Who performs magic with Guardians regularly?

Sep 24, 2007
48
0
Burlington
Hey all. I'm curious, does anyone of you actually perform magic with Guardians? I'm not against the deck, I love it, I think it looks great. Its just that they don't include any gaffs (except the double backer). Many great effects require gaffs (invisible deck, panic, distortion, etc).

Of course, it would look great when flourishing, but when performing magic it just doesn't go with the gaffs.

Theory 11 should consider releasing a choice for Guardians when the effect needs gimmicks.
 
Sep 1, 2007
494
0
on Theory11.
Hey all. I'm curious, does anyone of you actually perform magic with Guardians? I'm not against the deck, I love it, I think it looks great. Its just that they don't include any gaffs (except the double backer). Many great effects require gaffs (invisible deck, panic, distortion, etc).

Of course, it would look great when flourishing, but when performing magic it just doesn't go with the gaffs.

Theory 11 should consider releasing a choice for Guardians when the effect needs gimmicks.

Tru dat. Distortion would look fantastic with some Guardians...
 
Oct 16, 2007
45
0
At first, when I started performing for friends and strangers, I only liked pulling out an 808 deck blue backed. My main reason behind this was the fact that I felt it was more convincing of a routine with a 'normal' deck. Even with a basic 808 deck, the exclamation "it's a trick deck" always arose and because of this, when I first bought the Ghost, Tiger, Guardians etc, they were really just pretty for flourishes.

As time passed, I became more and more confident and people started to remember me. Whenever they asked, they were more than welcome to inspect the deck for any anomalies etc. Always having said that I don't really like 'trick decks' for the simple principle "If you can't make it happen with a borrowed deck [all but] impromptu, it's a weak trick," people asked to inspect less and less. I experimented a few times with the 'prettier' decks in performance and didn't have any problems with 'trick deck' suspicions. Because they are 'real' decks and just made to look 'better', I always let them play around with them (worst case scenario, they destroy the deck worse than a flourishing session and I spend another 30 bucks on a few packs).

Just being confident enough with strong magic under your belt makes it easier to pull off a deck like the Guardians. (Perfect example- Deuce Bag/ Witness- depending on when you first saw the trick- no matter what deck you use is unexplainable. Period. There's no such thing as a trick deck that can change the face of a card to a randomly selected card that's been sealed in a ziplock bag the entire trick. Digital Dissolve comes close to the idea but it's not as inspect-able/ doesn't have the 'hand out ability as Witness)
 

Jack

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2007
268
0
Decatur, GA
I have been performing with my Gardiens a lot lately and I've really come to like them more and more. People don't generally accuse me of using a "trick" deck but when they do I'm more than happy to hand them out for inspection. After they find out that the deck is "normal" the tricks they just saw seem even more amazing and they usuallly want to see more!
Cheers!
 
Oct 6, 2007
612
0
I have all the cool decks out there:

Ghosts (w/gaffs)
Black Tigers (both)
Vipers
Split Spades
Guardians
Shadow Masters
Vintage 1800s


BUT the only cards I ever perofrm with are REGULAR blue/red bikes. I can use all my gimmicks with these, so whenever I want to show a gimmick trick it's possible. If I want to show panic for example, with any of the decks above, then its not possible. This is nwhy I like using the reg cards.

However, I haven't had my street magic excursion yet, so I have yet to use all the cards above in a performance.

P.S. I'd rather stare and play with the cards above then ruin them by peforming with 'em :O
 
Feb 3, 2008
232
0
37
Raleigh, NC
I have all the cool decks out there:

Ghosts (w/gaffs)
Black Tigers (both)
Vipers
Split Spades
Guardians
Shadow Masters
Vintage 1800s


BUT the only cards I ever perofrm with are REGULAR blue/red bikes. I can use all my gimmicks with these, so whenever I want to show a gimmick trick it's possible. If I want to show panic for example, with any of the decks above, then its not possible. This is nwhy I like using the reg cards.

However, I haven't had my street magic excursion yet, so I have yet to use all the cards above in a performance.

P.S. I'd rather stare and play with the cards above then ruin them by peforming with 'em :O

Then why'd you buy them? I'm sure you can go without gimmicked tricks every once in a while. To me thats like buying a gimmick and never using it, just staring at it and playing with it.

-Cyrus
 
Oct 6, 2007
612
0
A magicians performa is not determined by the cards he uses.

IF I want to use the gimmick, I CAN! Wihtout ahving to say, oh, ill show you taht trick tommorow...

And have you not heard of card collectors? I love E's and T11 cards, but that doesnt mean I ahve to use ALL of them. Again, I stated that I WILL use them.....one day. :p
 
Feb 3, 2008
232
0
37
Raleigh, NC
A magicians performa is not determined by the cards he uses.

IF I want to use the gimmick, I CAN! Wihtout ahving to say, oh, ill show you taht trick tommorow...

And have you not heard of card collectors? I love E's and T11 cards, but that doesnt mean I ahve to use ALL of them. Again, I stated that I WILL use them.....one day. :p

Yes, I've heard of card collectors, but having all of E's and T11's decks is hardly a card collection.

As far as what you said about the gimmick, I could be wrong, but isn't it considered good practice by most magicians to plan what magic you are going to perform? For example, "I think I'm going to do this trick, this trick and this trick today, so I can use this deck of cards because I have this gimmick." Or, "Today I feel like doing ya-da ya-da ya-da meaning today I can use this deck of cards because I don't need gimmicks."

You shouldn't find yourself in a "I'll show you that trick tomorrow" situation because...One, you shouldn't be showing people the same trick more than once, even if they request it...Two, you shouldn't be giving into people's requests to show a certain trick because that isn't good audience management, the magician is in control, not the audience.

And, lol. "I'll WILL use them...one day :p" :p

-Cyrus
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Sep 1, 2007
279
1
I use guardians. They look like an ordinary deck of cards (which they are) so there are no problems in using them. Also, I don't use gimmicks so I can use pretty much any cards I like to.

I think it's not right to compare T11's decks to E's decks. T11 cards have simply a nicer back design so there's no need to worry about them. E's decks have strange backs and faces that make the identifying of the card hard sometimes. They don't look like normal card because everyday cards don't have black faces and in everyday cards the suits are either red or black. Guardians don't have these disadvantages.
 
Jul 23, 2007
231
3
New York, NY
It's great for cardistry. People have been loving them. If I do a little magic I only do impromptu stuff so I don't care if they examine the deck.
 
Dec 4, 2007
1,074
2
www.thrallmind.com
When I first saw the Guardians, I fell in love with the design. it wasn't gimmicky, like changing the color of the face. They just redesigned the back. So it wasn't different from choosing Tally Ho, Bees, or Bikes. It was just nicely designed.

There is only one gaffed card effect I do, and its by Daniel Garcia. It is one of my favorite effects to do when there is a crowd of people. I was torn, because I liked the look of the guardians, but also loved this effect. When I got my first pack of Guardians, and saw it had the double backer I needed for that effect, I have been using the deck ever since.

-ThrallMind
 
Jan 3, 2008
72
0
See that's what I just don;t understand. The reason for these custom decks is QUALITY to the magician, to make things smoother. And if you do use one and someone accuses you, why not let them check it out to their heart's content? You have nothing to hide, because it IS a normal deck; just higher quality and more visually stunning.

So what's the point of buying these awesome decks, if you're just gonna use red/blue bikes for performance anyways? They're not doing you any good. In the very LEAST get some Master's Edition Bikes; because they are that same awesome high quality, AND look the exact same to spectators. They're not going to noice if the AoS or box is different, because every other card looks the exact SAME.

Also, Guardians look much more natural than other custom cards, bacause their faces are still white. Only the backs look different, which doesn't make any difference from using Bees, Tallys, Bikes, Steamboats, Aviators, or whatever; because the backs are all different each and every one of them, but the faces are still white, which should give you and your spectators a sense of comfort.

-killer : kam
 
Feb 3, 2008
232
0
37
Raleigh, NC
Also, Guardians look much more natural than other custom cards, bacause their faces are still white. Only the backs look different, which doesn't make any difference from using Bees, Tallys, Bikes, Steamboats, Aviators, or whatever; because the backs are all different each and every one of them, but the faces are still white, which should give you and your spectators a sense of comfort.

That is one of the things I love most about the Guardians, just looks like a regular deck of custom cards.

-Cyrus
 
Nov 30, 2007
821
0
The best tricks are gaffless... Anyways I just like to stare at my gaurdians.

Thats so true. I really like the tricks with just a regular deck of cards. I really like this because they can just examine the deck after. But anyways I have used them a few times but not too often. I really like using the Bicycle Masters because they look like a deck of bicycles and a lot of people recognize them.
 

The Dark Angel

forum moderator / t11
Sep 1, 2007
2,003
18
33
Denver, Colorado
The best tricks are gaffless... Anyways I just like to stare at my gaurdians.

But what about tricks like Scotch & Soda, The Raven, and others along those lines?

I perform with Guardians if I am able to plan ahead and remember to bring them with me, otherwise I just stare at them.
 
Nov 25, 2007
78
0
UK
I perform with Guardians regularly because they feel really good in my hands, like a puppy thats been compressed into the shape of a deck of cards.... and sliced into 52....
 
Feb 3, 2008
232
0
37
Raleigh, NC
The best tricks are gaffless... Anyways I just like to stare at my gaurdians.

I think that might be a matter of opinion, I'm not saying you're wrong...this could be completely true for...you.

Lets examine some examples of why I think that gaffed tricks are extremely hard hitting, now I could be wrong and sometimes I am...but lets just look at the facts and see what we get shall we?

Now I'm going to assume that you don't intend for gaff and gimmick to be the same thing because if you are considering them to be the same, I have a huge list of tricks I can name. I'm going to just randomly name some extremely hard hitting gaffed tricks as they come into my mind.

-Hover Card
-Satisfaction Guaranteed
-Windex

You can't duplicate any of these tricks without gaffs and there is no doubt about these tricks being more powerful than some tricks that don't use gaffs.

-Cyrus
 
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