Cardistry: FORMA Playing Cards by TCC

FORMA is an eye-catching deck of playing cards designed specifically for the cardistry by renowned designer, Ale Urrutia (Behance) and produced by TCC Playing Cards Co. Ale is a designer, creative director, UX design director from Uruguay, specializing in concept creation, branding and website development.

Six months in the making, the deck is inspired by the basic geometric shapes and it was designed with real paper shaped objects (circles, triangles, squares, etc...), hence the name FORMA, which is the Spanish word for shapes.

The dynamic deck spots a blue, red and white colorway. Along with a skillful mix of geometric shapes, patterns and a color match of muted and bright colors of the face cards, the deck is sure to enhance displays and card flourishes making fans, spreads, spins and cascades look absolutely incredible!

Printed by the United States Playing Card Co. and pledge starts from $10 on Kickstarter. Don't miss out!

News: The SECRET Way to Get Daniel Madison's CONFESSIONS Playing Cards Series Revealed!

Daniel Madison mentioned that we have the secret method for the HIGHLY sought-after CONFESSIONS playing cards series in THE ERDNASE x MADISON STORY video on YouTube. Since then, we've been inundated with messages asking for the secret method.

Ellusionist has built in a cheat code on the site and those who managed discover the secret link was rewarded with a chance to purchase the final 3 decks of the CONFESSIONS Series for $100. The bundle includes 1 deck each of the Martyr's, Saints and Confessions decks. If you have a secret discount code, you can snag the bundle of 3 decks for $30!

We've given out the secret discount code to those who managed to discover the secret link on our Instagram (@kardify). For those who aren't able to get the secret link, here's what you need to do to snag the bundle for $30:

1. Head over to Ellusionist.com/playing-cards

2. Find Madison HELLIONS Playing Card. Click to enter the page.

3. If you wait 6 minutes and 66 seconds (7:06) on the HELLIONS page, you will be secretly re-directed to the confessions series product page.

4. On the Secret CONFESSIONS Series Decks page, add the quantity you want and click BUY IT NOW.

5. View your cart and add the coupon code IMUSTCONFESS which will discount the bundle to $30. You should also see the message, 'Save 70%' in your cart.

Enjoy! We're not sure how long the code will be valid for, so if you're considering getting Daniel Madison's Confessions series, NOW is the time to do so!

News: 5 Things You Didn't Know About The Draconian Wildfire Playing Cards By Midnight Cards

[Update] The Draconian and Knights Playing Cards are now LIVE on Kickstarter!

One of my personal favourite playing card series from Midnight Cards, Draconian Playing Cards are inspired by a time of legendary dragons and features beautiful dragon scales, gorgeous colours and borderless back design.

The Draconian Wildfire in vibrant green is the latest edition to the Draconian series and will be crowdfunding on Kickstarter at the end of September by designer Randy Butterfield. Here are 5 things you didn't know about the Draconian decks:

1. The original Draconian Decks (Lightning and Spitfire) project was Randy's first solo Playing Cards project. Randy told Kardify, "I had worked with HOPC before then on my personal designs but decided to venture off in my own direction back in 2014. The Knights / Draconian Wildfire project is now my fifth large scale solo project."

2. The Draconians' were intended to be a Cardistry Deck. "We're marketing the upcoming OCULUS Deck as my first design geared towards Cardistry, but the fact is I had always intended for the Draconians to be a Cardistry Deck. The Draconian Back Card design is hypnotic with its endless spiral feature. It is mesmerizing in motion!"

3. The name of this newest Draconian Deck, Wildfire, is a nod to one of Randy's favorite series of books and shows - Game of Thrones. "In the world of Westeros, Wildfire is the term they call a vibrant green fire that is highly volatile and cannot be extinguished with water."

4. The original Draconians were also Randy's first experience of working with Legends Playing Card Co. "In honor of this, I incorporated the Legends Logo into the designs. The LS Logo is highlighted in the Tuck Box, Ace of Diamonds, Ace of Clubs and one of the Jokers. Legends and I have formed a great relationship since 2014, and have created many Decks together since the original Draconians."

5. Randy wished that he had thought of adding the lava fissures/cracks to the original Lightning and Spitfire Decks. "The Draconian Wildfire face cards will surely have the bright green fissures to break up the black background coloring. It's the perfect bridge between the Back Card and Face Cards' designs!"

[Update] The Draconian and Knights Playing Cards are now LIVE on Kickstarter!

This project is scheduled to launch at the end of September. To keep up to date on the Draconian deck, follow Midnight Card Company on their Facebook page.

News: Secret Code to Daniel Madison's Confessions Series in 3 Steps!

Here's our confession. We know the secret code to Daniel Madison's Confessions playing cards series by Ellusionist. To get it before we release it on Kardify in 48 hours, follow the 3 simple steps.

1. Follow us on Instagram (@kardify)
2. Leave a comment on the confessions post on Instagram and tell us what u like about Ellusionist decks.
3. DM us with the secret URL.

We will DM u the code within 24 hours. Check out Daniel Madison's video below:

Card Radar: Despicable Me 3 Minion Playing Cards from McDonalds

Now your card games can be filled with Minions! Ths Despicable 3 Minion Playing Cards were given out as part of McDonalds Happy Meal during the Despicable Me 3 promotion in July 2017.

This vibrant and fun deck features oval shaped cards, which makes this deck truly unique. The aces and court cards showcase the various characters from the animated movie- Gru, Lucy, Dru, Margo, Edith, and Agnes.

If you are wondering about minions, they are prominently displayed on the number cards with various poses. The tuck case is literally eye-catching with the minion Kevin eye on the front.

The cards are plastic coated and thus, doesn't handle as well. However, for a $2 deck, this is a pretty cool deck to have in your collection or just to keep the kids entertained.

News: Gemini Playing Cards in Royal Blue Released!

Royal Blue is the third edition to the popular Gemini Casino decks line up. Conceptualized by Estonian playing card designer Toomas Pintson Gemini is a fictional casino deck inspired by treasured classics like Jerry's Nugget and Dunes Casino playing cards.




New Gemini features royal blue and neon pink colorway. The neon pink is definitely one of the highlights of this deck. It's crazy vibrant and compliments the blue color perfectly.



Combining a nostalgic ’70s design and high-quality modern day printing techniques by the United States Playing Card Company, Gemini definitely appeals to those who love and collect vintage casino playing cards.



Blue Gemini is printed on high quality thin crushed stock by The United States Playing Card Company. Limited Print run of 3000 decks.

Available on Monday 25th September 9am (California time) www.geminidecks.com 

Deck View: Isometric No. 2 Playing Cards

Hexagon. Geometric. Stylish.

The Isometric No. 2 Playing Cards are designed with cardists and magicians in mind. This is the second released from Kenneth Aidan Foo, the mastermind behind the popular card flourish, Ripple. The contrasting red-gold colorway of the Isometric No.2 and its aesthetically pleasing design is sure to grab attention.

This stylish deck subtly pays tribute to one of the great classics, the Tally Ho Circle backs. The design is centered around a hexagon with triangles blading out along the short ends. The face cards are now fully customized to fit the geometric theme from the pips to the minimalistic courts to the eye-catching corner brackets that make your fans and flourishes look incredible.

For more cool playing cards, check out JP Playing Cards.

News: Encarded To Release RADIA Playing Cards For Pre-Order!

Encarded's RADIA Playing Cards is a bold new vision in deck design, inspired by the detail and coloring found in 2012's critically acclaimed Aurum deck. 

According to designer Paul Carpenter,

For several years, I’ve had a design motif in my files which I feel speaks beautifully to some of the original design ideas from Aurum, but until now I have not found a way to make this new deck truly special. Luckily, Expert Playing Card Co. approached me last year with a new possibility that I think perfectly accents the design and allowed me to create something brand new in the world of playing cards. The result will be quite spectacular.

RADIA will combine the purple and gold of Aurum in a dramatic new way, it has incredible levels of detail, will be limited in nature, and will be housed in a beautiful tuck box featuring pearlescent "white gold" paper, purple ink, gold foil, embossing and a custom diecut detail. Each deck will be individually numbered with a custom foil seal.

RADIA will be fully unveiled on October 13th, 2017 at the annual 52 Plus Joker playing card convention. For the bold collector, however, you have a chance to pre-order this deck for $30 on September 23rd before the reveal.

As with all Encarded decks, RADIA won't be printed again and only 750 will be stocked in the Encarded store.

Cardistry: New Deck From Dealersgrip!

Ever since Dealersgrip released a teaser image of their next deck in August, it has created quite a buzz. The teaser posted on popular social media platform, Instagram, generated over 1,400 likes.

The image was captioned, BRUSH by dealersgrip. For the artists. Now in production.

BRUSH by dealersgrip. For the artists. Now in production.

A post shared by dealersgrip (@dealersgrip) on Aug 25, 2017 at 7:49am PDT

Last week founder, Oliver Sogard posted another image of the deck on his Instagram account.

Ummm... Hi everybody!

A post shared by oliver sogard (@oliversgrd) on Sep 11, 2017 at 7:49am PDT

Avaiable soon, the card back of BRUSH spots 6 brush strokes with a vibrant yellow, green and purple on a black background. Like their previous deck, STRIPE, the borders are slightly thicker.

"Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is." — BRUSH Playing Cards by dealersgrip. Available soon.

A post shared by dealersgrip (@dealersgrip) on Sep 11, 2017 at 7:33am PDT

First Look: Thirdway Industries To Release LUNATICA Playing Cards. Here's What You Should Know

Giovanni Meroni teased his next big project on Thirdway Industries newsletter last month. It is definitely different from his previous projects from the past 2 years. LUNATICA is bright, crazy, colorful and... have we mentioned bright?! It seemed to be a hybrid of Giovanni's first two decks, the Evil deck, and Delirium. LUNATICA will be his first project with 4 decks. Here's what we know about Lunatica so far:

1. There will be at least 2 versions of LUNATICA. LUNATICA will be available in 2 "unlimited" versions, LUNATICA Equinox and LUNATICA Solstice. Those two decks will have different tuckboxes, cards and backs. According to Giovanni, "Equinox is the symbol of the crescent Moon and of the beginning, the balance and the life. Solstice is the symbol of the waning Moon and of the end, the disproportion and death."

2. The other two versions are the limited LUNATICA Chimera and LUNATICA Phoenix.

3. Neon Inks on cards. LUNATICA cards will use a lot of different Pantone® Neon Inks, both on faces and on backs of the cards, and on the tuck boxes. "Those inks are very bright and unique because they can't be obtained through the CYMK printing method."

4. LUNATICA is inspired by all the other decks of Thirdway Industries. LUNATICA style combines the crazy and colorful style of Delirium and Evil Deck with the detailed and more realistic style of the latest Thirdway Industries decks.

5. LUNATICA have a deep backstory with a double-faced theme. "Lunatica's main theme is, of course, the Moon - but this theme has two faces. The most obvious is the mythological and astral aspect of the Earth's satellite. The hidden face is the psychologic aspect: the Moon is also the symbol of the mercurial human emotion, that can change from sadness to happiness in a blink of an eye."

6. Designed for cardistry, perfect for the collection. Lunatica was born for being the first cardistry oriented project of Thirdway Industries: it's focused on cards in terms of design, ink and materials - the tuck box of Equinox and Solstice will be relatively simple, compared to the other projects. "...but there will be at least one Limited Edition with a special tuck box ;-)"

7. The launch date will be on the Equinox of Autumn. The provisional launch date will be Friday, 22 of September 2017.

To find out more about LUNATICA and anything Thirdway Industries, visit them at thirdway.it or follow them on Facebook.

Kickstarter: Bicycle Dragonlord White Edition Playing Cards

Produced by TCC Playing Cards, the Dragonlord Playing Cards was designed by UK designer Sam Hayles based on the Chinese tradition culture: Dragons! The deck consists of Chinese style design elements with the Dragon being the core of Chinese Culture. In the eyes of the Chinese, it symbolizes freedom and perfection.

Using the Dragon as the theme, the deck has been meticulously designed with a modern flair. The Dragonlord deck is presented in  a black and white colorway, representing the long history and the precipitation of wind and frost, as well as the meaning of blessing.

The deck features custom intricate hand-illustrated Ace of Spades and Jokers. The card backs are the familiar bicycle rider back and face cards are standard with updated colour palette with some what of a dated look to fit the overall theme.

Pledge starts from a reasonable $10 and will be printed by the United States Playing Cards Co. Join TCC Playing Cards on Kickstarter as they bring this incredible and mysterious treasure in the form of playing card to life.

Magic: Popular Italian Magician Jack Nobile to Release the White Flower Playing Cards

Created by popular Italian YouTuber, Jack Nobile and designed by Kiran Kuruvithadam, the White Flower is a calm, relaxing deck of playing cards with a soothing blue colorway. One year in the making, the beautiful white flower floating on the water symbolizes pure nature.

On the deck design, Jack tells Kardify,

The card back features a white lotus flower on a light blue background and we took the idea from the Madison Dealers. The Aces have the same color palette to the Jacks, Queens and Kings. The jokers are an up-oriented hand that gives life to a flower symbolizing rebirth and inner peace.

The face of the Jacks have been customised to include Jack Nobile's best friends: Lorenz on the Jack of Clubs, Hyde on the Jack of Diamonds, Iac on the Jack of Spades, and Jack Nobile on the Jack of Hearts. Jack continued,

We've also added a red/blue double face gaff card and a blank card to create magic effects. I hope you'll like this new deck! The idea is always the same... whenever you want to relax, after a hectic day, you can use this deck and devote your time to magic. It's just a relaxing deck. Thanks for letting me live this beautiful dream!

The White Flower Playing Cards are produced by AssoKappa and printed by the United States Playing Card Co. with Air Cushion Finish. The deck will be released on September 20, 2017.

News: Fourth Issue of Kardify Magazine Now Available!

We just released the fourth issue of Kardify Magazine. The magazine is available to Patrons who pledge $3 or more on our Patreon page. The funds will help us keep the site running and growing, and bringing new quality content to you. Our goal is to support designers by backing on crowd-funded projects and supporting magic and playing cards retailers with their new releases. If you want to support us, please head over to Patreon page.

The monthly magazine will be a compilation of selected articles we’ve published over mid-August to mid-September. The aim is to help you stay on top of playing card news. If you have an idea for an article you would like us to pursue, do get in contact with us. We hope you enjoy the read.

In this issue:

+ Name of the Wind Art Deck: A beautiful deck hand-illustrated by fantasy artist, Echo Chernik and author Pat Rothfuss.

+ Pearl Playing Cards: Learn more about Hanson Chien Production Co’s latest release

+ Bicycle Ombre Edge: Exclusive deck unveiled during Magic Live! 2017 at Las Vegas.

+ Draconian Wild re Playing Cards : Five things you didn't know about Randy Butterfield's upcoming deck on Kickstarter.

+ Flaminko: Have a look at the EDC of Nick Zeitoun from Melbourne, Australia.

… and more! 30 pages of articles, deck images and more!

Deck View: Believe Playing Cards

Shadow. Aces. Intricate.

Designed by the team at System6Magic and funded on Kickstarter in 2013, Believe playing cards is a uniquely crafted deck inspired by the Wayang Kulit (Shadow Puppets) of the Island of Java, Indonesia. The detail and intricacy used to create the Wayang Kulit have been meticulously replicated in this deck - incorporating mythical eastern elements and modern western design.

The card backs feature a unique Wayang Shadow Puppet along with a beautiful lotus flower. For the face cards, the pips, indices, and courts are custom and do suit the look and feel of the deck. Also, each Ace has its own unique design and pattern, making all of the Aces worth looking at. and exemplifies the uniqueness of this deck.

Printed by The United States Playing Card Co. For more cool playing cards, check out JP Playing Cards.

3 Questions with Frank Sung and Adam Kerchman of Bloc Playing Cards

Designed by Frank Sung (@frankistea) and Adam Kerchman (@adamkerchman), Bloc Playing Cards: American Pine Edition is a semi-custom deck inspired by the beauty, color and texture of trees. This deck features standard faces, custom Ace of Spades and a borderless one-way wood textured back design.

A post shared by Adam Kerchman (@adamkerchman) on Jul 27, 2017 at 4:02pm PDT

Frank started cardistry in 2006 and took a break between 2010 to 2015. Recently, Frank won the 'Move of the Year' for 'Dump' during Cardistry-Con 2017. Bloc Playing Cards came about when Frank had an idea in winter 2016 for a line of cards that involved different wood grain textures. Frank told Kardify, "I mentioned my idea in passing to Adam and a few weeks later he told me he wanted to make it a real thing. I would have never taken the steps to make this deck if it wasn't for him."

A post shared by Adam Kerchman (@adamkerchman) on Jun 28, 2017 at 7:03am PDT

Adam is a director of photography based in NYC. He's been in the card world for over 15 years and have known Frank for ~10 years. According to Adam, "Frank casually mentioned to me that a wood deck of cards would be interesting. I was like: Dude. No one has has that...And then we made Bloc!"

We had a quick chat with Frank and Adam about the inspiration behind the 'American Pine' deck, the community, and their favorite cardist, flourish and deck.

What is your inspiration behind the ‘American Pine’ deck? How did you guys come up with the idea?
Frank: There were two main inspirations for the deck. The first one is that I wanted to come up with a deck that was conceptually strong. The reason why the deck is borderless is so that the lines are blurred between a deck of playing cards and an 'object'. When the deck is squared up in your hand or on a table, it seamlessly blends into its environment as an actual wood block, without a border to define it as a deck of playing cards. Only when the deck is in use, then it visually defines itself as playing cards. It's similar to the notion of showing people cardistry and expanding their definition of what a deck of playing cards can do apart from card games and magic tricks. The second inspiration was the beauty of wood. I've always loved the different colors and textures that trees can bring. It's so beautiful. I wanted to bring that into cardistry and with it, a sense of nature and calm. And in a way, the deck is an homage to trees. A wise Kevin Ho once said, "Cards come from paper. Paper comes from tree. Therefore: card is tree. Cardistry."

A post shared by Bloc Playing Cards (@blocplayingcards) on Sep 1, 2017 at 2:48pm PDT

Adam: My desktop background has been a wood texture since 2008. My cell phone background has been a wood texture since I've had an iPhone. You may ask: does Adam respect wood? Absolutely. The borderless design is a bit of an outlier in most decks. That said - a border on the wood texture negated everything we wanted to create. With Bloc, we wanted to create something that transcended a deck of playing cards - it's simply a beautiful stand alone item. The fact that you can manipulate, play with, or amaze with the deck is almost secondary. The design had to be solid enough that any lay person could easily get on board. When you hold a bloc in your hand it looks like you're holding a wooden block. A border would completely alter that perception.

Quintessential @adamkerchman stuff

A post shared by Bloc Playing Cards (@blocplayingcards) on Sep 9, 2017 at 7:56am PDT

We first noticed Bloc Playing Cards on Instagram during Cardistry-Con. 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?
Frank: I'm really grateful for all the support we've been getting to far.
Adam: It's super rad. I've been spearheading our social presence and it's dope to see people resonate with it!

A post shared by Bloc Playing Cards (@blocplayingcards) on Sep 3, 2017 at 3:38pm PDT

Finally, what are your favorite flourish and playing card decks?
Frank: Sorry, i can't pick just one. But in past year or so: Pesto by Tobias, Mycroft by Cuon, and Bahamas by Nikolaj. Other people I look up to when creating are Oliver, Aviv, Dimitri, Brendan, Matt (Beaudoin), Pat, and Nicolas. A few of my favorite decks are Usagi, Wynns, Stripe, and Fontaines.
Adam: Literally anything from Noel, Aviv, or the Dicardistry crew. There's so many people putting out incredible work that it's virtually impossible to choose just a few...So I'll throw Daren, Tobias, and Andrei in there too. I love me some of the latest Virts decks, Stripes, pink Fontaines, and the Vintage Plaid decks. Vintage Plaid might be the smartest back design ever made.

Thanks for your time, guys! The Bloc Playing Cards American Pine Edition are available NOW for $15 from blocplaying.cards. 

Cardistry: The OCULUS Deck by Midnight Cards Coming Soon to Kickstarter!

[Update] The OCULUS Deck is now LIVE on Kickstarter! Pledge starts from $12.

The OCULUS Deck is a collaboration between Randy Butterfield of Midnight Cards and Mike Wilson (Instagram: @theDoc318). Mike and Randy both live in the Indianapolis area and have become good friends over the past couple years.

OCULUS is designed to be one of the first worker deck for cardists, while maintaining superior handling, design, and affordability.

The design for the deck is inspired by Pointillism. It features a full-bleed borderless design with bold and vibrant Reds and Blues. The Court Cards each have a radial design structure that gives them an abstract, yet familiar, look to them.

[Update] The OCULUS Deck is now LIVE on Kickstarter! Pledge starts from $12.

OCULUS will be printed by Hanson Chien Production Co., and will launch on Kickstarter on September 14th at 3:00pm EDT.

Kickstarter: The Planets- Mercury Playing Cards by Vanda Playing Cards

Produced by Vanda Playing Cards, The Planets is a collection of decks representing the planets in the solar system, starting closest to the sun and moving outwards into the surrounding universe. The Planets collection is a continuation of the Vanda Artists series in collaboration with freelance artists who have a passion for creating playing cards.

The first deck of The Planets series is Mercury, featuring the gorgeous artwork of Srdjan Vidakovic, a graphic designer better known as Widakk from Novi Sad, Serbia. After 9 months, his vintage and retro art style have been gorgeously reflected on this luxurious deck.

The deck is fully custom, from the eye-catching card backs to the gorgeous Ace of Spades and retro hand-illustrated court cards and joker featuring creatures with stone-like heat-resistant skin.

There will be two editions available: Standard Edition with a stunning embossed black tuck box with holographic bronze and white foil and the Limited Edition with an embossed dark blue tuck box with holographic silver and gold foil sealed with a numbered metallic perforated seal- only 500 will be available!

The tuck boxes will have interior foil and printed by Clove St. Press, producers of gorgeous letterpress printing. The decks will be printed by the United States Playing Card Company. Pledge starts from $10 and the uncut sheet will be available as an add-on.