Shadows and Dust Playing Cards is a striking deck series by Agitcom dedicated to gladiators. Now funding on Kickstarter, the idea was to create a deck that would reflect harsh reality, the strength, and spirit of brave warriors in that time period.
According to the designer Sviatoslav Pashchuk on the KS campaign page,
For a long time, I had the idea to create a deck dedicated to gladiators. The turning point was the trip to Switzerland in 2019, where during a gloomy and rainy day I accidentally found the museum with an exhibition of gladiatorial armor. I am a big fan of Ridley Scott’s films, and one of my favorites – the Gladiator. This exhibition in Switzerland impressed me so much that I started working on the deck dedicated to these strong and courageous men.
Three editions are on offer during the campaign: Rudis, Dust, and Shadow. Each edition comes with its own custom tuck box but shares similar custom artwork on the backs and face cards.
Each hand-illustrated court card features twelve men and women from Ancient Rome, meticulously finished with beautiful richly decorated garments and weapons. The artwork on the Shadow Edition, in particular, is truly striking with silver metallic ink against the dark background.
The mirrored card backs feature the coliseum adorned with decorative elements and ancient patterns of the Romans. The Rudis Edition comes in blue metallic, Dust in red metallic ink, and Shadow Edition comes with red metallic ink on a contrasting background.
The aces intricate and bold, consistent with the overall theme on the face and card backs. Individually, they are strong enough to be artwork on their own.
The cards are secured in a beautifully crafted tuck box. The restrained and dark colors of the boxes, and the small accent on the foils, symbolize short and instantaneous eruption of glory at the peak of life and the brink of death. Rudis comes with gold foil, Dust in copper foil, and shadow in striking red foil. All tucks come with embossing.
The decks will be printed by the Expert Playing Card Co. on Classic Paper with Linen finish. Pledge starts at $15 on Kickstarter now.
Also with NFT trending at the moment, a crypto card is available as a pledge tier featuring one of the aces of Shadows and Dust. It has a three-dimensional format and an animated structure. Don’t miss out!
