Years ago, in the early days of the Internet, I went to France for the summer with only three books in English. I can't tell you how many times I re-read those books. (I also took only a handful of CDs -- I still know all those songs by heart.)
With that in mind, I want decks that are worth study, a comfort deck, and a deck I think might be my new bestie.
For study:
1) Pierre Madenie Marseille
2) Smith-Waite Centennial
3) Thoth
For comfort:
4) Barbara Moore's Steampunk
This was the first deck I connected with. It's not the best in my collection, but it's an old friend.
Potential bestie:
Here's where it gets tricky. I'm immediately drawn to the Prisma Visions and the Fountain. The Linesrider is quite nice. Maybe the Ellis?
5) Fountain Tarot. I think it's got a lot to offer, if I just took some time with it. Plus, the illustrations are beautiful, even outside the Tarot framework.
*If it's an end of the world situation, you bet your pants I'm taking my Daniloff. But if I'm coming back to my collection, I prefer not to put it through the wear and tear off this hypothetical scenario.
Now, if I'm allowed to cheat a little, I'd also bring
6) a Dondorf Lenormand
And now it's time to go listen to Jewel's debut album, and get nostalgic.