Blueprint, Brainstorm, Triboulet, Perkeo, and Hologram are the Balatro Jokers to build around first. Baron, Campfire, Canio, DNA, and Baseball Card come right after them, but each one needs a specific setup before it pays off. Balatro is a card game built on poker hands, and every hand you play scores Chips multiplied by Mult. Jokers are special cards that change that score, and they stay with you for the whole run.
| Tier | Joker | Rarity | Cost | What it depends on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | Blueprint | Rare | $10 | The Joker to its right |
| S | Brainstorm | Rare | $10 | Your leftmost Joker |
| S | Triboulet | Legendary | Not sold in shop | Played Kings and Queens |
| S | Perkeo | Legendary | Not sold in shop | Consumables you hold at the end of a shop |
| S | Hologram | Uncommon | $7 | Playing cards added to your deck |
| A | Baron | Rare | $8 | Kings held in hand |
| A | Campfire | Rare | $9 | Cards sold |
| A | Canio | Legendary | Not sold in shop | Face cards destroyed |
| A | DNA | Rare | $8 | A one-card opening hand |
| A | Baseball Card | Rare | $8 | Uncommon Jokers you own |
These tiers group the ten Jokers by how reliably they perform near the top. Placement reflects how much each one grows, how often it triggers, and how much it needs from the rest of your build. It isn't based on win-rate data, so treat the order inside each tier as a rough guide.
Balatro has 150 Jokers in total, and these ten are the ones worth building a run around. Their effects match version 1.0.1o of the game.
How Mult Works in Balatro and Why Scaling Matters
Mult is Balatro's score multiplier, the number your Chips get multiplied by. +Mult adds a flat amount to it, so +4 Mult turns 10 into 14. X Mult multiplies the Mult you already have, so X2 turns 10 into 20.
That difference matters more as a run goes on. Each run moves through stages called antes, and each ante has blinds, which are the score targets you have to hit. The targets climb fast: the Ante 8 Boss Blind on White Stake needs 100,000 points.
A flat +4 Mult adds the same amount in the last ante as it did in the first, so the rising targets outpace it. An X Mult Joker multiplies whatever your score has become, so its value climbs alongside those targets. The same lens explains every pick that follows, and each Joker is judged on three questions, asked in order:
- How hard does it scale? Jokers that multiply, or that keep growing over a run, beat flat bonuses.
- How often does it fire? A Joker that triggers on most hands is worth more than one that waits for a rare hand, suit, or event.
- How much does it need? A Joker that works on its own is more reliable than one that depends on a specific partner or deck.
Blueprint and Brainstorm Copy Your Strongest Joker
Blueprint and Brainstorm both cost $10, and both copy the ability of another Joker. That makes them flexible, since they can take on whichever effect is strongest in your lineup. Blueprint copies the Joker to its right, so where you place it decides its target. Brainstorm copies your leftmost Joker, so that slot is the one that matters.
Copy effects rank high because they work in almost any deck. They take on whatever you're already building around, so they don't need a setup of their own.
The limit is that a copy is only as good as what it copies. If your lineup is weak, Blueprint and Brainstorm just copy weak effects. Blueprint gives you more control, since you choose its target through placement. Brainstorm always follows the leftmost Joker, so it's less flexible.
Triboulet and Perkeo Need Kings, Queens, and Consumables
Neither of these is sold in the shop, so you'll get them only when they show up. Each one rewards a different kind of run.
Triboulet gives X2 Mult for each played King and Queen when it scores. A hand that scores one King and one Queen gets two X2 boosts, which stack to X4. It only pays off when Kings and Queens are played and score, so a deck that rarely plays them gets little from it.
Perkeo works differently. At the end of each shop, it creates a Negative copy of one random consumable you're holding. Consumables are cards you use from your inventory, such as Planet and Spectral cards, and the copy doesn't take up one of your consumable slots.
Those free copies add up over a run. Planet cards level up a poker hand, and many strong runs pick one hand and build around it, which is where Perkeo's copies pay off most. The limit is that the copy is random, and Perkeo needs consumables in your possession when a shop ends. Without a steady supply, it has nothing to copy.
Hologram Grows With Every Card Added to Your Deck
Hologram is the cheapest of the five S-tier picks. It starts at X1 Mult and gains X0.25 each time a playing card is added to your deck, so four added cards bring it to X2.
Standard Packs are one way to add cards, and DNA adds them too, which keeps Hologram growing. Its growth has no cap, so a run that keeps taking in cards can push it very high late in the game.
The limit is that Hologram doesn't grow on its own. A deck that stops adding cards leaves it stuck at whatever multiplier it has reached, so it suits builds that keep adding to the deck.
Baron, Campfire, and Canio Depend on a Specific Plan
These three are strong, but each one pays off only when your run is set up around its trigger.
Baron gives X1.5 Mult for each King you hold in hand. Two held Kings give X2.25, and eight give about X25.6, which is why it can be huge in the right build. It only counts Kings you're holding, not Kings you play, so it needs a build that keeps Kings in hand.
Campfire gains X0.25 Mult for every card you sell, and it resets when a Boss Blind is defeated. Each sale adds the same amount no matter what the card is worth, so selling cheap cards is an easy way to keep it growing. The reset is the limit, so its value is strongest in the stretch between bosses.
Canio gains X1 Mult each time a face card is destroyed, and it starts at X1. One destroyed face card takes it from X1 to X2. It only grows when face cards are destroyed, so it needs a way to get them destroyed during a run.
DNA and Baseball Card Pay Off in Specific Setups
DNA only triggers when the first hand of a round is a single card. When it does, it adds a permanent copy of that card to your deck and draws it into your hand. That lets you grow your deck with more copies of a card that already works for you. It needs that one-card opening, though, and it does nothing in rounds that open with more.
Baseball Card gives X1.5 Mult for each Uncommon Joker you own. Plenty of strong Jokers are Uncommon, and Hologram is one of them, so a lineup with a few of those adds up quickly. Common and Rare Jokers don't count toward it, so it's a weak pick if your lineup is built on them.
