The deck's ideas and ideology. Generally, this rating will take into account the textual content of some accompanying book (preferably written by the deck's designer), but that's not always the case. The symbol is the triple-cross/Ankh of Ptah, which Court de Gébelin interpreted as the original papal, or Hierophant's cross, in his Egyptian-Tarotic dogma.

The deck's value as a fortune-telling tool. Obviously, any deck might be used to tell fortunes, so this is a rating of how well (or if) the deck is designed specifically for divination. The symbol is the astrological sign of Mercury.

The deck's aesthetic value, how well the deck's artwork is designed and particularly executed both as an expression of Tarot symbolic traditions, as well as an expression of the designer's individual vision. The symbol is the wild rose.

The overall buyer recommendation—buy or not. This recommendation may or may not have anything directly to do with the sum of the other ratings. For example, a deck that rates low on everything but aesthetic value, but which has historical importance, such as Visconti-Sforza, may rate a high buyer recommendation. The symbol is the inverted 666 pentagram, symbol of Capitalism (and other stuff).