Designed by Polish artist Artur Rajch, this deck is a companion to the Slate coloured Guard deck, but is an oak colour. The card backs have a slightly different design, but it's obvious that they are a set, and go well together. These have an ornate design that offers detail for those who inspect it closely, and yet doesn't distract too much when the deck is being used.
The court cards are inspired by standard courts, but offer a fresh take, with artistic designs that have minimalist colours yet fill up a good part of the cards. Especially noteworthy are the dual tones used for the pips. Two shades of colour are used for the over-sized custom pips on the cards themselves, as well as for the indices. All the Aces have a heavily customized look, not just the Ace of Spades
Two playful Jokers round out the deck, with artwork that has a clear link to traditional jesters, while still giving a very fresh feel. This deck also comes with two gaff cards, a double backer and a double facer, both of which are handy for magicians, as is the card reveal inside the box flap. Combining these with the gaffs from the Slate deck gives you a complete set of 4 different gaffs.
With quality printing from USPCC, this deck handles smoothly, while the cards themselves are a very crisp and pleasing looking white. It's extremely functional, despite the amount of customization, and is ideal for use in card games or card magic, and is especially good as set of two. - BGG reviewer EndersGame
