As Chuck H. indicates, "better" can be in the eye of the beholder.
If "better" involves relative pattern density, then the nod most often will go to loads that use modern plastic wads. This will be due to the wads' ability to seal powder gasses and in their ability to reduce shot deformation. However, this ability can come at the cost of "hot" pattern cores and "overchoked" shot counts. "Better" can also come at the cost of plastic fouling even though lead fouling is usually reduced.
The "magic" tends to be more the result of wad design than of wad materials. Greener describes a very "modernistic" one-piece paper wad, "The Swedish Wad", that delivered some very impressive results. Years ago, an article in "The American Rifleman" described simple light cardboard "shot concentrators" (shot cups). I have made these devices and I have used them to good effect.
