About the ball: 15 lbs, 2 1/2" Pin, 4 1/2" x 3 1/8", pin under bridge, CG strong (above and right of thumb)
The Conquerer was released a couple of years ago as a 500-ball limited edition. Due to the quality of the ball and its limited availability, this is perhaps the most sought-after ball in the Lane Masters line. Now fast forward to late 2008. It seems that Lane Masters geared up to produce a batch of their World Conquerer, which is a non-USA edition of the venerable Conquerer. The story goes that due to some communication error, the factory poured a batch of the US-spec Conquerers instead of the World Conquerer. Because of this “mistake,†bowlers have been able to purchase the numero uno ball on many of our wish lists.
The Conquerer is a medium load, super-carbon particle ball drilled pin under the bridge with the center-of-gravity in the thumb positive quadrant. It is one of the strongest balls in the Lane Masters/Legends line-up. Only the Dynamic Power competes for the spot as LM/L’s top oiler. I use my Conquerer in box finish, which is an 800-grit sheen. The ball gets surprisingly good length on fresh medium-oily to oily conditions. The combination of medium-load particles, factory surface and pin-under-fingers drilling cause this ball to read the mid-lane earlier than the other balls in my current arsenal (see profile). The ball arcs into the pocket and continues to arc without rolling out.
The Conquerer is my first ball out of the bag on high volumes of conditioner, higher volume sport patterns, and longer patterns with moderate to high volumes of conditioner. On lower volume patterns, my pin-over-fingers Big Bang is usually first out of the bag. My current arsenal progression is (1) pin-down Conquerer, (2) pin-up Big Bang, (3) label leverage World Class Particle Pearl, (4) label leverage Black Pearl Reactive, and (5) pin-up Hornet. [I’m planning on adding a pin-up Buzz, Buzz Attack and/or World Class Reactive as the (5) ball, moving the Hornet to (6) in the tournament bag: Too big of a jump between the BPR and Hornet right now.
As drilled and with the box surface finish, my Conquerer is more of a condition-specific tool in the bag, specializing in medium-heavy to heavy conditioner volumes and/or longer patterns or patterns with substantial carrydown. It is great out of the box in game one, even on fresher back ends, as it does not jump in the dry. Controlled, predictable reaction comes to mind. When the Conquerer starts checking up too early, typically late in the second game, then its time to move on to the WCPP or BPR.
I could see the Conquerer being a more versatile ball by drilling it pin over fingers and/or managing its surface to a smoother, more polished state. Regardless of drill or finish, it will always be a strong, arc motion ball exhibiting control, excellent carry and long life with proper week-to-week cleaning and periodic maintenance.
I’m very happy that Lane Masters made the Conquerer available once again and that I was able to obtain one: Truly a welcome addition to front end of my arsenal.
