News: 5 things you should know about SANCTUS Playing Cards by Lotrek

We just got word that Lotrek will be releasing a new deck of playing cards tomorrow (Wednesday, 26 July 2017). The deck is called SANCTUS, which was being developed in secret for the past four months. Here are 5 things you need to know about Lotrek's new deck.

[Updated] Sanctus Playing Cards are NOW available for pre-order!

1. The fact that nobody is expecting this deck, gave Lotrek great freedom to experiment and try new things. "In SANCTUS, I used new techniques based on the LITURGY Treasure courts. I explored the use of white opaque ink and foil on both the back and faces. I wanted to create a full bleed back deck that is simple, subtle and at the same time luxurious. I decided to play with two different shades of gold foil for the back design against a metallic bronze stock."

2. Byzantine religious art is perfect for SANCTUS, as artists of the time made extensive use of gold. As such, SANCTUS courts are similar to LITURGY Treasure courts with a few changes in the use of white ink. The ace of Spades, jokers and figure cards are different, making the deck clearly distinct!

3. Creating the SANCTUS tuck case was challenging. Due to the fact that Lotrek wanted it to summarize the spirit of the deck which is 'quiet luxury'. "After rejected many designs, I ended up with a tuck that is very detailed and at the same time, plain. I'm using a combination of matte and shiny gold foils as a background, with black foil for the letters. These are the only elements of the tuck."

4. Improved handling. "Although such decks are not meant for playing or cardistry, I tried to improve the handling and I came up with an improved formula. Coating is always a work in progress as especially with foiled decks it is very difficult and challenging because each stock reacts differently to a given varnish."

5. Only 350 hand numbered copies of SANCTUS will be produced. Of which, 300 will be sold through Lotrek's website on Wednesday 26 July 2017 at 12:00 noon EDT. Shipment will begin on Friday 28 July.

[Updated] Sanctus Playing Cards are NOW available for pre-order!