I know great pool can be played with either shaft.
Not in my hands they can't.
When the Predator 314's became all the rage some years ago, I, like many others, felt the need to have one. The problem I found with the 314's (besides the hollow, soft hit) was that there was a learning curve to using them, just like there is to a standard maple shaft (when using english). They didn't help my game, but they were like a placebo. I thought they were helping my game. Looking back, I realize that being a fairly new student to the nuances of shooting good pool, the secret to my improvement was the amount of time and research I was putting into it.
Fast forward....mid-winter 2017. Me, being one of those with multiple cues and shaft combinations and uses them all at one time or another, recently started playing more with the standards maple shafts that came with my cues. I have found that I am really, really digging the solid feel of them, and my accuracy seems to be a tad bit better (especially on the long, straight-in shots). I am also starting to gravitate back to the 13mm diameter tips.
I have used and still have five different brands of LD shafts and I'll be honest, I just cannot condone them as some kind of miracle cure, although I believe (placebo effect?) I can put more extreme english on the cue ball with the LD shafts smaller diameter tapers/tips.
I am going to be using my standard maple shafts a lot more in the future.
Maniac