The only investment you need to perform powerful magic that leaves your audience stunned and amazed?
A deck of cards.
Period.
Since this is genuinely the case, I have an ethical obligation as a magician, cardist, and collecter to tell you the coolest playing cards that are out there on the market.
(All these decks are especially perfect for all y’all who are obsessed with card games and collecting).
What are the coolest playing cards?
- Artisan Playing Cards Luxury Set
- Prohibition Deck
- AVES Playing Cards 2 – Lux Edition
- Cyberpunk Playing Cards
- Bruce Lee Playing Cards
- Alpha and Omega Playing Cards
- Medieval Playing Cards
- Mystery Box
- Contraband Playing Cards
- Harry Potter Playing Cards
PLUS A BONUS ITEM: Charity: Water Playing Cards
Okay, let’s kick things off and get going! This list will be completely subjective so feel free to disagree with me on my list, I’d be happy to hear another opinion if you think I might have got a detail wrong (leave your feedback in the comments section just below this post).
Number 10 Pick: Artisan Playing Cards Luxury Set
Creativity: 5
Art and Design: 10
Overall: 7.5
“The best playing cards ever produced” – David Copperfield
The design for this deck is exquisite and elegant.
It manages to balance intricate and subtle art with a stylishly sturdy wooden box, creating it one of the best-looking decks I have seen in quite some time.
To its credit, it also boasts high-quality and durable cards (something that isn’t being taken into consideration for the purpose of this list but is equally important nonetheless).
The perfect gift for any magician or card collector.
It comes in a lovely wooden box.
Price: $113.32
Customer Rating: 4.6 Stars
Number 9 Pick: Prohibition Deck
Creativity: 7
Art and Design: 9
Overall: 8
The Prohibition set consists of six decks, all a tribute to different alcoholic drinks that are arranged stylishly together in a beautiful wooden box.
The six decks are Absinthe, Disparos, Tequila, Rebellion Rum, Moonshine, White Wolf, and 52Proof Whiskey.
Each deck is beautiful to look at and it also manages to match together into a moody-looking colour scheme.
Only 3000 of these Limited Edition Prohibition Box sets have been created and the decks are not available outside the box.
This makes it the perfect gift for any card enthusiast or card collector.
Price: $125
Number 8 Pick: Aves Uncaged
Creativity: 6
Art and Design: 10
Overall: 8
“These are lovely cards.”
This deck provides a stunning combination of fine art and striking birds.
This beautiful deck was designed by the Russian artist, Karina Eibatova.
“AVES” is also Latin and Spanish for “Birds.” These fine art playing cards were hand drawn by a world-class artist before being turned into digital art prior to being transformed into gorgeous playing cards, just for us greedy card collectors to buy.
Number 7 Pick: Cyberpunk Playing Cards
Creativity: 6
Art and Design: 10
Overall: 8
“These are far and away the best looking cards I’ve ever seen!”
The deck is Elephant Playing Cards best selling hand-drawn luxury deck with over 100,000 sold.
It contains an inspired artwork that conjures visions of gritty streets and dark futuristic cityscapes. The unique Sci-Fi designs are perfect for gameplay, magic, cardistry or collectors.
Every card is perfectly aligned for superior handling, shuffling and dealing while also being very durable and highly resistant to humidity.
It’s a stunning deck that boasts high quality printing.
Highly recommend!
Price:
You can either buy the CYBERPUNK BUNDLE that contains all 6 standard Cyberpunk Decks with a beautiful display box for $50.15 (20% off).
Or…
A Cyberpunk Deck for $9.95
Customer Rating: 4.7 Star
Number 6 Pick: Bruce Lee Playing Cards
Creativity: 10
Art and Design: 8
Overall: 9
“Simply powerful, and powerfully simple.”
“The designs are crisp and creative, and will surely feed the appetites of the eyes as well as the mind. Both sides of the cards seem to encapsulate Bruce Lee; the dynamic strength of the dragons on the back, paired with the directness and simplicity of the quotations on the front.”
Normally I wouldn’t suggest putting a yellow and black colour scheme on a deck of cards…
But for the purpose of this deck its flawless.
This faultless design commemorates Bruce Lee’s legendary life as a martial artist and philosopher by featuring 52 quotes and thoughts from the master himself.
The cards come in the same colours as the legend’s famous jump suit while the quotes are positioned like a black belt.
Price: $15
Number 5 Pick: Alpha and Omega Playing
Creativity: 9
Art and Design: 9
Overall: 9
“WOW, I am blown away! They are the most gorgeous cards I have ever seen! Thank you for creating something incredible!”
The Alpha and Omega Playing Cards are phenomenal.
These are cards that tell a story.
The decks in the Alpha & Omega series faithfully presents a different period in Biblical history.
You will meet heroes and villains, be inspired by epic stories and reflect on powerful lessons from the Bible, enabling you to comfortably start faith conversations or reflect quietly.
The tuck-boxes are as worthy an item to display on a magicians shelf since they all come with an intricate embossed gold foil on both the outside and inside, creating a clean yet elegant display for the cards within.
The subtle shine of metallic gold ink throught the deck gives a beautiful & and premium feel.
Each Court (Jacks, Queens and Kings), Aces, and Jokers are characters or events from the deck period.
While not immediately obvious, the cards are embedded with subtle details which embellish the story behind them. The more you look, the more you will see.
This is a great and original way to bring the Bible into the lives of magicians and card game fanatics alike in a form that everyone can use, and understand.
There are three different decks you can by: Reformation, Early Church, and Great Awakening. You can buy any deck separately or bundle together the whole lot for 15% less.
Price: $14.95 for any deck or $37 for all three.
Number 4 Pick: Medieval Playing Cards
Creativity: 10
Art and Design (Aesthetics): 10
Overall: 9.5
“From the moment I held the textured box I knew this was no ordinary deck of cards!”
If you feel like stepping back in time into the wondrous world of Noble Knights, Beautiful ladies, and Fearsome Creatures than I suggest you grab a pack of Medieval Playing Cards.
This deck was inspired by the exceptional artist Diego Velasquez and he has managed to capture the imagination of tens of thousands card nerds and magicians alike.
Its grandeur and elegance sets you up for excellence while it’s superior handling, shuffling and dealing makes the card perfectly built for playing.
It’s an eye-grabbing deck and one that comes with a premium money back guarantee.
The intricate artwork is accented by the stunning red wax-replica seal and period-authentic box construction makes this deck stand out from the rest.
“Beautiful. I think these cards are amazing, they are beautiful and instantly draw people to them they come with an emailed card game guide with video tutorials which I think is perfect!”
Price: $9.95 per deck
Customer Rating: 5 Star
Number 3 Pick: Mystery Lockbox
Creativity: 10
Art and Design: 9
Overall: 9.5
“Figuring out the combination to the box was very cool using the letter from J.J. Abrams was awesome. Then the mystery of the box just begins when you’re able to open it, then open the cards and find more mystery in the box the cards come in. Which leads to even more clues to more mysteries. It’s very intriguing and is still keeping me occupied with getting to the bottom of the entire mystery surrounding the mystery box. LOVE IT!”
I’ve got nothing but admiration for the creativity of this – it looks like a mysterious adventure of secrecy and fun.
First things, first let us define what exactly the Mystery Lockbox is. Picture this:
It’s a handcrafted, wooden lockbox made of 100-year-old reclaimed wood, that contains 12 decks of Mystery Box playing cards.
The box is locked with an alphanumeric combination, and the lid is ironbranded with the Mysterybox emblem.
Each deck is individually wrapped in letterpress kraft paper, with the Mystery Box question mark emblem printed on the front making it near impossible to resist tearing open to satisfy the of endless wonder of leaving it sealed.
Amazing!
Single Playing Card Price: $9.95
Mystery Lockbox (this includes the 12 playing cards): $149.95
Customer Review: 4.5 Star
Number 2 Pick: Contraband Playing Cards
Creativity: 10
Art and Design: 9.5
Overall: 9.75
“Incredibly designed and deeply meaningful.”
“I simply love the artistry of this deck. The feel, the look, the quality… It is a triple threat and a perfect addition to my collection. Get it!”
“From the gold skull on the lid flap to the crazy intricate and beautiful aces, this deck of cards pulls off something special.”
This is an exquisitely designed deck with a distinct personality inspired by secret societies, conspiracy theories, and everything unknown.
This is illustrated in its secret imagery hidden within the design of the cards: Even the lines of the inner flap construct a face of a creepy mystery.
The intricate deck is shielded in gold and black foil while the contraband interior features an elegant black foil design. Its deck is designed completely from scratch featuring custom faces and backs. Aces, Jokers, and court cards especially display an attention to detail that is incredibly stunning and original.
Apparently this deck took over a year to make…
Every minute of it is visible in the final design.
However it doesn’t stop their.
You can also purchase the Contraband Book Lamp that contains two very special, authentic, 50-year old books that sit on a shelf, one on top of the other.
Each book has a secret beyond its original purpose (including a hidden sade, that reveals a secret wooden compartment that can fit the 2 Contraband decks which come with the Contraband Book Lamp package).
The top book is a functional lamp, handcrafted complete with a vintage Edison bulb and antique nickel power switch.
Hat’s of to Joe White.
Playing Cards: $9.95 for 1 deck
Book Lamp (Lamp, 2 books, one of which has a secret stats that fits two Contraband decks): $149.95
Customer Rating: 5 Star
Number 1 Pick: Harry Potter Playing Cards
Creativity: 10
Art and Design: 10
Overall: 10
“BEAUTIFULLY designed. I just want to stare at them.”
“Awesome for card magic!”
“Incredibly detailed courts and pips, beautiful tuck, and oh boy that Ace of Spades!”
Wow.
What the actual heck.
This is…
Breathtaking.
(But I’m a big Harry Potter fan – let me know where you would put this on the list.)
These playing cards feature character fan-favourites in to four spellbinding colour editions, representing the four Houses of Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff!
Some of these cards are simply magical and an utter delight to any Harry Potter fan…
Harry proudly holds the Golden Snitch and his Nimbus 2000. Voldemort wields his wand made of yew. Snape teaches Potions class with his Advanced Potion Making textbook. Luna Lovegood sports her signature Spectrespecs, along with many more characters!
The outer packaging is magical too. Opulent, ornate gold foil, with striking house- coloured foil accents and precise ultra-detailed embossing.
This is, quite frankly, the perfect tribute to the Wizarding World. From the sorcerer’s stone to the deathly hallows, you can follow and experience the storyline and its iconic moments every time they’re held in your hands.
Price:
$12.95 for 1 Deck
Or…
$39.80 for all four decks representative of all four hogwarts houses.
Customer Rating: 5 Star
BONUS: Charity: Water
Creativity: 9
Art and Design: 5
Overall: 7
Every deck makes a difference. You can save a life.
The deck is less flashy than all the ones we’ve seen so far but it’s intensions are the purest.
100% of all proceeds from purchase go toward a great cause: bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.
While it’s not as pretty as others, the minimalism and clarity of the water tank logo throughout the design is actually pretty good and quite refreshing to look at.
Price: $5
Thank you for reading the Top 10 Coolest Playing Cards in 2022.
Hope it was helpful.