The straght to understable midrange slot is a highly contested slot in most people's bags. Lets face it, you need to have a good reason not to bag a buzzz, or a hex, heck just about every company these days has a killer disc in that slot, fuse, the quake not to mention innova's own pedigree. 

The Lion is not much different. When the field is this crowded with A+ discs, a player's choice is going to come down to comfort. The lion is much like the domier beaded shark3s, a roc3 with a bead that doesn't make you regret throwing it or like a faster, less stable Roc. I enjoy my rocs a lot but I found the KC pro rocks beat in too fast. Not sure why but I have found that my DX Lions just do not beat in that fast. Between comfort and the (likely abnormally) durability I can't imagine throwing anything else in this slot. The biggest downside is that the champion Lion is not stable enough to just bag Lions and have no other midrange molds. 

I am reviewing the 180g Lion in DX plastic. When thrown the way this disc responds to, the Lion flys a little further than advertised. At the same time, it also resists wind well, but without being too much of an overstable disc. For my throwing speed, this disc takes a fairly strong forehand throw with light anhyzer release angle. The resulting direction of flight is pretty straight with an ever so slight fade starting early. This makes a nice tiny, even curve from start to finish.

The Lion is somewhat inconsistent. Sometimes it will fly like stated above, however, if your throw is a little off it will fly distance-wise like a normal speed five disc and fade strongly at the end. A touchy, primadonna disc that really performs when thrown just right. Don't get me wrong, though, the disc is not that hard to throw. The negative results are not that bad, either.

As far as the shape of the disc, it is flat-topped with a convex underside to the rim and a bead. The rim depth is a little too shallow for comfortable backhand throws. The Lion feels good with a forehand grip.

Overall, this disc is useful for medium-long range distances in a strong breeze or light wind. Otherwise, I would pull out a fairway driver for all out distance or a different mid-range for more consistency. Simply put, I use this disc to get the most distance I can get in a headwind when the course is wide open.

There are a lot of mediocre discs out there. This is not one of them. I give it five stars.