5 decks to start a collection with?

I wouldn´t recommend buying 5 decks at once as well. Not only because it might be confusing for someone just starting out, but also because then there´s not only the pressure to find "the one" Tarot (which honestly you usually don´t find right away anyway) but the five "right ones" (a money issue as well: I mean your friend is investing some money purchasing five decks at once).
I started out with a deck I liked visually (but couldn´t connect with properly as I found out on my way working with it). But because I had this deck, I came clear about what I was looking for in a tarot deck. So the next deck I bought (years later) I loved dearly. And the one after that was a "love at first sight" purchase and so on. So even though nowadays I´m very rarely using my first deck, it´s definitely been a great steppingstone for me.
I think your friend should just start out with one deck, he or she finds appealing, no matter what tradition (RWS, Thoth,...), and work his or her way from there.

Buying any deck sight-unseen (except for a few scans) is a crap-shoot, whether you buy one at a time or five at a time. If your friend has the money and the time to explore them, why not? It creates an opportunity for comparison between systems, and "the One" (well, at least the first "One") should rise to the top in short order. I see no reason to drag out the deliberation over years if your friend has the means and the interest. The objective seems to be to start a collection, not to settle in with a long-term reading deck.

Hi!
I would suggest Sun and Moon Tarot (for a simple Thoth based deck), Lo Scarabeo tarot (beautifully combines the systems), Deviant Moon by Patrick Valenza, Anna. K tarot NY Anna Klaffinger (simple art work but very expressive faces and deeply insightful) and my whimsical no-nonsense deck... Tarot of Sweet Twilight. This should hold your friend in good stead for now

Libra 58 said:

A friend asked me what 5 decks to start a Tarot collection with?

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For a collection, I recommend the following:

1. Visconti-Sforza
2. Tarot de Marseilles
3. Etteilla
4. RWS
5. Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot

1. Smith Waite Centennial Tarot (or PCS Commemorative Set by U.S. Games. Inc) / Lo Scarabeo 's Centennial RWS

2. Thoth Tarot

3. Marseilles

4. Anna K. Tarot (The book that comes with the Llewelyn's version kit is awesome!)

5. Golden Tarot of Klimt

1. Any Marseilles pattern, to show what the occult traditions was based on.

2. Any Golden Dawn tarot, to show the start of the English occult tradition (as opposed to the French).

3. Any Waite-Smith (I like the Universal Waite, as the colouring is more what PCS would have wanted if the technology had been available).

4. Dame Fortune's Wheel, as one of the few packs with illustrated minors that's based on the French occult tradition.

5. Either
- Visconti tarot (La Scarabeo), to show where it all started
or
- Vanessa tarot, as an example of a creative re-imagining which still expresses the established interpretations.