Deck Must-Haves

I don't think anyone has mentioned this yet. The smell. If a deck smells bad, I can't use it, no matter how great it is. It's the finish on the cards that smells, sometimes the ink too, so it's something you have to work out with the printer. Some decks can be aired out but I have had a couple that just had a perpetual chemical stink. It's especially sad since they are gorgeous otherwise.

Oh, this is a very good thread. Lots of great feedback and diversity of opinion here.

For me, I prefer a deck that isn't too cartoonish or overly thematic. I can enjoy a deck that has a very specific theme, but don't like it if to tries to hard to fit every card into that theme. It should have an easy flow to it.

Borders or borderless doesn't matter to me, I just don't want to squint at the cards. I enjoy any kind of art, whether hand-drawn or -painted, photo-collage, or Photoshop, as long as it's done well. It doesn't have to be very slick and professionally illustrated, but on the flip side, very simplistic or child-like crayon-y type drawings generally don't appeal to me either.

I read intuitively, so I like non-traditional decks that take chances and do not adhere too closely to RWS. Symbolism is great, but not if it's very esoteric. Make it obvious what the message is but be clever. The less words on the face of a card, the better. Backs don't matter to me, as I don't deal with reverses.

The Tarot of the Animal Lords had a HORRIBLE chemical smell to it, it took a while for that to go away on the cards.

You're right about it being off-putting.