Balatro offers 15 main game decks and 20 extra Challenge decks for trying out weird and fun strategies against all blinds and antes. To unlock all these decks, you need to achieve specific goals with the decks you already have in your inventory.
Here’s your complete guide to unlocking every deck in Balatro (plus a few key tips on how to survive the tougher challenge decks too).
How to get every deck in Balatro
You unlock decks in Balatro by completing specific missions unique to each one. The 15 base game decks are unlocked through progression and exploration, like finding more cards, winning with different decks, or attempting new difficulties.
Each Balatro deck brings its own style and changes to the game, such as changing your initial cards in the Checkered Deck, starting vouchers in the Nebula Deck, or ways to earn money like in the Green Deck. Below is a complete list of all the decks in Balatro, as well as their unique features and how to unlock them.
Standard decks
| Deck | Special mechanic | How to unlock |
|---|---|---|
| Red Deck | One extra discard every round. | Starting deck |
| Blue Deck | One extra hand every round. | Discover 20 or more items |
| Yellow Deck | Start with an extra $10. | Discover 50 or more items |
| Green Deck | At the end of each Round: Gain $2 per remaining Hand and $1 per remaining Discard, but earn no Interest. | Discover 75 or more items |
| Black Deck | One additional Joker slot during the entire run, but one less hand every round. | Discover 100 or more items |
| Magic Deck | Start the run with the Crystal Ball voucher and two copies of The Fool. | Win a run with the Red Deck on any difficulty. |
| Nebula Deck | Start the run with the Telescope voucher. One less consumable slot. | Win a run with the Blue Deck on any difficulty. |
| Ghost Deck | Spectral Cards may appear in the shop for direct purchase. Start with a Hex card that adds Polychrome to a random Joker but destroys all other Jokers. | Win a run with the Yellow Deck on any difficulty. |
| Abandoned Deck | Your deck has no Face Cards (J, Q, K.). | Win a run with the Green Deck on any difficulty. |
| Checkered Deck | Your deck has 26 Spades and 26 Hearts instead of all suits. | Win a run with the Black Deck on any difficulty. |
| Zodiac Deck | Start the run with a Tarot Merchant, Planet Merchant, and Overstock vouchers, doubling your chances of finding Tarot and Planet cards in the shop while adding another card slot there. | Win a run with any deck on the Red Stake difficulty or harder. |
| Painted Deck | Start with two additional Hand size, but one fewer Joker slot. | Win a run with any deck on the Green Stake difficulty or harder. |
| Anaglyph Deck | Gain a Double Tag after defeating a Boss Blind. | Win a run with any deck on the Black Stake difficulty or harder. |
| Plasma Deck | Balance Chips and Mult when calculating the score for a played hand (using averages). Doubles base Blind size. | Win a run with any deck on the Blue Stake difficulty or harder. |
| Erratic Deck | All Ranks and Suits in the deck are randomized. | Win a run with any deck on the Orange Stake difficulty or harder. |
Challenge decks
After winning five runs in Balatro using any decks, you unlock Challenges in the New Run menu. These aren’t labeled as Challenge Decks, but they act like new decks with unique rules that change your gameplay, similar to standard decks.
The key difference is that Challenge decks might start you off with specific Jokers and have a list of Banned cards, vouchers, and tags that don’t show up in your run. For instance, in The Omelette challenge deck, you can’t use Seed Money and Money Tree cards to limit how you earn money, similar to the banning of To The Moon, Golden Joker, Rocket, and Satellite Jokers.
Check out the complete list of Challenge decks below.
| Challenge number | Challenge name | Starting Items | Rules | Restrictions | Deck changes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One | The Omelette | Five Eggs (Jokers) | All Blinds give no reward money Extra Hands no longer earn money Earn no Interest at end of round | Seed Money (Voucher) Money Tree (Voucher) To The Moon (Joker) Rocket (Joker) Golden Joker (Joker) Satellite (Joker) | None |
| Two | 15 Minute City | Eternal copies of Ride the Bus and Shortcut (Jokers) | None | None | Doubles all face cards. No Aces, 2’s, or 3’s |
| Three | Rich get Richer | Seed Money and Money Tree (Vouchers) | Chips cannot exceed the current $. Start with $100. | None | None |
| Four | On a Knife’s Edge | Eternal and Pinned copy of Ceremonial Dagger (Joker) | None | None | None |
| Five | X-ray Vision | None | One in four cards are drawn face down | None | None |
| Six | Mad World | Eternal and Negative copy of Pareidolia (Joker) Eternal copy of Business Card (Joker) | Extra Hands no longer earn money. Earn no Interest at end of round. | None | No Aces, face cards, or 10s |
| Seven | Luxury Tax | None | Hold minus one card in hand for every $5 you have. 10 base hand size | None | None |
| Eight | Non-Perishable | None | All Jokers are Eternal (can’t be destroyed or sold) | Jokers: Gros Michel, Ice Cream, Cavendish, Turtle Bean, Ramen, Diet Cola, Seltzer, Popcorn, Mr. Bones, Invisible Joker, Luchador | None |
| Nine | Medusa | Eternal copy of Marble Joker | None | None | All face cards become Stone cards |
| 10 | Double or Nothing | None | All Played cards become debuffed after scoring | None | All cards have a Red Seal |
| 11 | Typecast | None | When ante four Boss is defeated, all Jokers become Eternal. When ante four Boss is defeated, set Joker slots to 0. (Destructible Jokers will not become eternal) | None | None |
| 12 | Inflation | Credit Card (Joker) | Permanently raise prices by $1 on every purchase. | Clearance Sale (Voucher) Liquidation (Voucher) | None |
| 13 | Bram Poker | Eternal copy of Vampire (Joker) The Empress (Tarot) The Emperor (Tarot) Cards Magic Trick (Voucher) Illusion (Voucher) | Jokers no longer appear in the shop. | None | None |
| 14 | Fragile | Two Eternal and Negative copies of Oops! All 6s (Joker) | None | Tarot Cards: Magician Empress, Heirophant, Chariot, Devil, Tower, and Lovers. Spectral Cards: Incantation, Grim, and Familiar Spectral Cards. Standard Packs. Jokers: Marble Joker, Vampire, Midas Mask, and Certificate Vouchers: Magic Trick and Illusion | All cards are have Glass enchantment |
| 15 | Monolith | Eternal copy of Obelisk (Joker) Eternal and Negative copy of Marble Joker (Joker) | None | None | None |
| 16 | Blast Off | Eternal copy of Constellation (Joker) Eternal copy of Rocket (Joker) Planet Merchant (Voucher) Planet Tycoon (Voucher) | Two hands per round. Two discards per round. Four Joker Slots | Grabber (Voucher) Nacho Tong (Voucher) Burglar (Joker) | None |
| 17 | Five-Card Draw | Card Sharp (Joker) Joker (Joker) | Six discards per round. Five hand size. Seven Joker slots. | Juggler (Joker) Troubadour (Joker) Turtle Bean (Joker) | None |
| 18 | Golden Needle | Credit Card (Joker) | Discards each cost $1. One hand per round. Six discards per round. Start with $10 | Grabber (Voucher) Nacho Tong (Voucher) Burglar (Joker) | None |
| 19 | Cruelty | None | Small Blinds give no reward money Big Blinds give no reward money. Three Joker slots. | None | None |
| 20 | Jokerless | None | Jokers no longer appear in the shop. Zero Joker slots. | Taroit: Judgement. Spectral: Wraith and Soul Packs: Buffoon Packs. Tags: Uncommon, Rare, Negative, Foil, Holographic, Polychrome, and Buffoon. | None |
