I just finished the Deed and unlocked all the achievements but I haven't unlocked any of the cards. Any tips on how to get the cards without actually having rack up excessive amounts of time on the actual play time of the game?

I generally just leave the game open while I'm not at the computer if I want to get the cards without actively playing. AFAIK there's no way to get them any faster than just waiting it out. They purposely increased the time needed before earning cards to prevent people from claiming cards and refunding a game to abuse the system.

I still endorse IdleMaster, but there will come a time it will stop working because the developer has officially stopped working on it due to all the new restrictions with Trading Cards now. (Boy I wish there was a way to turn off having to verify every card sale on my phone).

And yeah, before you use IdleMaster, you need to be absolutely sure you aren't going to refund the game, because now no cards drop for the first 2 hours of gameplay to avoid "Get the cards, sell the cards and ask for a refund" scenarios.