Lol, I remember reading a post from this past DCC (I believe), where Shane was giving Scooter the 4 or 6 and out. I think one of the rules was that Shane had to use this break cue with a phenolic tip on every shot. And every shot you heard a, "TINK!" (not his Cuetec, lol) and people were loving it. He ended up getting used to the cue after a couple of racks and won. Funny picture came to mind when I read your post, lol
this was at valley forge and it was against john morra. morra was winning then shane came back and won a few. that was on a kids table and its not like he destroyed johnny or whatever. they were close to even. ask shane to play even against johnny on a big table with that cue and see if he'll do it. if he does i will definitely be betting on johnny. not that shane cant run out or anything cuz he's a better player but imo he would definitely be getting the worst of it playing on a big table with a phenolic tip.
or better yet ask shane with all things being equal, would he prefer his cuetec or the cue he played with. im pretty sure he will be choosing the cuetec.
either way my point is that the cue does make a difference. just because pros can run racks with any cue doesnt mean the cue is meaningless. maybe if it were a race to 1. but if it's an actual match, pros definitely want the best cue available or one they're used to. any pro will tell u that if u ask them. there's a reason why they dont just play with house cues.
like pt's example, if 2 players are equal in skill but one has a crappy cue and the other has one that he's used to, u will always pick the latter if u had to pick a winner. rolls/luck might come into play but thats not something that u can control before the match so it's a moot point since it can benefit either player.