I've always kind of had a love/hate relationships with black decks of cards. I like the concept, but I never really found that corner pips did well against a black background. It seemed to be an 'ease of reading for the spec' type of thing. Red pips vs. black background wasn't the best, and white pips against black...was both stark and different from what a spectator would be used to. I didn't want a spectator to even think twice about the value of any given card when they see it. I wanted easy clarity for the spec.

I always thought that if the corner pips had a border, separating the red or white from the black background, that might solve my problem.

Well, the Bicycle Knights Templar deck does just that, and it is very lovely to me. Clubs and Spades are black, and Hearts and Diamonds are red, but they have a lovely gold border between the pips and the black background. You also get a 12 of Diamonds card, a double index 4/6 of Hearts, and a 3 of Clubs that has no "3" at one corner. The deck looks beautiful when fanned face-up.

Here's a 5-minute review/look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0vak-QMADs