News: Theory 11 Releases Teaser Of Red Monarchs

Theory 11 released a teaser today on Instagram showing an image of what appeared to be red Monarchs behind the already released white and the original blue. It was then confirmed in the comments section that the red Monarchs will in fact be a reality as they defended the deck release when criticized for doing a recolor.

This teaser comes just two months after the release of the white Artisan playing cards, which was a follow up from the black Artisans released last year.

At this point there has been no release date/time given but the teaser was dropped on a very special day for America - Independence Day!

To date the Monarchs have been extremely popular and successful for Theory 11. The original Monarchs were even featured in the 2013 summer movie 'Now You See Me' starring Morgan Freeman.

Monarchs Summer Edition Playing Cards

Theory11 has released their latest addition to the Monarchs line: the Summer Edition…the first in 4 years. This new deck features a vibrant pink colorway, perfect for the season.

The teaser image hints at the exquisite purple foil embossing on the tuck box, a signature detail of the Monarchs series. Expect the court cards to have the classic faces with meticulously detailed line work, while the card backs will carry the sweet pink theme, matching the tuck box.

Printed by the United States Playing Card Company, the Summer Edition Monarchs. Given the limited availability, these decks are expected to sell out quickly! Available from Theory11 for $14.95

Theory11 Will Be Releasing The Monarch Mandarin Edition Today!

[Update] The Mandarin Monarchs are now on Theory11.com

Happy Lunar New Year! To celebrate the auspicious occasion, Theory11 has teased the release of a brand new Monarch! The Mandarin Edition Monarchs sports an orange colorway after the popular small citrus fruit.

A close-up view of the teaser image reveals the stunning gold embossing of the tuck box. Like all previous Monarchs, the court cards will have standard faces and meticulously detailed line work the card backs most likely in the orange colorway, consistent to the tuck box.

View this post on Instagram

新年快樂 Monarch Mandarin Edition. In celebration of Chinese New Year. This week only! Tomorrow at 3pm ET. #theory11

A post shared by theory11 (@theory11) on Jan 23, 2020 at 12:36pm PST

Printed at the United States Playing Card Company. The deck will be released on Friday, 24th January at 3PM ET. Available this week only. Due to the limited nature of this deck, we are pretty sure these will go fast!

[Update] The Mandarin Monarchs are now on Theory11.com

[post_ad]

News: Theory11 Releases Green Monarchs

Just in time for the holiday season, Theory11 released the Green Monarchs today. The latest edition of the popular luxury deck, the Green Monarchs feature brilliant gold foil on an embossed, forest green tuck case. Absolutely breathtaking! 

The Green Monarch tuck is uniquely composed of two layers - it is the most durable tuck case Theory11 has ever made. Monarch playing cards are made in the USA on FSC-certified paper derived from sustainable forests. The cards themselves are printed with vegetable-based inks. Now available on theory11.com! 


Images from theory11.com

Review: Medallions Playing Cards

In between his busy airline day job and fatherhood, Joey Heininger runs an Australian based online playing card store, theflush. From this month, Joey will be a contributor on Kardify to provide us with playing card reviews. He will give us a run down on art, feel, and how usable the decks are in specific applications, and his own personal thoughts with a touch of Aussie humour.

It has been said that the “greatest playing cards” ever produced are Theory 11’s Monarchs, and I couldn’t agree more, they have style, they have flair and they lack that extremely annoying nasal voice, but much like Nanny Fine, they have had more outfits than one should own before making a trip to charity to donate one. They come in three basic colours Red, Blue, and White Silver, this is before you include the rare Gold version.

So how does one dress up their flagship deck and provide us with something new, all without losing greatness? They drop the suit and tie for something a little more casual, something like a pirate’s costume.

Does it work? 

If you like layered brown and gold, then yes, if you don’t then you have never had the pleasure of seeing my wife’s hair in the sun. Medallions are Theory11’s best deck on offer after Monarchs in its little red number. It has the same “Ultra-Lux” card stock for the tuck as the Red Monarchs… I don’t even know what Ultra-Lux is, but it sure does feel nice, and lasts a little longer in the pocket too.

The art, by French graphic designer JC Desevre is reminiscent of 18th century pirate booty, hence the name, the tuck flap has a key hole making the tuck look like a treasure chest, and the courts are standard with customised elements complementary to the overall design.

What I don’t like 

The white borders; while the deck has been printed with USPCC’s highest quality control and the boarders are thin, set against the brown and gold, the White borders make the deck look like someone dropped block of chocolate in a flurry of flour. The other element that I don’t like is their unwillingness to adopt a more customised look and print the black pips in a complementary brown, but hey for a deck so sophisticated in its presentation and design can forgive them.

What I do like

Everything else; as per usual Theory 11 has provided us with all the bells and whistles a collector could need and a magician could want, beautiful art, embossed tuck, the right mix of stock and finish, foil accents and to top it all off nicely, a seal, something lacking in both my family car’s motor and many Ellusionist tucks.

What are they good for? 

They’re good in just about all applications one would use a deck of cards. The white borders I complained about earlier is actually a blessing for some, it means they are a usable deck in magic, the boarders are thin too so they work well in XCM, you would be the talk of the table if you broke these bad boys out at poker and if you have a wobbly table you will have 56 little slivers of card and the box they came in to even it out.

The Medallions is easily one of my favourite decks and it is easy to see why it is one of our best sellers. This is a must have deck in your arsenal.


This review is written by Joey Heininger for kardify. No part of this review can be reproduced without written permission from the author. You can check out Joey's Australian based online playing card store at theFlush.com.au

A NEW Member Of The Royal Family, The Purple Monarchs!

We are really excited about the release of Theory11's new Monarchs! A new member of the royal family is born, in a vibrant, regal, purple color palette.

Illustrated by Curtis Jinkins, the latest edition of the popular luxury deck, the Purple Monarchs feature brilliant gold foil on an embossed, deep purple tuck case. Stunning!

Monarch playing cards are made in the USA on FSC-certified paper derived from sustainable forests. The cards themselves are printed with vegetable-based inks. Now available for $9.95 on theory11.com! 

Images from theory11.com

[Updated] News: Black Friday Offer, Deals and New Releases 2015

Black Friday is just around the corner, which means your favourite retailers from Ellusionist, Theory11, Dan and Dave, Conjuring Arts, the Blue Crown and more... will be slashing their prices!

From special discounts to new releases, we will bring you everything you need to know about Black Friday, and also give you some information about Cyber Monday. Information will be added as and when it comes in.

Conjuring Arts Research Centre

Two new releases, Red Royal ZEN and Liars & Thieves. The ZEN features black foil on the card back genies and a beautifully embossed pearl-finished tuck.

The Liars and Thieves deck is designed by Odysseas Spiliotis. The deck features a synthetic tuck, a custom Ace of Spades and borderless courts, which is a modified set of Expert's standard courts. The card backs reflective of the timeless circular pattern design that give the deck its signature appeal. No doubt a very versatile deck suitable for the working magician and poker players.

Finally, a half-brick box will be offered at a Black Friday Special price of $6.00, the half brick box will also be offered for FREE with any purchase of 6 decks or more.

Collectable Playing Cards 

Offering 15% off storewide from Friday through to Monday. Use coupon code BF15 during checkout.

Stockholm17 

Various deals on 3 decks, bricks and split half-bricks of Heretic/Requiem.

Theory11

It's hard to keep up with all the releases from Theory11, their Black Friday offerings are simply stunning! The highlight is the fully customised UNIONS Playing Cards, designed by Jay Fletcher - the same designer who brought you the stunning Rarebit Playing Cards. Priced at $9.95.

Also teased on their social media outlets are the Red and Gold Monarchs. Any shipped order of over $100 will include the Gold Monarchs.

David Blaine

Releasing the Black Lions Playing Cards, beautifully illustrated by Mark Stutzman. We reckon these will go pretty fast like all his other releases. $7 per deck.

Also 30% off storewide!

Art of Play

On top of the customary Black Friday discount, two new playing cards releases this year: the DKNG Studio's Red Wheel Playing Cards and Camp Cards by Bradley Mountain.

20% off everything. Coupon code: BLACK

Three of Clubs & Kardify

50% off storewide from Friday through to Monday. If you missed out on the stunning Limited Edition Aquila Playing Cards, now's your chance!

The Blue Crown 

New release of the NOC Signature Series by Dani DaOrtiz feature Erdnase Green colour and like the White NOCs, fully marked. Also, the Black Friday (500 limit) by Alex Pandrea and Edo Huang.

WhisperingImps

30% off storewide! Sign-up on the site to receive the newsletter for the discount code.

Thirdway

Some CRAZY deals from Thirdway Industries... from the fun EVIL deck to the extremely gorgeous OMNIA. Discounts up to 40%.

Metropol Cards 

If you've missed these eye-catching decks, up to 50% off various items at Metropol Cards.

Card Experiment 

40% off everything through the weekend. Use promocode: BLACK40OFF

Deck View: White Gold Monarch Playing Cards

Luxury. Elegant. Royal.

During the initial release, the demand for the White Monarchs were so overwhelming that Theory11's servers crashed. The White Monarchs are a limited edition version of the regular Monarch Playing Cards. This deck is made with FSC-certiifed paper and embossed box with stunning gold foil.

They look like they belong in a palace.

Gold metallic foil surrounds the elegant white tuck, with a vintage, timeless aesthetic. Absolutely breathtaking! ... and oh, they do handle as good as they look.

The Monarch playing card decks are available at JP Games.

Designers: ‘Behind the scenes’ of Kings of India Playing Cards by Humble Raja

After a long hiatus of our designers series, we are honoured to have a guest post by the team from Humble Raja, creators behind the exotic Kings of India Playing Cards currently funding on Kickstarter. In part one of this two-part series, the team shares with us about the creative process behind creating a deck of cards, and how illustrations are finalised. The Kings of India project (to be funded on 17th August) will be used as examples in this article.

A name like Chandragupta Maurya may not strike a chord with many in the western world, but this heavyweight from ancient history was the founder of one of India’s most powerful empires. He is just one amongst the 12 legendary monarchs featured in our Kings of India deck, a project that began with a curiosity surrounding our history. [Back the project on Kickstarter]

We created the brand Humble Raja as a means to explore the fascinating world of Indian culture through design, with this deck being the first product. Let us introduce ourselves; we are Bhavesh and Reena Mistry, a husband and wife team from Montréal that operates the design and branding studio Apartment 4. Our backgrounds are in engineering and architecture, respectively, which gives us a unique approach to our creative work. Now with Humble Raja, we want to share bits of our culture with everyone through interesting mediums, as with our Kings of India deck. This is just as much a playing card project as it is a history and illustration one. Let’s go behind the scenes to take you through our creative process.

As newbies to the playing card world, we begun our research with the origins of the deck and how it came to be what it is today. A great resource was Sir William Gurney Benham’s book - Playing cards: History of the Pack and Explanations of its Many Secrets. It uncovers how the cards evolved from full portrait French characters into what most people recognize today as the modern, reversible British deck; and this is where we started our work.

Firstly, the standard structure of a playing card deck - four suits and a King, Queen and Jack for each, fit perfectly with introducing four royal families, or dynasties, with the Jack being a worthy successor. Seeking out the four greatest dynasties of India meant searching through a more than 2,400 years of history to the earliest known dynasties, a large task in itself. For us, the title of ‘greatness’ was reserved for those monarchs who showed extraordinary military strength, economic policy, religious tolerance, cultural advancements and left a lasting legacy; our top contenders being from the Maurya, Gupta, Chola and Mughal dynasties.

Finding the actual King, Queen and Jack of each dynasty proved to be a bit simpler as there were always a pair of rulers who shone above the rest. For the Mauryas, this meant our King was none other than Chandragupta, a fearless warrior who overthrew a powerful king to found India’s largest unified empire seen in its history (up until the Mughal empire almost 2000 years later). His wife Durdhara became our Queen card and their grandson, the great king known as Ashoka the Great became the Jack of Hearts.

A bulk of the time goes into design the court cards and it really helped to use the structure of the British courts as a way to guide our characters - from their orientation and composition to what they were holding and how patterns were used. As with any history-based project, we must rely on what had been documented all those years ago. With certain dynasties this meant there was a series of cave paintings and crumbling sculptures to go by whereas the Mughals had erected many monuments, documented daily life in the courts and commissioned portraits, making our job much easier.

Image credit: http://www.asianart.com/articles/markel/14_det.html

With each court card, we wanted to best represent the character by communicating what they would have worn, the weapons they adorned, their hair and clothing of the time, completed with patterns seen in sculpture and architecture. Our research was conducted by looking at artifacts, paintings, sculptures and even folklore written about these these kings. Take the Jack of Clubs for example, Chandragupta II; he was a military powerhouse who was credited with conquering over 21 empires over his reign; for this we decorated the Jack in military gear, outfitted with a set of arrows for a steel bow, a Gupta-era weapon notable for its strength and construction. Chandragupta II’s sash is finished with 9 gems, representing the 9 extraordinary members of his cabinet who excelled in literature, medicine, astronomy and medicine. The book he holds with him is a famous Sanskrit poem written by Kalidasa during the Gupta period.

Our illustration style comes from our intent to approach India’s culture in a new way; making our cards black and white goes against the common association of India with color, but it is not our aim to make this product look like it came from India necessarily. Using a single lineweight to illustrate this deck allowed the patterns and details to really shine through and added a level of simplicity to a detail-intense project.

The drawing process for us begins on paper. We first trace over a British deck court card and get a feel for the structure and elements of each card and start to adapt it to our character. We use an Art-o-graph light table to trace every iteration and it allows us to flip the card without having to draw it twice. We work collaboratively with each other, making sure to pass the drawing between us to get a second look at the progress. The drawing gets scanned onto the computer and traced using basic geometries in Adobe Illustrator. At this stage, we start to generate patterns and get the character to a certain level of detail.

Then the fun begins; we make print outs of these computer-drawn cards and start making tweaks by hand, over and over again until we are happy with it. We had an instance with the Jack of Clubs where it went all the way to the computer stage and ended up being scrapped and restarted because he just didn’t look right. We hope the efforts that went into this deck make your experience with it all the more beautiful, inspiring and memorable.

Kings of India Playing Cards is on Kickstarter until August 16th; a few days left for those who haven’t yet ordered their deck. The deck will be printed by the USPCC and encased in an intricate tuck, covered in gold & embossed illustration. We look forward to seeing them in your hands this December.

If you missed us on Kickstarter, be sure to sign up on our website humbleraja.com for a notification of when the decks will be available. This exclusive guest post is written by the team at Humble Raja for Kardify. No part of this article can be reproduced without written permission from the author. 

Deck View: Monarchs (Mandarin Edition) Playing Cards

Tradition. Vibrant. Festivals. 

A special edition of the popular luxurious Monarch Playing Cards series by Theory11. The Mandarin Monarchs was released earlier this year to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Illustrated by Curtis Jinkins, the deck features vibrant, bright red and yellow colorway, a tribute to the stunning festivals, and beautiful traditions of the Lunar New Year.

 The semi-custom deck features custom Ace of Spades, Jokers, and Card Backs. The courts are standard with the updated colorway, with a vintage, timeless aesthetic when combined with the custom artwork. This Limited Edition deck was only available for one week and currently marked 'Sold Out' on Theory11's store.

[post_ad]

White Monarch Limited Edition Playing Cards

During the initial release, the demand for the White Monarchs were so overwhelming that the servers crashed. The White Monarchs are a limited edition version of the regular Monarch Playing Cards. This deck is made with the same FSC-certiifed paper and embossed box with gold foil that the original Monarch deck has. The main difference here is this deck is white instead of blue and quantities are much more limited.

The box is beautiful. It has two latin inscriptions on the box, "De Duobus Maliz, Minus Est Semper Eligenoum" ("Of two evils, the lesser must always be chosen" -Thomas Kempis) and, "Cerca Trova" (Seek and ye shall find). The gold embossings are stunning, and it is by far one of the the best card box I have ever seen.

The cards, although made with imported paper were printed at the United States Playing Card Company. The pips are standard but they do look bigger. The ace of spades is very detailed and look really really charming.

The court cards have standard faces but they do have a slightly muted colour with gold ink in place of the yellow on the regular Bicycle decks. The backs for me is a little disappointing. Don't get me wrong... the design is meticulously detailed and do look sophisticated with the gold ink. The only thing is that it looks really vanilla and muted. Expected a little more from a limited edition deck.

This deck is smooth as butter! Fans, faros and spreads feels awesome due to the relatively thick stock with a nice finish.

Pros: 
- Elegant and beautiful box design
- Sophisticated backs

Cons: 
- Standard court faces
- Colours seems muted

Overall: 
- 4/5

 

Kickstarter: 7 Questions with Nicolai Aaroe of Dominus Playing Cards

Already funded on Kickstarter, Dominus is a deck of playing cards featuring two stunning limited edition decks. This is the second volume in the ‘Light vs Darkness’ series by designer Nicolai Aaroe. Dominus illustrates the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek to gain power through activities related to the underworld and magic. Dominus seek to represent light and darkness with a mirrored 2-deck theme, Divinus and Obscura.

Fully custom, the card backs represent the European monarchs moral codex and reign and are decorated with royal, divine, religious and occult symbolism. The meticulously illustrated courts tell a unique story of fate, destiny, choice and consequence. The rulers in the elegant Divinus deck represents the moral right path while the darker-coloured Obscura deck features the same rulers in their darker versions. Both decks are housed in an eye-catching matte deluxe tuck designed with hot stamped gold foil and embossing effects.

We had a quick chat with Nicolai, and asked him about being a designer, inspiration and design evolution of Dominus Playing Cards and his takeaway lessons from previous Kickstarter projects.

What do you most love about being a designer? and what are some favorite projects you’ve worked on?

I like to express myself and communicate with visuals, form and shape. Design is a language and the colors, fonts, and shapes are the words you use to create a certain mood or a specific message. Often the perfection of the communication lies in the detail, and certain words can ruin what you are trying to say or express. Like a symbol that is misinterpreted or doesn’t fit well with the rest of your story. My favorite projects are those where I get a chance to create a concept from the ground up. I’ve been doing that for retailers, video games, movies and tv shows. And I tend to have a personal preference for the more gloomy concepts.

What is your inspiration behind the Dominus?  How did you come up with the idea?
Both Indictus and Dominus are inspired by historical dramas such as The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, and The Wars of The Roses. I also find much inspiration in historic writings and ancient paintings and portraits. The Indictus tuck cases were directly inspired by an antique, french and golden cabinet held at the Versailles Palace in France. The Dominus theme is visually inspired by occult artwork and a scarf I found in Germany. Ancient European monarchies have so much historical drama to draw upon. So noble and elegant to the eye, and so backstabbing to gain power. Display is important, but simplicity must rule our hearts. 
Doing good and doing bad is a tough balancing act, and monarchs of ancient times must have had quite a struggle choosing between them. 


How much time did you spend working on the deck?

About six months. I had a lot of fun working with Eugen Poe (Dead Inside Ink) to illustrate the court cards. He liked the idea and concept so much that he was willing to work on it even during nights and weekends, out of devoted and passionate interest. We started working on the first sketches in October last year and I did dozens of drafts for the tuck designs in several months after.
 In total, I would estimate that more than 300 hours of work went into this project before I even got to the design of the Kickstarter pitch.

Can you briefly go through the design evolution of one of your unique card design?
Queen Rumyna was one of the first courts we did. Eugen made a rough sketch based on my briefing and concept for the character. When approved he inked the character in hand and more detail. Then I edited his illustration technically, made golden parts and formed it into a two-way court design with all that follows in a detailed card such as this, with symbolism and more.

What was your most brilliant breakthrough when designing the deck?
Originally the Divinus tuck case was designed with a Kings Crown on the front to represent a regents power and potency, but I felt that it didn’t match the face of Obscura in some way.
 My wife and I did some sketches with a Fleur De Lis instead and we the very ornate version was an immediate breakthrough in regards to the matching of style and visual power between the two decks. I am so pleased that I didn’t just settle with the crown design as it kept haunting me style wise for reasons that I couldn’t really point out or explain.

With so many playing card projects competing for funding, why should potential backers choose your deck?

Backers should scan and pick the theme that they find the most interesting and appealing. My designs are not more valuable or above any other theme on the market. There are so many themes covered and we all have different tastes and preferences for our playing cards and collectibles. But hopefully, the amount of effort, work and background depth of the court cards that went into the Dominus theme shines through in the pitch. That is my only hope really.

Finally, you have previously launched 2 successful playing cards projects on Kickstarter. Are there any takeaway lessons from your previous projects you would like to share?
Be transparent, be honest, and be responsive to your backers. Be a backer yourself so you have insight and hands on experience from both sides of the table. Never promise more than what you are able to deliver. Do your homework prior to launch. Be in contact with your manufacturers to avoid surprises as much as possible. And finally, make sure that you don’t compromise on product quality to avoid delays on fulfillment. These are my personal priorities at least.

Once again, thank you for your time, Nicolai! At the time of writing, the project is already 163% funded with 21 days to go. If you want to support the Dominus Playing Cards, you can find it on Kickstarter here! 


Pledge starts from ~$12 and the deck will be printed by the NPCC. Dealer chip, uncut sheets and satin pouches are available as an add-on. There are also multiple rewards that are waiting to be unlocked once the project hits its various stretch goals.

Top 12: Playing Card Decks Selected by Jeremy Griffith

The custom playing cards market has boomed over the past year, investment in crowd-funded decks have surged and new designs and concepts are pushing the boundaries of the simple constraints of one tuck x four suits x thirteen cards.

A real “expert at the card table”, Jeremy Griffith or popularly known as @lost_angelus on Instagram is one of the most knowledgeable card men around. With his background in mathematics, Jeremy has an unparalleled understanding of different card mechanics. Here are his Top 12 playing cards (Jeremys' comments in italics):

12. Gemini Casino: Vegas Blue

Gemini is a fictional casino deck inspired by classics like Jerry's Nugget and Dunes Casino playing cards. Created by Estonian designer Toomas Pintson, Gemini was made to look like a vintage deck you might find in an old Las Vegas warehouse from the ’70s.

Jeremy: This is a throwback deck that just won't give up. The longest lasting deck I've used so far.

11. Three Little Pigs

Produced by Pure Imagination Projects (PIP) and designed by Joe White of Ye Olde Studio, the Three Little Pigs playing cards are inspired by the classic fable. Featuring original hand-drawn artwork, the story of the Three Little Pigs is brilliantly translated into cards.

Jeremy: Few people pull off 'Whimsical' better than Derek McKee. This deck has a gorgeous back paired with a great storybook face.

10.  Cherry v3

The Cherry Casino Playing Cards is a modern take on a retro casino-styled deck. Simple and effective, the backs are minimalistic and features a white swoosh and twin cherries design.

Jeremy: Also a PIP / Derek McKee deck, this one has one of the most luxurious stocks I've ever used, crushed Bee stock from USPCC.

9. Bee "Erdnasium" Squeezers

From Conjuring Arts Research Center and Dan&Dave, the Bee "Erdnaseum" Squeezers deck is an exact reproduction of an early 1900′s classic. The card backs have been imprinted with an original Scott Kim ambigram that says, “S.W. Erdnase” or “W.E. Sanders” when turned end-for-end.

Jeremy: This is my Go-To borderless deck. It's just well made and very very affordable.

8. Mint Limited Edition

From 52Kards, the Mint Limited Edition playing cards provide a merger of form and function. The elegant borderless back design features beautiful tri-color design with 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.

Jeremy: This deck is so hard to come by that I barely use it. But if I had a heavy stock of it, this would probably be in my top 3.

7. The Casual Deck

Simple, sleek and modern. Designed by Paul Robaia, the Casual Playing Cards features a minimal geometric back-design with simplified face cards and a soothing color palette throughout.

Jeremy: Odd looking and totally "Everyday Carry" worthy

6. Road House

From Ellusionist, The Road House Playing Cards are a version of the classic Steamboat deck. Designed with gamblers and card players in mind, but also smooth for magicians. The deck features borderless designs on high quality, thin stock and.traditionally cut, soft-glide finish.

Jeremy: Oban and Daniel made a borderless deck that has a quality out of all proportion to its price point.

5. VISA

VISA Playing Cards is a collaboration between founder Alex Pandrea and magician Patrick Kun. The concept of the deck is based on travel, discovery, and exploration. The deck features a Japanese artwork which represents Asia and includes simplified standard court cards with metallic ink accents along with custom Ace of Spades and Jokers.

Jeremy: Crushed stock that feels like the original Absolute Vodka deck. It just feels like the cards meld into whatever my handling style is.

4. Green Monarchs 

Released by Theory11, the Green Monarchs was the latest edition of the popular luxury deck back in 2015. The deck feature brilliant gold foil on an embossed, forest green tuck case and composed of two layers. It is the most durable tuck case Theory11 has ever made.

Jeremy: I enjoy the cards very much, but for this one, it's the re-enforcement on the tuck box that had me buying bricks of these

3. Vintage Plaid v2

From the Buck twins, the Vintage Plaid Playing Cards is a classy deck that features an embossed tuck complete with gold lettering, and in addition, all around back-design printing within. Not only have the tuck box been recreated, the Buck twins have gone a step further and created an all new Ace of Spades along with two Jokers and an all new typeface that adds a sleek component to the deck’s already rugged yet refined feel.

Jeremy: This deck speaks for itself. It's harder to come by, but worth every penny. Simple, elegant and just a damn good deck of cards.

2. Fulton's Casino v1

Reminiscent of vintage playing cards from casino's like Jerry's Nugget, the Ace Fulton's Casino Playing Cards combine that retro style with a modern stock and finish. Fully custom, no detail was left unnoticed, including a few "security". Printed by the US Playing Card Company

Jeremy: I was gifted a bunch of these by my friend Elliott on my Wedding Day, and from the moment I opened them, I knew these would be ones I only opened on special occasions 

1. Republic No. 02

Republic #2 is the second release in the Republic brand from the Ellusionist Playing Card Co. The clean and simplistic theme and layout draws the eye and makes fan and color change stand-out! Everything about Republic #2 has been distilled to deliver a pure experience.

Jeremy: Long out of print, this deck is still one of my favorites. If you know me at all, then you know me and this deck have a long history, and I created its sequel out of a love for the original.