brother got me an Artisan pad. He had gotten one as a gift and was extremely surprised at how much not using the right pad or an inferior pad was affecting him - and he didn't mean in the way of he was better or worse at games, but in the way that one didn't have to think about your gear, kinda like buying the right chair. A word that comes to mind when using Artisan mousepads is 'quintessence' - when an item is perfectly itself, doesn't need to be anything else and does it's job to the absolute highest quality and refinement.

[@GelatoThe2nd]

Still using my hard razer mousepad lol

[@JoeJim-fq5ck]

We need to appreciate the absolutely cracked background aiming and gameplay

[@otaviosakay3133]

so much better to hear it from someone who can use these equipments at top tier, thank you Viscose

[@Keeahh]

Having all this info packed into one neat/well-organized video is insane and super helpful!! This is exactly the type of video I was looking for a year ago. (and was still unable to find to this day, haha)

[@pelmeshka5203]

Been using a hayate otsu for a while now and it has worn out over the past year, this vid helped me decide on buying a key 83. Felt like pretty much every point made in the video was really well phrased, was quite helpful for deciding what exactly to go for in artisan's lineup, since a lot of the time I feel that the information on artisan's mousepads can sound confusing to someone who hasnt actually tried all of them. Thanks a lot!

[@hikariayana]

Literally was looking for something like this only a day ago, perfect timing XD

[@Tr1gg3e]

this is hands down the most comprehensive mousepad review I've ever seenI actually learned so much about mousepads in general

[@frxk1765]

Babe wake up, Viscose uploaded a new video

[@Bob5mdl6]

I held out on buying a mousepad because I heard you were making a video on Artisans. So happy I made that decision.

[@gamist8166]

What would you have bought and what did you buy, and why? Don't gotta answer, but it's left me curious

[@Bob5mdl6]

@@gamist8166 Haven't yet this just sped up my research a lot. I mainly play Valorant but I've gotten into aim training and I really enjoy it so I don't want a pad that's made just for tac FPS like the type 99. The Zero is the obvious choice but honestly the bit about Raiden intrigued me. I'm more than willing to get the raw aim to use it and I really like a flowy style of aim. Only issue with the Raiden is I don't really like the color (lol). I heard from pinguefy's video that the key83 mid is a little slower than the Raiden soft so I'm leaning towards that but it's the most expensive Artisan pad (not including the shindekai). I'll probably get a zero and a raiden or key83 mid. Getting two is probably not the most financially smart decision but I honestly just want to try different surfaces. Also I was doing research to recommend a friend and the Otsu seems perfect for him since he has a very snappy aiming style but it's not being sold atm.

[@Bob5mdl6]

@@gamist8166 Typed out a long ass response but must have forgotten to press the reply button lol. I haven't bought one yet but I probably will soon. I mainly play Valorant but I really enjoy aim training and honestly the bit about the raiden being good for Valorant if you have the mechanics for it was really interesting to me. I'll probably get a raiden soft or a key83 mid because I heard from pinguefy's video that the key83 mid is only a little slower than the raiden. Either one of those plus a zero.

[@Bob5mdl6]

@@gamist8166 Haven't bought yet. Probably going to be zero, key83, or raiden. I play val but the smoothness thing that Viscose mentioned in the Raiden but seems really cool and I'm willing to aim train a lot to get to that point.

[@dar9n]

a very detailed explanation of each pad, you made a wonderful vid

[@endoGame19]

first the video that helped me get better at micro adjustment and just when I need a new mousepad you give me this? absolutely goated!

[@hypnotic_o]

I was waiting for a mousepad vid, and you delivered. Keep up the amazing work viscose, your a huge inspiration for me

[@JARD22]

I dont even keep up with peripherals but your videos are always super chill

[@ActuallyAudacity]

I've been waiting for your Artisa reviews for so long! I'm glad I waited. Will be picking up the orange Zero and potentially the Type 99. Thanks!

[@Sinaqval]

This is such an INSANE VIDEO, over the past 48 hours since i watched this video and started using my orange soft zero i have ranked up back to immortal 3 on valorant. THANK YOU

[@ViscoseOCE]

[@blizzD]

Oh my God, this has to be the best ever vid about artisan mousepad

[@Spurrrg]

The roughness between black and orange Zero is quite vast. For me, I couldnt stand the roughness of the orange variant. Originally having bought it with a Mid base, I thought that it was just the base making the surface more noticable. Then I got the orange Zero in soft and it had the same issue. I very much prefer the black Zero and would recommend it over the orange variant to anyone who is only now getting into higher quality pads.

[@theb4dwolf]

Thank you very much for your insight on these different pads. Very much appreciated as I, and many others, can't afford to try them all.

[@MightyAims]

The highest quality video you've ever made, really enjoyed watching it. Good job!

[@vertici]

This dropped at the perfect time, thanks for talking in depth love the content as usual!! keep it up !

[@Sgttv]

What a timing, just ordered an Artisan Zero XSoft comming from a Zowie GSR-SEII. Also Endgamegear xm2w 4K will replace my zowie s2-c. Thank you Viscose not only for guiding us but also for the ASMR like entertainment and joy that comes with every upload c:

[@phucnguyen0110]

I just recently got a Zero clone pad from ATK - loving it so far, but yeah still gonna watch this because of the video quality from THE aim goddess

[@glintcoretheprotogen]

i love how she posted this as soon as i buy my sp-004 ;-;

[@Whyyousnoopin]

haha same here bro

[@Vyyy290]

I got so lucky, I'm returning my zero soft today 🙏

[@vaginalboner]

its a dude

[@travispoole3831]

Sp 004 not that much difference from raiden other than you can push fingers into the pad

[@eirin099]

why does it matter make your own choices

[@sumanthmoole]

i was about to do my own research into buying an artisan mousepad and then got this in my recommended, thank you so much for this 🙏

[@MachProdigy]

Thanks for this video. I’ve been looking at Artisan pads for a bit so this is perfect timing.

[@ashy3340]

This is the best content in the aim community. You deserve to feel really proud of this:)

[@meL_anji]

incredible vid as always

[@EliaspopaVF]

I literally just heard of artisan and was about to just buy the first pad that popped up, this was hella useful thanks

[@Demonrzxx]

i love my artisans so much im just fascinated by their build quality and feel i have had them for 3 years now and with proper care they are still as good as new to me as a LoL player

[@LucyScarlet-m5l]

love this review. barely any reviewer actually goes into details and probably dont even understand mousepads this good

[@enecloud]

As someone who also have every single Artisan pad, I couldn't agree more with everything u said in this vid! Also your voice is very soothing!

[@strobelightstrobelight]

Looking forward to watch this video later on, my type 99 arrives in a couple of days, can’t wait

[@SeankFPS]

Right as I get my fx zero, damn. Definitely planning on getting a type99 at some point in the future now as you basically described my exact use case when going over it. Great video and thank you for the goated content as always, viscose :P

[@rihito4152]

Even though im a EGG Cordura user. I love this video 😍 great job Viscose

[@tanmaysharma6968]

Thanks got my artisan raiden and its my style, i can see the benefits instantly

[@kisukefps]

thx for this vid i’ve been trying to find the perfect pad for myself and couldn’t for months until now

[@DukeJukem]

Actually kind of interesting how many overlaps there are with your complaints of control / high static friction pads and your mouse accel video, which wouldn't be something I'd normally think about but it makes sense. Amazing video as always, although I don't have immediate plans to swap pads (as much as I would love to haha) it was still a great watch!

[@RamlilacOCE]

What a fun video ^_^ I'm still ordering every artisan possible but i'm happy to have better insight of what i'm getting myself into

[@EverTechReviews]

Been looking forward to this video!! I’ve been enjoying the zero a lot!

[@DaBroughtHD]

Wow. This review was amazing. Your description of the Raiden, coming from a heavy control pad before, was SPOT on. I had to completely re-learn how to aim and I had to get rid of all my bad habits which I took up on a slow control pad with a heavy mouse. Now, a year in, I find it to be the best pad in the world. Might grab a Zero because of your review though, should be fun for something more tactical. Raiden mid is also amazing with dott skates, something which wasn't possible for me before.

[@YellowNotThe]

bought an op18k thanks to you and since i came from an ergo mouse (g703) i was scared it would be a pretty big difference but your review helped give me confidence to try the op18k and it is by far my favorite mouse i have tried and i'm loving it. i've also been struggling picking out the artisan mousepad i want so this helps a ton and i just wanted to thank you

[@expl0627]

Hey I just bought the OP1 8K as you, which pad did you end up going with ?

[@YellowNotThe]

@expl0627 still haven't bought anything yet but i'm pretty set on buying a black zero soft

[@especialistaemmira3796]

I'm maining an Artisan Raiden MID and it feels perfect, good control and stooping power with some speed, wich when compared to slower pads is usually described as "hard to controll" but not true at all when you adapt, and the fact that it has no diffrence in stactic and dynamic friction makes it feels so right, I used to believe that you should use mud pads to help you aim better, but it was very wrong, with this pad I feel like I turned off acceleration cause the movement feels so consistent, feels like the peak performance pad. (tested in CS and OW2)

[@__Ragnarr_]

Just got the type-99 a few days ago, I am loving it so far 🙌🏼

[@kyo911]

I Bought a mousepad 1 week ago, and now you release a video about mousepads that's a little bit unfortunate, but artisan isn't available in my country anyway. Thank you for the video, it was a pleasure to watch.

[@Astrqx]

В чем проблема купить с авито)

[@houdinilove]

@@Astrqx думаешь если у человека в подписках Аврора апекс то он русскоговорящий?

[@Astrqx]

@@houdinilove у него азазин в подписках алë

[@alexpg6532]

Hey awesome video Viscose, as always!, I don't know if it's possible but I'd like to see like the ergonomics outside the game, like Gaming posture, arm positioning and variables, I think it could be interesting to see and really helpfull to new ones, keep it up! 😃

[@Bubba3PS]

Absolute W Video got me super interested on getting an Artisan currently using an Aqua Control+

[@OirinBored]

Gotta love an upload from Viscose!

[@Kr99gc]

I bought the raiden mid yesterday and cant wait to try it out! Have played on a zero xsoft for a while but it has become a bit muddy after a lot of use. As I have focused on aim training and improving mousecontrol lately I think it is a pad worth trying out. It is good to hear that the raiden can be used for cs2 and valorant as well, and it is certainly a fresh perspective compared to the usual mudpad recommendations from other reviewers.

[@JesusitoXD]

Great and useful video, also your voice is very nice to listen to

[@Glenn_fps]

i see viscose vid i click also holy shit this is so comprehensive, must have taken ages to put together

[@isthislunar]

Viscose commentary on other topics would go hard, your voice is perfect for having a video in the background

[@johnclark8455]

And for sleeping

[@plaskart]

please give crosshair code 1:24

[@lights0030]

Imo, the Zero Mid and Raiden Mid are the best combo if you’re into a fast/moderate speed glide and want versatility across the widest variety of games. Having both lets you switch between them to get the perfect feel for each game/scenario, as long as you don’t mind swapping pads.

[@kassuaim]

As a tac fps player i love the raiden mid paired with jade dots its the closest ive been able to get to glass while still having the comfort of cloth

[@Penz]

3:11 the seal plush had me DYING I did not expect that lmao

[@onbox6276]

@ViscoseOCE CORRECTION: at 19:20, you referenced the type 83 soft static friction value instead of the Otsu static friction value. Good video though

[@marinemachine3446]

i love not having to form my own opinions, thank you, viscose (i already bought the op1 8k lmao)

[@damiancota-lopez3496]

great video thank you, the quality of your videos is amazing, super interesting

[@itsSmiv]

I'm going from a horrible no name pad I've had for 12 years to a key 83 soft that'll arrive tomorrow, couldn't be more excited

[@250kmonths]

I copped the key 83 2 days ago in mid coming from Hien xsoft. I highly recommend it, it feels very flat in mid and smooth, way less abrasive than the hien. You are in much more control than the Hien for very small adjustments like micro flicks but you don't have to press the mousepad or put force into it, it's like gaining awareness and control over those finishing touches in your aim. Since the force to move the mouse is much lower than the hien. I find that using less pressure on the pad makes my aim better with this pad

[@huh0123]

Oh my god, finally SOMEONE makes a mousepad buyers guide.

[@LK-md1id]

I got myself the artisan zero (mid) pad and oh man is it much better than just buying another cheap mouse pad. It provides a great balance for speed and control for me

[@hitta6213]

30 min viscose video, is this heaven?

[@kodadabird]

I just got a zero for christmas and I've been loving it. the saturn pro I used before had just a bit too much static friction and the zero solves that

[@caspar4134]

Are you going to make a video on the best switching scenarios like the one you unlisted?

[@ViscoseOCE]

probably not sorry, at least not on this channel. i might remake it on my second channel with better info if ppl would like to see that though and you can still find the scenarios i mentioned linked in the resources channel in my discord

[@asj6199]

@@ViscoseOCE Please do!

[@jerlyswirly]

cant wait to get my type 99

[@miminh2108]

ty this is so helpful i can decide which one to buy

[@OperatingPear80]

Babe wake up, Viscose just posted! Can’t wait for raw input ep3

[@landturtle7470]

If you don't like rougher mousepads like me and want one similar to the Raiden which was mentioned in this video that's also high quality, about half the price, and even lasts longer than the Raiden according to people on forums then I'd recommend the Infinitymice Speed V2. I use fingertip grip so most of my movements are wrist and fingers therefore I prefer faster mousepads with low static friction and smaller, denser mice like the OP1 8k. I rarely have to use my entire arm during gameplay and when I do it's usually to track a target vertically and horizontally through long distances in games like The Finals, so low static friction is the most important part of a mousepad for me personally and the Infinitymice Speed V2 fits that mold. Also be aware that the dynamic friction is also pretty low so flicks will be harder to control depending on the games you play and with other grip styles that rely on moving your arm a lot, that being said you can learn how to control the speed overtime and enjoy the benefits of faster mousepads if that's what you're looking for.

[@egg.8320]

Ty for this video! Bought my first artisan pad today :3

[@gppy]

ur op18k vid made me buy one, it just arrived now i need to buy a artisan zero and i have all the infinity stones

[@6laka.]

between the zero, raiden, and hayate otsu that I have the raiden is easily my favorite. With a WL mouse beastx mini and superglide glass dots its truly feels like no resistance

[@hhhhkys]

Viscose, since you are enthusiastic in 'aiming' mechanics (cmiiw), I think it'd be great if you talk about input lag/latency in the near future video as it would be a good sub material to further analyze the 'aiming' mechanics

[@PullingCreamers]

Team Skypad!! Tho ill leave a like and comment for the algorithm as the info in this video was great and the work must have took a long time. Good job

[@hazza402]

I was also surprised when I heard that the raiden fx is a good choice for valorant but then I saw that many pros were actually using it e.g primmie, oxy etc. It also started to click as valorant, whilst not many people think it of as such, is definitely a tracking dependent game (players constantly moving left and right and people as they peak an angle) and a fast pad like that is exceptional for tracking.

[@fapazegg]

Amazing content!! Some day I'll be able to try out the Raiden Mid 😄

[@septFPS]

4:33 MCHOSE L7!!!! love it so much i got mine a couple weeks ago and it become my main, thank you for this video vis, gonna try artisan zero ^^ been confusied about which one i should get

[@jakf101]

Just got my ordered for the key-83 then this video dropped. Hoping it was something good to say about it. Have all the other pads zero, hien, otsu and like the raiden soft a lot but wanted a bit faster zero too. I think the key-83 is going to be a great pad.

[@Rudi-Brudi]

I wanna try that one, too. Which firmness did you went with and why?

[@jakf101]

@@Rudi-Brudi I went with soft for now. All my other pads are soft. I was going to try the mid after the seeing pingu video but I decided to try the most balanced version for now. I don't have any mid pads so I can't really compare them to anything but with soft I can against my existing pads.

[@troubleinlittlemexico2714]

I have went through probably 7 different mouse pads in the last year, two of which are Artisan pads (orange Zero xSoft and Hien xSoft) and finally a glass “control” pad. For now it seems that the glass pad is my go to, but I always keep my Hien and Zero near by for when I feel like I have hit a wall or lost my fundamentals in aiming. I feel like you have accurately described the Zero and Hien pads perfectly. I did noticed a drastic change in speed of the Hien after a few weeks, it seems to have slowed down substantially from its initial speedy feel, which I kind of miss, but can’t justify the about $75/pad right now to order another to get that feeling back 😢

[@kunai222]

bro are we the same person, I have both of those as well. I love the Hien I do have a couple of them now but they do get slower if you do not clean therm often. I also have a glasspad but it's scratchy and not my preference. I just ordered an Musashi air glass one and will try that. As for the Hien I guess im on the luckier side because it's never been that abrasive or rough to me not sure

[@troubleinlittlemexico2714]

@ i have been maining my Hana GLSSWRKS pad mostly, but may swap back this week to my Hien and see how / if a good thorough cleaning will restore my Hien to its former speed feeling. I don’t mind the texture of the Hien, it’s probably one of my favorite feelings besides the glide tbh. Usually use it + my X2H with 8 dots total to prevent sinking in the xSoft material.

[@Fish-zr6ts]

Another banger Viscose video 🙏

[@xAciv]

Can you make a video talking about wrist care and how to not have pain when playing/training?

[@ViscoseOCE]

im probably not the best person to sorry, I haven't had many issues with that myself and am def not an expert on the topic. You should check out 1hp, they have some good resources for this kinda thing!

[@angeldxst]

I've been using my xsoft Raiden (first artisan pad for me) for over a year now and it's still flawless, and by far the best pad I've ever used. Might buy a Zero soft next just to try it out.

[@DredgenErebus]

Great video! Was looking to get a couple Artisan pads when they reopened for the year and I am pretty much sold on the Type99 for Tac FPS. For other games I'm debating between the Zero and the Key83 just so I have something that's a jack of all trades.

[@ViscoseOCE]

id lean towards the key83 then! its a bit more distinct from the type99 compared to the zero and i think will offer a pretty different experience if that is what your after

[@Chirich]

I switched over to glass three years ago and have never taken the time to experiment or go back to cloth, but your video has me wondering if I should dust off my cloth pads and try them again. The very first time I got a glass mouse pad, the feeling was surreal. The glide is so smooth and unique compared to cloth, that it was very addicting. However, I wonder if that novelty has caused me to get trapped. And hit a wall in aiming progress. Although I love the feel of glass pads, I can't help but feel like my aiming peaked the year before I started trying glass pads. Back when I tried very slow and control pads and also hybrid pads. I also play very twitchy fps games and with glass. My flicks felt faster, which I think felt cooler, but i think I've lost that precision along the way. Thank you for an excellent video and for reminding me. The benefits of cloth pads and that I don't have to necessarily settle for the benefits of either or, i can find a pad that has the traits of both glass or cloth and maybe gain back some of that stopping power that I had from my flicks in previous years that I have since lost. I'm eager to try out cloth again and see if I get some of that stability and stopping power back for less overflicking and less wiggle within my aim!

[@ViscoseOCE]

i hope u like it! ive went through a similar arc and ended up going back to cloth too, my conclusions was that glass is a fundamentally different aiming experience than cloth in enough ways to make some of the skills i rely on on cloth not translate to glass whatsoever. It'll be different for everyone of course, but I found that too much of what I learned was lost when swapping over. I still did find that some skills developed on glass translated back though, and itll probably be the same for u when swapping back c:

[@ruumelan]

key-83 is my new favorite mousepad

[@amazingpinapple5154]

19:20 you underlined the key83's static friction instead of the otsu's (i think i am awful at telling lines apart)

[@jvnlrche]

I bought my zero yesterday, still watching review

[@jvnlrche]

i even got the Orange lol

[@willqt4043]

I made the switch to Glass back in september and have been using the kazemi since, I decided I wanted to try something a bit slower So I bought a Raiden MID, excited to try it out.

[@aidancantaim]

great video! im going to come back to this when i look to replace my zero

[@zunny1337]

Got emotional at the footage in 2:29 I loved that game to death :(

[@amdinga561]

A few months ago when I was getting back into aim training/fps games after a long hiatus it seemed like the best players/aimers were using glass. So I got a skypad 4 for Christmas and went 'wow so this is what I've been missing!' I love it so much, even with how fast it eats my mouse skates. But now y'all are moving back to cloth pads? Please tell my the skypad is still really good and you love it and it'll always be in your top rotation so I can get the idea of spending another $60-100 on a cloth pad out of my head

[@eliasbergstrom5300]

Absolutely in love with my Raiden

[@AimTech]

I switched to a glass skypad and im never switching back.

[@Blur009]

question.. does it all matter? I have a mousepad.. some random mousepad that covers most of my desk and my mouse can move on. Do these pads actually make a difference? is it a component like a mouse or keyboard that you almost must have, or is it more of a +2% performance type of upgrade? always wondered about that. tldr: is it worth it?

[@ViscoseOCE]

I'd say a bad mouse is more detrimental than a bad mousepad, but between high end mousepads I find that theres more of a difference than there is between high end mice! They won't always make you play better past a certain point, but have a big impact on your aiming style in my experience and if you find one that matches your style it can help a lot.