Mono – Xero Playing Cards by Luke Wadey. A Review
Mono – Xero Playing Cards by Luke Wadey. A Review
Welcome to round two of the popular Mono series of playing cards. This is the Ad Copy:
The latest deck in the Mono collection, exploring the use of a single color palette and combining patterns and gradients to achieve a dynamic and unique deck of cards.
Mono – Xero picks up from distinctive theme set by Mono – X, using a bold 2-way back design combined with side details on the card faces to allow for cardists to flourish and magicians to excel in their routines. The deck uses a variety of line thicknesses with negative space and gradients to maintain the recognisable theme is carried through from the distinctive card back where a ‘O’ is created, all the way through the custom pips and court cards. The deck uses a blue theme throughout, still with clear distinction between the suits.
-Manufactured by Cartamundi
-New slim-line stock with B9 finish
-Fully custom 56 card deck, including a double backer card
-Custom tuck, designed to partner with Mono – Xero R
-One time print run, only 2500 decks produced
Be sure to grab both Mono – Xero and Mono – Xero R, their bold designs are a true show-stopper and be a part of design with community in mind. Together, we are Xero.
My Thoughts:
When I first opened Mono Xero I wasn’t overly impressed. The lack of multi-colors made the cards seem a little stale.. until I began to handle them. They cam alive, and now I’m a fan. I actually 
received Mono X, the first of the series, and Mono Xero, the newest addition, at the same time.. so I wasn’t familiar with the X cards. Had I been, the Xero cards would have been received with anticipation.
I don’t want to repeat the ad copy verbatim.. but I’ll offer my personal observation nonetheless. The X and the Xero are both created with a single color. The X is black and lighter black, almost a charcoal.. and the Xero cards are available in two different designs – One a differing gradient of dark blue and the other a gradient of what they call red, but what I call maroon. Maybe it’s just me…
Each deck, X and Xero, relies on a series of lines to create the design of the card. The lines vary in thickness and width apart to create a design… A stylized X on the X cards and a Zero on the Xero cards. Some of the lines extend onto the side of the card, giving the deck a very unique look. Although the backs are two way, reversing a card doesn’t change the design on the sides… a smart move by London designer Luke Wadey.
The cards are printed by Cardimundi. Although very popular in Europe, Cardimundi has always felt rather stiff to me.. because of my life-long use of Bicycles. Xero is printed on a new slim-line stock that makes the deck somewhat thinner and a pure pleasure to shuffle and faro.. not to mention flourish. I could perform perfect faro’s with Xero after three or four shuffles. Compare that to fifty or more shuffles with a standard deck of Bikes..
I’m going to let a couple of pics fill in the gaps. Seeing X and Xero is, as they say, better than a thousand words. These cards are both limited to a one time run of 2500 decks.. so it would be wise
to purchase several before time runs out. If you are a card flourisher, you’ll love both the feel and the design of Xero. I know I did….
$12.00 Available at Murphy’s Magic and dealers who carry their line..
https://www.murphysmagic.com/Product.aspx?id=65318
Review by Rick Carruth for the Magic Roadshow