Well, usually, I throw a way a deck of a cards when the corners are really, really nicked up. Otherwise, I keep the deck...
OR, I'll peel off the face of the nicked card, peel another face off of another card, rubber-cement them together and *BAM* homemade double-facer.
On the topic...
Most decks can last a long time if you allow it to. I have used a regular Bicycle deck that lasted me 4 months and I have used a Ghost Deck that lasted me one month (it gets warped so fregin' bad, if you put your finger on it and press down on it, you'll hear an earthquake-like snap).
I try to break-in, no, MEGA break-in my decks as best as I can. I do AT LEAST 7
perfect (yes, I can do that) faro shuffles on ALL sides of the deck and some perfect side shuffles too. I give my deck the nasties-ass ruffles, I literally bend the deck like 165 degrees. Lot's of springs on ALL sides of the deck. Repeat everything 2 or 3 times with the deck face up and down on intervals.
I got one of those limited edition black TH9's and I must say, I love it. I also have a few Vipers but they've got nothing on my TH9's.
I'd choose decks like the TH9, Aviators, SteamBoats, Bicycles, and similar ANYDAY over Ellusionist custom decks because those cards are extremely think and are NOT easily malable.
If I wanted to right now, I could bend the top-edge of one (out of 52) of my Bicycle cards all the way to the bottom edge almost folding it completely in half. I bend it back a little bit the other way and then I place it in my deck. You couldn't even tell that card was bent. But, if I would've done that with an Elluionist deck (well, one card from those decks), there would've been a noticeable crease and a crimp that can be seen a mile away.
One thing that I have always gotten though was the "twisted" deck, if you know what I mean. However, that has never, ever, interfered with my flourishing and legerdemain.
What will absolutely KILL your deck is moisture from your palms (this is not a problem for flourishers seeing how the packets are always switching around
) and nicks at the corners making side shuffles, thumb counts (however, you could use a nicked card as a marker or a kind of corner-shorted card), and a variety other sleights harder to execute.
I believe the best way to make your deck last is to MEGA break-it-in and to avoid moisture and nicks (- just don't drop your cards).
...
My deck of choice is the Bicycle Rider Backed deck. It's extremely cheap for such a high-quality deck ($13 for a brick at Costo or Sam's), very mallable, is familiar to the onlookers, and looks great.
IF I was wealthier, I would buy bricks of TH9's* (especially the black ones!!!).
Just my thoughts. A lot of it my have typos and may not be all that relevant but still...
..:Z:..