SAC StudioThe maximum-calorie bomb with a genuine 5 g creatine dose — but the '2,000 cal / 80 g protein' headline only happens with 20 oz of added milk.
Mass-Tech Extreme 2000 is the maximum-calorie option on the list, and it has one feature the others mostly lack — a full, effective 5 g of creatine plus 8.4 g of leucine. For the rare hardgainer who genuinely struggles to eat and wants the highest possible calorie ceiling, that's a real draw. But it ranks last on honesty grounds, and the reason is plain: the marquee '2,000 calories' and '80 g protein' figures only materialize when you blend it with 20 ounces of skim milk — the powder is the engine, but the milk is doing real work in that headline, so it's partly selling you your own groceries.
The carbs are maltodextrin-led, and the six-scoop serving means a 6 lb bag is gone in about five uses. It's powerful for an extreme bulk, but it's the least clean and least honest label on the list.
Tied for the weakest carb profile on the list. The base is a maltodextrin-led multi-phase carb complex — maltodextrin plus some oat bran and isomaltulose — so while it isn't the sweetest, it's a refined, maltodextrin-first carbohydrate at roughly 441 g per serving. The oat bran and isomaltulose keep it from scoring lower, but this is a refined-carb bomb, not a whole-food formula.
The highest ceiling on the list — roughly 2,060 kcal and 60 g of protein from the powder in water, rising to ~2,270 kcal and 80 g with 20 oz of skim milk. On raw density it leads, but the headline leans on added milk, so we credit the powder's genuine ~2,060/60 g and treat the 80 g protein figure as milk-dependent rather than the powder's own.
The lowest ingredient-quality score on the list, on a split profile. The genuine plus: a full 5 g of creatine monohydrate (an effective dose per Kreider 2017) and 8.4 g of leucine, plus 20+ vitamins and minerals — better extras than most gainers. The minus: maltodextrin-led carbs and a label whose headline numbers depend on added milk. Good actives, refined base, misleading framing.
Middling and misleading if you're not careful. At roughly $0.49 per 100 kcal it looks reasonable, but the six-scoop serving means only ~5 servings per 6 lb bag — a $10 serving and a bag gone in a week of daily use. And the cheapest-looking calories partly come from milk you buy separately, so the true value is worse than the sticker per-100-kcal suggests.
The lowest mixability score here. A six-scoop, ~2,000-calorie serving is an enormous, thick shake that's genuinely hard to get down in one sitting, and it's really designed to be blended with milk. The Triple Chocolate Brownie flavor is fine, but the sheer volume is the compliance problem.
“Up to 2,000 calories and 80 g of protein per serving.”
The 80 g protein figure (and the top of the calorie headline) requires blending 6 scoops with 20 oz of skim milk; per the listing the powder in water is ~2,060 kcal and 60 g protein, and the extra 20 g of protein comes from the milk. So the marquee numbers count groceries you add yourself — the powder alone doesn't deliver the 80 g headline. This is the reason the pick ranks last on honesty.
“5 g of creatine monohydrate per serving.”
5 g is a full, effective creatine dose — the top of the 3-5 g/day range the ISSN identifies as effective (Kreider 2017, PMID 28615996). Unlike the token 1 g in Dymatize or the ~3 g in ON, this is a genuinely complete dose and the product's best feature.
“8.4 g of leucine to trigger muscle protein synthesis.”
The 8.4 g leucine content is label-stated, and leucine is the key amino acid driving the muscle-protein-synthesis response (consistent with Moore 2009, PMID 19056590). The amount is well above typical leucine thresholds, so the claim is accurate on the label figure.
“Multi-phase carb complex for sustained energy.”
The carb blend does include oat bran and isomaltulose alongside maltodextrin, giving some slower-digesting fraction, so 'multi-phase' has a basis. But the blend is maltodextrin-led — a refined, high-glycemic starch dominates — so 'multi-phase' dresses up a mostly-refined carbohydrate rather than describing a genuinely whole-food or low-glycemic base.
“Builds serious mass and size.”
The huge calorie ceiling and 5 g creatine genuinely support mass gain, but only inside a sustained surplus plus resistance training (Slater 2019, PMID 31482093; Morton 2018, PMID 28698222). Much of the surplus is maltodextrin, which past protein and creatine needs adds fat, so 'serious mass' is accurate for an extreme hardgainer who trains and eats accordingly, not universally.
Where almost every other gainer skips creatine or adds a token 1 g, Mass-Tech includes a full 5 g of monohydrate — the top of the effective range (Kreider 2017) — plus 8.4 g of leucine. For a hardgainer who wants creatine and leucine bundled into their calories, this is a legitimately good actives package and the strongest reason to consider it.
This is why it ranks last on honesty. The marquee '2,000 calories' and '80 g protein' figures assume you blend six scoops with 20 oz of skim milk. Per the listing the powder in water is ~2,060 kcal and 60 g protein; the extra 20 g of protein is the milk's. The powder is the engine, but the headline is selling you groceries you buy separately — read the fine print before you compare it to the honest single-shake numbers of the other tubs.
The six-scoop serving means a 6 lb bag is gone in roughly five uses, or about $10 a serving. For daily use that's a bag a week and a real running cost. It's also a genuinely huge, thick shake that's hard to finish in one sitting — this is a product for the extreme end of hardgaining, not everyday use.
The carbohydrate is billed as a multi-phase complex, and it does include oat bran and isomaltulose — but it's maltodextrin-led, a refined starch first and foremost. Intrinsic sugar is low, which is a point in its favor, but on the heaviest-weighted carb-quality axis this is a refined-carb bomb, which is why it sits at the bottom despite the biggest number on the shelf.
Mass-Tech Extreme 2000 is the maximum-calorie option, and it has one feature the others mostly lack — a full, effective 5 g of creatine plus 8.4 g of leucine. For the rare hardgainer who genuinely struggles to eat and wants the highest possible calorie ceiling with creatine bundled in, that's a real draw, and it's the reason this tub isn't dismissed outright. But it ranks last on honesty. The marquee '2,000 calories' and '80 g protein' only appear once you blend it with 20 ounces of skim milk — the powder itself is ~2,060 kcal and 60 g protein, and the extra protein is the milk's, so part of the headline is groceries you buy separately. The carbs are maltodextrin-led, and the six-scoop serving empties a bag in about five uses at roughly $10 a serving. Buy it only if you're at the extreme end of hardgaining and specifically want the highest ceiling and the built-in 5 g creatine — and judge it on the powder's honest numbers, not the milk-inflated headline. For everyone else, a cleaner, more honest tub sits higher on this list.
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The value benchmark — an honest 1,250 kcal and 50 g protein from the powder alone, 25 vitamins and ~3 g creatine, at a fraction of the per-serving cost. The saner bulk pick.
See it on the list →A true 1,250-calorie bulk shake with only 5 g of sugar from three ingredients and an honest, no-milk-needed label. The clean high-calorie alternative.
See it on the list →The best-overall pick — whole-food carbs, 53 g grass-fed whey, 3 g creatine and no added sugar. The clean formula with honest, powder-only calories.
See it on the list →The ISSN identifies 3-5 g/day of creatine monohydrate as the effective dose for strength and lean mass. Mass-Tech's 5 g is a full, complete dose — the top of that range and the product's single best feature versus the under-dosed rivals.
Muscle protein synthesis was near-maximally stimulated around 20 g of high-quality protein per serving, driven by leucine. The 60 g powder dose and 8.4 g of leucine comfortably clear the per-serving threshold that drives the response.
Protein supplementation aids gains up to ~1.6 g/kg/day. The 60-80 g dose here clears the daily need in one shake, but calories past the protein and surplus target — much of this tub's maltodextrin — add fat, not muscle.
A modest surplus supports hypertrophy while a large one mainly adds fat. A ~2,000-calorie shake is an enormous surplus, so it makes sense only for the extreme hardgainer who genuinely can't eat enough — most people will overshoot into fat gain.
