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This Month in Cardistry

The year is off to a hot start for cardistry, it can be hard to keep up with everything going on. Don’t worry, we got you covered. Here’s a brief recap of some of the bigger happenings around the community this month.

CARDISTRY COMEBACKS

After a brief hiatus from Fontaine, Zach Mueller is back and hitting the ground running. This month he took to Instagram with an announcement stating that he plans to “resurrect Fontaine,” acknowledging the brand’s recent struggles but promising a fresh start. With new content, upcoming Q&A videos, and weekend jams at his L.A. store on Saturdays and Sundays, the revival is already underway.

But that’s not the only Fontaine Fam member who’s back in action. Chase Duncan also hit the scene again with a new review-style channel, Pasteboard Reactions, where he gives in-depth move critiques to a variety of cardists. Chase truly understands the subtle aspects of what makes a good cardistry move, so it’s worth checking out what he has to say, particularly if you’re just beginning to create your own moves.

EYES ON THE PRIZE

In case you’ve been off the grid this month, Lotus in Hand’s Singles Competition is in full swing. Here’s a breakdown of what’s happened so far:

The top 16 cardists were announced and the tournament began on Jan 12.
Over the past week, all eight head-to-head competition rounds (upper bracket) were released on Lotus Singles’ Instagram page.
Upper Bracket Round 1 results were released, with the eight winners moving on to set the lineups for Upper Bracket Round 2 and Lower Bracket Round 1

The results for these next two rounds are set to be released Feb. 16. There have been some incredible moves so far, so be sure to stay tuned!

CORE VALUES

Outside of competitions, finding a one-stop shop showcasing the best that cardistry has to offer can be a bit of a struggle. Enter Cardistry Core, a new cardistry hub that’s already popping off with 23 incredible moves from some of the world’s best cardists – all in the past month.

Unlike other channels that rely on simply reposting content, Cardistry Core is flipping the script with a more proactive approach. Cardists submit their moves to the account, and CC will post the move as a collab video simultaneously on both accounts. It’s a win-win: creators get the exposure, and followers get a curated feed of wild cardistry.

Jack and Quentin are crushing it, with over 1,000 followers on Instagram already, a nod to the fact that the community truly values this type of content. So be sure to check them out. And if TikTok is more your speed, they have an account over there as well.

1. oraF by @_weakdk_

This month, we saw some groundbreaking conceptual ideas that build on the roots of cardistry.

Ding Wei takes the top spot with this innovative shuffle-based move. Similar to the eye-catching effect of Bloom, this move takes advantage of the explosive popping motion to catch the viewer off guard.

You’d expect the move to end after that, but he keeps it going with a variation of the cascade to shuffle the cards back together.

Impressive work by Ding, especially given how few shuffle moves exist today.

2. Refactor by @nealloop

From our experience, one of the trickiest parts of cardistry is being able to precisely move your fingers to maneuver packets without anything getting in the way. This move is a prime example of how precise those motions need to be for the move to look complete.

He managed to flip the entire triangle over multiple times while redistributing the packets into different positions throughout. There’s an incredible amount of skill required to track every packet and finger motion.

Also, it’s very uncommon to see an innovative triangle move, as this concept has been explored since the early days of cardistry.

3. Move by @coninthebox

This is a prime example of complementing packet motions with hand motions. Each time his hand starts to open up and move across, a card rapidly spins in the same direction, accentuating the motion even further.

The continuity of the move also makes it mesmerizing, as it’s easy to watch the individual cards pop out from underneath the packets as they go back and forth.

Simple utility moves like this should never be underestimated, as they are often tools you can incorporate into other moves.

Honorable Mentions

With all the recent motivators to post content (Cardistry Core, Lotus Singles, etc), there were an abundance of high-quality moves posted in January:

Quick Bites

Combos had their moment, with @thinkingonsleights calling out cardists to post their favorite combos this month. It was a multi-day spree that spread throughout the community. Good stuff, Brandon.
Veteran cardist CJ Ocampo celebrated his birthday this month with a bang – hanging out in Mexico City with a jam hosted by ManoSanta and Cardistrict.
Brain food: Japanese cardistry, Soki, compares the idea of “artistic personality” from Hideo Kobayashi to “style” within the sense of cardistry in a recent post.
YANGAANYAUHEI ran a giveaway for their new WHAT THE FLY (V3) deck, featuring some banger routines from Sage.
Cardistry drama: OG playing card brand Orbit addressed some recent criticisms of its Orbits Dopest Competition fizzling out with a long-winded Instagram post.
Deck designers wanted. In collaboration with Cardistry XP, Komorebi is inviting XP23 notebook owners to reimagine and redesign a Komorebi deck. The winning design will be produced and launched at the 2025 XP event.
Card Sale: We’ve knocked back the price of our latest deck, SPACEDUNES, to just $12 a pop. Feel free to grab some on our website.

A Cut Above: January 2025