Yes, it is still just a football boot. No, it will not make you into am Iniesta- or Götze clone. But the experience of wearing the Nike Magista Obra IS supernatural. The football boot that is made of Nike's Flyknit technology provides an unparalleled feel; something that no football boot has done before, and therefore it is worth digging deeper into.
The need for creating footwear that delivers the same freedom and flexibility as a sock- or bare feet experience, has been on the agenda for quite some time. In the world of football, we have seen the result both in the Puma evoPOWER, Adidas Samba Primeknit and now also with the Nike Magista Obra. The idea is, that people will get the most from the body if it is used as it was created.
Nike's Flyknit saw the light of day back in 2012, after Nike's development team had been following this feel with professional runners and their running shoes. The material may be compared to a thick sock, and provides a unique flexibility and is able to adapt to the size and shape of the foot. The feedback from a range of Nike top athletes was so good, that Nike decides to pass on the technology to basket ball shoes and now also football boots. And we can only applaud that decision.
The Flyknit technology provides the foot with a new kind of comfort and creates a completely different ball feel, and you will feel more in control than previously. And if this wasn't already enough, Nike have also added a brand new function to the football boot, which is the 'Dynamic Fit Collar' that provides a dynamic fit. Hereby, the football boot feels like an integrated part of your body, and not the like the foreign body it actually is.
The thought behind the Dynamic Fit Collar is to create improved movability and greater stability, and the idea behind the high boot comes from the common glove. Gloves don’t start halfway up the hand, but are instead made with the opening all the way up the wrist. Nike found that the players, who tested the boot became far more confident in their play and more conscious of their movement.
The ball feel is now not only greatly improved thanks to the new material, because to create the optimal friction between the ball and boot, the upper on the Magista is made in a 3D-pattern. Previous boots have attempted this, but the increased amount of layers ruined the ball feel, as the distance between boot and ball was too great. Thanks to the Flyknit-material Nike have been able to sow the pattern straight into the boot and managed something previously not possible.
At the same time the upper is protected by an extra thin layer (0.1 mm) of specially developed NikeSKIN, which is fused onto the Flyknit fabric. With this the boot can withstand all types of weather and this paired with the ACC technology, which gives you the same grip in wet weather, as you would otherwise have in dry conditions, means that you get the optimal grip on the ball.
The Nike Magista Obra is built on the GF13 last, which both the Hypervenom and Tiempo is designed around too. It is developed in collaboration with podiatrists in the hunt for the perfect fit, for the widest array of different foot shapes.
That is part of what will change the way we think about soccer cleats. The more your boots are designed to respond to your movements, the more efficient you will become on the field. Barcelona's Andres Iniesta and Bayern Munich's Mario Gotze know this full well. They both tested and provided feedback to Nike, assisting in the creation of a boot that is perfect for imaginative playmakers like them. Gotze claims it is "nothing like I have ever seen before". On May 22nd, when the Nike Magista goes on sale, we will get to see its supreme originality for ourselves.
