Back in 2016, Scandinavian designer Nicolai Aarøe produced the Dominus Playing Cards series – consisting of Obscura and Divinus. Those two decks are now fetched up to 100$ – 200$ in the aftermarket! Due to the popularity of the series, he decides to release the revamped edition of the series along with a new variant. Introducing Dominus V2, the sequel to the best works by Nicolai now funding on Kickstarter.
The series tells about the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek to gain power through activities related to the underworld and black magic. All of the court cards represent characters from the European monarchy – Knights (Jacks), Queens, and Kings of their normal state on one side and the corrupted state on the other. There will be a booklet that will further explain the stories of these characters.
Obscura V2 has an updated design from its previous edition. It uses 3 metallic foils (copper, black, and red) and even more details added to the tuck box. To differentiate with the first edition, there is the title “Second Edition” written on the front side as well as the numbered label stamped on the bottom.
This series introduces the new deck called Deceptus. It’s a completely new design altogether of the tuck box. Both Deceptus and Obscura V2 tuck boxes will be done on the matte black soft-touch stock with embossings and metallic foiling. There will be a numbered seal located on the bottom of the tuck box.
All of the cards will have four indices, one on each corner. The courts are beautifully illustrated with painstaking details that tell the lore of a kingdom that meddles with the dark arts and necromancy. It is a one-way design court, with both sides showing a different state of being: the good side, which shows the royalties with fresh looks; and the evil side, which shows the royalties with the demonic and corrupted state: either turn into ravaging beasts or undead corpse.
Obscura V2 will have black cards, while the Deceptus will have white cards. Obscura V2 will show the evil side, showing imagery of skulls and snakes, while Deceptus will show the good side, showing imagery of royalties.
All of the Aces will feature an enlarged pip with intricate designs. Each edition will have a different set of Aces: Obscura V2 will show a lot of black magic iconography, while Deceptus will show curved decorative patterns.
The numbered cards will have customized pips as well as the arrangement of the pips. The red pips will have a muted gold color on both black and white backgrounds. The black pips will remain as it is: black on white background, white on black background.
Both back designs of the Dominus V2 are filled with a lot of iconographies related to religion, occult, royalty, and divination. Obscura V2 has the updated design from its 2016 edition, while the Deceptus featured a brand new design. The cards will be produced by Noirs Playing Cards Company (NPCC) on premium linen finish.
Pledge starts from $14 for a single deck of choice OR get both as a set for $28 on Kickstarter. You can also pledge for a complete set including a booklet for $43. Funding ends on March 19, 2022.
