Black Requiem Playing Cards (Counterspell Edition)

Black Requiem (Counterspell) is a special edition reinterpretation of Stockholm17’s first Kickstarter-funded deck from 2014. The original red-faced Requiem edition (printed by USPCC) sold out and will not be reprinted, making Counterspell a distinct evolution rather than a reissue.

Where the original Requiem told the story of lost love, Black Requiem casts a symbolic counterspell.

At the heart of this edition is the concept of Magick sigils (intentionally spelled with a “ck”) — visual symbols created to focus intention. These are not rooted in occult theatrics, but in personal symbolism and willpower. In Counterspell, sigils are overprinted onto the cards that originally carried emotional weight: the Aces and the Court cards. Each sigil represents the inversion or healing of the original theme.

For example, the original Ace of Spades depicted solitude (solitudo). The counterspell sigil is derived from comitas (company), the conceptual opposite. The result is a deck that visually transforms its own narrative.

All Court cards and Aces feature cold foil magick sigils at their centre — gold for Hearts and Diamonds, silver for Clubs and Spades. The number cards feature “healed” pips, refined from the first Requiem edition. The back design includes gold foil detailing, maintaining the deck’s dark, restrained elegance.

Printed by Cartamundi in Belgium on B9 Slimline stock, the 56 poker-sized cards offer a crisp yet flexible feel in hand. The tuck box, produced by Boschiero & Newton in Italy, is crafted from the deepest black paper stock available and finished with white foil, black foil, embossing, and a deep red inner print. A colour Joker illustration appears on the front, and each deck includes the XVII seal in red and black.

Additional inclusions:

• Gaff card: 17th of Diamonds
• 56th card explaining the Magick sigils