I’ve just uninstalled and removed Balatro after yet a near, very close 8/8 ante finish. I have been failing and failing, I’ve only ever seen and gotten to 8/8 ante twice, this being the second time. Every other run has been just insulting me to where no strategy has ever worked, I feel like a lot of it is RNG and pre-determined outcomes based on seeded runs.
And I hate that way of playing. It always feels like I’m getting smacked down by a troll bully who I can never overcome. They’d kick me down every failed run I’d have, then they give me a false sense of security the further I get. “Awwww, getting tired of being owned? Here, let me help you by giving you a few seemingly lucky breaks. SMACK Oh! OWNED YOU AGAIN! FUCK YOU! LOLLOLOL! I BANGED YOUR MOTHER, GIT GUD, NOOB!1”
I just don’t understand why these kinds of games are around, even when I have a good idea who it is for.
Balatro should just be renamed to Flush, every single time I win it’s because I use the “discard until you have a flush” strategy, and augment that with Jupiter, wild cards, steel cards, and jokers that give bonuses for flushes or single suits.
Here’s the secret to Balatro, there are basically two strategies that work. Focus on flushes, or focus on two pairs.
Also, if you get that joker that makes all red cards the same suit and all black cards the same suit, then a 9 card hand always has a flush.
Likewise, two pair is extremely reliable, it’s hard not to have it. Just get a bunch of blue seals and pump that two pair up to level 20+.
Finally, cards that give you flat bonuses are fine, at least early on. But you really want cards that have increasing bonuses, that get better every round.
I’m a huge fan of flush because of the versatility in builds, but they really stop being viable at blue stake. After that it’s gotta be pairs or less. Flushes stop being viable
The pair will get you there. I know it sound crazy, but hear me out.
I plateaued at purple ante with flushes and two pairs, and had a eureka moment with pairs after some rng gave me a ton of mercury cards. My strategy to get through gold was to run nothing but pairs and try to get as many hands in as possible. You focus on getting some scalable jokers; my best were green joker and supernova. Then you get selective and find a good joker or combination of jokers to get at least x3 mult. At the same time take card packs, spectral, death tarot or whatever else can get more blue seal. I was able to beat gold stake with nothing but green joker and stencil, and I’m pretty sure I suck at the game.
Flushes are satisfying when they work but you can definitely finish runs with pair or two pair decks