I think I am LOVE with the Artifice V2 Blue cards. Wow...insane design, nice border, and just screams class. One downfall is these cards are EXTREMELY slippery and need broken in a bit to slow them down. They fan and farrow awesome as well. These are what I am currently using this week.
Currently, it's Tally's. But I normally just use Bikes. Most gaffs come in bicycles, they are familiar to an audience, and just feel like quality. If I pull out my Guardians, I feel like their just gonna be like "trick cards." I've stopped buying custom decks because I feel they really are not that worth it.
Custom cards are great and they are supposed to perform a lot better than standard decks
Although I believe that tallys are the closest thing a standard deck can get to a custom deck.
But yes I agree that some custom cards are suspicious but some aren't eg. Smoke and mirrors v4-6
And if you want something that handles better than tallys, custom decks are the way to go
Plus they are fun to collect and a dream to use
True, custom cards can handle better. I'm not saying I don't have any, because I have quite a decent amount of custom cards. At school it wasn't a problem to have custom cards when performing for friends because it was casual and they were just like "oh those are cool!" but when I'm performing at my restaurant, Tally's and Bikes are what I use because they just seem better for me. I understand that certain cards can fit better in certain environments, like if you're more of a darker or serious guy, you might use black tigers. But those just SCREAM trick cards to an audience in my opinion.
No no I completely agree with you
Although I'd never use a deck that is all black in a performance just because it is too suspicious, but maybe on Halloween or something like that.
i use aristocrats for practice, tallies for general use, and bikes when i'm not at home and don't want to get my other decks dirty.
As a general rule cards on an Aristocrat stock are a little less durable than something on a bike stock. Aristocrat stock is very similar (possibly the exact same) stock as the stock on a Bee club special. The biggest difference is in the cut and the finish. It will have a more precise cut, thus faro and shuffle with greater ease and precision. So basically, you get Aristocrats for greater precision and out of the box quality, not necessarily for durability. If you are really into gambling demos this is really the top of the line but if you are doing more traditional card magic, or you are looking for a tough deck that will survive months of practice, there are better cards on the market for that stuff.How durable are the aristocrats?