I have a LibTech Emmagator board. While I was very pleased with this
board when I bought it about 3 years ago, I am now not that satisfied.
It performs well in normal conditions, but not really when it is
hard/icy or otherwise more challenging. I am therefore considering
buying another board, but I want to make sure that I am getting
something better.

I enjoy off-piste riding the most, going down forest runs, wide open
mountain sides, or narrow couloirs. I encounter all kinds of
conditions, powder, slush, windblown hardpack, ice, crusty snow, and
so on. I basically need a board that rides well in all kinds of
conditions and terrain. I have ridden for ten years and consider
myself a fairly advanced boarder with a somewhat aggressive riding
style.

The local stores are having a sale, and I have found two promising
candidates
Burton Cascade
Nitro Shogun

(snowboards are quite expensive in Norway, the normal price for these
would be almost USD900, so getting them for half price is rather
important...)

Finally, the questions:

Do you have any experience with these boards, and do you have a
comment on how they would perform for my use?

Do you know how they would compare to the Lib Tech? Will they be
noticebly better.

I am 170 cm / 70 kg (6' 7" / 154 lb) but I prefer fairly long boards
(the Emmagator is 165 cm) to get sufficient powder float as well as
high speed stability.

Oh, one thing: I have the Nitro Naturals, but I find it too stiff, the
nose tends to dig into slushy snow/"wet powder snow". Is the Shogun
just a slightly modified Naturals?

Thanks for any advice, and for actually reading this long post... :-)
Arne