The Blurb
Any Card. At Any Number. The Holy Grail of all Magic… has been solved.
With bold claims you must provide undeniable proof. It’s time to unveil The Atomic Deck.
When David Berglas first created the ACAAN, he gifted the Magic community a seemingly impossible puzzle that many thought to be unsolvable. A Penrose Triangle of never-ending mystery.
But… In early 2021 Craig Petty made a discovery that would shake the foundations of the entire Magic industry. Laying way to a new realm of what we never thought was possible.
With The Atomic Deck, here is exactly what happens. Every. Single. Time.
The Magician places the deck openly on the table. Everyone is asked to think of any card. And any number. No forces. The audience doubles down by making sure that they avoid commonly selected cards and numbers. They can change their mind as many times as they wish. Once everyone is satisfied that their choices were uninfluenced and fair, the magician slowly and clearly picks up the deck, eyes burning their every micro-movement. They begin dealing slowly and deliberately dealing cards, one by one until the number is reached… The magician turns the card over, and it is the exact card they were merely thinking of.
Perfection.
Every. Single. Time.
Here’s what you need to know before trying to figure this out:
- No memorization work.
- No sleight of hand.
- Easy to do.
- They don’t even have to tell you their card or number.
- The cards are never cut, passed, or in any way.
- The deck is in full view the entire time.
- The cards can be dealt into the participants hands.
- No roughing sprays.
Marc Paul, friend and student of David Berglas, literally wrote the rules for the ACAAN. He was also the only person that David allowed to perform his ACAAN. He did so on national UK television in a video that cemented itself in magic history as one of the most perfect ACAAN performances of all time. What we’re saying is, Marc Paul is possibly one of, if not, the most qualified person alive today to talk about the ACAAN. When Craig showed him The Atomic Deck, this is what he said:
“That is the Berglas effect… You’ve cracked it. This is every magician’s dream… It’s the closest version to The Holy Grail that I’ve seen anyone do.”
We know. This all sounds too good to be true. What are the drawbacks? We’ll be upfront and tell you.
Firstly, if you perform this to a magician and they examine the deck, what they’ll see is not an ordinary deck of cards. As you can see in the trailer, if you perform it for non-magicians, they can look through the cards quite openly, although we wouldn’t recommend letting them keep it.
In short, we’re telling you The Atomic Deck is a special deck of cards that does 90% of the work for you.
Secondly, unlike the large majority of other ACAAN’s that exist, The Atomic Deck requires no mental math. Instead, we use the power of something that everyone has on them every day. Their phone. With the tools included, the audience will cleverly code all the information that you need to know to perform this miracle. You don’t need your phone or any sneaky peek device. It’s all done in a natural and organic way that never feels like it’s even part of the trick.
“I don’t want them to use a phone!”
Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered too. There are multiple, genius methods taught that show you how to perform this seemingly without having any phone in play.
The third drawback… This isn’t real magic. But it is as close as we’re going to get. And once you see the method, you’ll understand why. Hidden in the presentation, the gimmicks, and the tools that come with Atomic Deck, the moment you start, gears begin spinning behind the scenes doing all the hard work for you, making this look as effortless as real magic.
With the seismic breakthrough that Craig developed with The Atomic Deck came one other bizarre twist. There is no sleight of hand. Thanks to the method of how this works, as long as you can deal cards, anyone can perform this miracle.
Whilst we’re on the topic of breakthroughs, there’s one more thing…
Those of you familiar with some of Craig’s other work may be thinking that this uses roughing spray, roughing stick, powder, wax etc. Well, thanks to the intense pursuit for perfection, we’ve developed a truly revolutionary procedure that means there is literally no roughing chemicals at all used with The Atomic Deck. Meaning each deck comes straight off the press and into the box. Precise, identical and perfect every single time. And even better, your Atomic Deck will last you as long as any normal deck of cards because there really is nothing to rub off or wear away. Aside from The Atomic Deck, what we’ve produced especially for The Atomic Deck will set the magic industry alight for decades to come. We’re confident that it will become a new standard in playing card technology.
In the last 10 years, one mentalist has emerged from the thousands to be heralded as the next generation of Living Legends. A modern day great, that as of 2025, most mentalists are in agreement to be considered one of, if not the best mentalists and mind readers on the planet today… Peter Turner.
Peter Turner made a name for himself mainly for two things: prop-less mentalism and fooling the best minds in the world with his ACAAN. When we showed him The Atomic Deck, this is what he said:
“That’s better than any version of Any Card at Any Number that I’ve ever done… That genuinely is the cleanest version of Any Card At Any Number that I’ve ever seen in my life.”
In 1976 a web was woven. An Escher Staircase of impossibility, a pursuit for gold at the end of a rainbow. The more mere mortals tried to solve it, the more the web would tangle. The ACAAN is truly the knot that tightens the more you try to undo it. Murphy’s Studio is proud to present to you…
The Atomic Deck.
Jheff's Guide
WHAT IT IS:
A specially made deck of cards
HOW ACCURATE OR COMPLETE THE AD COPY IS:
Unfortunately, though it’s obvious a lot of hard work and clever thinking went into this powerful prop, the ad copy is quite misleading. This is not to say that what’s claimed is not true (not entirely, anyway). It’s just worded to create an impression and hype that isn’t a true representation of this, which, of course, leads to many feeling disappointed.
To perform this, you need to access information, either through a justification of accessing a website or using a crib sheet. This is not mentioned, though it’s hinted at. This is why there is no memorization or math needed. It’s done for you. Nothing is wrong with this, except that the ad doesn’t mention this.
Second, the cards may not use rough-and-smooth chemicals, but the cleverly designed deck operates in the same way as a regularly treated deck. It’s quite deceptive for the ad to spend valuable wordage claiming that it doesn’t use rough-and-smooth, especially the chemicals, and then, as it turns out, the deck has a very clever advanced rough-and-smooth system.
Third, it claims to be an ACAAN. However, not every combination will work. The tutorial covers how to deal with this aspect in detail. Due to this, there is a debate over whether this is a true ACAAN. On the one hand, I agree that it can’t be a true ACAAN with these conditions. However, I don’t think it makes a difference in the performance. It does add to the deception of the ad copy.
Finally, it’s stressed that this deck solves, or comes very close to solving, the Berglas Effect, a well-known routine whose secrets were never revealed by David Berglas. However, Berglas never used a specially made deck, nor did he need to access secret information, so while this is a very strong ACAAN version, there is no way it can come close to how Berglas performed it.
WHAT’S NOT INCLUDED THAT YOU NEED OR NEED TO KNOW:
The cards themselves are quite thin. That’s not necessarily an issue with some effects, nor is it with this, but that means the cards are more fragile than most and can be damaged easily without proper handling. Certainly, it’s not advisable to have participants examine the cards for too long a time. More importantly, if you handle your cards roughly, the deck may not last for you. Craig has used his cards for more than a year, so they certainly have durability if they are handled properly.
As usual with Craig Petty’s products, the tutorial is long and detailed. Unlike other products, this one isn’t as well-organized as others. There’s quite a bit of time going over the credits and history before getting to the special deck’s basic workings. There is no beginning with an overview of the basics as Craig has done with previous products. I only point this out for informational purposes so that you will know to be patient while watching the tutorial.
SET-UP AND RE-SET:
The cards are marked so that you can put them back in order, if you need to. Otherwise, the dealt cards are just placed back on top of the deck.
ANGLES:
The angle issue will only be an issue if you use the cribs and, even then, it’s not much of an issue.
SUITABLE VENUES:
Close-up, Parlor, Stage, Walkaround, Internet
JHEFF’S JUDGMENT:
The ad copy certainly does injustice to the expectations of this, which has some very smart and creative thinking. It may not be quite as practical as one may expect and the ad certainly deceptively misrepresents what this is, but if you know those things about this brilliantly designed deck (see above), and this still interests you, then your expectations will not be dashed and this will be a solid worker for you.