Who's nutes are better is probably one of the biggest topics of debate on the forum. For every 10 people that say nute "x" is great you'll find 10 people that say it's garbage. Boh of those lines would probably work for your friend and I highly doubt using one over the other is going to break his season. Nutes are important, but come secondary to things like good genetics, adequate sun, water, and substrate. I've seen guys run nothing but miracle gro and pull 8' tall trees.
So, I would probably decide based on my wallet over anything. I've used Osmocote last year and it works well if you use it right and it's like $7 at the hardware store.