Right, my Diablo has arrived. I'll try and do some testing once I wake up, but it may have to wait for tomorrow.
One thing though, I don't think was emphasise enough, is that this wheel really is surprisingly round. I expected rock or metal system Leone size protrusions, but they're about half that. I mean, yeah, it's still decent, but that's why it isn't getting the same results as variares.
However, that's also probably part of why it's doing so well defensively. Ugh.
Gibraltor: It's an interesting idea, but doing tests for all four modes is a huge stretch for my patience at the moment. I will try to look into it and see if any particular orientation alters the performance in any noticeable way in a few rounds, but yeah.
Okay, here's my preliminary findings (take with a large dose of salt, it is no substitute for testing)
Diablo is a defense wheel, through and through. It's not aggressively shaped enough for attack, so it does pretty poorly for that.
Seeing as it's a Defense wheel, that means it now has to be measured on the same scale as Duo, the super-low-recoil wunderkid lovechild of a three-way between Earth, Basalt and Death. This is not particularly good for Diablo.
MF-H Diablo Kerbecs does destroy opponents spin, it is hard to beat with attack, even the Phantom Combo we discussed, as when it makes contact, it easily interrupts the opponents spin, meaning outspin isn't that viable. I also KO'd it once or twice with Blitz, only to have Blitz stop spinning at the same moment Diablo left the stadium.
However, that in itself is the difference between Diablo and a good Duo: Duo doesn't leave the stadium. Duo doesn't get risky DKO's, and it has enough stamina to outspin things anyway.
So yeah, this thing has a lot of weight behind it, but it's going to struggle with being compared to Duo. I actually suspect it may find it's most comfortable niche amongst anti-attack combos (yeah, I still don't see how something that counters attack in a metagame mostly dominated by stamina and defense is anti-meta). It's not bad defensively, though.
Don't get me wrong though, it's a very powerful wheel, it might be on par with Duo, heck, I only did a little bit of free play so it could be better. Depending on what sort of attack releases we see, Duo's lighter weight might make it fall from grace first, but then, the same could occur from Diablo's recoil.
Of course, with that much weight behind it, I'll probably be proven wrong soon enough