There are 15 playable decks in Balatro. You will see guides say 16 — there are 15. Each deck applies one passive buff (or trade-off) for the whole run, and they unlock in three groups: filling your Collection, winning with each color deck, and winning on higher Stake difficulties.
All 15 decks at a glance
| Deck | Effect | Unlock |
|---|---|---|
| Red | +1 discard each round | Available from start |
| Blue | +1 hand each round | Discover 20 Collection items |
| Yellow | Start with an extra $10 | Discover 50 Collection items |
| Green | End of round: $2 per remaining hand, $1 per remaining discard — but no interest | Discover 75 Collection items |
| Black | +1 Joker slot, −1 hand each round | Discover 100 Collection items |
| Magic | Start with the Crystal Ball voucher + 2 copies of The Fool | Win a run with the Red Deck |
| Nebula | Start with the Telescope voucher, −1 consumable slot | Win a run with the Blue Deck |
| Ghost | Spectral cards appear in the shop; start with a Hex card | Win a run with the Yellow Deck |
| Abandoned | Start with no Face Cards (no J/Q/K) | Win a run with the Green Deck |
| Checkered | Start with 26 Spades and 26 Hearts | Win a run with the Black Deck |
| Zodiac | Start with Tarot Merchant, Planet Merchant and Overstock | Win on Red Stake or harder |
| Painted | +2 hand size, −1 Joker slot | Win on Green Stake or harder |
| Anaglyph | A Double Tag after each Boss Blind defeated | Win on Black Stake or harder |
| Plasma | Balances Chips and Mult when scoring; ×2 base Blind size | Win on Blue Stake or harder |
| Erratic | Every card's rank and suit is randomized | Win on Orange Stake or harder |
Tier 1: fill your Collection
The five color decks unlock by discovering items — jokers, vouchers, consumables, anything new — in your Collection (main menu). Progress is cumulative across all your runs.
- Red (start): +1 discard. The safest learning deck; extra discards smooth out bad opening hands.
- Blue (20 items): +1 hand. More scoring attempts per round — strong with engine builds.
- Yellow (50 items): +$10 to start. A small economy head start that snowballs through early interest.
- Green (75 items): trades interest for flat round-end cash. Good for fast early gold, weaker for long greedy economy plans.
- Black (100 items): +1 Joker slot for −1 hand. One of the strongest win decks — an extra joker is worth more than a hand in most builds.
Tier 2: win with each color deck
Once a color deck is unlocked, winning a run with it (any difficulty) unlocks its paired deck:
| Win with… | Unlocks |
|---|---|
| Red | Magic |
| Blue | Nebula |
| Yellow | Ghost |
| Green | Abandoned |
| Black | Checkered |
These decks start to shape a run around a strategy: Magic front-loads Tarot/planet value, Nebula hands you free hand-leveling via Telescope, Ghost opens Spectral cards, Abandoned removes face cards for more consistent draws, and Checkered guarantees flush potential from turn one.
Tier 3: win on higher Stakes
The last five unlock by winning on a Stake difficulty with any deck. Stakes go White → Red → Green → Black → Blue → Purple → Orange → Gold, and "or harder" counts — a higher-Stake win unlocks everything below it.
| Deck | Requires |
|---|---|
| Zodiac | Red Stake or harder |
| Painted | Green Stake or harder |
| Anaglyph | Black Stake or harder |
| Plasma | Blue Stake or harder |
| Erratic | Orange Stake or harder |
Plasma is the standout: it averages your chips and mult before scoring, which rewards builds that pump both sides instead of going all-in on one — at the cost of double-size blinds. Erratic is the chaos pick, randomizing every card's rank and suit (great for flush and n-of-a-kind luck, unpredictable for straights).
Which deck should you play?
- Learning the game: Red. The extra discard is forgiving.
- Most builds: Black. An extra Joker slot is the single most valuable passive.
- Going for a huge score: Plasma, paired with the score calculator to test how balancing chips and mult changes your total.
- Consistency: Abandoned. No face cards means tighter, more predictable draws for pairs and flushes.
Fast unlock vs achievements
If you want every deck immediately, the profile menu (bottom-left → Reset Profile → Unlock All) opens everything — but it disables achievements on that profile. A common approach is to unlock naturally on your main profile and keep a second profile for experimenting.
Keep reading
Deck guides — a dedicated page for each of the 15 decks: effect, exact unlock, best jokers and strategy.
Score Calculator — test how the Plasma Deck's chip/mult balance changes a hand.
Joker Database — the 150 jokers you'll be slotting into every deck.
Patch History — balance changes that have touched decks and stakes.