Battle 14: Bicycle Ghost vs. Bicycle Guardians

[Don Boyer]

Style-wise, they're quite different, these two competitors - one's themed with angels, and the other has "Ghost" in the name.  Let's look a little closer:

Bicycle Ghost - a white reworking of the basic Bicycle Rider Back design, with a "reverse black" back, black-line courts and black on the red pips, with a little bright red bordered in black for the red index pips, rendering nearly every drop of ink on this deck black!  Wonderfully detailed Ace of Spades and "strolling" Jokers with a card reveal on one of them.  I've heard tell that this (and most) E decks have subtle one-way marks, but they're NOT easy to spot.

Bicycle Guardians - a redesign of the Rider Back in black with a white border, replacing cherubs on bicycles with a wicked-looking warrior-angel smiting what appears to be a couple of guys on the ground at his feet (and a subtle one-way design).  The faces are USPC standard, recolored with a darker, casino-style red, practically burgundy.  The Ace of Spade is quite interesting - an inverted pair of angel wings, but in black/gray.  The Jokers are identical and repeat the back motif of the smiting warrior-angel.

...and FIGHT!

Remember, as usual, voters who comment on their choice are entered in a random drawing for forum swag - see this topic for the rules.

[John B.]

Ghost, hands down is the winner. I never liked the guardians, the box felt like cardboard, the red pips were darker for no reason. The ghost though, black and white allows for some nice color changes, and people always enjoy when I use them in a performance.

[Fanofyankees13]

Ghost. Still one of my favorite decks ever.

[Joker and the Thief]

Guardians IS in fact an excellent handling deck however I'm not too fussed about the design.
The Ghost is one of the best handling decks I've used, is extremely durable and does look a damn sight better than the Guardians. The only thing I don't like about the deck is the black red pips. Just no with that. Yes, an Ellusionist deck has taken my vote.

[KPopFever605]

It would be the Ghost for me. It stole me in a heartbeat.

[Don Boyer]

Call me crazy, but I like the Bicycle Guardians.  The darker reds are reminiscent of the colors of a casino deck, the deck has a familiar style to it that's also fresh and new because of the angels, they're cheap and easily obtained.  Ghosts are great, don't get me wrong, and Performance Coating is great stuff, but there's something about the Guardians that appeal to me and I won't pass a kidney stone if a deck gets ruined.  It's one of the decks I get in bulk for carrying around all the time.

[The Quadfather]

This is a tough one! I like the design of both decks, and they are both cheap enough to buy in quantity to use everyday. But I think I have to go for the ghosts. You can get the gaff decks for them too, which I like to experiment with. And they have the black version that you can use to which are pretty much the same.

[Joshua Robinson]

I'd have to go with ghost. Don't like either of the decks but out of these two. Ghost for sure. Guardians for me had a REALLY waxy feeling to the deck and handled really badly. Ghosts, just like if they were standard bikes but thicker stock and better finish.

[xela]

Ghost.

My v1 White Ghosts are still my favorite custom deck and, in my opinion, the best handling deck I have ever used. Period.

[Don Boyer]

Deck winner - Bicycle Ghost, by a mile.

Comment winner - KPopFever605.

New contest: http://aethercards.com/discourse/deck-battles-(alpha)/battle-15-bicycle-1800-series-vs-vintage-plaid-(u-s-regulation)/!