The Art of Thirdway Industries' Giovanni Meroni

Wow...! Thirdway Industries is turning 5 this year. We've been following founder Giovanni Meroni since the Discourse Deck Design Competition (DDDC) back in 2014, when he first started designing playing cards. Since then, Giovanni has progressively improved his style with every deck he designed. Have an exclusive look at the evolution of Giovanni's work, from Evil Deck to Betrayers. Commentary by Giovanni.

The ones who know me as a playing cards designer probably don’t know that my “old” signature style was only vector shapes without lines (above). I’ve learned this style when I studied graphic design in the academy, and used it for a few years for illustration freelance jobs.

My first deck, The Evil Deck, was made with a minimal flat style - without lines. With all the cards illustrated, it was a tremendous effort.

During the production of The Evil Deck, I’ve learned a lot about playing cards world - I’ve met other designers, great people and awesome customers. I started collecting and I’ve seen some beautiful decks that inspired me a lot.



I’ve studied an old Modiano classic deck and, for the first time in my career, I’ve introduced lines in my illustrations. Welcome, Delirium Prism!



I absolutely loved the look of Delirium, and I wanted to try it on more human and realistic characters. I wanted a “classic” deck of cards, a sort of a standard of my newborn brand Thirdway Industries: Omnia.

During the design process, I’ve made it a little less classic than I was planning to do, especially because of the gorgeous Queens.



My “lines” style evolved a lot since Omnia: In Dedalo I wanted huge courts, more realistic and complex.



In SINS and Eva, I’ve reduced the figures a little, so I had more space for bodies. I’ve also improved the expressions of the courts.



After doing so many realistic and dark decks, I felt it was time to return doing something fun and colorful. Something with the same vibe of Delirium, designed after several years of experience in playing cards design. I’ve decided to call this deck Lunatica, and it’s probably one of the craziest ones I’ve designed.



Odissea is probably my most mature work with my signature style so far. I’ve merged the best part of SINS with Dedalo, adding details, expressions, and variety.



After Odissea, I wanted to take a break from my usual style, so I’ve checked my first works and decided to try to use a flat style again… after 5 years of experience. The result... Betrayers, a deck that uses flat shapes and gradient on realistic and complex figures.



Now I am designing a new deck, Monolith, with my usual style, but a completely different theme. I am a chaotic person, and I absolutely don’t have any idea about how my style will evolve in the next years - I always tried steadily to improve what I do, so hopefully, it will get better!

To keep up-to-date on anything Thirdway Industries, visit them at thirdway.it or follow them on Facebook.

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Spring Cleaning Sale (including Rare Decks) at PlayingCardDecks.com

Our friends at PlayingCardDecks.com is having a Spring Cleaning Sale off storewide! Shop great deals on sale items and discontinued products priced to move! Up to 50% off some rare decks including Thirdway Industries' Omnia Magnifica, UUSI's Hotcakes, and Murphy's Magic RUN Bankroll. Head to the clearance sale page here!

Discover more deals, coupon codes and offer on tuckcase.com

Deck View: Illumina Playing Cards

Gold. Bright. Happy.

From Thirdway Industries the Omnia Illumina Playing Cards are meticulously designed by Italian graphic artist, Giovanni Meroni. Omnia Illumina was unlocked as a stretched goal during the Omnia Kickstarter campaign in 2015.

Omnia Illumina represents the bright side of the Omnia Universe. The gorgeous courts in Illumina are happy, brave, and generous. The tuck features a bright white box, printed with eye-catching gold foil. The face cards are printed with a lot of metallic inks and the backs use gold metallic ink.

Printed by Expert Playing Card Co. with Master Finish. Check out the other decks from the Omnia series on thirdway.it. For more cool playing cards, check out JP Games.

Card Gear: Thirdway Industries

Card Gear is our monthly feature dedicated to discovering new inventory, setup and accessories used every day by card designers, cardists, magicians and collectors. The concept originated from the popular social media site, Instagram: #passthepockets. Whenever one of these hashtags come up on the social news feed, there's always something new to discover, no matter who that person is.

This month, we have the EDC of Giovanni Meroni, founder of Thirdway Industries. Giovanni is based in a small city- Lentate sul Seveso, north of Milan, Italy and also the designer of the stunning OMNIA decks. When not designing decks, Giovanni works for an e-commerce company as art director and work nights/weekend to cards.

Giovanni is currently funding SINS Playing Cards on Kickstarter. The project is seeking €17,000 and is already 303% funded with less than 5 days to go.

Giovanni's gear (Italics are Giovanni's comments):

+ Thirdway Industries business card (with a custom, gaff illustration on one side)
+ Dedalo Oracle Card
+ Omnia Oscura
+ Dedalo Alpha
+ Leather fat wallet full of silly stuff, almost destroyed
+ Keys of home
+ Ray-Ban sunglasses to look cool
+ Nexus 6P (not included it the image, but it's here since Giovanni used it for shoot)


What’s yours? If you would like your card gears to be featured on Kardify, contact us.

5 Things You Need To Know About Thirdway Industries' SINS Playing Cards

On Friday, February 17, Giovanni Meroni of Thirdway Industries launched SINS Playing Cards on Kickstarter. The project hit its funding goal of €17,000, and as of the time of writing, 504 backers have pledged €36,498 toward the project. These are the five most surprising and illuminating details Giovanni shared about the project to generate interest from potential backers.
 
1. Printers are still being evaluated. 
For SINS Giovanni decided to evaluate two options, United States Playing Cards Company and Expert Playing Card Company. Thirdway Industries decks were all previously printed by EPCC. For SINS Giovanni thinks that USPCC may be an awesome option. The decision will be made at the end of the campaign, based on several factors.

2. The decks have a subtle chronological order.
In SINS Mentis, Adam and Eve thought about eating the Apple of Knowledge, but they actually didn't do that. In SINS Corpus, they ate the Apple and they became mortals. In SINS Anima, they accepted what they did, and they became the first two true Sinners. So the chronological order is Mentis > Corpus > Anima

3. Card backs are inspired by Eden.
The backs are inspired by the Eden, in three different moments: In SINS Mentis no one ate the Apple of Knowledge, so Eden was bright. After the Original Sin happened in SINS Corpus, Eden has fallen in an endless night. After Adam and Eve accepted mortality, Eden became "red" - the color of many things.

4. Anima is red because of life. 
Giovanni decided to use red for SINS Anima for many reasons. Red can be both a "bad" color than a "good" one. It is the color of blood and the flames of hell, but it is also the color of blood, passion and life.

5. Giovanni wanted to change his brand name to Snakeway Industries 
With SINS, there will be a total of 12 Thirdway Industries decks with a Snake - 6 Omnia decks are based on the Uroboros, the God Snake who eats its own tail. Also Dedalo Alpha, Apeiron and Pantheon include snakes, on Hermes caduceus, on Hera's and Pasifae's scepter. This is somewhat unintentional, but Giovanni had a thought to chage the TW logo with a little snake. However, it's not happening. For now.


SINS Playing Cards are now available on Kickstarter! To find out more about SINS and anything Thirdway Industries, visit them at thirdway.it or follow them on Facebook.

Top 12: Playing Cards of 2016

What an incredible year for playing cards! From big magic companies to independent designers, 2016 has been filled with amazing new talents and incredible innovations. To celebrate we've compiled 12 of our favorite decks right here. Compiling the list has been especially challenging with all the amazing decks released this year. If you think we missed your favorite deck out, let us know in the comment section below. :)

Note that the selection expressed in this top 12 are solely those of the author and the list is in no particular order.

Silver Arrows

The Silver Arrows Playing Cards are a sleek and polished playing cards meticulously designed by Jackson Robinson. The deck features an industry first full bleed foil back design and showcases signature Kings Wild court cards as well as two custom jokers and custom Ace of Spades. Printed by the Expert Playing Card Co.

Le Chat Rouge

No.17 "Le Chat Rouge" is a custom-designed deck of playing cards by Stockholm17. It is the third and final version of the elegant "No.17" series. The card backs feature black cats with accents of red foil creating a striking effect on the rich black backs. The card faces are white with a unique thick black border, adding a modern touch to a classic playing deck. The playing cards are beautifully housed in a die-cut tuck case that has been intricately cut out, and sealed with a limited edition number.

Chancellor

Chancellor Playing Cards are inspired by a small detail on a century-old Bicycle card back and grew into an incredibly detailed artwork! Designed by Encarded and printed by Expert Playing Card Co, Chancellor showcases FOUR metallic inks that intertwine into a detailed, "shadow bordered" back with subtle edge details and dimension. The faces are fully custom, with a dramatic court featuring beautiful detail and unique colorations. The stunning tuck features thick matte black paper, two foils and incredibly detailed blind embossing. The deck is sealed with a beautiful metallic foil seal, individually numbered and carefully designed to integrate with the tuck design.

Dynasty

Inspired by culture and heritage, Brendan Hong brings his unique style to this gorgeous deck of playing cards. Various Chinese elements are reimagined in Brendan’s own delightful style. The decks feature fully custom cards with unique Jokers, Courts and Ace of Spaces and Matte stock tuck featuring foil and interior printing. Printed by the Expert Playing Card Co. on their Classic Finish card stock.

ICON SACRED

The ICONS SACRED Edition playing cards is a limited edition deck design by Lotrek of Halfmoon Productions. Crafted with love, devotion and... risk, ICONS SACRED is a developmental deck, used to fine-tune Lotrek's new printer and various production aspects from cutting methods and metallic inks’ behavior to playing card finish. The end result as you can see is nothing short of stunning! ICON SACRED features gold metallic ink on the faces, gold and silver metallic on the back and an intricate tuck case that was amazingly stamped on 2-sided color "metallic" stock.

Odd Bods

The Odd Bods Playing Cards is a brilliant deck illustrated by Jonathan Burton. Produced by Art of Play, the Odd Bods Playing Cards feature amusing characters, quirky illustrations, and playful imagery. The deck has been hand illustrated in a beautifully nostalgic style and designed to have the look of ‘aged’ Victorian lithographs. Every image proves its own quirk and oddity, but is never ostentatious-- Odd Bods are the epitome of refined indulgence. Packaged in a gorgeous gold-foil embossed tuck box.

Magna Carta

Magna Carta by Seasons Playing Cards is a stunning set of limited edition playing cards that commemorates the foundation of liberty. Symbolism and story are thoughtfully located throughout this luxurious black and white deck set. The deck features luxurious foiled etchings on each suit, intricate linework on custom courts, and subtle embossing on the tuck, creating beautiful pleated patterns across the face of the premium linen stock. The tuck interior reveals an interior replica of the actual 1215 Magna Carta itself. Together, the side of the decks display a beautifully illustrated mural!

Black Diamond

The third edition is the hugely popular Tally-Ho series by Jackson Robinson of Kings Wild Projects. The Black Diamond Playing Cards incorporate USPCC's new MetalLuxe Foiling process on the card backs, making the Black Diamonds not only the first fully custom deck to utilize the process, but also the very first all black deck by Kings Wild. Only 1000 produced and features a premium soft-touch black tuck with Black foil accents.

Anubis and Osiris

Inspired by the luxurious reverence of Egyptian Gods and Kings of the past, The Anubis and Osiris Playing cards is an original set of American playing cards designed by Steve Minty. Elements from classical Egyptian era and the Egyptian Revival along with modern design are incorporated into this stunning custom deck!

Gold Gator

David Blaine released the new colorway of the popular Gatorbacks playing cards as a part of his Black Friday line-up this year. The Gold Foil Gatorbacks feature a stunning Gold-on-White custom tuck and like it's predecessor, beautifully embossed and finely detailed, on both the inside and the outside. The deck features the USPCC's eye-catching Metaluxe back.

MINT Limited Edition

Designed for the workers by 52Kards, the stunning Mint Limited Edition playing cards features elegant borderless back with beautiful tri-color design, gold line accents and masks an incredibly intuitive marking system for the clever magician to take advantage of. The deck showcases gorgeous semi-custom courts, custom pips and indices, custom Ace of Spades and a minimalistic custom tuck box with embossed gold foil and interior printing. Printed by the United States Playing Card Company and coated with the legendary Air Cushion Finish.

Wicked Kingdom

Hand-painted by fantasy illustrator Wylie Beckert, Wicked Kingdom is an art-rich deck of playing cards set in a dark fantasy world and populated by a cast of strange and complex characters.This gorgeous deck features insanely detailed, hand-drawn artwork with a dark fantasy flair. Custom-designed subtle one-way card backs, hand-drawn pips, elegantly watermarked number cards, and dual-identity face cards make for an art-rich playing card deck for cardists, collectors, and fans of the fantasy genre.

Honorable mention: ALLOY by Gambler's Warehouse, NPH by Theory11, OMNIA by Thirdway Industries, Royal Bee, Flying Machine by Bicycle Playing Cards, GRILLE by JP Games, Private Reserve 2 by Dan & Dave, Inception by Jody Eklund, White Gold by Joker & the Thief, VIRIDIAN by Trikard and Skull & Bones Phantom Edition by EPCC.



The selection expressed in this top12 are solely those of the author. Images for Silver Arrows, Le Chat Rouge, Chancellor, Dynasty, Magna Carta, Black Diamond, Anubis & Osiris, Gold Gator and Wicked Kingdom are taken by Anthony Ingrassia. Odd Bods and Mint Limited Edition by Ivan Choe. ICON SACRED from Maxplayingcards.com.

Deck VIew: Omnia Magnifica Playing Cards

Heroes. Legend. Ancient.

Designed by Giovanni Meroni of Thirdway Industries, Omnia Magnifica is the limited deck of Omnia: The Golden Age series. This exquisite deck represents the legendary, remote past of the Omnia Universe, full of God and Heroes. When everything started.

Fully custom, the deck features the most ancient reincarnations of the Omnia courts, and the most baroque deck designed by Thirdway Industries. The cards have a very dark brown/black background and 2 metallic inks, golden and bronze. Also, every suit represents an ancient civilization (Egyptian, Greeks, Babylonian, Roman) in their heroic and ancient form. The stunning tuck features a double-layered foil, Red and gold, on a special dark paper.

The deck is printed by Expert Playing Card Co. Available now from Thirdway Industries. For more cool playing cards, check out  JP Games.

First Look: Pantheon Playing Cards by Thirdway Industries Part 1

[Update] Pantheon Playing Cards are now LIVE on Kickstarter!

Pantheon by Thirdway Industries is the follow up to the successful Dedalo Playing Cards, which features greek mythology. Pantheon will be an individual deck, focused on the Olympian Gods. Here's Giovanni Meroni to tell us more about Pantheon,

The project is born by chance when I was designing Dedalo, I realized I had exactly 12 Greek Gods. For the ones not familiar with Dedalo, all the spades courts of the three decks, plus all the 3 extra 55th cards feature a different greek God. I had Apollo, Hermes, Aphrodite and Poseidon in Dedalo Alpha; Dionysus, Athena, Helios and Artemis in Dedalo Omega and Ares, Hera, Zeus and Hades in Dedalo Apeiron.

Giovanni continued,

I decided to use them to make a new deck, of course with very different designs and versions. Because I decided to use Helios and Artemis as the jokers (Omnia Magnifica fans may be happy there), I introduced two new Gods, Demeter and Hephaestus. And there may be an extra God to unlock, during the campaign ;-)

We will find out more details about the deck design next week. Stay tuned!

[Update] Pantheon Playing Cards are now LIVE on Kickstarter!

The Kickstarter will go live Wednesday, 12 October - 21.00 UTC (23.00 in Milan, 17.00 in New York). Subscribe the Thirdway Industries newsletter to keep up-to-date with the launch of Pantheon.

News: Thirdway Industries Teases New 'Mysterious' Playing Cards

The past 12 months have been pretty good for Thirdway Industries. It successfully funded 2 projects (Omnia and Omnia: The Golden Age) and came in runner-up for UC's Overall Best Deck of 2015 in various categories.

Today Giovanni Meroni unveiled his second project for the year on Thirdway's official website, DEDALO Playing Cards. Unfortunately, not much is known about the deck just yet, but Giovanni has left a few clues for those who are able to "solve" it.

Clue words like Labyrinth, Traveller, Princess with the Red Thread, VI MMXVI and Fortune favours the brave. We suppose that this is a reference to a mythology or some sort like Giovanni's other decks.

We have reached out to Giovanni for a comment. Stay tuned! You can subscribe the Thirdway Industries newsletter to receive a notification.

Deck View: Omnia Suprema Playing Cards

Red. Ascendency. Divine.

From Thirdway Industries the Omnia Suprema Playing Cards are meticulously designed by Italian graphic artist, Giovanni Meroni. This stunning deck was recently listed on our Top12 Playing Cards of 2015.

Omnia Suprema represents the dimensional plane where Gods live in the Omnia Universe. The gorgeous courts in Suprema depict the ascendency to the divine and show their power with elaborate armors, jewel and wings. Also, the tuck features an elegant red foil plus embossing giving it a very luxurious look and feel.

Printed by Expert Playing Card Co. with Master Finish. Check out the other decks from the Omnia series on thirdway.it. For more cool playing cards, check out JP Games.

Collections: Omnia by Thirdway Industries

Omnia by Giovanni Meroni and Thirdway Industries offers an eye catching package with a modern vision of traditional playing cards.

Omnia was the second project by Giovanni, and was offered in 3 versions. The Illumina (White), Oscura (Black) and the limited Suprema, which features a print run of just over 500 decks. All 3 decks feature matte tucks on a heavier card stock, each feature a unique and beautifully ornate front design, while the backs represent the design used on the card backs. The Illumina and Oscura decks are foiled in gold with a nice subtle embossing. The Suprema also features the embossing, but has a bright bold red foil that just pops off the dark tuck.

The thing I like most about these decks is the detail, I know it seems to be a running theme, but presenting details in a well thought out fashion is no small task and, for the most part, takes time and effort to accomplish........in other words, the decks aren't just slapped together. Those details continue to show on the tucks by the foiled interior design as well as the nice design elements on the tuck flap, no area of the tuck was left untouched.

The deck itself continues to show great detail in it's design, Givanni's style is evident and there is a great transition in offering a "Classic" look with the courts, but with a modern lines and design elements. It's really well balanced and keeps the familiarity of a traditional deck intact. The deck itself also featured metallic inks that just adds that nice depth to the design.

The spot cards have a smaller pip design which carries to the indices and also feature a subtle watermark on each card. The courts keep with the classic look but with modern lines and faces. Each deck features its own unique court design, they are subtle variations, but different non the less. The custom Ace of Spades features a smaller Spade surrounded by a spherical design element that carries through the deck and it's universe. Part of the element featured on the Ace of Spade is what's carried over as the watermark throughout the deck. The two custom Jokers have a great design that pulls it's look from the classics, but again, presents itself in modern line work. Both the Illumina and Oscura deck include a Bonus "Regina", which means Queen. Unlike the ladies we know and love, these two are Suicide Queens, each with it's own color pallet as well as unique wardrobe design. The Suprema deck received a Bonus Joker featuring a King and Queen and I have to say, it's a very striking image.

Omnia works in so many ways, in the most basic sense its a traditional deck that's familiar and functional. Giovanni's vision and skill gives the decks strong modern design and in a sharp presentation. While each deck isn't completely different from the other, the subtle differences are there and make each one stand out on it's own. There are plenty of "Custom" decks that come to the community, Omnia delivers a nice set full of the bells and whistles we love and while they are abundant in this project, they come off really well balanced in it's look and feel. The Suprema may put a strain on your wallet, if you can find one, but I would recommend adding Omnia to your collection, it really is a beautiful offering. 

If you like the Omnia decks, you'll be happy to know that that next chapter in the series is currently Live on Kickstarter. The Golden Age brings 3 new decks to the series, Antica, Perduta and the Limited Magnifica. The project launched yesterday and has already reached its funding goal. So if you don't want to miss out on the next chapter, head on over and toss in your pledge for what's sure to be another beautiful offering from Giovanni Meroni and Thirdway Industries. 

You can follow Giovanni and Thirdway Industries on Facebook as well as visit the Thirdway Industries Shop for any of there past and future products. 

The Collection segment is produced by Anthony Ingrassia of Kardify. No part of this article, images or video can be reproduced without written permission from the author and Kardify.com. 

First Look: Omnia Perduta Playing Cards by Thirdway Industries

[Update] Omnia Golden Age now available on Kickstarter!

In the third and final part of our first look at the upcoming Omnia: The Golden Age series by Thirdway Industries, we will look at the Omnia Perduta, the third deck of the campaign. In the first part, we looked at the unlimited deck of the campaign - Omnia Antica and in the second part- Omnia Magnifica, the limited deck of Omnia: The Golden Age campaign.

Perduta means "Lost" and represents an era of war and destruction, when everything has collapsed. As this is the final deck of the campaign, it will only be available as a stretched goal. According to Giovanni Meroni, not much will be revealed until the stretched goal has been unlocked during the campaign. Here's what we know,

Perduta will have Green Foil on the new EPCC Dark "Stardust" paper. The cards will have light green and gold metallic inks. Green is the key color of Omnia Perduta, and the courts are be aggressive and malicious. You can consider it as the "dark side" of the Omnia past.

As mentioned in our previous first looks of Omnia: The Golden Age, all three decks will be different, no color swaps.

Here are the tuck boxes:

Omnia: The Golden Age will be launched on Kickstarter the 6 January 2016 - UTC 14:00 - EST 9:00 (New York) - CET 15:00 (Milan). You can subscribe the Thirdway Industries newsletter to recieve a notification.

Oh... Giovanni promised there will be a lot of early birds available and surprises planned! Don't miss out!

Top 12: Playing Cards of 2015

It's been another busy year for playing cards. From big magic companies to independent designers, 2015 has been filled with excellent new releases, and to celebrate we've compiled 12 of our favourite decks right here. Compiling the list has been a lot fun but really challenging as there are just so many amazing decks this year. If you think we left your favorite deck out, let us know in the comment section below. :)

Note that the selection expressed in this top 12 are solely those of the author and the list is in no particular order.

Avernum

Produced by Passiones Playing Cards and designed by Stefano Protino, Avernum is inspired by Italian poet and philosopher Dante Alighieri's eerie vision of the afterlife seven centuries ago. His vision has been included into one of the masterpieces of the Italian culture: the Divine Comedy (La Divina Commedia). Fully custom, each court card is a work of art by itself and weaves metaphor into an intriguing visual that captures the imagination.

Draconian

Designed by Randy Butterfield, this mesmerizing deck of playing cards are inspired by a time of legendary dragons and features beautiful dragon scales, gorgeous colours and borderless back design. Also, the Faces incorporate a clean design that keeps them very functional and provides the highest level of playability. Draconians are available in 2 different edition, the Lightning (blue) and Spitfire (red) decks.

Omnia Suprema

From Thirdway Industries the Omnia Suprema Playing Cards are meticulously designed by Italian graphic artist, Giovanni Meroni. This stunning deck represents the dimensional plane where Gods live in the Omnia Universe. The gorgeous courts in Suprema depict the ascendency to the divine and show their power with elaborate armors, jewel and wings. Also, the tuck features an elegant red foil plus embossing giving it a very luxurious look and feel.

Heretic

Another incredible deck masterfully created by Stockholm17. Heretic Playing Cards features intricate design and artwork based on alchemy and the hermetic world. The deck is fully custom, from the pips, backs to the court cards. The back design is bright and embellished with intricate sphere's and ribbons in the negative space, making the back very eye-catching. The tuck has a subtle embossing on it with a unique long flap design that tucks into a lip on the tuck. A nice elongated Red seal wraps itself around the bottom of the tuck to secure the flap and features sequential serial numbers.

Scarlett Tally-Ho

Kings Wild Projects has brought us some of the most beautiful, collectible decks in the industry in the last few years. The Scarlett Tally-Ho does not disappoint! Inspired by the iconic brand as well as Jackson Robinson’s daughter (Scarlett), the deck is a beautiful reworking of the classic Tally Ho’s. The Tuck is a deep red with Gold Foil accents and embossing as well as a “Lattice” like pattern that embellishes the interior of the tuck to complete the custom case. The cards themselves have completely custom courts with 2 gold metallic ink accents on the face cards as well as 1 gold metallic ink accent on the back design presented in the bold, intricate design style that we’ve come to expect from KWP. The Ace of Spades as well as the Jokers design, are an homage to the original key card design and concept.

Contraband

A beautifully crafted deck by Theory11 and designed in the United Kingdom by Joe White, Contraband Playing Cards were inspired by secret societies, conspiracy theories, and everything unknown. Each card within the Contraband deck are custom, from the Aces, Jokers, to the court cards and the backs. The Contraband tuck case features gold and black foil and the interior, an elegant black foil design.

Hive Limited Edition

Stunning! The Limited Edition Hive 2 Playing Card is designed and illustrated by Brendan Hong. Hive 2 does a wonderful job in picking up where the original Hive decks left off. The style and design connects them without being the same. This gorgeous deck features all new custom courts in Brendan’s signature style as well as custom pips, Jokers and Ace of Spades. The tuck is fully embossed with Gold Foil accents and the interior features a gold foil, repeating, “Honeycomb” design that is very striking.

Arcana

One of the most funded deck of the year, Arcana Playing cards blend the traditions of standard playing cards with the secrets of the Tarot. This stunning deck is intricately illustrated by Chris Ovdiyenko. Each royal is illustrated with an unprecedented amount of detail in an engraved style. Elements in the deck includes 12 uniquely crafted Royals and Aces, 4 Major Arcana cards (The Fool, The Lovers, Death, and The Tower), and standard pip number cards. Also, Arcana features a natural pearlized tuck, with embossing and a luxurious blue foil on the tuck interior.

Superior Brand Classic Reserve

Recently available as a limited offering few weeks ago from the Expert Playing Card Co,  the Superior Brand features EPCC's new Robusto Finish and tucks designed by Jackson Robinson. What truly made this deck impressive is the full foil, shimmering back design. Truly eye-catching! Also, the tuck was stamped with a very expensive matte red foil followed by gold foil on top of that.

Tendril Ascendant Special Edition

From the mind of Paul Carpenter, the elegant Tendril: Ascendant playing cards incorporate all the refinements over the years and mixes those with the organic symmetry first seen in the original Tendril. The colors are bold, the borders are intense, the faces are dark and the level of detail has been increased. The Special Edition tucks are individually hand made with personalized die cut on a soft-touch black paper with gold foil.

Joker & the Thief

The Joker and the Thief playing cards is an impressive deck! The design invites attention while striking a balance between style and functionality. The tuck is peppered with lavish touches, and adorned with incredible silver foil. It is embossed on all sides and has a foil stamped interior. The back design is not only intricately beautiful but aesthetically and sentimentally appealing. The themes and connotation from back design continue throughout. The court cards are all fully custom and the Ace of Spades is unique, bold and iconic of this design.

LUXX Palme

From JP Playing Cards and designed by Rick Davidson, creator of the beautiful Origins Cards, Palme is a deck inspired by the beautiful Paisley pattern, which has roots and heritage across the globe. The Palme backs features full-bleed, borderless design, giving this deck a unique look and style which is carried through the deck and onto the tuck. The eye-catching tuck box features a wrap-around design and embossing complete with matte foiled LUXX logo.

Honorable mention: SEASONS by Alex Chin, Classic by UUSI, Antler by Dan & Dave, Kings of India by Humble Raja, Golden Spike Black Ink by Black Ink Playing Cards and Fuego! by Cellar Window.