Mystery is, of course, the biggest name in pickup, and with good reason. It was Mystery who first broke down the systematic approach to game, teaching the fundamentals in “The Venusian Arts Handbook,” an ebook which would later be repackaged and edited into “The Mystery Method,” one of the first books on pickup to come from a major publisher. Later, Mystery would gain more fame after being a central character in Style’s memoir, “The Game,” and with the VH-1 show, “The Pickup Artist.”

After some troubled business dealings with some former partners, Mystery abandoned the “Mystery Method” name for his business, and began a new business called Venusian Arts. Working with Lovedrop and Matador, Mystery set about re-thinking what a student needs to develop a mastery of pickup, and the results, well, they speak for themselves.

The core of Mystery’s new company is the ebook “Revelation.” This is, to be blunt, the hands-down best comprehensive book on pickup that you will find. It covers the theory and practice of pickup with depth and sophistication. Primarily written by Lovedrop – who is an excellent writer and instructor – this ebook contains tons of fantastic material, with lots of contributions by Mystery and Matador.

This book is deep and sophisticated, and requires a fair bit of willingness to work with it. It is a good choice for raw beginners as it is extremely challenging and really forces you to work outside your comfort zone. If you have some exposure to pick up, and enjoy learning from books (as opposed to video and audio tracks) well, it’s hard to do better than this ebook. It’s extremely comprehensive, and an excellent mix of theoretical and practical advice.

There’s also a companion video and audio set. The audio, which was previously released with a different video package, is excellent. Again, it’s mostly taught by Lovedrop, who is an intuitive and compelling teacher who speaks passionately about his subject, without sacrificing clarity and precision, while the video highlights both Mystery and Matador. This is, again, absolutely top-notch material with a good balance of practical and theoretical. (If I was going to take an intensive session with any master pickup artist, my short list of who to take it with would be topped by Lovedrop and Style).

Venusian Arts also offers the standard bootcamps. If you’ve read The Game, you have a sense of how transformative these experiences can be. Nearly all of the people who founded the major pickup schools (Love Systems, Real Social Dynamics, Styelife, etc) got their start taking a bootcamp along the lines of those offered by Venusian Arts. Success stories abound.

Particularly if you were first exposed to the seduction community through “The Game,” or “The Pick-Up Artist” reality show, it makes a lot of sense to take a Venusian Arts class. This is as close as you’re going to get to taking those original lessons with Mystery himself. (Pricing information is somewhat hidden on the website, but bootcamps do seem to run in the vicinity of the industry-standard $3000).

Based on feedback from their students and apprentices, Mystery and his new business partners have come back to the fundamentals, producing some of the best material available on pickup. Some of it is pricey, but if you’re willing to work and want a solid mix of theoretical and practical information, it’s hard to go wrong with Venusian Arts.

Plus, you are learning from the original master pickup artist. What’s not to like?