Hi there!

So what's your favorite three decks that you own? For cardistry or card magic

My picks:

Cardistry
* Odyssey Boreal edition
* Absolut deck
* Origin cardistry touch

Magic
* Fournier 605
* Aristocrat 727
* Tally Ho circle back

...what about yours?

What is cardistry?

I think cardistry is a skill and art-form involving the use of card flourishes and motion to captivate and amaze.

In short...all life flourishes

I notice that you include Fournier 605. I have a bunch of the 505s and even after a couple of months, they are terrible at fanning and spreading. Have you had this problem and solved it? Or do find that you cannot use them for all effects. Or are the 605s significantly different than the 505s? I am just about to give up on them.

Steganos, I only use Bikes, and preferably those supplied by a client or audience member.

Yes, the 505s are very very hard, in my opinion the 605s are better because after a couple of weeks its feeling is different, you can perform faro shuffle easily. It does not fan and spreading well however it is not made for that, it is made for playing cards. This cards sticks together really very well and it is very very durable. Just my opinion.

I have a lot of bikes, they are great. Yeah, with a borrowed deck it's the ideal situation to do magic.

Thanks for responding. I guess the 505s are merely a bit of card history for me. I only use them for practicing sleights/effects that do not involve efficient or artistic sliding or spreading of cards.

Aristocrat 727 Banknote
Richard Tuner Bicycles
Penguin Elite Bicycles

At the moment, I especially like . . .

* Deck ONE - Industrial Edition
* Bee Brand
* Bicycle Occult Deck (by Gambler's Warehouse)

Bicycle Elites
Phoenix
Noc

Aristocrat 727 Banknote
Richard Tuner Bicycles
Penguin Elite Bicycles

• Virtuoso decks
  
• Cherry Casino (Tahoe Blue)
  
• And good old bikes for easier slights/moves
  

Hoping to revive this thread, because I was looking for specifically this.

1. Aristocrat 727 Banknote (although I can't find them anywhere anymore and am starting to worry)
2. Gold Seal Bicycles (also heard that they are finishing this run and not making any more)
3. Tally-Ho Circle Backs - although I feel like the quality has gone down since the black stickers started. Any suggestions? I've tried Penguin's specialty stock ones, but I feel as though they are too thin

I purchase my decks for magic and just general enjoyment. My top three are:

1. Bicycle Rider back red
2. Casual v2 by Paul Robaia
3. Republic no3 red (I love the back design but not a fan of the small pips

Monarchs (Navy Blue) by Theory 11; All time favorite. Great design and aesthetic.
Marked Maiden-Backs by P3; Best deck for real-world work.
Ghosts by Ellusionist; Iconic would be an understatement.

1. Monarchs. Any colour. Best handling.
2. DMC Elites V4 Green. Best marked deck.
3. Turner bikes. Because of that Richard Turner magic. Also, they're the best bikes for when you need to match a deck to commercial gaffs.

All faro nicely, have reasonably broad borders for reversed-card effects, and generally handle well. Also, bikes, elites and monarchs are available in multiple different back colours, which is useful for a few things I do. They're very similar sizes also, so e.g. double-facers will probably work.

My only real beef with all of these decks is the joker design. My ideal is the aristocrat joker - I want a joker that's an actual jester, with no bicycle or silhouette involved. I kind of like the fournier 505 and 605 jokers because of this, but those decks are probably too 'hard' (although they're really good for wallet packet tricks, because they're plastic coated and last longer in your wallet).

That's because they use USPCC's crushed stock. These are indeed thinner, and crushed stock has a softer feel out of the box. It is especially preferred by cardists, and is popularly used for cardistry decks.

Have you looked into Penguin's Honeybee decks? They are gorgeous.

1. Bicycle New Fan Back - This hasn't been widely available for some time, but it is my favorite non-custom deck. Bicycle put them out in their Vintage Design series but they stopped making them. Coterie1902.com had a nice black and white set, but even they are getting expensive now. Dan and Dave had a blue and red pair that are out of print now too.

2. Tally-Ho Circle Back Deck

3. Favorite Custom Decks - Seasons Primavera and Seronda