I think I have a less than 5% success rate using the thing. Has anyone else found it useful?
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I saved one, it was glorious, basically a ball was doing a perfect drain-bow arc to the right outlane and I hit the button as the ball was about half way across the playfield, and I was able to visibly see the ball slow down, enter the outlane, reverse direction, and be delivered into the inlane. It was sweet.
Moral of the story is I think people are just hitting the button way too late
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I have probably a 65% success rate so far.
It is much more useless than on the original black knight though. It doesn’t have nearly as much range. If the ball is past the outlane post at all it’s too late
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Probably because it’s totally counterintuitive placement from where a magnasave button has always been. This was my first impression when I learned about it and it hasn’t changed. I’m not saying game features can’t be reworked over time, but this is going to be a tough one to mentally rewire, especially when it needs to be done so early.
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Yeah works fine for me.
One thing I found disappointing is that you just have to press it once and it will hold for 3 seconds or a set timer. If I recall well on older games you had to hold the button and you chose when it was safe to release the magnet. I found that added depth is missing here.
I really hope Tim can code a text replacement for “MAGNA SAVE” to be “MAGNA WASTE!” for when people press it after they’ve drained, like it’s an iron bank. A nice touch would be a laughing call-out for wasting it 
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I believe the “Magna-Hold” style magna-save is consistent with other Black Knight earlier pins. The “Magna-Fling” style of magna-save is on other earlier SS such as Grand Lizard, Pharoah, Jungle Lord, etc.
I also like Magna-Fling style better than Magna-Hold. But the rules for those are quite different: you typically can earn more than one magna-fling on each side vs. a hopefully-guaranteed one-time magna-hold.
Last, I don’t like the BK:SOR magna-save button being on the lockdown bar. Hate it. Would much rather have on the right side of the cabinet. So it will take some getting used to it on BKSOR. On the few times I played it, I had a very low % success rate.
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Thank you, I was indeed thinking of Grand Lizard and Pharaoh, both of which we have locally in Brisbane. I didn’t know the original black knight behaved differently, I’ve learned something today.
I agree the only dark spot of BKSOR is the magna save being the smart button. The cost must have been too high to change the order at the cabinet maker, that’s my conclusion.
A center drain magna save of sorts like WCS might have made more sense as a smart button(?)
It’s not the placement of the magnet, it’s the time it takes to get your hand to the button to press it.
I’m fine with this button placement. Just something else to practice and get good at.
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How long until someone drills a hole on the right side of the cabinet and moves the button to the proper location?
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Yea I’m still beating the right side of the cabinet, looking for a button that doesn’t exist. Guess the center placement is here forever so will have to get used to it 
Well I can definitely confirm that if you wait until the ball is in the outhole to hit the button, that never works. I’ve done this most every ball and it hasn’t worked even once. Ball always stays in outhole.
I’ve always ignored extra buttons for magnets and up posts. It will be interesting to see how much it is used in a larger event by better players. I’ve seen it used successfully a good number of times by other people. Just not me.
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I’m just waiting for “Epic Flail” for when the flail whacks it back SDTM. 
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The action button is going to be a Stern staple for a while, so yeah, might as well learn it.
The Center Button in this game is so fun in my totally unbiased opinion.
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Played bksor in a tournament in oslo this weekend, first of all its a fantastic and almost-too-fast tournament game, but agree with the magnets and placement of the button being under par, especially since we also had a BK there. Of course ppl will get used to the button, but when the magnets are so weak it cant even pull the ball a little back ffom outhole, the placement of the button makes even less sense… except for the cost cutting of course.
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It hurt to watch this one drain.
https://clips.twitch.tv/IncredulousSparklySalsifyAliens
Seemed to magnetize to post instead of center of “Magna Save” playfield artwork. Don’t love it, but it’ll take practice to use effectively.
Yeah the placement seems to be a weird lazy choice.
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It’s more of a “guaranteed inlane” then a save, in my experience. I use it when I have something big lined up, the ball is heading anywhere near the right side, and I want to make damn sure I get a controlled shot. If you try to use it like a last-second save, it’ll always be too far away.
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On one of the podcasts Tim said that they put it there to be more evident to new players who might not even notice the side button, but I feel like it still would have made more sense to put a button on the right side as well as the action button if that’s the whole reason
They should watch how novice players use it. The few I’ve seen spend it after ball one goes down. Wherever it exits. They slap the blinking button.