Touch's thoughts:

First of all: damn! This battle is insane, and it’s breaking our heart to let go of any of those two contestant. It’s also the closest battle and the hardest to judge for us. Both videos were super fun and entertaining to watch.

Lars’ moves are a great example of weird/interesting memorable concepts but well designed and structured. Almost every move was well executed and felt “complete”. We do think that there maybe wasn’t enough content for this round though and we were expecting a bit more, especially after that crazy round 1 video.

Lukas’ video was amazing: the vibe, the narrative, and the overall production was the best out of all CCC. We loved the creative stunts, and how he executes them like it’s nothing. There was a lot of high impact moves, and the uncut sequence was just crazy.

We didn’t really like the moves using the box though, it was kind of interesting, but didn’t really look good in our opinion. We loved that you used Lars’ round 1 cardestroy concept, it really makes this kind of battle interesting, but we feel like you could have done a lot more with it.

Touch's vote: Lars Mayrand



Jaspas' thoughts:

Lars‘ video features a concept that I found extremely mind boggling. In a few shots of moves he decided to show the shape of the end of the move he currently is performing using cards placed on the ground/window in the background. This foreshadowing of the ending of the move at beginning/middle of the move allows the viewer to actively participate in the viewing of the video by trying to figure out how Lars gets to the shape at the end of the move before he actually gets to it. Very thought provoking!

Lukas' story-driven take on Round 2's entry video is very refreshing to watch. The emphasis on not taking Cardistry too seriously, the whimsical approach to the narrative of the video and the off beat types of moves that appear in the video kept me on the edge of my seat and filled me with a positive energy that only a cardist with passion, creativity and youthful energy could. The production value of the inside-of-a-washing-machine scene was also above and beyond what was expected of majority of competitors. Pretty good!

Jaspas' vote: Lukas Rebele



Patrick's thoughts:

I’m not sure where to start with these two. If I could vote for a tie here I would! This round saw an insane display of theatrics and competition between these two. Lukas’ video surprised me with possibly the best narrative I’ve seen in any cardistry video, competitive or not. Actual characters, crazy setting, real storyboarding. I think this video will be remembered forever! Lukas hit Lars with an entire electric deck section, aiming right at the cardestroy core of Lars’ previous video. Then Lars hit Lukas back by finding an actual battleship to film his own set of moves on, just to let Lukas know his Round 1 submarine in space isn’t enough! Very fitting ideas from both, I give them equal credit there. If it came down to presentation alone I think this would be an easy victory for Lukas, his story-driven video is so easy to watch over and over. Lars’ presentation was also really engaging and original but lacked the high level storytelling that Lukas’ video had. Be that as it may, I still can’t look away from the fact that I resonated more with the actual moves I saw from Lars. The two card/fan sequence, that simple grid of checkerboards on the floor sliding into position, each of the packet cuts, all performed and designed perfectly. While I enjoyed the uncut routine and the box move immediately after it from Lukas, overall I didn’t feel like the cardistry I saw in his video was better than Lars’. I think Lars moves innovate on several different styles within cardistry, the variety and depth really stood out for me. If I had felt the material in this matchup was more evenly matched then I would give Lukas the edge for his perfectly presented video. But since that was not the case, I’m gonna go with Lars’ this round for the moves I saw from him. Really insane set of videos from these two!

Patrick's vote: Lars Mayrand