Ask ten tarot teachers which deck a beginner should buy and nine will say Rider-Waite, or something based on it. That near-consensus is remarkable in a field that agrees on almost nothing, and it raises a fair question: is the Rider-Waite really that good, or is it just the default everyone inherited? And what exactly are you choosing between when you pick it over a Marseille, a Thoth, or one of the thousands of modern indie decks?
This comparison review answers those questions properly. We look at what the Rider-Waite-Smith deck actually is, how the three great deck traditions differ in structure and reading style, what modern decks change, and the honest trade-offs of each path. By the end you will know not just which deck to buy, but which reading tradition you are signing up for when you do.
Spoiler: there is no wrong answer, but there is a wrong order to do things in.
What "Rider-Waite" Actually Means
The deck most people call Rider-Waite was published in 1909, designed by scholar Arthur Edward Waite and illustrated by artist Pamela Colman Smith (which is why many now say Rider-Waite-Smith, or RWS, crediting her). Its revolutionary feature was simple: every one of the 78 cards, including all 40 numbered Minor Arcana, shows a full illustrated scene. Before it, most decks showed the Minors as arrangements of suit symbols, like playing cards.
That single design decision is why the RWS conquered the world. A scene can be read; a pattern of five swords must be decoded. Smith's images are deliberately theatrical, packed with readable emotion and symbol, and they became the visual vocabulary of tarot itself. When our guides explain a card, such as The Fool or The Tower, the imagery described is Smith's. Most tarot books, courses, apps, and websites silently assume you are looking at RWS-style art.
"Rider-Waite-based" or "RWS clone" decks keep Smith's scene compositions with new art styles. Functionally they read as the same system.
The Marseille Tradition: Older, Starker, More Abstract
The Tarot de Marseille is the older French-Italian pattern, standardized in the 1600s-1700s, with woodcut-style Majors and non-scenic pip cards: the Five of Swords is literally five swords in a decorative arrangement. Marseille readers interpret pips through number symbolism, suit element, and visual rhythm rather than illustrated scenes.
What this changes in practice: Marseille reading leans on structure and system. Many practitioners read primarily with the 22 Majors, or learn a numerological framework for the pips. The style tends to be direct and concrete, and its fans praise the freedom: with no scene telling you what the Five of Swords "is about," the card can flex to fit the question.
The honest trade-off: the learning curve is steeper for beginners, and the majority of English-language learning material will not match your cards. Marseille rewards people drawn to history, pattern, and a more austere aesthetic.
The Thoth Tradition: Dense, Esoteric, Powerful
The Thoth Tarot, designed by Aleister Crowley and painted by Lady Frieda Harris in the 1940s, is the third great tradition. It is visually stunning, abstract, and saturated with astrological, elemental, and Kabbalistic correspondences. Cards carry printed keywords ("Cruelty" on the Nine of Swords, "Art" replacing Temperance), and the court cards use different titles (Knight, Queen, Prince, Princess).
Thoth reading is a study path as much as a divination tool. Its depth is real: readers who put in the work report a system of exceptional precision. But it is a poor first deck for most people, because its meanings diverge from RWS in places, its symbolism assumes background reading, and its intensity can feel overwhelming when you are still learning what a suit is. A sensible route is RWS first, Thoth when the fundamentals in how to read tarot for beginners feel second nature and you want to go deeper.
Modern and Indie Decks: The Art Renaissance
The past fifteen years brought an explosion of independent decks: photographic, minimalist, botanical, inclusive, themed around everything from cats to cyberpunk. Structurally, the overwhelming majority are RWS-based, keeping Smith's scene logic under new art, which means your RWS knowledge transfers directly.
What modern decks genuinely improve: representation (bodies, ages, and cultures the 1909 deck never showed), gentler imagery for hard cards (some readers find a soft-art Death or Tower easier to sit with), and sheer aesthetic joy, which matters because you practice more with a deck you love. What to check before buying: that the deck keeps recognizable suit and number structure, that card titles are standard or clearly mapped, and that the cardstock survives real shuffling. Our roundup of the best tarot decks flags which popular modern decks stay readable and which prioritize style over function.
The one real risk with heavily stylized decks: if the art abandons scene logic entirely, you inherit Marseille's learning curve without Marseille's tradition behind you.
Head to Head: How the Traditions Compare
| Factor | Rider-Waite-Smith | Marseille | Thoth | Modern RWS-based |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illustrated Minor scenes | Yes | No | Semi-abstract | Yes |
| Beginner learning curve | Gentle | Steep | Steepest | Gentle |
| Matching books and courses | Vast majority | Limited in English | Moderate, dense | Inherits RWS material |
| Reading style | Story and intuition | Number and structure | Esoteric correspondence | Story and intuition |
| Aesthetic range | Classic, many recolors | Historical woodcut | Painterly, abstract | Unlimited |
| Best for | Learning, general reading | Systems thinkers, purists | Deep esoteric study | Personal resonance |
Note what this table implies: the choice is less about better art and more about which reading method you want to learn. Scene-reading, number-reading, and correspondence-reading are genuinely different skills.
Our Verdict: The Right Order, Not the Right Deck
For your first deck, choose RWS or a faithful RWS-based deck whose art you love. The ecosystem argument is decisive: nearly every book, app, article, and teacher speaks RWS, so every hour of study pays into the deck in your hands. Practice daily draws and simple layouts like the 3-card tarot spread until reading feels conversational.
After six months to a year, borrow or buy into a second tradition if curiosity calls. Marseille will sharpen your number and suit logic; Thoth will deepen your symbolic range. Many long-term readers keep one deck per tradition and choose by question. The traditions are lenses, not rivals, and the RWS is simply the lens with the best instruction manual.