New Skis? Help

TrrevorrIts time for me to get a new ski. The only pair of skis ive owned were the 2017 K2 Marksmans and they are torn up now and i want something new. I'm aiming for a do it all ski. When i was in college in CO i was in the mountains maybe 50 days a season and they lasted me all of college. Im primarily resort skiing with occasional park laps, i do maybe 20% of my skiing backcountry and im always looking for more snow. I can land 3s and backflips confidently but still learning rails. I like to ski fast and get smeary with it and i like to hit big drops.

Im 6'2 220 athletic built. Ive been looking into these skis:

Faction Prodigy 2.0 and 3.0 (still cant decide)
Faction Candide 2.0
K2 Poacher


Can anyone give me some suggestions or help me decide between the 2.0 and 3.0. Ive been looking into the 2022 models.

poacher or bentchetler(see r/skiing bentchetler circle jerk)

I would definitely get the candides because they can go backcountry and do the park, I know some people who have owned them and they enjoyed the skis a lot. They rode park, backcountry and groomers and they loved them.

The quality of factions is questionable. I’ve gone to multiple shops who have told me to “stay away” from factions. My buddy got dictators and after 2 days the tip and tail started to delaminate, and the base started separating from the rest of the ski. I don’t know much about poachers but it seems like they are a good choice for all mountain/park

LogiThe quality of factions is questionable. I’ve gone to multiple shops who have told me to “stay away” from factions. My buddy got dictators and after 2 days the tip and tail started to delaminate, and the base started separating from the rest of the ski. I don’t know much about poachers but it seems like they are a good choice for all mountain/park

Faction has improved a lot during past years + they have the best warranty out there. I had the same delamination problems and got new skis. For the price they are ok and customer service is legit

I compared the Prodigy 2.0 and 3.0, in different lengths, to the Marksmans here.

Note that the Marksmans has much more tip/tail rocker and thus a shorter running length (we also don't measure correctly the asymetrical sidecut of the Marksmans... we just measure the width, so its representation on the graphs is not quite right).

Beside the width, the Prodigy 2.0 and 3.0 are quite similar, specially in the 177(2.0)/178(3.0) length. They seems to have the same construction (same S/W ratio and same flex/torsion). The 183/184 length seems to have two different constructions though. The 3.0 has a higher surface-to-weight ratio and has the same flex/torsion has the 177/178. The 2.0 183 is heavier and stiffer than the 3.0 184, even if it is narrower and shorter.

There are other lengths in the comparator if needed and also the K2 Poacher.

you might want something a little heavier or stiffer just because you are a bigger dude. You might really enjoy a set of the Magic Js from Armada for deeper days as well, if you do end up wanting a pow ski.