Balatro is a unique blend between poker and roguelike deckbuilder. Using various Joker cards, you will build a deck that fits a specific purpose, then play different poker hands to score points. With the right Joker cards, you can multiply your score, quickly earning points in the hundred-thousands, and even millions.
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PostsThere are 150 Jokers to find in the game, separated into common, uncommon, rare, and legendary rarities. While these rarities can give you a general idea of how strong a Joker is, some are definitely worth taking over others. Below, we'll take a look at a few of the strongest Jokers in the game, ranked by how useful they are.
Updated December 13, 2024: We've updated this list to include three more of the strongest Jokers in Balatro. Keep an eye out for those during your next run!
11 Chicot
Legendary Joker
Disables the effect of every Boss Blind.
Chicot is a Legendary Joker that has an extremely strong ability, but only under some circumstances. Due to the random nature of Boss Blinds in Balatro, sometimes you can breeze through the early Antes, encountering bosses whose abilities have no effect on your deck. Then, you may face a boss that directly counters your deck, creating a situation where it's nearly impossible to win.
With Chicot, you never have to worry about that random Boss Blind that completely counters you. In times like that, Chicot is one of the most valuable Jokers in the game. However, when the Boss Blinds don't counter your deck, Chicot just takes up a valuable Joker slot. This drastic difference in power puts Chicot in the last spot on this list.
10 Bloodstone
Uncommon Joker
1 in 3 chance for played cards with Heart suit to give x2 Mult when scored.
Bloodstone is another really strong Joker card, but it has somewhat situational applications. While crafting a deck of mainly Heart cards isn't the most difficult, especially with the Checkered Deck, you won't be able to take advantage of Bloodstone every time you see it in the shop. It really only works if the majority of your deck is Heart cards.
The Oops! All 6s Joker synergizes very well with Bloodstone, giving Bloodstone an increased chance to trigger.
Even then, Bloodstone only has a one-in-three chance to activate, so you won't always benefit from it even when playing Heart Flushes. But, when it does work, it works amazingly well. Bloodstone alone can skyrocket your score, allowing you to breeze through most of the mid and late-game Boss Blinds with ease.
9 Rocket
Uncommon Joker
Earn $1 at the end of round. Earning increases by $2 when Boss Blind is defeated.
Rocket is one of the strongest economy Jokers in the game, especially if you manage to get it early in a run. Every time you beat a Boss Blind while you have Rocket, the amount of money you get for each win will increase by $2. This means you'll be gaining progressively more money as the run progresses.
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PostsRocket is strong because it has almost no downsides, unlike a few other economy Jokers like Reserved Parking which only has a chance to trigger when face cards are held in hand, or To the Moon which scales based on your interest.
8 Yorick
Legendary Joker
x5 Mult only after using 23 discards.
Yorick is an extremely strong Joker with a slight caveat. If you are lucky enough to get this Legendary Joker early in a run, you should have no problem discarding 23 times to unlock its effect. However, if you don't see Yorick until later in a run, it might be too late to earn its bonus.
If you do manage to unlock Yorick's effects, you'll have access to one of the single highest multiplicative Mult Jokers in the game. The massive five times Mult bonus will let almost any deck sail through every Boss Blind, no matter what other cards or Jokers you may have. This alone puts Yorick in one of the higher spots on this list.
7 Hiker
Uncommon Joker
Every played card permanently gains +4 Chips when scored.
Hiker is an extremely solid Chip scaling Joker that works better the earlier you find it. As an uncommon Joker, it shouldn't be too difficult to get ahold of, and the long-lasting benefits are more than worth the Joker slot. Hiker will single-handedly take care of your Chip-increasing needs, allowing you to focus the rest of your Joker slots on Mult, multiplicative Mult, or economy cards.
Hiker works best in smaller decks like the Abandoned Deck, allowing individual cards to gain Chip bonuses more often.
One of the best parts about Hiker is that the Chip gain on each card is permanent (for that run). This means that even if you sell Hiker later on, your cards will still have their bonus Chips, letting you free up a Joker slot after you've powered up your cards.
6 Supernova
Common Joker
Adds the number of times the current hand type has been played to Mult.
Supernova is a common Joker that scales throughout your run, but doesn't necessarily have to be found early in the run to be useful like other scaling cards. Supernova plays into the strategy of repeatedly using the same type of hand, granting a stacking Mult increase as you play the same type of hand.
As such, Supernova works with almost any type of build that uses the same hand type over and over, making it an extremely powerful Joker no matter what stage of the game you're in. If you see Supernova appear in your shop, it's almost always a good idea to pick it up.
5 Smeared Joker
Uncommon Joker
Hearts and Diamonds count as the same suit. Spades and Clubs count as the same suit.
The Smeared Joker is a great utility card that makes playing Flush decks simple but very effective. Smeared Joker essentially lets you build a Flush deck using two suits of cards rather than just one: Hearts and Diamonds or Spades and Clubs. This also lets you take advantage of other Jokers that activate based on the card's suit, like the aforementioned Bloodstone.
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PostsSmeared Joker is so versatile and enables much more freedom when building your deck. There are tons of possibilities for using this Joker, and it can really bring a struggling deck together if you happen to get it.
4 Baron
Rare Joker
Each King in your hand gives x1.5 Mult.
The Baron is another situational Joker that only benefits Kings, but its effect is strong enough on its own that it's worth building a deck around, especially if you happen to get it early in a run. The Baron will grant a multiplicate Mult bonus for every King in your hand when scoring, which can exponentially increase your score with just a few Kings.
The best way to take advantage of the Baron is to add as many Kings to your deck as possible, but not necessarily play them. If you can, it's better to play other types of hands while letting the Kings stay in your hand to rack up the Mult bonuses.
3 Throwback
Uncommon Joker
x0.25 Mult for each Blind skipped this run.
Throwback is a multiplicative Mult scaling Joker that increases in strength every time you choose to skip a Blind. Skipping Blinds can be risky, as when you skip a Blind you won't be able to go to the shop until you defeat a Blind. This can make Throwback dangerous to use sometimes, but it works exceptionally well if you are able to get a strong early-game lead with a few good Jokers.
Throwback works well after progressing to Red Stake difficulty, where there's less incentive to fight Small Blinds due to them not earning you as much money. With Throwback, you can turn these annoying roadblocks into a chance to grow stronger.
2 DNA
Rare Joker
If the first hand of round only has 1 card, add a permanent copy to your deck and draw it to your hand.
DNA is another scaling-based Joker that works in almost every deck in the game. Every Blind, if you only play one card on your first turn, DNA will create a copy of that card, then add it to your hand for the next turn. This lets you create copies of your deck during every new Blind, which is incredible for tailoring your deck to a certain strategy.
To get the most out of DNA, you'll want to avoid skipping Blinds so that you have as many opportunities as possible to duplicate your cards. Because of this, DNA has negative synergy with Jokers like the aforementioned Throwback.
This Joker pairs well with most other Jokers, and especially with playstyles that center around one suit or type of card. DNA is better the earlier you get it, but it can work in most stages of the game, even if you only get it to trigger a few times.
