That REALLLYYYY reminds me of the Doctor Strange scene: (by the way, this is one of my favorite YouTube channels - CinemaSins)
So I have not been jamming my slate to talk about a dulled spike, but I noticed my slate's sarado sits really high up. I have been using the S2 Maple setup nonstop. My S2 Kotodama's sarado sits slightly lower, but it's as low as i can get it. The girth on these spikes is pretty beefy.
Here's my koto at the beginning of March and now, with a kayadama custom tama. Love how the hickory has changed colour. Ive played it quite a lot and really like it, but I don't go in for the 'destroy all damas' way of thinking so it still looks pretty fresh. Did chip the base cup with some heavy handed insta lighthouses but managed to glue it back!