Lifelong gass griller looking to swtich to the BGE

I come from the land of Weber's as well.  My family owned Weber gassers growing up and of course I bought Weber's when I moved out on my own.  Before buying the egg I had a Genesis S-320, Weber Performer and 22.5 WSM.  Here are my thoughts

Egg vs Genesis gasser - The gasser got to ready to cook state slightly faster.   Egg wins in pretty much every other aspect.

Egg vs Performer - This one is closer to a tie than I thought it would be.  Part of that may be that I'm still relatively new to the egg and I've cooked on Weber charcoal grills for years.  The Performer cooking grate seemed closer to the coals than the egg so I feel like I got better sears on my steaks.  I need to either make a hotter fire or get a grate that's closer to the coals for searing.  The egg is great for temperature recovery after opening the lid and is really efficient with fuel.  I'm sure over time I will become more proficient with the egg.

Egg vs WSM - I realize you can make multiple cooking levels in the egg but the 22.5 WSM just has more capacity.  I really bought the 22.5 WSM so I could fit a full packer on it and I never really fully pack it.  So the extra capacity isn't that big of a deal to me but wanted to mention for others who may read.  Both the WSM and egg are really easy to maintain temps with.  I haven't used the egg in the winter yet but I'm sure the egg will outperform the WSM when it gets cold in regards to temperature holding and charcoal efficiency.  Flavor-wise I have to say I think the WSM imparts more smoke flavor.  It may be my inexperience again but the WSM burns through more wood chunks than the egg does.  Just like a WSM will never achieve the same flavor profile that a stick burner does I don't think the egg can achieve the flavor profile that a WSM can.  But the difference between the WSM and egg is much closer than the difference between a stickburner and the WSM.  Hope that makes sense.

In any case since I got the egg in February of this year I moved the gasser to the shed and I haven't touched it or the WSM.  I actually sold my Performer because I didn't have the space to store it in my shed.  Eventually I'll probably sell the gasser because I don't see any reason to use it.  Not sure if I'll sell the WSM or not.  It doesn't take up space like the gasser does.

As far as L vs XL - go look at them in the store and see what you think.  If you want to do a full packer brisket you'll be better off with the XL.  And if you want to do true dual zone cooking then you'll want the XL.  IMO raising the grate on a L doesn't count as dual zone cooking.  And the charcoal base isn't large enough on the L to really get 2 zones.  I'm 100% satisfied that I got the XL over the L.

I say get the XL.  I too am new to Kamados and settled in on a large egg at first but saw the XL next to the large in the store and knew the XL was the right size for me.  I cook for 6 most times and 3 slabs of St Louis style ribs fits comfortably laying flat on the XL.  A mini-max is definitely in the future for me for sides.