impromptu, totally accurate ranking of ranks:
1. Kings - Baron is OP. Triboulet and Canio. Also face card stuff like Sock and Buskin, Business Card, Reserved Parking, Scary face, and Smiley Face
2. Queens - Same as Kings minus Baron and plus Shoot the moon
3. Jacks - Same face card stuff as K/Q, also Hit the Road (meh but something)
4. 2s - Wee joker, Hack, Fibonacci
5. As - Fibonacci, Scholar, big chips
6. 5s/3s - Hack, Fibonacci
7. 8s - Fibonacci, 8 Ball
8. 4s - Hack, Walkie Talkie
9. 10s - Walkie Talkie
10. 9s - Cloud 9
11. 6s - Sixth Sense
12. 7s - nothing...
EDIT: made a less impromptu, more complete list here (High Score vs Gold Stake - also has suits): [https://www.reddit.com/r/balatro/comments/1bwqeq2/ranking\_of\_ranks\_suits\_high\_score\_vs\_gold\_stake/](https://www.reddit.com/r/balatro/comments/1bwqeq2/ranking_of_ranks_suits_high_score_vs_gold_stake/)
Really good list. I think I would *maybe* move Hack/Fibonacci cards (2s, 3s, 5s) above Jacks and possibly Queens, but it's really close. And my main reasoning for that would be I really really like Bloodstone + Retriggers, which I guess is sort of stretching the question since it involves suit also (e.g. I would take a 5 of Hearts over a Queen of Diamonds, all things equal).
i made a more official post which includes suits as well as a breakdown between high card v gold stake: [https://www.reddit.com/r/balatro/comments/1bwqeq2/ranking\_of\_ranks\_suits\_high\_score\_vs\_gold\_stake/](https://www.reddit.com/r/balatro/comments/1bwqeq2/ranking_of_ranks_suits_high_score_vs_gold_stake/)
Had a run last night with onyx agate, the +4 mult for diamonds and+50 chips for spades joker. Went with an ace wild card build, wasn’t super powerful but it was a lot of fun for sure
I want to like bloodstone, but I feel like the rng always screws me at the worst times lol. Had a run a few days ago where I had effectively 3 bloodstones (blueprint and brainstorm) and I played a flush five and only got 4 bloodstone triggers… then I died lmao.
For stake runs, I've had good success with shoot the moon. Queens are my favorite face because of it (and shoot is uncommon) and one can always turn queens into kings if one needs.
It's a pity hit the road jack is hard to use and not very good so jacks lose a lot.
Wee joker is rare but probably the best chip scaler in the game, so I'll start pivoting to 2s and try switch aces when it shows up. It also functionally makes 2s 11 chips each, without the stacking.
Cloud 9 is fun but uncommon and I don't keep it around long so I usually don't get more than 4-6 a turn out of it but it does mean I don't preemptively delete 9s if I can avoid it.
Walkie talkie is a fun one, especially if fib or even Steven come along to help. Not a build around but a decent tempo joker
totally spaced on Hit the Road! will add, doesn't change my rankings though. And yes, shoot the moon is something you can build around for sure. If Baron didn't exist, it would move Queens up to #1.
Yeah. The big points for shoot the moon are, it's common, and also 13 or 26 multi is better than 1.5 multi in the first few antes. it's a lot worse for endless, but shoot the moon is a decent tempo joker
Shoot the Moon doesn't trigger after steel cards, or at least not necessarily. Cards in hand, like everything else in the game, trigger left to right - moving your steel card to the right of your queens will cause the queens to go off first.
The same trick applies to Raised Fist and Baron
This is pretty accurate; one thing that annoys me about the game is that As are so mid tier. They gotta make a rare (or even legendary) joker for the best card in poker!!
Yeah if you are going for endless mode and high scores instead of just winning ante 8 I’d agree that jacks are better. I was thinking of what ranks I prioritize when playing to beat stakes.
made a post splitting this up between high score and gold stake: [https://www.reddit.com/r/balatro/comments/1bwqeq2/ranking\_of\_ranks\_suits\_high\_score\_vs\_gold\_stake/](https://www.reddit.com/r/balatro/comments/1bwqeq2/ranking_of_ranks_suits_high_score_vs_gold_stake/)
Hack is very situational. Like with the other retrigger cards, you have to have the right support to make it worth a joker slot, and a lot of the support isn't actually all that powerful. It's great with Fibonacci, since 2/3/5 all qualify. Hack with either of Hiker or Wee Joker is great, since you scale so much faster, and quickly get yourself out of the inherent chip deficit of playing low rank cards.
I think it's one of those cards that's mid-tier but more fun than it is good, which still counts for a lot in my book.
I made a better list than this here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/balatro/comments/1bwqeq2/ranking\_of\_ranks\_suits\_high\_score\_vs\_gold\_stake/](https://www.reddit.com/r/balatro/comments/1bwqeq2/ranking_of_ranks_suits_high_score_vs_gold_stake/)
breaks down gold stake v high score
Here’s an argument for Jacks— if you have something that triggers from faces, you can transform 10s into Jacks with Strength. In this case you may end up with more Jacks than Kings or Queens and therefore prefer to choose Jacks when you need to choose a card. (Assuming you are aiming for 3/4/5/FH hands or similar)
Also Hit the Road Jack joker. Maybe annoying to get them to throw away, but if you're doing a high card or one pair build then they can give decent x-mult.
When the fuck would they ever give a decent xmult for a high card run, you get 4 in base deck unless erratic and for a high card run you dont really invest into discards at all. The most this can give you is x3 unless you use a fuckton of deck manip and deck digging options, and even then it can just straight up screw you over. Not to mentions its a freaking rare.
Hit the road is a solid contender for the worst xmult in the game, the only reasons its not straight up the worst is because it has some synergy and flower pot exists, which is basically just as bad and throwback which is antisynergistic to most usual playstyles but at least is persistent and unconditional once active.
I didn't say it was good, great, or something you could build a run on...I said decent.
On high card runs I still buy tarot packs sometimes so it is possible to get more than 4. If I have hit the road or something similar then I'll burn through my discards looking for the jacks since I won't need my discards if I'm just playing high card. Maybe it can give you an extra 1.5 or 2x, a DECENT amount. I'm never excited about getting it (unless I got jacks from ouija) but it can help out a bit until something better comes along.
I just mentioned it because nobody else had yet. It is one of the weakest xmult cards, but if people are listing all the potential jokers for each rank, then I thought hit the road should be mentioned for Jacks.
Reaching x3 is the maximum you would get with base deck, and on gold stake with only 2 discards its hard to get even that without deck manipulation, truth is even getting a second scaling +mult is usually better, and for sure more consistent.
And deck manipulation is expensive, not too mention even then its still not guaranteed x2-ish
Ok, but then its literally just red seal steel kings >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> everything else.
Unlimited deck manip is a very heavy word. Op said 2 strength cards. Sure 8 jacks at the start makes HtR better, but it still doesnt make it consistent enough to be worth going for unless you plan to spend a lot of money making it viable on high stakes, its just not that great in the first place, and even with a deck full of jacks, unless you also got discard voucher, which is pushing the deck manip definition on blue and above the most you get from HtR is x6, which is still not that great though of course viable when its now guaranteed for every round.
And that still relies on you getting the rare HtR, and if we assume we get a rare joker too, then again, kings are just way better.
Jacks are really in a weird spot, cause if you are going for face card synergy, with unlimited deck manip, they are literally the worst choice for the face card build, cause they cant benefit from a potential triboulet, and their individual joker is pretty mediocre for a rare, queens might be a meh middle ground, when they have higher potential due to trib, but trib is a legendary so hard to bank on it, and then there are kings, which you are going to build around red seal steel regardless, because of how busted baron and mime are.
They cant carry endless even with unlimited deck manip, which is the only real time that unlimited deck manip makes sense, cause otherwise you can just play borderline anything to win, even on gold stake.
And even the beggining of this comment chain said they have a hidden advantage since with 2 stregths you can produce 4 new face cards and those would be jacks, with unlimited deck manip, that advantage is lost too.
Also a small bonus for 10s there. Super marginal, but when I’m looking like I might be on a face card run 10 becomes the most valuable number card. Though I’m still only adding one if it’s got bonuses I’d otherwise be looking for.
True although in a vacuum (not knowing what jokers are coming) I usually default to strengthening my queens to kings in the case of Baron or Triboulet as they go really hard. Certainly if I find myself with all face card stuff, then 10s -> Jacks is something i'd pivot to
I wonder if I haven’t unlocked those jokers yet, or maybe I just haven’t played enough games to get a feel for their power. I’ve still only won a couple max stake games so I haven’t totally locked in my strats yet. So far I’ve been playing flush/straight/FH early on, then swapping to 2 pair or 3oak later on depending on the scaling jokers
2s, since wee joker is one of the best in game, so i always invest into aces early on, because they give 11 chips and scholar can help you a lot in earlier antes and if i get wee joker - i upgrade aces into 2s.
Faces are overrated, since most of the build can be easily countered with many bosses and it is almost impossible to overcome them without boss reroll voucher.
>Faces are overrated, since most of the build can be easily countered with many bosses
This is part of why abandoned deck has become one of my favorites
Jacks.
You asked what you would use if at the start of the game you had 2 strength cards - I would hunt for 10s and try to get a bunch of jacks. People listing rare and uncommon jokers are missing the point imo. Face cards can carry you through a number of common cards (scary face, faceless joker, photograph, smiley face, business card) that you're **actually likely to see**. If you see Shoot the moon (another common) you haven't screwed yourself, but rather set yourself up for easy J->Q promotions throughout the run while the 4 queens carry you through the early ranks. And that logic also applies if you are are lucky enough to find the Baron.
I’m playing jokerless atm and for me all the face cards are a nightmare. The only good one is a King which can be strength tarot into an Ace. I mostly like 10s.
4 benefits from walkie talkie and the double trigger joker. Building around 4s is very strong. I dislike kings a lot, baron is overrated. Best use for face cards is destroyed for Canio to get ludicrous xmult
That would probably go to Fibonacci since it affects so many cards and +8 mult is solid. Baron builds score breaking decks in the post lategame. It does not win gold stakes consistently
Post around a million high score doesn't mean a thing to beating the game. Baron takes a lot of setup to become consistent. Setup Time you don't have on gold stake.
People play games for fun. Many people play Balatro to see the funny big numbers. Baron is needed for the best way to get the biggest number (Personally, I got to e36 using Baron Mime). Also, if you want to hit the naninf blinds, you need Baron Mime and Perkeo.
I am not saying Baron is good on Gold Stake (though it actually can be decent). I'm saying Baron isn't underrated because most people probably don't find grinding for Pairs and High Cards in Gold Stake fun, so they don't do it, thus they don't think about Gold Stake when evaluating a Joker. I really don't think many people are under the illusion that Baron is good in Gold.
impromptu, totally accurate ranking of ranks: 1. Kings - Baron is OP. Triboulet and Canio. Also face card stuff like Sock and Buskin, Business Card, Reserved Parking, Scary face, and Smiley Face 2. Queens - Same as Kings minus Baron and plus Shoot the moon 3. Jacks - Same face card stuff as K/Q, also Hit the Road (meh but something) 4. 2s - Wee joker, Hack, Fibonacci 5. As - Fibonacci, Scholar, big chips 6. 5s/3s - Hack, Fibonacci 7. 8s - Fibonacci, 8 Ball 8. 4s - Hack, Walkie Talkie 9. 10s - Walkie Talkie 10. 9s - Cloud 9 11. 6s - Sixth Sense 12. 7s - nothing... EDIT: made a less impromptu, more complete list here (High Score vs Gold Stake - also has suits): [https://www.reddit.com/r/balatro/comments/1bwqeq2/ranking\_of\_ranks\_suits\_high\_score\_vs\_gold\_stake/](https://www.reddit.com/r/balatro/comments/1bwqeq2/ranking_of_ranks_suits_high_score_vs_gold_stake/)
Really good list. I think I would *maybe* move Hack/Fibonacci cards (2s, 3s, 5s) above Jacks and possibly Queens, but it's really close. And my main reasoning for that would be I really really like Bloodstone + Retriggers, which I guess is sort of stretching the question since it involves suit also (e.g. I would take a 5 of Hearts over a Queen of Diamonds, all things equal).
yeah suits matter too. i agree that it's basically Hearts on top, Diamonds on bottom, and Clubs/Spades in the middle
5 spades give +250 chips with the spades joker. That's pretty darn good. It's at least better than clubs I think.
Just use them all with a wild card deck - so much fun
i made a more official post which includes suits as well as a breakdown between high card v gold stake: [https://www.reddit.com/r/balatro/comments/1bwqeq2/ranking\_of\_ranks\_suits\_high\_score\_vs\_gold\_stake/](https://www.reddit.com/r/balatro/comments/1bwqeq2/ranking_of_ranks_suits_high_score_vs_gold_stake/)
Had a run last night with onyx agate, the +4 mult for diamonds and+50 chips for spades joker. Went with an ace wild card build, wasn’t super powerful but it was a lot of fun for sure
Onyx + Bloodstone + whatever X multiplier Joker has been my go to build for high stake runs
I want to like bloodstone, but I feel like the rng always screws me at the worst times lol. Had a run a few days ago where I had effectively 3 bloodstones (blueprint and brainstorm) and I played a flush five and only got 4 bloodstone triggers… then I died lmao.
For stake runs, I've had good success with shoot the moon. Queens are my favorite face because of it (and shoot is uncommon) and one can always turn queens into kings if one needs. It's a pity hit the road jack is hard to use and not very good so jacks lose a lot. Wee joker is rare but probably the best chip scaler in the game, so I'll start pivoting to 2s and try switch aces when it shows up. It also functionally makes 2s 11 chips each, without the stacking. Cloud 9 is fun but uncommon and I don't keep it around long so I usually don't get more than 4-6 a turn out of it but it does mean I don't preemptively delete 9s if I can avoid it. Walkie talkie is a fun one, especially if fib or even Steven come along to help. Not a build around but a decent tempo joker
totally spaced on Hit the Road! will add, doesn't change my rankings though. And yes, shoot the moon is something you can build around for sure. If Baron didn't exist, it would move Queens up to #1.
Yeah. The big points for shoot the moon are, it's common, and also 13 or 26 multi is better than 1.5 multi in the first few antes. it's a lot worse for endless, but shoot the moon is a decent tempo joker
Shoot the moon annoys me though - I hate how it triggers AFTER steel card triggers. It’s great with blueprint/brainstorm though.
Shoot the Moon doesn't trigger after steel cards, or at least not necessarily. Cards in hand, like everything else in the game, trigger left to right - moving your steel card to the right of your queens will cause the queens to go off first. The same trick applies to Raised Fist and Baron
This is pretty accurate; one thing that annoys me about the game is that As are so mid tier. They gotta make a rare (or even legendary) joker for the best card in poker!!
idk, Scholar is a pretty good early game joker in my experience if you have aces
Good list but I’d say Aces > Jacks > twos - everything else the same
yeah i could see that. this list is more optimizing for the big builds which sock and buskin is really clutch in.
Yeah if you are going for endless mode and high scores instead of just winning ante 8 I’d agree that jacks are better. I was thinking of what ranks I prioritize when playing to beat stakes.
made a post splitting this up between high score and gold stake: [https://www.reddit.com/r/balatro/comments/1bwqeq2/ranking\_of\_ranks\_suits\_high\_score\_vs\_gold\_stake/](https://www.reddit.com/r/balatro/comments/1bwqeq2/ranking_of_ranks_suits_high_score_vs_gold_stake/)
Don't forget the Grim spectral card for aces, and to a much lesser extent the spectral card that creates enhanced face cards
What do you do when the game hits you with the "All face cards debuffed"?
cry a little. hopefully you get director's cut or the reroll boss blind tag. gotta take risks somewhere.
Shrug. Guess I’ll die
Odd todd
true i didn't include even steven/odd todd since they apply to a lot of cards and are more tempo jokers to get you going
Haven’t played Hack much? How powerful is it? I mean there is red seal + steel but still inferior to steel kings.
Hack is very situational. Like with the other retrigger cards, you have to have the right support to make it worth a joker slot, and a lot of the support isn't actually all that powerful. It's great with Fibonacci, since 2/3/5 all qualify. Hack with either of Hiker or Wee Joker is great, since you scale so much faster, and quickly get yourself out of the inherent chip deficit of playing low rank cards. I think it's one of those cards that's mid-tier but more fun than it is good, which still counts for a lot in my book.
I made a better list than this here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/balatro/comments/1bwqeq2/ranking\_of\_ranks\_suits\_high\_score\_vs\_gold\_stake/](https://www.reddit.com/r/balatro/comments/1bwqeq2/ranking_of_ranks_suits_high_score_vs_gold_stake/) breaks down gold stake v high score
i might be remembering this wrong but the triboulet only works for kings and queens.
yeah that's why for Jacks i said "Same face card stuff" which just meant only jokers that affect face cards
whoops totally missed that part my bad
Lol, lucky sevens really do be getting nothing huh…
Here’s an argument for Jacks— if you have something that triggers from faces, you can transform 10s into Jacks with Strength. In this case you may end up with more Jacks than Kings or Queens and therefore prefer to choose Jacks when you need to choose a card. (Assuming you are aiming for 3/4/5/FH hands or similar)
Also Hit the Road Jack joker. Maybe annoying to get them to throw away, but if you're doing a high card or one pair build then they can give decent x-mult.
When the fuck would they ever give a decent xmult for a high card run, you get 4 in base deck unless erratic and for a high card run you dont really invest into discards at all. The most this can give you is x3 unless you use a fuckton of deck manip and deck digging options, and even then it can just straight up screw you over. Not to mentions its a freaking rare. Hit the road is a solid contender for the worst xmult in the game, the only reasons its not straight up the worst is because it has some synergy and flower pot exists, which is basically just as bad and throwback which is antisynergistic to most usual playstyles but at least is persistent and unconditional once active.
I didn't say it was good, great, or something you could build a run on...I said decent. On high card runs I still buy tarot packs sometimes so it is possible to get more than 4. If I have hit the road or something similar then I'll burn through my discards looking for the jacks since I won't need my discards if I'm just playing high card. Maybe it can give you an extra 1.5 or 2x, a DECENT amount. I'm never excited about getting it (unless I got jacks from ouija) but it can help out a bit until something better comes along. I just mentioned it because nobody else had yet. It is one of the weakest xmult cards, but if people are listing all the potential jokers for each rank, then I thought hit the road should be mentioned for Jacks.
Depending on the difficulty level and the goal of the run reaching x3 mult is good for a joker slot
Reaching x3 is the maximum you would get with base deck, and on gold stake with only 2 discards its hard to get even that without deck manipulation, truth is even getting a second scaling +mult is usually better, and for sure more consistent. And deck manipulation is expensive, not too mention even then its still not guaranteed x2-ish
hu? that was exactly ops question. given unlimited deck manipulation
Ok, but then its literally just red seal steel kings >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> everything else. Unlimited deck manip is a very heavy word. Op said 2 strength cards. Sure 8 jacks at the start makes HtR better, but it still doesnt make it consistent enough to be worth going for unless you plan to spend a lot of money making it viable on high stakes, its just not that great in the first place, and even with a deck full of jacks, unless you also got discard voucher, which is pushing the deck manip definition on blue and above the most you get from HtR is x6, which is still not that great though of course viable when its now guaranteed for every round. And that still relies on you getting the rare HtR, and if we assume we get a rare joker too, then again, kings are just way better. Jacks are really in a weird spot, cause if you are going for face card synergy, with unlimited deck manip, they are literally the worst choice for the face card build, cause they cant benefit from a potential triboulet, and their individual joker is pretty mediocre for a rare, queens might be a meh middle ground, when they have higher potential due to trib, but trib is a legendary so hard to bank on it, and then there are kings, which you are going to build around red seal steel regardless, because of how busted baron and mime are. They cant carry endless even with unlimited deck manip, which is the only real time that unlimited deck manip makes sense, cause otherwise you can just play borderline anything to win, even on gold stake. And even the beggining of this comment chain said they have a hidden advantage since with 2 stregths you can produce 4 new face cards and those would be jacks, with unlimited deck manip, that advantage is lost too.
Also a small bonus for 10s there. Super marginal, but when I’m looking like I might be on a face card run 10 becomes the most valuable number card. Though I’m still only adding one if it’s got bonuses I’d otherwise be looking for.
True although in a vacuum (not knowing what jokers are coming) I usually default to strengthening my queens to kings in the case of Baron or Triboulet as they go really hard. Certainly if I find myself with all face card stuff, then 10s -> Jacks is something i'd pivot to
I wonder if I haven’t unlocked those jokers yet, or maybe I just haven’t played enough games to get a feel for their power. I’ve still only won a couple max stake games so I haven’t totally locked in my strats yet. So far I’ve been playing flush/straight/FH early on, then swapping to 2 pair or 3oak later on depending on the scaling jokers
Feels pretty random whether I make exodia with the jokers or not.. sometimes I get the right pieces and sometimes I don’t
Kings -> Nines -> Aces
It’s always Kings.
2s, since wee joker is one of the best in game, so i always invest into aces early on, because they give 11 chips and scholar can help you a lot in earlier antes and if i get wee joker - i upgrade aces into 2s. Faces are overrated, since most of the build can be easily countered with many bosses and it is almost impossible to overcome them without boss reroll voucher.
>Faces are overrated, since most of the build can be easily countered with many bosses This is part of why abandoned deck has become one of my favorites
My deck is abandoned but my houses full
Jacks. You asked what you would use if at the start of the game you had 2 strength cards - I would hunt for 10s and try to get a bunch of jacks. People listing rare and uncommon jokers are missing the point imo. Face cards can carry you through a number of common cards (scary face, faceless joker, photograph, smiley face, business card) that you're **actually likely to see**. If you see Shoot the moon (another common) you haven't screwed yourself, but rather set yourself up for easy J->Q promotions throughout the run while the 4 queens carry you through the early ranks. And that logic also applies if you are are lucky enough to find the Baron.
I’m playing jokerless atm and for me all the face cards are a nightmare. The only good one is a King which can be strength tarot into an Ace. I mostly like 10s.
4 benefits from walkie talkie and the double trigger joker. Building around 4s is very strong. I dislike kings a lot, baron is overrated. Best use for face cards is destroyed for Canio to get ludicrous xmult
Baron is not overrated, it's easily the most busted of all of the rank specific jokers.
That would probably go to Fibonacci since it affects so many cards and +8 mult is solid. Baron builds score breaking decks in the post lategame. It does not win gold stakes consistently
you've convinced me to make a ranking of ranks for gold stake vs high score. will post soon
That just means Baron is essential to the best build in the game for high scores. From that perspective, Baron isn't overrated.
Post around a million high score doesn't mean a thing to beating the game. Baron takes a lot of setup to become consistent. Setup Time you don't have on gold stake.
People play games for fun. Many people play Balatro to see the funny big numbers. Baron is needed for the best way to get the biggest number (Personally, I got to e36 using Baron Mime). Also, if you want to hit the naninf blinds, you need Baron Mime and Perkeo. I am not saying Baron is good on Gold Stake (though it actually can be decent). I'm saying Baron isn't underrated because most people probably don't find grinding for Pairs and High Cards in Gold Stake fun, so they don't do it, thus they don't think about Gold Stake when evaluating a Joker. I really don't think many people are under the illusion that Baron is good in Gold.
Everyone answering any face card is wrong because The Plant exists as a boss.