AF ESP Deck by Alexander Marsh

VI just released a new ESP deck called “Another F***ing ESP Deck” or “AF ESP Deck” for short. 

I have used a lot of ESP decks over the years. Up until now my go to has been Michael Murray’s Naked ESP. I liked the minimal design on the back and the fact that they are made of plastic. But sometimes I have a hard time reading the mark, and I have to remind myself of how the markings work from time to time because although it’s easy, it’s not necessarily second nature (at least for me.)

I saw this deck come out, and I was immediately drawn to it. I love the retro “worn” look of the cards, appreciate that it’s plastic, and really like that they aren’t standard poker sized cards. Now I’ve received them and had a chance to play with them, and I like them more than I thought I would. 

First of all, the cards are plastic, but they aren’t just smooth plastic like most plastic playing cards. They have a texture on the face that sort of aerates the cards so that they don’t stick together at all. This texture feels nice and makes the deck handle like a dream right out of the box. 

The markings are subtle enough to never be noticed, and they are totally logical so that you don’t have to ever remind yourself of how the markings work. You see the mark, and you immediately know the number associated with the shape. 

Some may argue that the fact that the back design is “busy” leads to people assuming there is more space for the card to be marked, and they very well could be right. This was the very issue Michael was trying to solve with his design. But I really don’t think anyone would find the markings. Without giving too much away, the marking system is using a principle of taking away some back design rather than adding to it, and I think that inherently makes it more deceptive. Plus, no matter how long they search the cards, they’ll never find the shapes written on the back of the cards, which is what I imagine most laymen would look for. 

I also like that they include the triangle as an alternative to the wavy lines. I have had people in the past make a comment about the wavy lines looking like bacon. Not a bad thing, but it isn’t a symbol they would ever encounter in the real world… well, I take that back—they may find it on a hand dryer. (P.S. I’ve always thought the hand drying symbol made the hand dryer look like it was a magical machine that gives you bacon at the press of a button.)

But hey, if you like your wavy lines, you can still have them because they provide both the triangles and the wavy lines. 

I’m not sure if I’m sold on the cards coming in an envelope and not a tuck box, but that’s just a personal preference. I think the tuck box would be far more fitting for walk around since it has a slimmer profile. I get that maybe there’s a little more mystique in the envelope, but I can’t decide which would be more interesting sitting on a coffee table… an unmarked string and washer envelope or a tuck box for an ESP deck. 

The tutorial you get is great, and Alex teaches some strong ESP routines. I really like his handling of the classic five card matchup. I don’t love his cleanup, but if you change that last move for a sleeker method (like a side steal to load the card on top of the deck), it’s really good. I love how he handles the “bad” situation. It’s the best solution to that problem that I’ve seen. I usually perform a five card match when I use an ESP deck because, to me, it’s the most logical trick to do with an ESP deck, and this will be the new method I use. 

The other routines are also good, but nothing beats the five-for-five match IMO. The tableless version actually requires a table; it just needs a little less room (three packets instead of 10 ‘packets’). He does say you can have two people hold the packets for the tableless version. It’s super simple. The Visa Cabaret routine is fine. It didn’t blow me away. The Jazz Gemini twins is an interesting approach where he uses the marks to make it seem a little more random, but I think Gemini twins is far more powerful with a regular deck of cards since the ESP deck gives them 4 chances to make a perfect match on each card. I like his idea for the double backer. I mean, it’s a simple and classic use for it, but it does make a nice intro to the five-for-five matching routine. He also goes over how you can use some of the double-facers provided to predict almost any symbol they name. It’s fine, but not revolutionary or anything, and I doubt anyone would actually use that in the real world. 

Overall, I think the deck is fantastic. I really like the aesthetic, feel, and dimension of the cards. The teaching is really great, the routines provided are all strong, and his touches on the five-for-five matching routine are worth the price for me. I already have a routine in mind that will begin with his double backer intro, go into Ben Seidman's "The Oracle System" routine using ESP cards, and then (sometimes) end with the five-for-five routine taught here. It makes for a really clean two or three phase ESP routine that has a nice build.

AF ESP Deck is available on Vanishing for $29.99 at the link below:

https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/mentalism/af-esp-deck-2026/