Below is a wild card variant I came up with a couple of years ago and have been working on refining it ever since. About a year ago I stalled out and couldn’t make any headway with it. Finally, I asked a couple of guys from The Magic Cafe to take a look and provide some insight. Landmark and Turk were quite helpful with their comments and provided several critiques that make this effect much better than it was initially. So thanks, gents.

What’s wrong with the original Wild Card? Nothing.
This came about from wanting to do a more close-up version of Wild Card where all of the cards are examinable at the end.

Does examinability make the effect greater? Well, no.
In fact, I would argue that this version is not quite as visual as the original. So, as with all things magical, there is a trade-off involved. If your performing environment is such that spectators don’t have an opportunity, or the desire, to examine the cards then this version will be of no interest to you.

This is something I plan to start working to see if reactions are muted compared to the original, which I’ve performed for a long time now. Many of you will be able to tell from one or two views exactly what is going here so I won’t bother explaining it. It wasn’t created as a magician fooler. Really just more of a creative exercise. Enjoy.