The Incidental Tarot was quite charming and different to many recently published decks (it has both re-named/reconceptualized Majors and numbered Minors that manage to be non-scenic yet RWS-y at the same time). I suppose if hard-pressed, I'd pick that one as well as any other new one this year.
To be honest, for my tastes, I did not feel that there was a big mover and shaker, content-wise, this year as there was last year with Tarot of the Holy Light. However, I recognize that for many people this year, the Mary-El fits that role...its aesthetic and ethos are simply not for me, so I didn't buy it.
I very seriously considered the Daniloff but did not buy it because I felt it was too RWS-heavy for me to be able to justify the expense. If I were to make a decision based on artwork alone, I would choose this deck.
I also know that many people felt a powerful connection with the Wild Unknown. I was one of the first to grab it and I find it a worthy addition (and an excellently printed one) to the tarot canon, but I never expected it to be a knock-my-socks off deck for me, and it wasn't.
I've been sitting on this for a few months because I still need to examine the deck carefully, but I in fact came into possession of the Gilded Royale later than most this year, having dipped my toe back into the fraught digital art pool I'd rejected years ago when I'd divested myself of the original Gilded (the toe-dipping involved a carefully-considered purchase of a mass-market Legacy of the Divine). A number of factors played into my equally careful decision to acquire the Royale despite my doggedly negative impression of the original--too many to name here. But as I've not yet had a chance to closely investigate, I will withhold judgment on it for the time being. I will say only that it is a much better deck than the original Gilded.
So, for now, I will say the Incidental Tarot despite my not being over-the moon bowled over by it because (a) decks--even my most cherished ones--- simply never bowl me over to that extent; I think I was born without the love-at-first-sight gene; and (b) it was doing something a bit different and I feel the (self-published) artist deserves recognition for that.
