To check or not to check........I think it depends on the inertia of your rotor system - the flare, check, level, cushion worked well on the Gazelle in the mil for many years and the same technique is taught on the squirrel.
However, something like an R22 is a different kettle of fish and applying 50% of the lever before you have the skids level and are cushioning will decay the Nr very rapidly (TET would love you to explain how Mr coriolis manages a slight rise - the coning effect and CAV will be massively opposed by rotor drag)
On larger mil helos the approved technique is not to check but use flare, level and cushion with the level and cushion being a coordinated movement.
Personally, on the Gazelle, I used to encourage a small amount of lever application during the initial stages of the flare to utilise the extra Nr generated to increase rotor thrust, especially on the heavy Army ones. The teaching for the check was to wait until the flare started to lose its effect and anticipate the 'sink'.
The crucial element is always to get the skids level and land straight, most EOLs are survivable if you do that - this requires forward cyclic - helicopters generally are not self-levelling
Ultimately everything is variable in a variable flare EOL, the flare, the check the level, and the cushion all depend on the conditions of the day and the aircraft mass and C of G, not to mention the landing area.