Ellusionist - Is Something Coming?

[vmagic]

Was just on Ellusionist when I saw this picture on their website that says "Smile...something is coming". Is this a new deck or some other release, anyone know? It's about time Ellusionist released a new deck.

[Aaron]

From E`s blog:

After one of the quietest months on record for product releases in Ellusionist history, July is shaping up to be one of the busiest, with something happening every single week. June had Ellusionist looking like a duck on water – quiet and serene on the surface, but underneath things were churning away frantically. We’ve moved the Warehouse from Texas to California, shot some absolutely insane effects, had 18 hour days in the editing suite putting together our July and August releases, had countless conferences with manufacturers, illustrators, web designers, magicians and USPCC (hint hint) and finalized the prizes for GW two-point-oh.

We’re excited that we can finally get to share some of the work that has had us so busy over the past few months. We have releases from all over the world coming to you – from both new faces and old. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for teases, release dates and the launch of our new Facebook competition that you won’t want to miss.

You are so not ready for this. Stay keen.

-Jake.

[Don Boyer]

What the hell is "GW two-point-oh"?  I never even heard of GW 1.0!

[shutupdangit]

What the hell is "GW two-point-oh"?  I never even heard of GW 1.0!

Gold Wednesday.........

[Don Boyer]

What the hell is "GW two-point-oh"?  I never even heard of GW 1.0!

Gold Wednesday.........

Ah, now it makes sense...

I can see why a "2.0" would be needed - I can't imagine there's many of the Gold Arcanes left, based on what I've heard from people over there.  Perhaps they'll use Gold Artifact coins, or perhaps a new "precious metal series" deck is forthcoming...

[vmagic]

Or a new Gold deck like the Gold Artifice? lol, jk, that would be something only Theory11 could come up with.

[NathanCanadas]

That sound pretty exciting! I wouldn't be surprised to see another deck. They haven't released any since the LTDs and the Infinities, and that's been a while. Maybe the Inifinities will also be in there, and another gold-type deck?

[Don Boyer]

That sound pretty exciting! I wouldn't be surprised to see another deck. They haven't released any since the LTDs and the Infinities, and that's been a while. Maybe the Inifinities will also be in there, and another gold-type deck?

??  Nathan, what exactly do you mean by "maybe the Inifinities (sic) will also be in there?"

They did already state they were working on something with USPC, so yes, at least one new deck is inevitable.

[NathanCanadas]

Maybe there'll be a special deal with the infinities. A discount of some sort. Since it's one of their main gold decks, if they make Gold-based special, I can't imagine them not including the Infinities in one way or another.

[Don Boyer]

Maybe there'll be a special deal with the infinities. A discount of some sort. Since it's one of their main gold decks, if they make Gold-based special, I can't imagine them not including the Infinities in one way or another.

It's more of a gold and silver thing going on with that deck, and a lot of other colors as well.  It's not a gold deck in the same way that a Gold Arcane is gold, that's for certain.  So no, it's not one of their main gold decks.  How did you make that connection?

[Joker and the Thief]

If they are making a deck it better be pretty damn good. I have not liked their latest decks.

[Don Boyer]

If they are making a deck it better be pretty damn good. I have not liked their latest decks.

What in particular did you take issue with?  I thought they were fine.  I didn't like the jokers for the Infinity deck, and the fact that some of the suit pips look too much like each other, but it's a nice deck nonetheless.  I love the Artifice deck and the LTD is a sort of streamlined and modernized version of the Artifice - did you happen to notice they both use the same typeface for the indices?

[Joker and the Thief]

If they are making a deck it better be pretty damn good. I have not liked their latest decks.

What in particular did you take issue with?  I thought they were fine.  I didn't like the jokers for the Infinity deck, and the fact that some of the suit pips look too much like each other, but it's a nice deck nonetheless.  I love the Artifice deck and the LTD is a sort of streamlined and modernized version of the Artifice - did you happen to notice they both use the same typeface for the indices?

Come to mention it Don, I hadn't. I haven't handled the LTD's and I am curious to see how they perform...
Now when it comes to design Ellusionist is pretty good, the artifice design is quite nice, but not really my style, the art is excellent. The infinity deck was ok design wise, they seem to have had a lot of work done to them but they feel overdone. Then there is the handling. Now, the infinitys have a horrible finish, the slip and slide and don't let up. I'll be more leaneant towards the artifice because they feel as though they are built for one purpose, magic. Cardistry is not very nice and feels restricted because of both finish and stock. for magic, I'd prefer bikes. My main concern is the infinty's handling, it has an awful combo, very slippery plus a thick stock and a snappy one. They just are not fun to play with in my opinion. They feel like they don't have a purpose. The best deck that Ellusionist has put out I think is the white ghost. AMAZING QUALITY. I just think I don't really like Ellusionist decks... (can't speak for the LTD though) I'd rather spend my money on some tallys than those decks, something I can use. Don't anyone take this the wrong way, Ellusionist put a great amount of work into their decks and I applaud their designs. All In all handling is my main problem. Don't worry I have other decks I could go on about

[Don Boyer]

If they are making a deck it better be pretty damn good. I have not liked their latest decks.

What in particular did you take issue with?  I thought they were fine.  I didn't like the jokers for the Infinity deck, and the fact that some of the suit pips look too much like each other, but it's a nice deck nonetheless.  I love the Artifice deck and the LTD is a sort of streamlined and modernized version of the Artifice - did you happen to notice they both use the same typeface for the indices?

Come to mention it Don, I hadn't. I haven't handled the LTD's and I am curious to see how they perform...
Now when it comes to design Ellusionist is pretty good, the artifice design is quite nice, but not really my style, the art is excellent. The infinity deck was ok design wise, they seem to have had a lot of work done to them but they feel overdone. Then there is the handling. Now, the infinitys have a horrible finish, the slip and slide and don't let up. I'll be more leaneant towards the artifice because they feel as though they are built for one purpose, magic. Cardistry is not very nice and feels restricted because of both finish and stock. for magic, I'd prefer bikes. My main concern is the infinty's handling, it has an awful combo, very slippery plus a thick stock and a snappy one. They just are not fun to play with in my opinion. They feel like they don't have a purpose. The best deck that Ellusionist has put out I think is the white ghost. AMAZING QUALITY. I just think I don't really like Ellusionist decks... (can't speak for the LTD though) I'd rather spend my money on some tallys than those decks, something I can use. Don't anyone take this the wrong way, Ellusionist put a great amount of work into their decks and I applaud their designs. All In all handling is my main problem. Don't worry I have other decks I could go on about

At this point, they're using Magic Finish (their name for it is "Performance Coating") on just about all their decks.  Up to and including Arcane, the card stock was REALLY thick, but they've started moving in the other direction.


Is it just these decks or all Magic Finished decks you don't like?  Some people really don't like the fact that the cards have so much slip with MF on them.

[Joker and the Thief]

If they are making a deck it better be pretty damn good. I have not liked their latest decks.

What in particular did you take issue with?  I thought they were fine.  I didn't like the jokers for the Infinity deck, and the fact that some of the suit pips look too much like each other, but it's a nice deck nonetheless.  I love the Artifice deck and the LTD is a sort of streamlined and modernized version of the Artifice - did you happen to notice they both use the same typeface for the indices?

Come to mention it Don, I hadn't. I haven't handled the LTD's and I am curious to see how they perform...
Now when it comes to design Ellusionist is pretty good, the artifice design is quite nice, but not really my style, the art is excellent. The infinity deck was ok design wise, they seem to have had a lot of work done to them but they feel overdone. Then there is the handling. Now, the infinitys have a horrible finish, the slip and slide and don't let up. I'll be more leaneant towards the artifice because they feel as though they are built for one purpose, magic. Cardistry is not very nice and feels restricted because of both finish and stock. for magic, I'd prefer bikes. My main concern is the infinty's handling, it has an awful combo, very slippery plus a thick stock and a snappy one. They just are not fun to play with in my opinion. They feel like they don't have a purpose. The best deck that Ellusionist has put out I think is the white ghost. AMAZING QUALITY. I just think I don't really like Ellusionist decks... (can't speak for the LTD though) I'd rather spend my money on some tallys than those decks, something I can use. Don't anyone take this the wrong way, Ellusionist put a great amount of work into their decks and I applaud their designs. All In all handling is my main problem. Don't worry I have other decks I could go on about

At this point, they're using Magic Finish (their name for it is "Performance Coating") on just about all their decks.  Up to and including Arcane, the card stock was REALLY thick, but they've started moving in the other direction.


Is it just these decks or all Magic Finished decks you don't like?  Some people really don't like the fact that the cards have so much slip with MF on them.

It may just be those decks, I've had no problems with Dan and Dave's decks or theory11's Except ClipJoints handling ain't too good on them. But that's why I like the monarchs and aristocrats, tallys, smoke and mirrors, white lions etc. because they are not as slippery, they are balanced in stock and finish, they feel good, perform well and end up what I use all the time. Really I don't pick up decks by how they look, I'll pick them up for handling and usage.
That's why I don't like most Ellusionist decks, they are mostly for show (shadow masters, black tiger, black ghost, infinity, artifice, arcane) and the handling has not been concentrated on properly, it feels as though Ellusionist has slapped on a huge amount of magic finish and said, she'll be right... They are slippery as all hell! There are others too, how about big blind media for example. One of my most hated decks is the dead eyes, tremendously horrible, both in design and handling. Most Bigblindmedia decks are substandard. I guess the best decks from them were the renegades and the assassins.

[MSimonart]

If they are making a deck it better be pretty damn good. I have not liked their latest decks.

What in particular did you take issue with?  I thought they were fine.  I didn't like the jokers for the Infinity deck, and the fact that some of the suit pips look too much like each other, but it's a nice deck nonetheless.  I love the Artifice deck and the LTD is a sort of streamlined and modernized version of the Artifice - did you happen to notice they both use the same typeface for the indices?

Come to mention it Don, I hadn't. I haven't handled the LTD's and I am curious to see how they perform...
Now when it comes to design Ellusionist is pretty good, the artifice design is quite nice, but not really my style, the art is excellent. The infinity deck was ok design wise, they seem to have had a lot of work done to them but they feel overdone. Then there is the handling. Now, the infinitys have a horrible finish, the slip and slide and don't let up. I'll be more leaneant towards the artifice because they feel as though they are built for one purpose, magic. Cardistry is not very nice and feels restricted because of both finish and stock. for magic, I'd prefer bikes. My main concern is the infinty's handling, it has an awful combo, very slippery plus a thick stock and a snappy one. They just are not fun to play with in my opinion. They feel like they don't have a purpose. The best deck that Ellusionist has put out I think is the white ghost. AMAZING QUALITY. I just think I don't really like Ellusionist decks... (can't speak for the LTD though) I'd rather spend my money on some tallys than those decks, something I can use. Don't anyone take this the wrong way, Ellusionist put a great amount of work into their decks and I applaud their designs. All In all handling is my main problem. Don't worry I have other decks I could go on about

At this point, they're using Magic Finish (their name for it is "Performance Coating") on just about all their decks.  Up to and including Arcane, the card stock was REALLY thick, but they've started moving in the other direction.


Is it just these decks or all Magic Finished decks you don't like?  Some people really don't like the fact that the cards have so much slip with MF on them.

It may just be those decks, I've had no problems with Dan and Dave's decks or theory11's Except ClipJoints handling ain't too good on them. But that's why I like the monarchs and aristocrats, tallys, smoke and mirrors, white lions etc. because they are not as slippery, they are balanced in stock and finish, they feel good, perform well and end up what I use all the time. Really I don't pick up decks by how they look, I'll pick them up for handling and usage.
That's why I don't like most Ellusionist decks, they are mostly for show (shadow masters, black tiger, black ghost, infinity, artifice, arcane) and the handling has not been concentrated on properly, it feels as though Ellusionist has slapped on a huge amount of magic finish and said, she'll be right... They are slippery as all hell! There are others too, how about big blind media for example. One of my most hated decks is the dead eyes, tremendously horrible, both in design and handling. Most Bigblindmedia decks are substandard. I guess the best decks from them were the renegades and the assassins.

Don't know why, but I also have a terrible experience with the Guardians deck from theory11. They're way too slippery in my opinion. Just like you, I rather like decks that stick more, because I often need sticky decks, not really slippery decks. I'm not a huge fan of colour changes and such, were you often need that slippery of a deck, to have cards gliding easily.

[Joker and the Thief]

If they are making a deck it better be pretty damn good. I have not liked their latest decks.

What in particular did you take issue with?  I thought they were fine.  I didn't like the jokers for the Infinity deck, and the fact that some of the suit pips look too much like each other, but it's a nice deck nonetheless.  I love the Artifice deck and the LTD is a sort of streamlined and modernized version of the Artifice - did you happen to notice they both use the same typeface for the indices?

Come to mention it Don, I hadn't. I haven't handled the LTD's and I am curious to see how they perform...
Now when it comes to design Ellusionist is pretty good, the artifice design is quite nice, but not really my style, the art is excellent. The infinity deck was ok design wise, they seem to have had a lot of work done to them but they feel overdone. Then there is the handling. Now, the infinitys have a horrible finish, the slip and slide and don't let up. I'll be more leaneant towards the artifice because they feel as though they are built for one purpose, magic. Cardistry is not very nice and feels restricted because of both finish and stock. for magic, I'd prefer bikes. My main concern is the infinty's handling, it has an awful combo, very slippery plus a thick stock and a snappy one. They just are not fun to play with in my opinion. They feel like they don't have a purpose. The best deck that Ellusionist has put out I think is the white ghost. AMAZING QUALITY. I just think I don't really like Ellusionist decks... (can't speak for the LTD though) I'd rather spend my money on some tallys than those decks, something I can use. Don't anyone take this the wrong way, Ellusionist put a great amount of work into their decks and I applaud their designs. All In all handling is my main problem. Don't worry I have other decks I could go on about

At this point, they're using Magic Finish (their name for it is "Performance Coating") on just about all their decks.  Up to and including Arcane, the card stock was REALLY thick, but they've started moving in the other direction.


Is it just these decks or all Magic Finished decks you don't like?  Some people really don't like the fact that the cards have so much slip with MF on them.

It may just be those decks, I've had no problems with Dan and Dave's decks or theory11's Except ClipJoints handling ain't too good on them. But that's why I like the monarchs and aristocrats, tallys, smoke and mirrors, white lions etc. because they are not as slippery, they are balanced in stock and finish, they feel good, perform well and end up what I use all the time. Really I don't pick up decks by how they look, I'll pick them up for handling and usage.
That's why I don't like most Ellusionist decks, they are mostly for show (shadow masters, black tiger, black ghost, infinity, artifice, arcane) and the handling has not been concentrated on properly, it feels as though Ellusionist has slapped on a huge amount of magic finish and said, she'll be right... They are slippery as all hell! There are others too, how about big blind media for example. One of my most hated decks is the dead eyes, tremendously horrible, both in design and handling. Most Bigblindmedia decks are substandard. I guess the best decks from them were the renegades and the assassins.

Don't know why, but I also have a terrible experience with the Guardians deck from theory11. They're way too slippery in my opinion. Just like you, I rather like decks that stick more, because I often need sticky decks, not really slippery decks. I'm not a huge fan of colour changes and such, were you often need that slippery of a deck, to have cards gliding easily.

I like my decks to have some slide but I like them to clump a little as well. But Ellusionist is over the top.

[Don Boyer]

It may just be those decks, I've had no problems with Dan and Dave's decks or theory11's Except ClipJoints handling ain't too good on them. But that's why I like the monarchs and aristocrats, tallys, smoke and mirrors, white lions etc. because they are not as slippery, they are balanced in stock and finish, they feel good, perform well and end up what I use all the time. Really I don't pick up decks by how they look, I'll pick them up for handling and usage.
That's why I don't like most Ellusionist decks, they are mostly for show (shadow masters, black tiger, black ghost, infinity, artifice, arcane) and the handling has not been concentrated on properly, it feels as though Ellusionist has slapped on a huge amount of magic finish and said, she'll be right... They are slippery as all hell! There are others too, how about big blind media for example. One of my most hated decks is the dead eyes, tremendously horrible, both in design and handling. Most Bigblindmedia decks are substandard. I guess the best decks from them were the renegades and the assassins.

Don't know why, but I also have a terrible experience with the Guardians deck from theory11. They're way too slippery in my opinion. Just like you, I rather like decks that stick more, because I often need sticky decks, not really slippery decks. I'm not a huge fan of colour changes and such, were you often need that slippery of a deck, to have cards gliding easily.

I like my decks to have some slide but I like them to clump a little as well. But Ellusionist is over the top.

About half or so of the decks you guys mentioned don't even have Magic Finish.  Not that this really means anything - a slippery deck is a slippery deck, whatever's on it.


Have you tried soaping the decks that are too slick?  It may improve the performance dramatically.


Draw an "X" on the front and back of each card using a piece of hard soap - Ivory will likely be best since it has no fragrances and few added ingredients.  Then give the deck a series of riffle shuffles and see how it works.


This trick is usually used to take a cheap, lousy-performance deck and get it to work much better.  It might do the same for "slowing down" a Magically Finished deck, giving you a better combination of stick and slick.

[Joker and the Thief]

It may just be those decks, I've had no problems with Dan and Dave's decks or theory11's Except ClipJoints handling ain't too good on them. But that's why I like the monarchs and aristocrats, tallys, smoke and mirrors, white lions etc. because they are not as slippery, they are balanced in stock and finish, they feel good, perform well and end up what I use all the time. Really I don't pick up decks by how they look, I'll pick them up for handling and usage.
That's why I don't like most Ellusionist decks, they are mostly for show (shadow masters, black tiger, black ghost, infinity, artifice, arcane) and the handling has not been concentrated on properly, it feels as though Ellusionist has slapped on a huge amount of magic finish and said, she'll be right... They are slippery as all hell! There are others too, how about big blind media for example. One of my most hated decks is the dead eyes, tremendously horrible, both in design and handling. Most Bigblindmedia decks are substandard. I guess the best decks from them were the renegades and the assassins.

Don't know why, but I also have a terrible experience with the Guardians deck from theory11. They're way too slippery in my opinion. Just like you, I rather like decks that stick more, because I often need sticky decks, not really slippery decks. I'm not a huge fan of colour changes and such, were you often need that slippery of a deck, to have cards gliding easily.

I like my decks to have some slide but I like them to clump a little as well. But Ellusionist is over the top.

About half or so of the decks you guys mentioned don't even have Magic Finish.  Not that this really means anything - a slippery deck is a slippery deck, whatever's on it.


Have you tried soaping the decks that are too slick?  It may improve the performance dramatically.


Draw an "X" on the front and back of each card using a piece of hard soap - Ivory will likely be best since it has no fragrances and few added ingredients.  Then give the deck a series of riffle shuffles and see how it works.


This trick is usually used to take a cheap, lousy-performance deck and get it to work much better.  It might do the same for "slowing down" a Magically Finished deck, giving you a better combination of stick and slick.

Don, the decks we mentioned are just examples of decks that don't handle well or focus on design. Ok thanks for the advice, I may try it one day.

[Knobz1]

E just came out with there releases guys.

[Evan]

The new trick, Smiley looks cool but it just seems like it's going to be one of those tricks that ends up disappointing me.

[ItsMagicITellYou~]

yeah, the effect is WAY overpriced, and similar effects can be accomplished purely with sleight of hand. the jumpINK trick also looks cool, but theres just so much similar stuff out there on the market.

[John B.]

I probably wont get either. not my style + just got ringer which is suppose to get people to ask about it and having horrible luck with that right now.

[eggman]

The new effects do look interesting. I will not go into it as this is not a magic forum. I have noticed the something is comming add is still left up there. Perhaps a new deck to throw in with a large order? Perhaps not but I have always been partial to E's decls so I hope to see something.

[CBJ]

There should be a new deck (or two  ) out from Elusionist VERY soon.

CBJ