Rider Waite Tarot Deck - StandardIN 1909, ARTIST PAMELA COLMAN SMITH, under the direction of Arthur Edward Waite, created an innovative 78 card tarot deck that would come to be recognized as revolutionary. With descriptive pictures on the 56 minor Arcana cards, the Rider Waite deck digressed from the tradition of tarot decks used for centuries and set the standard for nearly every tarot deck published.