Soundboard V4 (Emerald Edition) Playing Cards

The Soundboard V4 Emerald Edition is the latest addition to Patrick Varnavas' Soundboards Playing Cards, first released in 2015. Produced by Riffle Shuffle, the Soundboards deck was created to celebrate vintage audio gear like 80s cassette players and gramophones. 

The intricate back design illustrated by Stuart Palm incorporates major pieces of audio equipment from different eras into one harmonious setup. The design is detailed and easy no the eyes, finding a balance between simplicity and complexity. The new colorways make the design pop!

The tuck case mimics the functionality of a vintage mixtape. With a Plastic Window to see inside the deck and Silver Foils running through the designs of the Matte Finish Tuck Case. 

Fans of the original deck will feel the nostalgia immediately and the deck’s ties to vintage audio gear will get everybody else feeling the nostalgia too.

The Soundboard Emerald Edition will be printed by TWPCC with their Legendary Stock. Limited to 2500 Decks. Available NOW from riffleshuffle.com for $9.95.

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Deck View: My Turn Mixtape Vol. 2 Playing Cards

Hype. Cardistry. Mashup.

The My Turn Mixtape is a collection of Hype Decks rolled into one avant-garde design created by the popular cardistry personality, Michael "My Turn" Stern. This deck may not be for everyone due to the seemingly chaotic design elements. However, cardists will be able to appreciate and quickly identify the various streetwear-inspired playing cards featuring minimalistic, bold, and trendy geometric designs showcased.

The My Turn Mixtape, Vol. 2 was unveiled during Cardistry-Con HK and the card back features design elements from the CC2017 deck, Red Dot, and Checkerboard by Anyone Worldwide and Dealergrip's Brush. The face cards are pretty much standard with the exception of the Ace of Spades and Jokers.

I personally think the Mixtape is brilliant, especially what it stands for- to celebrate the hype cardistry decks released over the past year in intriguing mashup back design. The deck is packaged in a stunning rose gold foil tuck case sealed with a micro-perforated rose gold foil seal. Printed by the USPCC on crushed stock with Air-cushion finish.

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First Look: Mantecore V3 Playing Cards

Inspired by their love for this majestic beast, Mantecore V3 Playing Cards is the follow-up to the bold Mantecore decks designed by Edo Huang and Benjamin Loo. The new Mantecores are bold and eye-catching.

This deck will be the ONLY deck you will ever need for the Lunar New Year of the Tiger. This version features the most ambitious collaboration of ideas and inputs from all across the globe helmed by Edo. 

The fully custom deck is enhanced with a new eye-catching orange/black colorway and functionality with updated colors and metallic Pantone inks on the pips, indices, and standard courts. 

The deck is housed in an orange tuck case with a brand new wraparound design. The head of the majestic beast is prominently featured, reflecting the power, might, and agility of the creature.

Printed by the United States Playing Card Co. Mantecore V3 is scheduled to launch on Kickstarter, 1st of February 2022. Don't miss out!

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On Kickstarter, The Seers Laetus V2 Playing Cards

Currently seeking funds on Kickstarter with a goal of $8,000, The Laetus V2 by Seers Playing Cards is a striking deck influenced by the Bauhaus movement.

This snazzy deck features fully custom artwork, from the courts, pips to aces, tuck box, and back design. The eye-catching green/black/white colorway combined with the geometric card backs makes this deck truly mesmerizing. Perfect for cardistry!

Also, the borderless back design of the V2 has been enhanced with design elements to complement spreads and fans, making it look large and truly unique.

The Laetus V2 will be printed by the USPCC on Premium crushed stock with Air-cushion finish. Pledge starts at $9 on Kickstarter.

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Collections: Requiem Playing Cards

Requiem Playing Cards is created by Sweden based Italian artist/designer Lorenzo Gaggiotti in 2014. This unique set of playing cards is unlike any other... it is gory and dark yet beautiful in a weird way. Requiem is custom designed and features darkness and pain as a theme. The illustrations for the Courts, Jokers and Aces are very dark. The suits are made out of broken Hearts, Clubs with thorns, cracked Diamonds and dry leaves as Spades. Pips are unique and the gold metallic ink on this blood red deck gives it a touch of elegance

First Look: Mono-Xero (Chroma Edition) Playing Cards

Fresh off his win in the 2021 Kardify Awards for Deck of the Year: People's Choice, Luke Wadey is back with a very special edition Mono deck. The latest release derives from Mono-Xero, a deck that uses negative space and calculated linework to form a hidden circle on the back of the card. 

Following in the footsteps of the heXa and X Chroma Edition decks, this deck promises to bring a minimal elegance with an all-new design, combining a rich blue metallic ink with the unmistakable linework pattern Luke has come to use in his previous 10 Mono decks!

The chroma decks are designed to feel more refined and controlled than their wild, broken border brothers. With the Mono - Xero : Chroma Edition Luke aims to find a middle ground between designing for cardistry, and minimal contemporary magic deck design.

This results in a deck that draws in the spectator and forces them to see the subtle illusion of the circle on the back design, the lines appearing to wave during movement which is visually engaging during flourishes too, whilst not becoming too distracting during your magic routines.

Each Chroma version of the existing Mono deck utilizes a fresh pattern on the card back, and this deck is no different, with thinner lines converging in the corners for more interesting fans, the waves inspired by the curvature of the circle. With four additional cards including 3 jokers and a double backer, USPCC will be printing a numbered run of only 2000 decks, with an additional small amount more offered as metallic blue gilded versions in a premium foiled tuck box, and non numbered versions too. 

Launching on the 29th of January at 3pm GMT, this short running campaign on Kickstarter needs your support, and as always would truly mean the world to Luke if you could help him make them a reality. Sign up now to be notified when it goes live! 

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MYNOC Deck 9: ICE Playing Cards

MYNOC Deck 9: Ice continues the MYNOC series. Each deck in the series comes with a different design inspired by submission using House of Playing Cards' MYNOC Stickers. Hence, each deck will have a different design inspired by the community.

The Ice deck features a geometric low-poly design on the tuck box and card back in  cool winter colorway. Like the previous release, the face cards are pretty much standard but recolored to fit the color palette and theme of the deck. 

You can submit your photos with the hashtag #mynoc on Instagram. Printed by The United States Playing Cards Company on Classic Stock with Air-Cushion Finish. Available for $10 on houseofplayingcards.com. 

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Less Than 48 Hours on Kickstarter, The Windmill Back Playing Cards!

The Windmill Back is the fifth deck created by Arcadia and is inspired by the aesthetics of old, worn-down windmills. According to the designer, Christian, 

I created the Windmill Back because I simply love the aesthetics of worn down windmills. I adore how powerful they look where they stand, usually alone and not in use. Still, they were essential for farmers back in the days when they didn't have advanced machinery to help them with their work. Windmills were a combination of architectural and engineering brilliance and proof of how human civilizations were able to develop due to new inventions like the windmill. Now, however, these old windmills are mostly just postcard material. I guess you can call this project a tribute to these old giants. So when you hold these cards in your hand in the near future, you can think of the historical importance of these magnificent constructions. 

Currently seeking funds on Kickstarter, this vintage style deck comes in two different editions: azure blue and claret purple. Each Edition of the deck will also have a gilded version with gold foil edges. 

Inside, the courts are based on the same early 1900's style that can be seen on the previous Arcadia deck, Harmony Back, but customized to a windy theme that suits the deck. 

The aces in the Windmill Back are all decorated and incorporate the overall theme of the deck. The ace of spades is, as tradition goes, the most detailed and features a windmill inside the pip along with vintage drawn ornaments. 

 

Also included are two identical jokers, except one of them is juggling with a 7 of hearts reveal that you can use for magic. They are jokers drawn in a traditional style and they are true to the windmill theme as they are blowing on whirligig toys with leaves blowing around. 

The Windmill Back will be printed by Cartamundi and the tuck boxes are gold foiled, embossed, and come with an old stamp style seal. The letterpressed tucks will be made by Boschiero & Newton in Italy. Available NOW on Kickstarter for $14.

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Deck View: The Ultimate Deck

Art. Design. Collaboration.

The Ultimate Deck was first released around the 2012 holiday season in a collaboration between Dan and Dave Buck and packaging design firm, Stranger & Stranger. The deck was created as a way for Stranger & Stranger to celebrate the 2012 work year as it was a pivotal year in new package design.

The deck took over a year to produce as every single playing card in the deck contains a completely different custom design edge to to edge, from creepy artwork to cute and funny designs. The subtle one-way back design is a flat version of the art on the tuck case. 

The tuck case comes with a classic black matte finish with glossy embossing. It features nostalgic design elements that give the impression of holding an ancient book. The centerpiece is a glossy silver embossed two-way "Stranger" given the effect to create the impression of it being a two-way design. The tuck case features a stamp-like seal that is reminiscent of very early decks printed by The United States Playing Card Company.

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Thermo Solids Cardistry Deck by Lotus in Hand Drops TODAY!

When you think you have seen it all, Taiwanese cardistry group Lotus in Hand dropped an insane teaser that blew everyone's mind. The 1-minute video features their latest deck Termo Solids. 

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A post shared by LotusinHand (@lotusinhand)

 
As the name suggests, the deck is printed with thermochromic ink, a type of dye that changes color when temperatures increase or decrease. 

The heat-sensitive card back can be seen changing color from black to lime green when fingers or hand contacts the deck. Very cool! The face cards are pretty much standard and the pips and indices come with a lime green colorway. 

Each order of 10 decks or more will come with a custom brick box printed with thermochromic ink. Also, Lotus in Hand will also be giving away Thermo Solid and OG Solid's 1/1 uncut NFTs to two random buyers of 10 decks or more. Holders of uncut NFTs will be granted early access to future releases. 

Thermo Solids will be available today (22nd January) 12pm ET on lotusinhand.com. Printed in Taiwan by Dex Playing Card Co. Print run of 1001.

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Card Game: Control by Keymaster Games

Stuck at home and looking for a fun and fast-paced card game? Check out Control by Keymaster Games. The sci-fi-themed CCG combines the mechanics of a traditional card game with an intense competitive strategic gameplay that will keep you coming back for more. This is our first card game review in a while and we will try to feature a card game review monthly.

Here's the premise for Control: Players are time travelers who’ve been caught in a rupture in spacetime and displaced outside time. Each player must use Fuel Cells to refuel their own time machine to escape and at the same time stop other players from refueling theirs first. Whoever does so first closes the rupture, leaving all other travelers lost outside time.

SETUP

Control is very simple to learn and play. Each game round takes between 5-10 minutes. The goal is to close the rupture by reaching a Fuel Cell charge of 21 or more by laying down number cards in your play area adding up to 21 or higher at the same time stopping other players from achieving the goal by using different ability cards.

Depending on the number of players, the deck and discard pile is shared in the middle for 3-4 players while for 2 player games, each has its own. The deck consists of:

• 20x Stable cards (1-5 Fuel count)
• 28x Unstable cards (4-10 Fuel count)

Each card has a name and ability that will be triggered when played. Each player starts with 4 cards.


GAMEPLAY

Basically, on a turn, the player draws a card and perform one of the action below:

• Draw a Card
• Play a Card: To increase fuel count by playing Stable or Unstable cards). Abilities are triggered when played.
• Discard an unstable card: Discard an unstable card from your hand. Abilities are triggered when played.
• Diffuse a card: Discard a card from your hand and force an opponent to discard one of their fuel count. The number value of the card must be equal to or higher than the card to discard.

After the action is resolved, the play turn continues to the next player clockwise. Whoever has a fuel count of 21 or higher at the end of their turn wins!

Sounds pretty straight forward but once you get the hang of the game, there will be more strategy involved. You have to weigh the opportunity costs of your decisions, for example, high-value cards are very tempting to use to get to 21 quickly, but at the same time tempting to use for the powerful abilities. These unstable cards will be discarded once played.

Meanwhile, if one of the players is getting too close to winning, and in order to stop him you may need to discard a high-value card to force them to discard a card from their fuel count... and because you only have one action each turn, is it better just to wait and draw a card to give you more options in the next few turns?

Due to the fast-paced nature of the game, you will have to think fast as each turn will come quickly.




OVERALL

Control is a great game if you are looking for a short and sharp game. The sci-fi time traveling is almost irrelevant due to the fact that we focused on the number, card color, and reading the ability of each card.

The game flow is fast and there is never a dull moment once everyone gets the hang of it. Not only do you have to plan your moves a few turns ahead, but you also have to be aware of what the other players are doing... or else, it will be a short game.

The game consists of 54 cards and it is very convenient to bring this and play anywhere. The artwork is beautiful! I was initially drawn to the game due to the stunning gold foil on the black tuck box. The linework on the tuck and card backs are definitely eye-catching... sort of what you get from Theory11 decks. The face cards have a slight 60's sci-fi vintage feel which fits the time-traveling theme really well.

Definitely, a great game for game nights if you want something different to keep everyone engaged and entertained. Available from barnesandnoble.com for $12.99.

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