I’m in a similar situation to you as I just started back with bowling. I bought an Ebonite Game Breaker 4 hybrid. I watched a video about it being a good benchmark ball, and so far I’ve really enjoyed rolling this one in league.

GB5 and The One Reverb are the 2 i see and hear about the most

I just picked up the Game Breaker 5 and I like it so far. I'm still learning it but it's a solid and great for me on fresh oil. I also have a Destiny Hybrid (older ball) for when the lanes break down somewhat.

Honestly, if you've only done open bowling, you have most likely always bowled on burnt lanes, and you don't have a true feel for what light/medium/heavy oil actually looks like.

Nobody starting out on leagues needs more than 2 balls. And to add to that, a decent bowler won't ever need more than 2 balls for a house shot league. I average between 215 and 225 on house shot, and 90%+ of the time I'm only using one ball (plus a spare ball) for the whole night.

I "felt the need" for more balls when I got to about a 190 average. Then as I progressed, I realized I was just blaming my equipment when my own form was the real problem.

All that said, there's nothing WRONG with treating yourself to a new ball as often as you can reasonably afford it. But I would say that while still learning (say, until you reach a solid 200 average at least on house shot), too many balls can actually add confusion and it ends up being counterproductive.

I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone with three balls before. Congratulations!

On a serious note, the black widow is good for medium-heavy oil, I don’t know what motiv that is, and the Rhino is good for medium oil conditions.

I think in order of strength strongest to weakest, you would be looking at the Black Widow Ghost, Supra Rally, Teal Rhino.

From what I have seen from the Ghost, it is pretty clean, but responds pretty quickly to friction. I have not seen any of the Supra's go down the lane so I really can't say much other than that line is listed as Light-Medium oil. I have a Teal Rhino and was using it on drier conditions until I drilled an Arctic Vibe. My Teal was also pretty clean, but slower off the friction than a lot of the other stuff I have.

You have two pearls and a very weak solid. The Evoke Hysteria (I think that's the Motiv one) is your top one, then the Widow, then the Rhino. Widow would be the one I'd start with and if it blows by the head pin, go to the Rhino, if it doesn't get there, Evoke.

Black widow is the ball with the most overall hook. I would say that the Rhino is your middle ball and your motiv Supra Rally is for dry lanes.

Sounds like you need something with a weaker cover/core. Personally, I like the IQ Tour Ruby.

Hustle M-M, Ocean Vibe, IQ tour Ruby, Red Pearl Vibe, something along those lines is what you're going to probably want to look for.

!Q Ruby, Revenant, or Hyroad Pearl would all be good options for when it gets drier

Hustle RIP.

Hammer vibe ocean or radioactive vibe. Radioactive has HK22 which makes it a bit stronger....but both are great low to medium oil balls at a great price point.

Can't speak for all brands, but for the Storm Umbrella, the Gem is usually top dog for strength. Earliest and roundest. The Proton Physix beneath that as a more continuous shape. Then the Global 900 Reality and Storm Super Nova handle equal oil, but offer a longer and sharper breakpoint, for more overall shape and backend. Those are the 4 strongest heavy oil balls from Storm at the moment.

The Jackal Legacy is my go-to heavy oil ball

I've seen people usually start a heavy oil pattern with either something urethane or solid reactive. We're talking the black widow 2.0, pink widow, purple urethane or something like a Super Nova from Storm or Track Paragon

The Gem, Jackal Ambush, Super Nova, Reality, Proton Physix

Very dependent on your style, game, revs, ballspeed, etc. Personally, I bowl 2H and inherently higher rev, but my regular house lanes are super heavy on league nights.

For me, my starter games my go-to ball on any kind of heaver pattern I roll a widow legend or my old widow 2.0. Both are great on high oil and love to just eat up the oil (especially the 2.0).

The Legend has a really snappy late reaction for me whereas the 2.0 has more of a smooth arc all the way through. In competitive situations, even in league, the 2.0 is actually a really good asset if I'm bowling with another super high-rev person or a bowler that is low rev and works up the middle as I can kind of work through the middle of their pattern and still adjust and adapt easier while everyone else's patterns to the pocket get worn out.

Again, all depends on your game type, but both balls are super controllable and work well in medium and high oil patterns.

Track Blue Tundra Fire is undoubtedly the best burn ball on the market right now.

Scorpion low flare

Rev dominant - twist

Speed dominant - hustle

Hustle>

I’ve bowled my high game with a tropical surge pearl on the burn so I’d say that.

Any plastic ball for spares if you're serious about improving your game. Drill it with the weight block pin in palm and it will move 0 boards. Polish it with some slip agent and it'll go dead straight even with 90 degrees of axis rotation on any pattern or condition.

My favorite balls to use for high oil ratio patterns are Summit, Phaze II, and NU Blue Hammer. Phaze II will be the most consistent smooth shape with a nice controlled back end. Doesn't react too hard off the dry and smooths out the puddle in the middle and reads through carry down well. If the backends are flying, I'll pull out the NU Blue or Summit depending on the length of the pattern. Summit does better on short length high volumes and NU Blue likes longer lower ratio patterns.

If you're just on typical house shot, you could get away with just the Phaze II or NU Blue depending on your stats (revs/speed). If you're rev dominant, you may enjoy the look of the NU Blue on typical house shot than the Phaze II that you may struggle to control (it reads the lane early and has a good amount of hook potential).

Buy my exj jackal 😂 or sublime focus, rockstar are good in that range too as solid. Origin and S2 are good hybrids.

Physix Blackout

Rockstar has been good to me

Brunswick Ethos hybrid is pretty good

If we're defining benchmark balls as symmetrical solids that read strong in the mid lane and have a continuous shape on the backend:

GB5
Optimum Idol
Phaze II
Track Cypher
Venom Shock (or the new stronger ExJ version)
Hazmat Solid

Just go for one of the GOAT balls. Some balls have been manufactured year after year after year for a reason. I am partial to the Venom Shock but also consider Phaze 2, IQ Tour, Hyroad, Zen. The Purple Hammer and the Pitch Black are on the GOAT list as well too, but you might not want a urethane ball for your benchmark ball.

I also recently got a Hyroad and I love it. Great ball for early and mid game. I have the IQ Ruby as well which is a child of the IQ Tour. Also an outstanding ball

IQ tour solid is the goat. I use and IQ ruby and and ion pro both amazing choices as well.

storm summit (unless you have massive hook, then maybe it's too strong)

Envy Tour solid If you do the mystery ball from bowlingworld.biz you might get one of the new launches from B7 that just came out