Mass Market on left, indie on right. Indie acquired 2021, mass market 2022

*Obligatory Nudity Warning

Overall: 10/10 In my humble opinion, the Fyodor Pavlov is THE BEST strictly RWS deck in my collection. I do not like using the traditional RWS and Fyodor Pavlov Tarot is the deck I reach for instead, which means it gets a lot of mileage on it and I do actually use both of these decks regularly. The mass market is a deck I use to draw cards at the beginning of the year for a month by month set-aside readings, and the indie stays on the shelf ready to be called into action. Of course, what makes the Pavlov so wonderful (its inclusivity and candid artwork) is what would most likely to turn some people off of the deck; but, realistically these people are not reading my posts anyways. However, it should be noted that this is not a deck that I necessarily will bring to a group of strangers for doing readings. Friends, all the time. All of my Tarot friends have this deck now. But reading for strangers, not so much any more. I hope that one day that might change and this can be in my bag wherever I go.

It was NO easy task to obtain a copy of the indie deck after it became available post-Kickstarter fulfillment. I am so grateful that they came out with a mass market because it is just too good to be a hard-to-acquire deck. I had to get a US Games copy just because I love this deck so stinking much. The mass market does not disappoint at all, and honestly unless you are just a hardcore collector there’s no need to get the indie version.

Of all my decks the indie Fyodor Pavlov Tarot is by far the most quick to respond to a question (it starts leaping out as the question is still forming–I read primarily with jumpers so this initially was quite frustrating) and the quickest to call you on your shit. I didn’t like the amount of cards that came out (twice) during a reading, and each time I reshuffle to do a redraw, the deck spat out the Seven of Swords. So now I take whatever it sends out my way and try to humor the idea of gratitude. The mass market has a gold gilding on the edges that keeps the cards a bit more under control but I don’t find it any less sharp of a reader nor any less poignant. Perhaps it feels a little less quick to judge though!

Please note about a third of the mass market deck (with the gold edges) is not present in this picture, it’s currently in use. The decks are about the same thickness.

Card Quality: 4/5

Mass market on the top row. Indie on the bottom.

Independent Version: Okay, so, real tea; the printing on the cards is NOT stellar–there are visible lines where the original printing wavered in ink along the background and for whatever reason they reproduced these lines. And…the cards KINDA smell bad at first; I’m guessing this was lingering ink smell and has since dissipated since opening, thank goodness. That being said, the material the cards are made of is out. of. this. world. I have many decks with a matte linen finish but this deck feels like NOTHING I own; the cards are slippery, and ultra-bendy and happy to jump all day long and yet they’re matte and smooth and pleasing to the eye and the colors are SUPER saturated, and delightfully vintage, so I’m considering the line bungle a quirky feature and not a bug. Also, I KINDA want red edges. I may have to edge them in a dark red myself. The indie version is slightly taller and narrower than the US Games.

The lines. How they bug me. MM on the left, indie on the right–you can see the indie has a slightly cooler hue.

Mass Market: It bugs me that the printing errors in the lines of the cards were NOT fixed when US Games released this deck! They still retained the linen finish but it isn’t nearly as slippery. The colors are a bit lighter so the line problem isn’t as visible. The edges are gilded with a pleasant gold and it isn’t irritating in hand at all to me.

Readability: 5/5 As easy as any RWS out there. A person with zero Tarot experience can pick up this deck and use it as a learning deck. Since the images are modernized I’d argue that it speaks more clearly to my personal sensibilities and is easier to read with than a copy of the OG RWS. I know, cut out her heart! The book written by Pavlov is SUPER interesting and down to earth and sassy as hell too. You really can’t go wrong with this deck.

Usually one of my least favorite cards, I do love me an anatomically correct heart!

Art: 5/5 I first was attracted to the tattoo-inspired artwork. Its gorgeous. I love the look of classic tattoo art, and I loved the idea of them as a Tarot deck, but I hadn’t found a deck until this one that particularly spoke to me despite there being a bit of saturation of this type of deck on the market. Then I quickly became fascinated with the different sexual identities of the various card images and how some of the gender and age and ethnicity roles flipped in the deck (hello Feminine Looking KNIGHTS I’M HERE FOR IT!) and then I was really taken by the sparse, brilliant use of colors (I’m still getting used to the wands as green, but the red swords make sense to me) and then–then I had to hunt down this deck. There is something really wonderfully freeing with all the various kinds of people being portrayed and its rather liberating for me, a heterosexual reader who ought to think more fluidly about her own inner feminine and masculine traits.

Favorite Card: I mean, The Knight of Swords, because of course, but there’s a BUNCH in this deck.  All the knights are stellar. The Lovers is truly excellent. I really like the hot take on the Hermit. The booby-licious cannibalistic Empress is amazing. The Six of Cups is so darling and precious, the Ten of Pentacles is lovely.

Least Favorite Card: I don’t dislike ANY cards, but my least favorite is The Five of Swords, just because I’m not a huge fan of the traditional RWS card, but there isn’t anything WRONG with it.

Card I Identify As: The Knight of Wands

The deck Identifies me as: It likes to call me the Knight of Wands and the Empress (accurate).

Boxes it Checks: Diverse, RWS, LGTBQ+, Tattoo, minimalist, minimal colors

Similar Decks: The Starspinner Tarot, The Modern Love Tarot, the Bonfire Tarot, The Tattoo Tarot, The Eight Coins Tattoo Tarot, Next World Tarot, The Lost Hollow Tarot, The Numinous Tarot

Seasons: An all-seasoner!