Tarots have a very specific place in the balance of Balatro, a deck-builder roguelike inspired by Poker. Planets are the boring but effective buffs, while Jokers promise a chance at completely breaking the game, at least until the wrong boss blind breaks the player. Tarots are instead the main way of altering the game, besides adding cards from Standard Card booster packs.
That said, Tarots have an extremely important function in Balatro. They allow for better and more common combos, shifting the Suit of some cards or turning a handful of them into powerful Mult cards. They can even delete some cards from the deck, either destroying two cards or turning one into a copy of another.
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Updated January 7, 2025, by Vlad Mazanko: Balatro features a total of 22 Tarot cards, each offering unique and impactful bonuses – none of them are useless. Choosing the right Tarot card during a run depends on various factors, including the current deck, Joker synergies, and overall strategy. To help players navigate their options, this updated list highlights the most versatile Tarot cards, emphasizing those with substantial bonuses that cater to a wide variety of playstyles.
15
The Star, Moon, Sun, And World
Converts Up To Three Selected Cards Into A Predetermined Suit
Those four cards, The Star, Moon, Sun, and World, have pretty much the same effect. They can switch up to 3 selected cards’ Suits into Diamonds, Clubs, Hearts, and Spades, respectively. While turning three cards at a time is quite slow, especially compared to something like the Spectral Card Sigil, those cards can also be turned mid-round, creating a Flush right before it’s played.
Those cards’ ability is essential to make a Flush-focused strategy viable. Once most of the deck has been turned into just one or two Suits, more complex hands like Straight Flush, Full House Flush, and even Five of a Kind Flush become reliable ways to rack up plenty of points.
14
Judgement
Creates A Random Joker Card
The Judgment Tarot card is a choice for risk-takers, offering a random Joker card. While the results are often less than ideal – typically yielding weaker common Jokers – it can sometimes be worth picking. One extra Joker might make the difference between winning or losing the next Blind.
Moreover, Judgment can be a useful way to obtain a second or third Joker during the earlier Ante stages of a Balatro run, especially if Jokers or Buffoon Packs aren’t available in the Shop. However, in most cases, players would benefit more from prioritizing other powerful Tarot cards that provide predictable and consistent effects to strengthen their deck.
13
The High Priestess
Creates Up To Two Random Planet Cards
For players aiming to quickly enhance their hand combos, the High Priestess is an excellent early-game Tarot choice. Each use of the High Priestess provides two random Planet cards (or one if there aren’t enough free consumable slots), adding extra Chips and Mults to hands like High Card, Two Pairs, Straight, Flush, and more. Simply put, if players are yet unsure which Tarot card will benefit their run the most, the High Priestess is often the safest and most versatile option.
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The High Priestess essentially trades one card for two, making it invaluable in many situations. Unlike most Tarots that only affect specific cards – which may or may not appear in subsequent hands – Planets provide consistent and significant boosts to scoring potential. Additionally, several powerful Jokers in Balatro, such as Hologram, synergize exceptionally well with Planet cards, scaling their effects with each Planet consumed during a run.
12
The Emperor
Creates Up To Two Random Tarot Cards
The Emperor isn’t the most reliable Tarot card, but it offers a decent chance to create one or two additional Tarots if enough consumable slots are available. It also has the unique ability to replicate itself, potentially increasing the total count of non-Emperor Tarots to three. Much like the High Priestess, the Emperor appeals to players who value quantity over quality during their run in Balatro. It enables quick deck-building, generating Enhanced cards, money, Jokers, Planets, and more.
For its versatility and multi-purpose utility, the Emperor stands out as a favorite for some players, and it’s easy to see why. With a probability exceeding 50% to generate at least one of the best Tarot cards in the game, the Emperor can often justify its cost and provide significant advantages. If building a flexible, resource-rich deck is your strategy, the Emperor is well worth considering.
11
The Magician
Enhances Two Selected Cards To Lucky Cards
The Magician is an excellent choice for players who enjoy taking risks, relying on luck to trigger significant but rare bonuses. This Tarot card grants the Lucky effect to two selected cards, offering a 1 in 5 chance (20%) to gain +20 Mult and a 1 in 15 chance (6.66%) to win $20. Both effects can even trigger simultaneously. While these probabilities are generally low, the unexpected boosts from money or multipliers can turn the tide of a run, making it significantly easier and more exciting.
The Magician’s true potential shines in numbers. To maximize its effectiveness, players should aim to create as many Lucky cards as possible during their run. For this strategy, synergies with specific Jokers are highly recommended. Notable options include the Lucky Cat Joker, which grows stronger with each Lucky effect triggered, or the Driver’s License Joker, which grants impressive x3 Mult but only if players have over 16 Enhanced (Lucky including) cards in their deck.
10
The Empress
Enhances Two Selected Cards To Mult Cards
Mult cards are a great way to buff a deck focusing on a specific strategy, hand, or ability. This is because the enhancement given by The Empress amounts to a +4 on the multiplier of a scored card. This is a useful ability for any build, as long as the card gets played.
+4 Mult might not sound like much, but compared to Chips, multiplier numbers tend to be lower. Mult cards’ usefulness starts going down the longer the game becomes. It’s not rare for the multiplier score to reach 100 or more during the last few rounds of each run. In this condition, a +4 is unlikely to do much good.
9
The Hierophant
Enhances Two Selected Cards To Bonus Cards
The Hierophant isn’t quite as good as Justice, but it’s almost there. And in some cases, although rarely, Bonus cards can lead to a better score than Glass cards. Bonus cards, which are given by The Hierophant, boost the card’s value by 30 Chips, while Glass works on the multiplier.
Boosting the multiplier value is usually better than adding to the Chips, but only because it’s usually the lower of the two. At the end of the day, a hand’s score is equal to chips x multiplier. Therefore, the best move is to always boost the lower number by as much as possible. Who would have guessed that this roguelike Poker could be such a number-driven game? Besides Poker players, that is…
8
The Hermit & Temperance
Doubles Money (Max +$20) Or Gives The Total Sell Value Of All Current Jokers (Max +$50)
Money is king in Balatro. The not-quite-unique currency of dollars rarely goes above a dozen or two, and one of the best Jokers in the game even adds the ability to go significantly below zero. It’s no surprise, then, if The Hermit is often one of the most useful Tarots in the game. But playing The Hermit is also a bit of a gamble. There’s no guarantee that the money will actually be useful in the next shop, but that’s not all. Playing a Hermit at the wrong time can grant less money than the card’s cost in the shop.
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Later in the game, players should consider the Temperance Tarot card, especially after acquiring several powerful uncommon or rare Jokers. Like The Hermit, Temperance provides a reliable way to generate funds, but its mechanics can make it even more effective in certain situations. This card grants a payout equal to the total sell value of all currently equipped Jokers, capped at $50. Although achieving the maximum payout is rare, Temperance typically delivers around $20 on average, making it comparable to The Hermit. This consistency makes Temperance a must-pick during the midpoint Ante stages, particularly for players who struggle to amass funds at this point of the game.
7
The Hanged Man
Destroys Up To Two Selected Cards
The Hanged Man has a similar problem to the Death Tarot. Its name doesn’t make sense. It should be called Hanged Men instead. Besides this slight issue, the Hanged Man is a solid card for focusing a deck on what really matters by eliminating a pair of bad, unwanted cards.
Players unfamiliar with recent deck-building games might be unfamiliar with this now-common mechanic. Removing cards instinctively sounds bad: players want new powers and strong abilities, not fewer cards. But as the deck grows, the only way to draw the important cards is to remove the less useful ones.
6
Strength
Increases Rank Of Up To Two Selected Cards
By itself, increasing the Rank of a given card isn’t very good. But getting as many cards as possible to fit in the same Rank is at the core of many runs’ strategies. If used correctly, Strength can turn all the members of a certain rank, let’s say Kings, into Aces. This greatly increases the chance of getting Three of a Kind, Four of a Kind, and the most rarest hand, Five of a Kind.
Strength is one of the best cards for shaping the deck according to one’s strategy, and similar cards exist in pretty much all the best deck builders. Together with Death and The Fool, this could be one of the most important Tarots in the game.
5
Death
Converts One Card Into Another
Death is a weird name for this card and would probably make more sense for something like The Hanged Man, which destroys a card. Instead, Death allows the player to turn a useless card into a perfect copy of another. This means the same Rank, and same Suit, but also the same special properties, like Glass or Steel.
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Copying a card with Death is certainly a useful way to stock up on enhanced cards, but it can also boost a player’s chance to find matching Ranks and Suits. Flushes and Four of a Kind are made significantly easier by playing a bunch of Death cards first, and reaching the elusive Five of a Kind Flush is almost impossible without them.
4
The Wheel Of Fortune
Chance To Add Foil, Holographic, Or Polychrome To A Random Joker
The Wheel of Fortune is one of the most infamous consumables in Balatro, earning its reputation for how rarely its desirable effects seem to activate. According to its description, the card offers a 1-in-4 chance (25%) to add a Foil (+50 Chips), Holographic (+10 Mult), or Polychrome (x1.5 Mult) enhancement to a random Joker. However, in practice, it often feels like players end up with the dreaded “Nope!” result far more often than expected.
Some dedicated fans have even conducted tests to confirm that the 1-in-4 odds are accurate and not misleading. Despite the higher likelihood of gaining no benefit, the temptation to potentially empower one’s Joker selection keeps players coming back, triggering the Wheel of Fortune and hoping the gods of luck will finally smile upon them.
3
The Chariot
Enhances One Card Into A Steel Card
Simple and effective, the Chariot is a strong Tarot card in Balatro that converts one selected card into a Steel card. Steel cards grant a respectable x1.5 Mult when remaining in hand during scoring. With several Steel cards in their deck, players can use them almost like additional Jokers, though Steel cards and other bonuses from hands are applied before Joker effects.
In addition to their inherent benefits, Steel cards synergize with several Jokers that provide additional bonuses based on the number of Steel cards in a deck, making the Chariot an even more valuable pick from Arcana Packs. The most notable synergy is with the Uncommon Steel Joker, which gains x0.2 Mult for every Steel card in the deck. To maximize the impact of Steel cards, players should focus on strategies like increasing hand size, allowing for scoring powerful hands like Full House while keeping multiple active Steel cards in play.
2
Justice
Enhances One Selected Card Into A Glass Card
Justice is a great little card that’s quite tricky to play correctly. This is because Glass cards are potentially some of the best in the game, boosting the multiplier by x2. Activating this card at the end of a hand means doubling the hand’s base multiplier score, the bonus levels gained by using the right Planet, and any Mult card.
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While a Glass card activates before the Jokers, a Mult x2 is still incredibly good. And because multiplications don’t change their behavior when their order is inverted, the Jokers that multiply the Mults score do stack with this. But don’t catch the Glass bug! Playing Justice too much is dangerous, as Glass cards have a 25% chance of breaking once used.
1
The Fool
Creates The Last Tarot Or Planet Card Used
The Fool is a classic of deck-builder games. It’s the kind of card that reinforces the deck by creating a copy of an existing card. In the case of The Fool, this happens either by copying a planet (which levels up a scoring hand twice in a row) or by recreating a deck-enhancing Tarot.
The Fool doesn’t replicate the effect of another Tarot or Planet card, but it creates a copy of that card instead. This means that to use The Fool’s ability, players need free space in their consumable slot. It also means that using The Fool to its full extent consumes not one but two Tarots, triggering some cards’ abilities twice.
Strategy
Digital Card Game
Roguelike
- Released
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February 20, 2024
- Developer(s)
-
LocalThunk
- OpenCritic Rating
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Mighty
