Conditioning Cards for Card Manipulation

[LarryX]

So I was wondering what you guys do to condition cards for card manipulation. I came back to magic a month ago, and finally wore out my very old deck to the point where I had to get a new one. However, I forgot what McBride and Sheridan said about conditioning a new pack of cards.

Currently I settled for rolling cards in vertical and horizontal directions on the edge of a table, then powdering the deck. However, although this kind of does the job, the cards are still not as pliable as my old deck of cards, so I'm hoping for insight in these forums.

 

[LarryX]

For those who don't know what card manipulation is btw, here is me demoing it. I really have gotten rusty after not practicing for a while!

 

[marmatt2010]

Hi LarryX, McBride utilizes a ruler with a metal edge to scrape the cards horizontally, vertically, and diagonally in both directions on both sides. Then he powders and presses them in a Neilson card press. I've also found bridge shuffling both face up and face down, and from both long and short sides helps as well. Just to clarify, all this is assuming you're breaking in something like a bee back deck that's regular stock. if you're using a manipulation deck that is already thinner stock, you may not need to to do as much work on them.

Cheers!
Matt M.

 

[EndersGame]

This article should give you all the info you need:

Breaking in a New Deck: Why & How?
https://playingcarddecks.com/blogs/all-in/breaking-in-a-new-deck-why-and-how

 

[LarryX]

Hi LarryX, McBride utilizes a ruler with a metal edge to scrape the cards horizontally, vertically, and diagonally in both directions on both sides. Then he powders and presses them in a Neilson card press. I've also found bridge shuffling both face up and face down, and from both long and short sides helps as well. Just to clarify, all this is assuming you're breaking in something like a bee back deck that's regular stock. if you're using a manipulation deck that is already thinner stock, you may not need to to do as much work on them.

Cheers!
Matt M.

This is exactly the answer I was looking for, thanks!