@#F: There were no Pirate reprints, the black & white editions were launched simultaneously. Duan blamed the printing error on the USPCC, and in some ways I believe him and in some ways I do not. The USPCC does modify designs to an extent, and that extent varies deck to deck. On the Vortex, they just changed some alignment issues. On the Pirate decks, they could have very well put that text in for him. However, this brings to mind Diavoli's Templar decks, wherein an entire index is missing and Diavoli's explanation was that it's a gaff card. This error, if anything, is even more unforgivable, because while a typo at least is the result of overlooking a detail, an entire index missing (it's the three of clubs, for anyone curious) is just the designer deciding to skip over an entire portion of card creation. If we take Diavoli's word on it, though, then I personally can't tell if that's worse than an overlook because it clearly shows how little knowledge the man has in playing cards if he thinks it's okay to gaff one of the standard 52 cards in a deck.
To call Duan an idiot is an over-statement I think. While his recent decks look awful, I actually halfway didn't mind some of the art on the Pirates. I believe he is too far removed from the modern card community to learn about what looks good and what does not. A lot of his success is owed in part due to his deck coming out several months before the custom card craze in Q4 2011, and the fact that it is printed under Bicycle in a small quantity.
While I agree there are objectively worse decks out there than Theory11's and Merz's concoctions, I will explain below why I personally don't rate them lower:
Theory11 overhyped their cards, and tried to pass off their recent Monarchs as the epitome of design, and as the last deck of cards you will ever need to see or use. Because the creators/producers themselves have marketed the deck by this standard, this is the standard I judge it on. It did not meet its standard, but in fact scored far below it. If you take away the fancy box the Monachs come in, I would argue that the decks are barely better than the artwork on some other 2011 decks that I won't name. Honestly, the Crown decks were worse than the Monarchs in my opinion, but they never tried to be something better. They were marketed as good decks with good handling. They met the standard they announced, and that in my opinion makes them superior to the Monarchs.
The reason I grade the Merz decks so low is because you can't rate the lack of customization on a deck. Around 90% of any deck he puts out is not customized, so what's left to judge? The clip-art, which is arguably not customized either since it's a stock image copy+pasted onto the cards. I am left with judging them for what they are worth, and since they look much worse than the standard Bicycle decks, they are nowhere near worth their $50 price point. If I could buy them in bulk for practice, I would buy a few bricks if they cost $2-3 per deck. Nothing more.
We as collectors, designers and enthusiasts have to realize one thing: Beauty is not in the eye of the beholder. There are certain things that, throughout our thousands and thousands of years as a civilization, we have to realize as ugly or disgusting. Color theory, for example, is not a joke. It's a fact. So when I see a deck of cards with a back like the Be@rbrick decks, it makes me cringe. When I see color combos like what's coming up in Duan's future decks, it depresses me. These are not subjective feelings. It's like people with a good sense of tone being able to tell a good voice from a bad one. For those of us that are tone-deaf, it's not discernible. However, for those who are trained in the art of singing, they know exactly what to listen for.
