Honestly, I didn't compare it to the Black Ice. I moved away from a "short" bow on purpose.

I have, however, recently tried a Diamond Liberty which falls between the Marquis and the Black Ice in size, but below both in price. I shot the Liberty vs. the Bowtech Allegiance, after reading so many accolades about the Ally... and for me, the Liberty came out on top. I'm 99% sure I'll be getting a Liberty this summer, as my back-up bow. I'm partial to cable/string rollers vs. slides, though, so I'm going to either overcome that bias or figure out how to modify the Liberty before going that final 1%.