- Yo, what's up guys, and welcome back.
Today by popular request a lot of you've asked me
what were my top five favorite decks of 2018.
So today I'm gonna share that with you.
A few things, I'm not going to include my own decks,
'cause obviously eh they're my number one.
And I won't be including the decks
that I haven't actually received.
So there are a lot of cards out there
that I would have liked to get
that I either didn't order, or were sold out,
and I would have loved to include those,
but these are my top five favorite decks that I own
that came out in 2018.
So without further ado guys,
like this video by the way, subscribe for the new year,
let's get into it, let's go.
Number five are the Art & Machine deck.
Now I've reviewed this deck in the past.
I just thought I'd mention it here,
because it is one of my favorite
in simplistic looking decks.
This is by Ryan Hewlett.
This deck of cards looks at four specific moments
in the history of art and design
as it wrestled to incorporate machine technology,
or push against it.
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It has this abstract look, the back design
with the orange and the white X looks really good.
The embossing on the tuck case is really great,
the details on it, I think it's just abstract
and sort of out there enough that it catches your eye.
The contrast and colors
of just the simple orange and white is really bold.
The cards feel great, and I've been playing with them
for quite a long time, and they feel absolutely stellar.
Definitely made the list, that was my number five.
Number four, Michael Sterns Hype Deck, Volume 2.
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This is the second edition Mixtape Volume 2
by my friend Michael Stern.
It is a composition of a bunch of different cardistry decks
that have been released in the past year,
including cards from Anyone Worldwide,
dealers grip, and the Cardistry-Con deck.
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The cards once again feel great.
There's a few add cards in there and jokers,
which are pretty sick.
The faces are standard as well.
I think a deck like this is a statement, it's fun,
and when you have something like this in your hands
people tend to notice, which is really cool.
It has as well that abstract design to it,
which I really appreciate with a deck of cards.
I like when designs are so out there
that they make you talk about them.
They make you sort of look at them more.
They're not just bland and simple.
Some of these decks are really out there,
and I like that a lot, I appreciate that.
It's always a risk putting out a deck
that looks like this, but I think the payoff was great,
and I think it was really well received.
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So that is the Mixtape Volume 2 Hype Deck
by Michael Stern, as my number four.
Number three is the fifth edition Orbit cards.
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This is by friend Chris Brown
who owns the Orbit playing card company.
This is his fifth edition.
The colors on this are just insane, very simplistic.
Has a bit of that 80s illustration vibe to it
with the teal and orange, two of my favorite colors,
pretty much matches my Instagram grid,
which is why it made it on the list.
The tuck cases also has a really beautiful design
with a lot of little, simple illustrations on the tabs.
The jokers are really sick, I love the colors in them.
The ace of spades as well with the little astronaut
looks really great.
Faces are standard aside from other standard
but they're like the classic standard,
and they have a little bit of
that blue and orange hue once again.
They feel phenomenal.
I think USPC with most of their decks this year
really knocked it outta the park.
Just an overall great deck, looks amazing, feels amazing.
Orbit never disappoints with any deck that he puts out,
so I'm really proud of him,
and I'm proud of the way this one turned out.
I as well got the V6, so the sixth edition.
I'll be reviewing that in the future as well.
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And that was my number three.
Number two are the O2s by Franco Pascali
and Benji Taylor, Entry playing cards.
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I've reviewed the O1s in the past before.
The O2s are great, they are a remake
of the Cardistry-Con 17 deck,
which came out the year before.
They basically just added borders to them
but that for me makes all the difference.
It makes them usable for me when I perform magic,
or when I'm just casually strolling
and having a deck of cards on me.
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Now the face cards again are standard.
Obviously the ace looks really cool.
They have this Tokyo vibe to them,
this synth wave aesthetic, which I really appreciate.
I love that Japanese-inspired design.
I've talked about that a lot,
and I think that, I think it's great.
And I hope that Benji and Franco keep making these cards,
and I think that they should,
and I think that they should keep working together
and producing some amazing decks,
because I look forward to the next ones.
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That was my number two, the O2 Entry's.
My number one deck might come out of left field,
but this was a deck sent to me by Dan and Dave.
They sent me a care package,
and in this care package one stood out to me
that was very different than anything
I've ever seen before in a deck of cards.
It is by Bloc Playing Cards.
These are the 2018 Marble edition.
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The tuck case on this looks incredible.
It has that marble back with those gold foil veins
on the tuck case, which make it look really exquisite,
really high-end, something you'd find
at like the Met Gala.
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Simplistic design, but very elegant.
Cards themselves handle phenomenally well.
They are an asymmetrical design,
which means that the back is not two ways,
it is a one-way design,
so depending on which way you fan it out.
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But the fact that it looks like a solid object,
but they are pieces of paper is really intriguing to me.
I know that they've put out wood-back designs as well.
The ace of spades, again very simplistic.
I love the fact that they kept the pip very small
and unique with that marble design.
It's something so simple, and yet still feels so unique.
My number one deck of 2018,
the Bloc Playing Cards Marble edition.
All right guys, so that is my top five of this year.
Hope you enjoyed this video.
I just wanted to showcase some of these playing cards
the way that I see them,
and I think that's really interesting.
It allows me to be creative with a deck of cards,
and I miss that, and that's one of the reasons
I went back to the 365 project on my Instagram,
which you can check out by the way.
It just allows me to be creative with a deck of cards
in the way that I see these deck of cards being portrayed.
So I'm thinking about doing a deck review in this style,
but maybe focus more on a single deck,
maybe once a week if that's something you guys wanna see.
I'm totally down to uploading a deck review once a week.
Just maybe share with you guys
what's either new in the community,
or maybe a deck that you've missed
that has come out maybe years ago
that you've just gone under the radar.
So anything like that, if you guys are interested
let me know in the comments below.
I would love to do that.
I think just creatively it really speaks to me,
and hopefully it gives you guys a little bit
of insight into the playing card design industry.
So thanks guys so much for watching.
Again, if you did like this video go ahead and smash it.
I will see you on the next video, ah peace out.
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