Set Side B

To this date the most-read post on this blog is a link to a Youtube video from Dr. Spectred of Balatro University about getting really high scores. Which is fine, I guess, I’m not resentful at all, no, I’m okay with that, really.

But you know, I personally have just come off a 92 game win streak in Balatro. Sure it was on White Stake, and in specific circumstances, while Dr. Spectred has 100+ win streaks on Gold Stake. Yes you forced me to admit it, I’m nowhere near as good as they are! But I am one of the 0.54% of players who’s earned Completionist++ on Android, that’s got to be worth something, right? Right?

So, here is some information that may help you play, in case it’s useful. This is oriented towards winning, that is finishing Ante 8, not towards getting astronomical scores or reaching naneinf.

1. I think the easiest deck is Checkered Deck. It makes it nearly guaranteed that you’ll be able to get a couple of Flushes. All you need is a one card hand size increase, and a Flush becomes a certainty. The tradeoff is that Flush is the weakest five-card hand, only worth 15 chips, but it still delivers +4 Mult. One of the difficulties with getting a run started is getting past the early Antes, and Checkered Deck makes that simple. If you can put together a hand of at least four face cards or tens, you’ve made the first round’s requirement right there. On Checkered Deck Jupiter is the best Planet card of course, but Neptune also helps.

2. Even if you don’t pick Checkered Deck, it’s best to find a single hand you can make consistently and focus on it. It takes fewer resources to build levels and Jokers for more than one kind of hand.

3. Early money is extremely important. Money makes all other things possible. With enough money you can not only buy things you need, you can reroll to find more. Aim at getting full interest (normally at $25) every round, and then keep that much unless something really valuable comes up. Sometimes this means you have to make a hard decision between a useful Joker and building interest. Survival comes first, but you don’t get any benefit from blowing past score requirements.

4. Attack all of the game’s benefits simultaneously: Jokers, Planets and card modifications. Each of these things by themselves can win the game, but you’ll have to take them to such excess that you probably won’t get everything you need in time.

5. Planets are probably the hardest tool to use well, but are very important. Planets get you hand levels, which increases both base Mult and Chips. Since hand levels form the base of scoring, they all help empower Times Mult. This makes Telescope one of the best vouchers, and Trance one of the best Spectral cards. I like to open Standard Packs when I can to get cards with Blue Seals, even on Checkered Deck if it’s not a Heart or Spade, which is usually a really bad idea.

5. Prioritize Jokers for the phase of the game you’re in. Early Antes: plus Mult, plus Chips. Late game: times Mult. If you’re struggling in the first three Antes, it’s better to get a good source of flat Mult or Chips than to go for a Times Mult Joker, until you manage to get your base Mult up a bit. But remember, the higher your main hand level, the more powerful Times Mult becomes.

6. If you have the spare money to fill them, empty Joker slots are liabilities. If you have the cash for it, there is little reason not to fill all your Joker slots. There are exceptions, like with Joker Stencil or Madness, or of course Rentals or Eternals on high Stakes, but lots of Jokers have no downside other than cost. Remember that selling a joker gets you half its price back. This is a reason why Perishable Jokers in higher stakes aren’t all that bad: you can always sell it even if it expires, and you’ll get half your money back.

7. Grab onto Common Joker combos. Some of the best combos involve Hanging Chad (retriggers first scoring card twice), which applies to any effect that triggers on individual cards. Hanging Chad and Photograph are both Commons, yet are still worth a total 8x Mult if your first scoring card is a face card. Or Hanging Chad and any Glass card, but be prepared to replace it.

8. The best card modifications vary depending on your jokers and where in the game you are, but really great are: any Seal but Blue and Red especially, Holographic, Steel, Gold and Glass. The worst modifications are Wild, +4 Mult and Stone, but Stone has uses in certain cases.

9. Most Building Jokers are better the earlier in the game you get them. Building Jokers are the ones that increase in power in some way depending on your actions. Green Joker increases by +1 Mult every hand you play, but decreases by 1 when you discard. Some of these Jokers require special play like this to make them powerful, and some have significant drawbacks: Ride The Bus and Obelisk can lose all their built-up power instantly. Supernova and Fortune Teller are building Jokers that don’t have to be bought early, because they are empowered by your actions even before you get them. The best ones naturally are the ones that raise Times Mult, which can be valuable even if you get them in later Antes.

10. After you win and pass into Endless Mode, most builds top out around Ante 13. The score requirement for the Small Blind of Ante 13 is 47 billion, over 100 times the requirement for the Small Blind of Ante 12, and they rocket up even faster beyond that point. Fortunately the last score achievement is for reaching Ante 12. There are ways of playing past that point, but I must refer you back to Balatro University for such rarefied air.

So now that I’ve won 92 games in a row, I’ve uninstalled the game. I’m not going to try to top that… at least, not until the long-awaited content update comes up. LocalThunk, please take your time….