Cardistry: 5 Things You Didn't Know About Metropol NOX and LUX 2017 Edition Decks

The Metropol decks are back! In 2014, the original Metropol NOX and LUX have been popular with cardists. The unique 4-colour back design and colour suits enhance displays and card flourishes making fans, spreads, spins and cascades look absolutely stunning!

Currently seeking funds on Kickstarter, the 2017 editions of the decks have been updated with a fresh colour palette and a slick new UV layer on the card backs, giving this set a premium upgrade you can literally feel. Here are 5 things you didn't know about the latest edition of Metropol NOX and LUX:

1. The 2017 edition of the Metropol NOX and Metropol LUX decks were initially planned as simple reprints of the original versions. Designer Mike Lambert told Kardify, "The more I thought about it though, the more I saw this as an opportunity to try something different while building on the original Metropol brand." With a fresh colour palette and a slick new layer of UV ink on the card backs, and soft-touch lamination on the tuck case, the 2017 edition Metropol decks will make a standout addition to any card collection.

2. The colour palette of the original Metropol NOX and LUX decks was a bit of an accident. "A little-known fact about me is that I’m colour blind. I do see colour, but a lot of them blend together and look the same to me. I’ve always been colour blind so it’s hard to describe to someone who sees colour normally. When I do any work with colour I always pay close attention to my RGB values to keep things from getting too wacky. For whatever reason when I was designing the original Metropol NOX deck, I didn’t check my RGB values… not even once!"

3. The Metropol Playing Cards logo is a combination of a number of different ideas. The first idea that comes to mind for a lot of people is a very minimalist skyline with the bars representing buildings. The height of each of the four bars wasn’t chosen at random though. "Hold your left hand up to the screen and take a look at the Metropol logo again. From left to right the four bars relatively match the length of your fingers from the little finger to the index finger. Coincidentally the heights are also relative to the heights of my family members with my Mom and Dad on the outside and my brother and I in the middle."

4. The original Metropol NOX deck was printed by the United States Playing Card Company (USPCC). "If you’ve ever seen the tuck case, you’ll notice the copyright information is printed on the back of the tuck, rather than the bottom like every other tuck case out there. The reason for this is somewhat strange. If a deck of cards is printed by USPCC and distributed from Canada, there is an unusual requirement that dictates text cannot be printed on the bottom of the tuck. This rule does not apply to decks being distributed from within the United States. As a result, the copyright information was placed on the back of the tuck and the bottom was left blank. Fortunately, Legends Playing Card Company (LPCC) doesn’t have the same restrictions which allow for a lot more design freedom. The design of the tuck case on the 2017 edition Metropol NOX deck has been updated to match the tuck design on the Metropol LUX series decks."

5. This will be the last release from Metropol Playing Cards to feature the classic Metropol minimalist design for foreseeable future. While the classic design will most likely resurface sometime later down the road, there are many new Metropol deck designs in the works that will be released before then. Some of the new designs build on the current Metropol style, while others move in a totally new direction. The future of Metropol Playing Cards is an exciting one.


If you like what you've read and want to support Metropol NOX and LUX 2017 Edition Playing Cards, you can find it on Kickstarter Here! Pledge starts from CAD15 (~USD$12).