My answer is....precision.How the hell does pocket size figure in the tip hardness choice?? WTF.

As in the ping pong paddles analogous. A tight pocket requires precision. A large pocket is more forgiving and allows more focus on putting special sauce on whitey to move it through traffic.
Hard for precision and soft for forgiveness. With the skills required disclaimer for the hard choice. Tri angle is my choice as it's close to waterbuffalo but a little more forgiving.