Does a dye-sub mousepad feel slower than a plain black one?

The friction difference is negligible for most people. Dye-sublimation dyes into the fabric fibers rather than coating the surface, so texture stays mostly the same. In blind tests, nobody picks the plain black as “faster.” If you’re a competitive FPS player obsessed with mouse feet and pad hardness, you might feel a tiny bit more drag on a busy design — but I doubt it. You probably aren’t good enough for it to matter anyway.