I really liked my Niner EMD – twas nippy handling, climber really nicely, amazing grip off-camber and steep climbs (but I guess 14st and Motoraptors would grip on pretty much anything 🙄 ), it was also rather good on very steep downhills, proper bum-over-the-tyre stuff – felt like it was much harder to go over the bars on.
It did take a bit of winding up to speed, and some really stop/start/hairpin stuff at trail centres took a bit of re-learning and a dash of ‘spirit’ more than a 26er.
Overall – why not? Its fun, fast and good to see things differently. I would have stuck with a 29er, but gone FS apart from limits on insurance replacement.