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Playing Card Chat ♠ ♥ ♣ ♦ => Deck Reviews! => Topic started by: Don Boyer on May 03, 2013, 11:42:48 PM
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Bicycle Raider decks, made by the now-defunct Magic Network. It's a shame, too, considering the beautiful detail that went into the backs, Jokers (with hidden reveal) and AoS. The white deck has USPC standard faces with a paler shade of blue on the court cards that really makes them stand out. The black deck uses USPC standard as well, but unlike some decks of the era, the faces weren't done as compete color reversals - if you swapped white pips for black and black backgrounds for white, you'd have the white deck. The backs are nearly color reversals, but there's a few distinct elements that weren't changed, much like on the Seasons Seronda and Primavera decks. Bicycle stock, Air Cushion (standard) finish.
The Bee Stingers, love child of Theory11 - extremely popular for the bold look of the fade-to-white borders on the backs and the legendary Aristocrat stock. The faces are straight-up Bees, down to the last detail, other than the use of a darker, "casino red" on the red pips that I find easier on the eyes.
The Raiders have a more exotic appearance to them while the Stingers have that fantastically supple stock - either would feel equally at home at the neighborhood poker game, in the hands of a prestidigitator or flying through the air at the direction of a cardist.
Voters who comment on their choice are entered in a random drawing for forum swag - see this topic (http://aethercards.com/discourse/deck-battles-(alpha)/how-to-play-deck-battles!/) for the rules.
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Ive always loved the Stinger Decks! The little bit of white around the edges takes a standard Bee back and gives it the finishing touch. Classy looking cards!
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I have to go with the Stingers, though I like the Raider back better.
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I'm really torn with this one. I generally use three main criteria when evaluating a deck:
1) Is it useful for magic?
2) Is it useful for card playing in general?
3) Does it look good?
Both decks meet 3) easily enough, with Raider nudging in a bit higher for that great back and the jokers.
Both decks meet 1) without much trouble, with Raider again ahead by a nose because of the cool color changes you can do and the nice joker reveal.
But when it comes to 2), the Stingers outpace the Raiders by a wide margin. The white Raider deck is fine, but the black one has enough drawbacks to push the Stingers ahead, which are excellent performers with a great stock. Simply put, if I stacked the two Raiders decks and the two Stingers decks at a poker table, nine out of ten players will choose the Stingers and the tenth doesn't know what the hell he's doing and gets laughed at by the other guys...
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Stingers. IMO, the handling is far superior to the raiders. The back design has a really nice, sleek fade and the courts aren't too flashy, yet aren't standard.
The Raiders had too many elements that felt sort of haphazard to me. The jokers felt out of place, the ace of spades was kinda stout, and the ethereal, whimsical back (while still very cool) didn't mesh with the deck overall.
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I am going with the stingers.
Something about the diamond back of the Bee cards has always appealed to me.
though I do prefer the border less bee back
Neither deck is that exciting so I am. Voting for the one I know best
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I would have to go with the Stingers. You've got to love those borders! The Raider deck has too much for me.
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By nearly three-to-one, the Bee Stingers win!
The comment winner is...Soliloquy.
Just out of curiosity, are you guys claiming your prizes? They don't have a cash value since they're really more for bragging rights, but they're yours. If John doesn't answer, track down Alex on Facebook at the Discourse page.
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