I've been going through all my decks of cards and using one a day since I got them.
Thus far, both decks of Bicycle Masters (regular and shadow), the Ghosts, and the 1800s are trashed. One day of use, and trashed. They're warped and clumpy and just generally look pretty sad.
Which is sort of a "don't waste your money" result, since I have a deck of plain old vanilla 808s that isn't trashed after one day. In short: four of the eight decks I got from Ellusionist aren't even as good as regular Bicycles.
My Aviators never arrived, but I don't really care. Some internet jerk ripped me off for $2.50 and never sent me the cards, but come on, it's $2.50 and he didn't even charge shipping. I'm just tired of trying. Screw Aviators, they probably suck anyway.
A moment to discuss Bees... I hate them. Hate, hate, hate. I used them for twenty minutes, detesting it the whole time, and then said "oh, screw it" and switched to my Black Tigers. I don't know or care how long they last, as far as I'm concerned they're garbage. They're just too soft; it's like I was holding nothing! I'd pick up a card and not feel it, then look down and I've got it bent almost double between my thumb and ring finger. Or I'd pick up a card, and start a maneuver, and look down to see that I've dropped it and never noticed. Granted, as a guitarist, I have calloused fingers. That may have a great deal to do with this. But for me, personally, Bees are just plain terrible. I won't buy them again.
The standard 808s tend to last me two days, so I expect them to give out the next day I use them. The Black Tigers are showing wear, but not badly. I think they may last two more days of use.
My Guardians, Vipers, and a deck of clear plastic Bicycles - after a full day of use each - are effectively unchanged from the moment I opened them. They do not seem to be warped or worn or indeed any different at all.
The clear plastic Bicycles might actually last... forever. They're amazing. Somehow they manage to be stiffer than Vipers when you handle them, and melt into each other like butter (even more than the Bees) when you shuffle. They're just phenomenal. One way back, though, and you can just forget about fanning them. Standard thumb fan process produces three or four randomly tilted packs of cards. Pressure fan does a little better, but still looks like crap.
Bottom line, I'm predicting the Vipers win out on the best-of-breed competition, with the Guardians coming in second and the Tigers a distant third... but the Guardians are definitely a dark horse with a solid shot at outperforming the Viper. I expect the Tigers to either outlast my 808s by one day, or match them at two days for longevity.
I suspect the Tigers will partially match the 1800s, which deteriorated rapidly. They were fine one minute, and then I could literally feel them break down and go all to hell over the course of about two hours. As I was going through the deck card by card doing a basic single-card spin flourish, I literally felt the difference every time I got to the end of the deck.
Rooting for the Guardians, because T11 rocks and I'd really like to find that Guardians honestly and truly slaughter every deck Ellusionist sells... but I suspect I'll end up awarding top honors to the Viper. And I do like the Viper.
Standard disclaimer - this is based on my personal opinions of the condition of these decks after I use them. If you use them differently, you will probably achieve different results, and even if you get the same results you may have a different personal opinion.
Thus far, both decks of Bicycle Masters (regular and shadow), the Ghosts, and the 1800s are trashed. One day of use, and trashed. They're warped and clumpy and just generally look pretty sad.
Which is sort of a "don't waste your money" result, since I have a deck of plain old vanilla 808s that isn't trashed after one day. In short: four of the eight decks I got from Ellusionist aren't even as good as regular Bicycles.
My Aviators never arrived, but I don't really care. Some internet jerk ripped me off for $2.50 and never sent me the cards, but come on, it's $2.50 and he didn't even charge shipping. I'm just tired of trying. Screw Aviators, they probably suck anyway.
A moment to discuss Bees... I hate them. Hate, hate, hate. I used them for twenty minutes, detesting it the whole time, and then said "oh, screw it" and switched to my Black Tigers. I don't know or care how long they last, as far as I'm concerned they're garbage. They're just too soft; it's like I was holding nothing! I'd pick up a card and not feel it, then look down and I've got it bent almost double between my thumb and ring finger. Or I'd pick up a card, and start a maneuver, and look down to see that I've dropped it and never noticed. Granted, as a guitarist, I have calloused fingers. That may have a great deal to do with this. But for me, personally, Bees are just plain terrible. I won't buy them again.
The standard 808s tend to last me two days, so I expect them to give out the next day I use them. The Black Tigers are showing wear, but not badly. I think they may last two more days of use.
My Guardians, Vipers, and a deck of clear plastic Bicycles - after a full day of use each - are effectively unchanged from the moment I opened them. They do not seem to be warped or worn or indeed any different at all.
The clear plastic Bicycles might actually last... forever. They're amazing. Somehow they manage to be stiffer than Vipers when you handle them, and melt into each other like butter (even more than the Bees) when you shuffle. They're just phenomenal. One way back, though, and you can just forget about fanning them. Standard thumb fan process produces three or four randomly tilted packs of cards. Pressure fan does a little better, but still looks like crap.
Bottom line, I'm predicting the Vipers win out on the best-of-breed competition, with the Guardians coming in second and the Tigers a distant third... but the Guardians are definitely a dark horse with a solid shot at outperforming the Viper. I expect the Tigers to either outlast my 808s by one day, or match them at two days for longevity.
I suspect the Tigers will partially match the 1800s, which deteriorated rapidly. They were fine one minute, and then I could literally feel them break down and go all to hell over the course of about two hours. As I was going through the deck card by card doing a basic single-card spin flourish, I literally felt the difference every time I got to the end of the deck.
Rooting for the Guardians, because T11 rocks and I'd really like to find that Guardians honestly and truly slaughter every deck Ellusionist sells... but I suspect I'll end up awarding top honors to the Viper. And I do like the Viper.
Standard disclaimer - this is based on my personal opinions of the condition of these decks after I use them. If you use them differently, you will probably achieve different results, and even if you get the same results you may have a different personal opinion.
