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Pictorial Review: NDO Part 2 - The School of Cardistry V2 Deck, and V3 Deck

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EndersGame

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* * * A NEW STANDARD: Non-Standard Playing Cards * * *

The New Deck Order was first formed in 2013.  That's when they created their popular youtube channel, School of Cardistry, which provides free instructional videos on cardistry.  In 2014, the New Deck Order team took things to the next level, by producing their own deck designed completely for the art of card flourishing.

Now they aren't the first to produce a deck designed exclusively for cardistry, with the Virtuoso deck having proven to be a big hit in 2012, and a new edition of it appearing each year.  But what is unique about the School of Cardistry's deck is that they went a step further.  They took their starting point in the fact that a traditional deck of playing cards has one big limitation that until now had not been overcome, namely that the need for 52 different faces proved to be an obstacle for aesthetics, no matter how they were designed.  So why not abandon the idea of having 52 different cards, and instead completely do away with the idea of a traditional deck, and make the cards ideal for cardistry - front and back?!  Genius! 

Hence was born the new standard for cardistry: non-standard playing cards.  The evolution of the playing card deck was now truly at an unparalleled point in its history, moving yet another step further away from its originally designed purpose as a gaming tool, and now becoming the tool of choice for an entirely new game.  In a separate article I reviewed the original version of the School of Cardistry deck, so now I'm reviewing the second and third versions of this deck.



School of Cardistry V2 Deck

In conjunction with their second season of video tutorials, The New Deck Order released a new version of their deck.



It features quite different colours and design, and improves the original concept with a card-back design that looks less traditional in style.



The backs have borders and a splash of black, to help emphasize flips and twirls.



Just like the first version of this deck, the card faces have the same design on all 52 cards, which make a simple spread look amazing.



At the same time, the design still has elements that are a tribute to traditional cards, with a mandala on the card faces that consists of elements inspired by court cards from a standard deck.  The mandala means that spinning moves look particularly good!



Once again, the design was created by Singaporean illustrator and visual artist Marcus Lim.



The colour scheme is more bold than the first version of the School of Cardistry deck, with a striking combination of black, orange, and blue colours.



To really get an idea of the colours of this deck and what it looks like when it's being put through its paces, don't miss this short launch trailer video, which shows some impressive video footage and cardistry skills:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFrMM5hXZYk

As for the quality of the cards, the V2 deck was again printed by Legends Playing Card Company with their Emerald finish.



School of Cardistry V3 Deck

This is the most recent version of the School of Cardistry deck, and was launched with the advent of the third season of School of Cardistry tutorials, which feature expert cardists Leon Tai and Sebastian Goh.



The artwork on the card backs makes spins look terrific, because the circle design is truncated by the edges of the cards, but becomes complete when spun - NDO terms this a "Beyond Borders" back design:



Once again all the card faces are identical.  Notice the center-indicator on the faces - this helps give a point of orientation for more advanced dexterity tricks like spins.



For this deck, the NDO team collaborated with a different designer, Edo Huang, who is also the designer of the Mantecore deck.



The real benefit of having identical faces means that you can fan in both directions, and fanning look good either way, whether using the card-backs or the faces.



There's also consistency in how the cards look when springing them from hand-to-hand, regardless of which side of the cards are facing.

The indices on the card faces help ensure that the cards don't blur together, but remain individually distinct.



Now do yourself a favour and check out this launch trailer video for this deck, which features some amazing cardistry being performed by our man Jaspas himself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJG--X5af3k

Cuts also look terrific.




* * * CONCLUSIONS * * *

Where do you get them?

If you're interested in picking up some of these playing cards for yourself, the first place you should look is the official New Deck Order online store, which is where you can get some of the NDO decks, premium videos, and some other cardistry related merchandise.



Recommendation

Due to its intended design, it is true that the School of Cardistry deck from the New Deck Order will always be a deck with a select appeal to a very specific audience: cardistry fans.  As a deck designed for their needs, this more than adequately serves its purpose, and has to be considered as one of the top of the line products on today's market, both in terms of card quality and visual aesthetics.  Cardistry enthusiasts will find it difficult to resist the temptation to find out what impact the designs on both sides of this deck will have on their repertoire, and to experiment with new moves that this deck offers, particularly with the uniform faces.

But the New Deck Order is also an excellent starting point for someone who is wondering what cardistry is all about, and wants to give it a spin.  It's much more fun trying to learn basic skills like fans and spreads when the visual effect is amplified by the visual beauty of a lovely deck like the School of Cardistry V3 deck.  And furthermore, the free video tutorials available from the New Deck Order will give you all you need to try your hand at this new art form, and you'll be amazed how easily you can impress your family and friends with basic moves that are not difficult to learn, when a remarkable deck like this is in your hands.  As such, fortunately the School of Cardistry V3 deck is not outside the reach of the rest of us, and is a very accessible and ideal deck for anyone who is interested in basic cardistry, and wants to learn some elementary moves. 

If you are at all into cardistry, or even just enjoy doing a basic spread or fan, then this deck will instantly turn moves like that into visual art.  I recommend giving it a whirl - literally!
 


What to learn more? Check out:

The New Deck Order: http://thenewdeckorder.com
The School of Cardistry: https://www.youtube.com/user/SchoolOfCardistry

Direct links for the items featured in this review:
- School of Cardistry V1 Deck
- School of Cardistry V2 Deck (sold out)
- School of Cardistry V3 Deck
- Premium Video Tutorials
- Cardistry of South East Asia DVD

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