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Playing Card Chat ♠ ♥ ♣ ♦ => Deck Reviews! => Topic started by: Don Boyer on March 27, 2013, 01:26:11 AM

Title: Battle 10: S&M versions 1-3 vs. Original and Bee Split Spades
Post by: Don Boyer on March 27, 2013, 01:26:11 AM
Your challengers are:

TITLEPRODUCERDESIGNER
Smoke and Mirrors series, versions 1 through 3Dan and Dave BuckSi Scott
Original (Tally Ho) Split Spades and Bee Split SpadesDavid BlaineMark Stutzman

Think carefully on this, because you're being asked to compare a lot of decks!  Which decks consistently had the best handling?  The best design?  The best art?  If you can point out exceptions on either side, sure, go ahead - write it into the comment post backing up your vote.


Anyone commenting to explain/support their vote is entered in the contest, details of which are in this topic (http://aethercards.com/discourse/deck-battles-(alpha)/how-to-play-deck-battles!/).

.......and FIGHT!!  :))

EDIT: I'm refraining from voting in this one - as much as I love my Split Spades, I've never used the S&M prior to v4, so I couldn't fairly comment on them.  But don't let that stop you if that's what you want to do!
Title: Re: Battle 10: S&M versions 1-3 vs. Original and Bee Split Spades
Post by: Joker and the Thief on March 27, 2013, 05:09:59 AM
The split spades are really really nice cards however Smoke and Mirrors trump them fairly easily in terms of design and handling.

Btw the designer of smoke and mirrors was Si Scott.
Title: Re: Battle 10: S&M versions 1-3 vs. Original and Bee Split Spades
Post by: Don Boyer on March 27, 2013, 08:18:09 AM
Quote from: Joker and the Thief on March 27, 2013, 05:09:59 AM
The split spades are really really nice cards however Smoke and Mirrors trump them fairly easily in terms of design and handling.

Btw the designer of smoke and mirrors was Si Scott.

You're right - I forgot that Brad Fulton was the one who unwittingly gave the series its name!
Title: Re: Battle 10: S&M versions 1-3 vs. Original and Bee Split Spades
Post by: Mrmagic on March 27, 2013, 09:33:17 AM
Split spades hands down. David produced a great deck, has trick decks that don't look tricky if you use these as well, and people have seen them on his show and assume I have met him :)
Title: Re: Battle 10: S&M versions 1-3 vs. Original and Bee Split Spades
Post by: Fanofyankees13 on March 27, 2013, 12:53:46 PM
Smoke and Mirrors. Some of my all time favorite decks...handling is absolutely sublime, and that classic design puts them over the top.
Title: Re: Battle 10: S&M versions 1-3 vs. Original and Bee Split Spades
Post by: MrMollusk on March 27, 2013, 06:06:04 PM
Smoke and Mirrors. I've only handled the Smoke V3 once (A magician was showing me a trick at a magic shop and he let me play around with them a bit), but the handling was godly. I've been trying to get my mitts on a pair ever since. The minimalist courts were awesome, and Si Scott hit every ball out of the park with the design. They're just so much better for a Cardist and magician, imo.

That's not to say the original Split Spades were in any way, shape, or form a sub par deck. They were sublime.
Title: Re: Battle 10: S&M versions 1-3 vs. Original and Bee Split Spades
Post by: sway on March 27, 2013, 07:51:06 PM
Well, I voted for Blaine's Split Spades because the artist just made a great job with that back design. I'm also fond of the use of the gestalt effect on playing cards.

Plus - although I think the cards are nice - I've got to say I'm no fan of the S&M series as a whole, the hype never really grew on me.

Can't really say anything about how well S&M's handle, so I voted purely on design here.
Title: Re: Battle 10: S&M versions 1-3 vs. Original and Bee Split Spades
Post by: sr15 on March 27, 2013, 10:16:13 PM
These are probably my two favorite series of cards, besides maybe the Wynn or Artifice series. I've actually never handled any of the decks up there, though I absolutely love the handling on S&M v4-v6 and the SS Lions and I can only assume that the older versions handle even better based on what I've heard. It's unfortunate that these versions are so expensive, so I probably won't get the opportunity to use them for quite some time, but who knows.

Anyway, I can't comment on the handling at all, and I'm assuming they're both top quality for handling. The v7s kind of left a bad taste in my mouth, but I don't think it detracted from my opinion of the earlier decks in the series. I pretty much voted on design, and I have to say that I like the S&M designs better, especially the court cards. The back designs are both awesome, but I'd have to give the edge to S&M on that as well. Overall, the two series are really, really close for me, but S&M gets the edge.
Title: Re: Battle 10: S&M versions 1-3 vs. Original and Bee Split Spades
Post by: magimago on March 28, 2013, 10:12:51 PM
Tough call,
D&D decks are beautiful and unique, handle great, but i would go with the splitspades, the backdesign is my all time favorite, and it has so many interesting features to discover, that it feels overall more interesting.
Title: Re: Battle 10: S&M versions 1-3 vs. Original and Bee Split Spades
Post by: Don Boyer on March 29, 2013, 01:12:14 AM
Deck winner: Smoke and Mirrors, lock, stock and barrel...  :))

Comment winner......I put the names on a list at random.org, top name wins it....

....MrMollusk, contact John via PM to claim your prize!  (I just realized - since you won two weeks ago, you're our first two-time winner!  Congratulations!)

New battle: http://aethercards.com/discourse/deck-battles-(alpha)/battle-11-hornet-vs-mana/