The deck itself . . . smooth. Just like any other U.S. Playing Card Company air cushion finished deck. If you had your eyes closed, you'd probably assume you were holding a standard deck of bicycle cards. The art work is beautiful and it comes with a blank face card . . . always a nice bonus.

The patterns are cool and hypnotic, and the Jokers are cool . . . but they're eyeballs. That's weird and seemingly meaningless. The big problem with this deck, however, is that it's not really suitable for usimg in performance. The motion of the cards is actually somewhat nauseating. The faces of the cards from even just a few feet away just look like faded print and are thus hard for the audience members to see. If you have a particular trick that uses the patterns on the deck, then maybe this would be ok, but to use this as your regular deck for performing would be a mistake.

The ad copy . . . tsk, tsk, tsk . . .

It claims a) that M.C. Esher would use this deck if he were a magician. I doubt it, but who knows. Further it claims, that "The energy and the spirit of surrealism is simplified to its purest form." Based on the definition of surrealism that I'm aware of, this deck is not that.

According to the ad copy, the deck goes through an additional process that other cards don't go through, thus creating "the perfect sensation for your fingertips." To quote my mom: "Horse Pucky!" Whether or not they went through a special process, I don't know. However, I do know this: they feel (to me) exactly the same as any other deck of 808's I've ever used.

Then you get this crazy claim about the ink: "Full customized enhanced pips corresponding with the back illusion design, enhancing your grip subconsciously with visual deception." What the heck does that even mean? I can tell you this, neither the ink nor anything else enhanced my "grip subconsciously with visual deception." Whatever the heck that means.

And finally we have the ultimate in Hogwash (another Mom favorite): "After handling Ogma, regular designer decks just feel overweight." Horsefeathers folks . . . After using this deck, I actually felt that it was overweight. The patterns on the face cards in particular were very dense and not that appealing.

I'm just a bit tired of the overstated, over-hyped, ad copy found in magic these days. Drop the hype and say what it is: It's a well made deck of cards that handles as good as any other. It has lovely artwork that has the potential to be used in a color change or some other such effect, but the pattern is a bit crazy and busy on the back and a bit too faint on the front. Thus it's not a good choice for performing your full set . . . maybe for a trick that justifies the deck itself. If you're a collector of decks, it would make a worthy addition to your collection.

The ad copy crappola caused a fair hit to the overall score . . .

Final Verdict:
3.5 Stars with a Stone Status of gem (as long as you don't use it for your full set)