The new DMC ELITES V4 marked deck (now in forest green) is the latest iteration in the ongoing quest by Drummond Money-Coutts to create the most powerful deck of cards available for professional magicians today. The ELITES are a unique collaboration between DMC himself (star of National Geographic's CARD SHARK and BEYOND MAGIC WITH DMC, and of the upcoming Netflix series DEATH BY MAGIC) and designer and magic creator Phill Smith - architect of the revolutionary OPTICAL MARKING SYSTEM. This brand new DMC ELITES V4 is the most versatile, nuanced and advanced version of ELITES ever created.

For the first time ever, the DMC ELITES V4 is now printed by the iconic United States Playing Card Company on their legendary Bee stock, still the world's favourite choice. The cards will endure hours upon hours of professional use, and all faces are standard USPCC faces for minimum scrutiny or suspicion from your audience.

The cards themselves feature the latest revision of the unique OPTICAL MARKING SYSTEM (OMS), a powerful 'reader' system designed specifically for the use of magicians and mentalists (as opposed to many decks designed for the gambling world). The OMS has an ingeniously hidden marking mechanic that is readable with extreme speed, at great range and even in poor light. It hides the value and suit of the card in plain sight with no decoding necessary - the back of the card literally says the value and the suit. Despite this, you can still comfortably hand the deck to a layman, safe in the knowledge that even the most critical observer would not ever suspect, let alone detect, the secret markings. So subtle, in fact, is the OMS that with the first edition of ELITES - many magicians complained that they'd been sent an unmarked version!

Drawing on the feedback from many hundreds of performers, the OMS has evolved significantly over the years, and in this version the markings are located in all four corners for the very first time - welcoming lefties into the ELITES family. A second quantum leap now allows the markings to be read from a relatively slim spread of cards on the table - or even a fan of cards held in the hands. Finally, the deck also now features a very clear, one-way marking system, allowing for delayed reads and unlocking a whole new realm of methods. Each deck also comes with an instruction card that explains the markings visually - with no language limitations for international performers.

DMC ELITES V4: the greatest marked deck in a generation - now greater than ever.

DISCLAIMER: These cards have been created with professional magic and mentalism in mind. Cheating at games through any means of duplicity - be it skillful or through specialised equipment - is unethical, immoral, and illegal. The creators, manufacturers and distributors of the ELITES range of playing cards cannot accept any responsibility for the unethical abuse or misuse of these playing cards.

"I have never before been so excited to release a deck of playing cards to the world - this is a quantum leap in the possibilities of card magic and mentalism." - Drummond Money-Coutts

Imagine taking your existing card magic and reinventing it, injecting it with more personality, more intimacy, more excitement. Creating presentations of pure magic that will engage and amaze your audiences in ways simply not possible with a traditional deck. After 3 years of work, we are proud to finally announce the new DMC ALPHAS Deck - a beautiful, premium alphabet deck using our unique Optical Marking System designed from the ground up to unlock incredible new avenues of magic.

Poker sized, printed by USPCC on their premium stock, but with 52 letter cards instead of the traditional card faces, the deck allows you to perform magic that will connect with your audiences in new and powerful ways. Modern audiences enjoy card magic but, increasingly, the actual cards themselves are stripped of the interest and relatability they once had. It is asking a lot to expect audiences that are unable to name the four suits, or to know how many cards are in a deck, to be as deeply impressed by dealing a royal flush from a shuffled deck as they should be. Picture instead dealing their name from a shuffled deck. Picture finding not just a random card they have chosen, but their initials. Having them secretly pocket the letters that make up a city they have always dreamt of visiting and being able to whisper it into their ear.

The new DMC ALPHAS Deck allows you to conjure your magic using concepts, words, names and ideas that are immediately resonant to your audiences, that they relate to and understand in a way that they simply don't with a traditional deck.

We have been working on the DMC ALPHAS Deck for a long time, hand making prototypes to understand and resolve technical issues and work out ways to use and employ the deck, having samples fabricated to start using them in live performances. We have ironed out the kinks and created what we think is the ultimate, a new paradigm for card magic. DMC himself now uses the DMC ALPHAS Deck at every possible event, even featuring it in his Netflix series, Death by Magic.

scans of every card can be viewed at

http://www.marytcusack.com/maryc/decks/html/cards/AnimalKingdom.html

Made in the USA on FSC-certified paper derived from sustainable forests, starch-based laminates, and vegetable-based inks. Illustrated by Hatch Design in San Francisco, California.

part of proceedes go to world wildlife fund

The Virtuoso deck made history in 2012 as the first deck ever designed for Cardistry, and remains today as the choice of top cardists around the globe.

Designed for Cardistry. Dedicated to Cardists.

There are a few differences between the test print from 2015 and the official version from 2016.

See gallery pictures for reference.

Killer Bees are the mutant hybrid of timid European honey bees and their African cousins.  Like all superhero stories, the Killers were introduced to Brazil by mad scientists to help re-populate their diminishing Bee population.  But no-one could contain them... In 1957, 26 swarms escaped quarantine and declared war on the western hemisphere.  Danger lurking in the skies, these villains will stalk their victims for up to 1/2 a mile..  We wanted to capture the darker bodies of these cold-face killers in our deck. Creating a harsh black back with toxic-waste yellow honeycomb spilt on the back.  The black faces display custom pips and hold a sinister simplicity. Like something you'd expect to see on a discarded barrel of methylamine.  Killer Bees are the result of an unsanctioned lab experiment when toxic-waste spilled into a delicate hive of Honey Bees. 

scans of every card can be seen at http://www.marytcusack.com/maryc/decks/html/Cards/KillerBee.html​