Fat, studded and skinny. Big knobs, small knobs. Higher pressure, lower pressure. Snow and ice change. Day to day. Hour to hour. Snow really is an amazing substance. It's nice to have an assortment of tires to handle different snow conditions and the snows characteristics for that day, hour, minute. With experience you figure out what works best in certain conditions.

I use my studded tires as a last resort. When I assume conditions warrant. Why use a 995 gram tire when I can get away with a 400 gram tire. The difference in weight is quite noticeable. My studded tires are very sluggish to accelerate.

If you can only have one set of tires. Studded would be your safest bet.