Dye-sub mousepads are slightly slower, but you won't notice.

The friction difference is negligible for most people. Dye-sublimation prints dye into the fabric fibers rather than coating the surface, so the texture stays mostly the same as a plain black pad made from the same cloth. If you’re a competitive FPS player who obsesses over mouse feet and pad hardness, you might feel a tiny bit more drag on a busy printed design — but I doubt it. In blind tests, nobody picks the plain black as “faster.”

Wear matters more. The bigger issue: printed mousepads can show wear patterns more obviously as the gloss of constant mouse movement fades the dye slightly over time. Plain black hides that. But if you want a cool custom pattern for your desk, go ahead. The friction difference is not the reason to skip it.

You probably aren’t good enough for it to matter anyway.