Cardistry: 3 Questions with Matthew Davis of the Nyx Reds deck

Conceptualized by Matthew Davis from Paris, France, the Nyx Reds deck is a custom deck designed specifically for cardistry in mind. The unique deck features geometrical faces and back design in red, black and gray colourway, giving your flourishes a distinctive look.

Matthew founded Nyx Cards late 2014 on YouTube. After two years, his audience numbers grew big enough for him to start his own website, nyxcards.com. He came up with Nyx Cards because he wanted to create a place where beginner cardists could learn quality flourishes easily and effectively.

This year, Matthew has started adding members to the Nyx Cards team. That includes sponsoring cardists, featuring them on the YouTube channel, and website. We had a quick chat to Matthew about the inspiration behind the Nyx Red deck, the cardistry community, and his favorite flourish and deck.

What is your inspiration behind the Nyx Red deck? How did you come up with the idea?
The Nyx Reds deck is an idea I originally came up with 2 years ago. Due to the fact that I like to do Urbexing, or exploring abandoned areas at night, I decided to make night the deck’s theme. Since I’ve started the art of card flourishing, I wanted to create my own deck of cards. At first, I just wanted my own custom deck to use in my videos, but people started asking where they could purchase them.

So that’s why I’ve been working on this design for over 1 year, with my brother Marc, a graphic designer living near Paris as well. The back design on the cards is what took the most time, and is what I believe, the most important feature in a cardistry based deck of cards.

We first saw the Nyx Red deck on Instagram. What do you think of the cardistry community in terms of the feedback and support that you’ve been getting so far on the social media platform?
Nyx Cards maintained a pretty small community during its first two years. It is only in 2016 that our follower count on YouTube and Instagram started to hit a constant growth. Although some people dislike the design of the Nyx Reds, many love their design and colors. Here at Nyx Cards, we think that many who haven’t heard of these yet will enjoy them!

Finally, what are your favourite flourish and playing card decks?
Personally, I really love geometric designs like the Frostbite playing cards by Sam Wheeler, or the Tessellatus playing cards.

Thanks, Matthew and all the best! Currently funding on Kickstarter, pledge starts from CA$17 (~USD$12). The deck will be printed by the United States Playing Card Co.