You have decided to learn tarot. You open a browser to buy a deck and discover there are approximately four thousand options. Classic decks, modern decks, dark decks, pastel decks, cat-themed decks, decks inspired by specific mythologies, decks that cost twelve dollars, decks that cost ninety. Within ten minutes, you close the tab and decide to think about it later.
This is not indecisiveness. This is a well-documented psychological phenomenon, and it is the first thing you need to understand before choosing a tarot deck.
In short: Choose a first tarot deck with fully illustrated pip cards and art you actually want to look at. The Rider-Waite-Smith is the most practical starter deck because nearly all learning resources reference its imagery. Modern alternatives like Modern Witch Tarot or Light Seer's Tarot work well if you prefer updated art. The "must be gifted" rule is a myth. Buy your own deck and start reading.
The paradox of choice (and why it matters here)
Barry Schwartz, in The Paradox of Choice (2004), demonstrated that increasing the number of options does not increase satisfaction — it decreases it. In his research, people who faced fewer choices were more satisfied with their selections than people who had dozens of options. More options create more doubt, more comparison, more regret, and more paralysis.
The tarot deck market is a textbook case. There are thousands of decks available, and the internet helpfully shows you all of them simultaneously. Every "best tarot decks" list names fifteen options with glowing reviews. Every tarot forum has someone insisting that the deck they love is the only one worth buying. The result is that a decision that should take ten minutes — pick a deck, buy it, start learning — turns into weeks of research, second-guessing, and delayed starting.
Here is the antidote: there is no perfect first deck. There is only a good enough first deck that you actually use. The deck you buy and practice with daily for three months will teach you more than the "perfect" deck you spend three months researching. So the goal of this guide is not to identify the One True Deck. It is to narrow your options to a manageable few and help you pick one confidently so you can start doing the actual work.
Why Rider-Waite-Smith is the standard starting point
The Rider-Waite-Smith deck (often called RWS) was published in 1909 by Arthur Edward Waite with illustrations by Pamela Colman Smith. It is over a century old, and it remains the most commonly recommended first deck for a specific, practical reason that has nothing to do with tradition for tradition's sake.
The reason: nearly every tarot guidebook, course, website, and reference written in English uses RWS imagery as its baseline. When someone describes "the figure walking away from eight cups" or "the woman holding the lion's jaw," they are describing Pamela Colman Smith's illustrations. When you learn card meanings from any standard resource, the descriptions will match what you see on the RWS cards.
This is not about RWS being "better" than modern decks. It is about learning efficiency. If your deck's imagery matches the teaching materials you are using, learning is faster and less confusing. If you start with a highly abstract or reimagined deck, you will spend significant mental energy translating between what you see on your cards and what the guidebook describes — an unnecessary layer of difficulty when you are already learning seventy-eight new concepts.
Pamela Colman Smith was also a remarkably skilled visual storyteller — her illustrations are dense with symbolic detail that rewards repeated viewing. That said, the original 1909 color palette can feel dated. If this bothers you, modern versions like the Radiant Rider-Waite and Universal Waite use Smith's original line work with updated coloring.
Other strong starter decks
If RWS does not appeal to you aesthetically and you know you will not enjoy using it — which matters, because a deck you dislike will sit in a drawer — here are alternatives that maintain enough connection to standard tarot structure to make learning straightforward.
Modern Witch Tarot by Lisa Sterle. Reimagines RWS imagery with diverse, contemporary figures. Compositions closely follow Smith's originals, so learning resources still apply directly. The most popular alternative for readers who want classic structure with modern representation.
Light Seer's Tarot by Chris-Anne. Watercolor-style art with a gentle, dreamy quality. Departs more from RWS than Modern Witch, but richly illustrated with intuitive symbolism and a detailed guidebook.
The Wild Unknown by Kim Krans. Animals and nature imagery instead of human figures. Gorgeous, with a massive following. Departs significantly from RWS, meaning standard resources will not match your cards as closely — best if you are comfortable with a steeper learning curve.
Everyday Tarot by Brigit Esselmont (Biddy Tarot). Miniature-sized with simplified RWS-inspired imagery. Designed specifically for beginners.
What to look for in a deck
Beyond specific recommendations, here are the factors that actually matter when choosing.
Fully illustrated pip cards vs. numbered pips
This is the single most important technical distinction and the one most beginners overlook.
In the Minor Arcana, the numbered cards (Ace through Ten) are called "pip cards." In the RWS tradition, every pip card has a unique scene with figures and a narrative. The Three of Swords shows a heart pierced by three swords in a rainstorm. The Seven of Cups shows a figure gazing at seven cups filled with different visions. These scenes give you something to react to — they tell a story.
In some decks, particularly those based on the older Tarot de Marseille tradition, pip cards are not illustrated. The Three of Swords is simply three swords arranged decoratively. The Seven of Cups is seven cups in a pattern. There is no scene, no narrative, no figures.
For beginners, fully illustrated pip cards are significantly easier to learn with. The illustrations give your intuition material to work with. A card showing a figure collapsing under the weight of ten wands tells you something even before you read the meaning. A card showing ten sticks arranged in a pattern does not.
Check this before you buy. Look at the Minor Arcana cards (especially the numbered cards, not just the court cards and Aces). If they show scenes with figures, you are fine. If they show only arrangements of suit symbols, consider a different deck for starting out.
Art style that you actually want to look at
You are going to spend a lot of time staring at these cards. If the art style does not appeal to you, you will avoid using the deck, and an unused deck teaches nothing.
This is more personal than it sounds. Some people respond to detailed, realistic art. Others prefer minimalist or abstract styles. Some want warm colors; others want dark, moody palettes. Some want diverse human figures; others prefer animals or nature scenes.
There is no wrong answer here. The "best" art style is the one that makes you want to pick up the deck and look at the cards. Trust that preference. It is not superficial — it is the foundation of your engagement with the tool.
Card size and handling
Standard tarot cards are larger than playing cards — typically around 70mm x 120mm. If you have smaller hands, shuffling oversized cards can be genuinely frustrating, and frustration during shuffling disrupts the focused state that makes readings useful. Check dimensions before buying. A deck you cannot comfortably shuffle is a deck you will stop using.
Guidebook quality
Most decks come with a small booklet — called a Little White Book (LWB) — that provides brief card meanings. The quality ranges from genuinely helpful to practically useless. Some LWBs offer a single keyword per card. Others provide paragraphs of interpretation.
For your first deck, a detailed guidebook matters more than it will later, because you do not yet have internalized meanings to fall back on. Check reviews to see whether the included guidebook is substantial. Alternatively, plan to use an external resource — a book like Rachel Pollack's Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom, which is widely considered the best single book on tarot card meanings, or a comprehensive online reference like our card meaning guides.
The gifting myth
You may have heard that you must receive your first tarot deck as a gift — that buying your own deck is bad luck or somehow invalidates the practice. This is a myth with no historical basis in any tarot tradition.
The origin of this belief is unclear, but it likely functioned as a form of gatekeeping: if you cannot start until someone gives you permission (in the form of a gifted deck), access to tarot is controlled by existing practitioners. There is no practical, symbolic, or historical reason why a deck you choose and purchase for yourself would be less effective than one handed to you by someone else.
In fact, the act of choosing your own deck — looking at different options, noticing what art speaks to you, making a deliberate decision about a tool you will use for self-reflection — is itself a meaningful beginning. You are making your first tarot-related choice. That choice is data about who you are and what you need.
Buy your own deck. You have permission. You always did.
Digital vs. physical cards
Tarot apps and digital decks exist, and they work. The core of tarot — focused attention on a symbolic image in response to a personal question — functions regardless of whether the image is on cardstock or a screen.
That said, physical cards offer something digital versions do not: tactile engagement. The act of shuffling, the weight of the deck in your hands, the ritual of laying cards on a surface — these actions create a transition between ordinary thinking and focused reflection. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's research on flow states (1990) emphasizes that physical engagement with a task increases the likelihood of deep absorption. Shuffling cards, feeling their texture, arranging them in a spread — these are exactly the kind of actions that facilitate the attentive state tarot requires.
Start with a physical deck if you can. Use a digital version as a supplement — for quick daily draws when you do not have your cards, or for exploring deck art before purchasing. For learning, physical cards have a meaningful advantage.
Budget and where to buy
Most quality tarot decks cost between fifteen and thirty-five dollars. The standard Rider-Waite-Smith runs about ten to fifteen dollars — not luxurious, but functional, and function is what matters when you are starting. The modern alternatives mentioned above (Modern Witch, Light Seer's, Everyday Tarot) typically fall in the fifteen to thirty-five dollar range with better card stock and more substantial guidebooks.
The honest advice: buy a deck in the ten to thirty dollar range, use it intensively for three to six months, and then buy a second deck once you know what you want. Your first deck is a learning tool. Your second deck is a relationship.
Buy online (Amazon, bookshops) for the widest selection, or visit a local bookstore or metaphysical shop if you want to feel the cards and check the size in your hands before purchasing. Used decks are perfectly fine — there is no tradition that says pre-owned cards carry the previous owner's energy. If the cards are in good condition, a used deck at half price is a smart buy.
Making the decision
Here is a simple framework. Answer these three questions:
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Do you want to learn efficiently, or do you prioritize aesthetic connection? If efficiency, get RWS or a close variant (Modern Witch, Radiant Rider-Waite). If aesthetics, choose the deck whose art you find most compelling, understanding that learning may take slightly longer.
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What is your budget? If under $15, get the standard RWS — it is cheap, effective, and universally referenced. If $15-35, explore the modern alternatives. If higher, choose what you love.
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Have you been researching for more than a week? If yes, you are in analysis paralysis. Pick the deck you keep coming back to and buy it today. The perfect deck does not exist. The deck you practice with does.
For guidance on what to do once your deck arrives, see our complete guide to reading tarot cards. And if you want to understand the structure of the deck you have just purchased — what the four suits mean and how The Magician signals the beginning of your conscious practice — the learning starts as soon as you open the box.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Rider-Waite-Smith really the best deck for beginners?
It is the most practical first deck, not necessarily the "best" in every sense. Its advantage is that the overwhelming majority of learning resources reference its imagery, which means your study materials and your cards will match. If you find the art unappealing, choose a modern deck that follows the same compositional structure (Modern Witch Tarot is the closest alternative). The key is choosing a deck with fully illustrated pip cards, not one where the numbered Minor Arcana cards show only arrangements of suit symbols.
Can I use oracle cards instead of tarot cards?
Oracle cards and tarot cards are different systems. Oracle decks have no standardized structure — any number of cards, any theme, each deck makes its own rules. Tarot has a fixed seventy-eight card structure with symbolic meanings developed over centuries. If you want to learn tarot, buy a tarot deck.
How many tarot decks do I need?
One. Experienced readers collect multiple decks, but for learning, one deck is optimal. Using a single deck consistently builds familiarity that accelerates learning. Resist the urge to buy a second deck until you have read regularly with your first for at least two to three months.
Does it matter if some cards are "missing" from a used deck?
Yes. A complete tarot deck has exactly seventy-eight cards. If any are missing, the deck is not functional for accurate readings because the probability structure is altered — some energies are literally absent from the possible draws. Always verify a used deck is complete before purchasing. Count the cards: 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana (14 cards in each of the four suits).
