Magic Tricks

Untitled Playing Cards - really? What kind of creator gives the title "Untitled" to a deck of cards that he's undoubtedly spent hours working on? Is this a sign of laziness or cleverness? I think it is the latter, because the creator, Adam Borderline, is a true artist. He has a fascination with the raw and unconventional nature of abstract art, and wanted to use this to suggest the idea of creativity that is free from constraint. The side of the tuck box says Fluidcards, which captures the essence of Adam's photography, and the nature of cardistry, which is all about fluid motion and creativity.

Adam is highly respected for his skill with "liquid card photography", and his amazing #fluidcards series of photographs typically showcases playing cards with liquids. The side of this deck's tuck box also proclaims: Fluidcards - an expression which captures the essence of Adam's photography, as well as the very nature of cardistry, which is all about motion, and thus is indeed fluid.

But Adam wants us to stretch our boundaries, and head deeper into abstraction. Vibrant colours adorn the tuck box, in a stunning and engaging blur of colour that picks up the effervescent design of the card backs. It's a one-way design, it's fresh, lively, colourful, vibrant, and compelling, but it's also completely abstract. But that doesn't matter at all, because when cards like these are in motion, they are all about moving colour and patterns, and in that context we typically lose our sense of distinct shapes and boundaries anyway. This is a deck that captures that concept beautifully.

The card faces are quite standard, but there is customization in the usual places we expect as a bare minimum with a custom deck. Our lead character, the Ace of Spades, unsurprisingly, is an exuberant ambassador of Adam's blaze of abstract colour. But more surprises await, especially if we parade through the Spades, each of which has exactly one pip that has been decorated with a splash from the card backs. This instantly injects some welcome life and colour to the face cards, while still ensuring a relatively standard look for the rest of the deck.

There's a fresh approach to the court cards as well, because the usual blue on a traditional deck has been eliminated, keeping the overall palette from being garish and noisy, and creating a much more pleasant and settled feel, that feels mature and balanced rather than juvenile. The Jokers have come to the abstraction party entirely, by featuring what seems to be a primitive yet carefully orchestrated palette of paint splashes, making a bold yet visually satisfying picture of the abstract.

It's little wonder that all this artistry has been paired with quality printing, courtesy of one of the very best in the industry: United States Playing Card Company, with the usual air cushion embossing ensuring smooth and consistent handling, combined with a thin crush stock for softness.

Cardists will love the flashing colours, while magicians will be delighted that the familiar card faces work equally well in the world of card magic. And this deck will be equally at home in a game of poker or cards. - BoardGameGeek reviewer EndersGame