Green Joker

Green Joker

Effect

+1 Mult per hand played
-1 Mult per discard
(Currently +0 Mult)

Rarity

Common

Unlock Requirement

Available from start.

Stats

Buy Price

4

Sell Price

2

Type

Additive Mult

Activation

Mixed

Compatibility

Copyable

✓ Yes

Perishable

✗ No

Eternal

✓ Yes

Green Joker is a Common Joker that provides Additive Mult to all played hands. It is one of many scaling Additive Mult Jokers which grows in power with specific actions, gaining +1 Mult whenever a hand is played and scored. This very strong and unconditional strength is offset by a noticeable downside: it loses -1 Mult whenever a card(s) get discarded - either by the player or game mechanics, which currently only applies in the case of The Hook ( Boss The Hook.png). It starts at, and will never go below, +0 Mult.

Green Joker is often touted as one of the best Common Jokers in the game, primarily for its strength in the foundational early Antes of a run, which snowballs into huge power later as long as the build is not dependent on discarding cards. This is largely a nonissue, as hands are strictly superior to discards anyway regarding point scoring, and can only prove troublesome when the player's money pool is weak. Assuming it is obtained at the start of Ante 2, with an average of 3 hands played per round and no discards or skips, Green Joker will give +60 Mult going into the Showdown Blind, equivalent to three fresh copies of Popcorn ({{Mult|+20}} <br> {{Mult|-4}} per round played Common Additive Mult Independent Popcorn.png).

Green Joker works with any Deck, with its strength being more pronounced the earlier it is acquired into the run. Decks that have noteworthy synergy include:

• Blue Deck ( {{hl|blue|+1}} hand every round Discover at least {{hl|orange|20}} items from your [[collection]] Blue Deck.png): An extra hand means Green Joker can reach even greater heights by the end of the run. At the very worst, if the player's build is strong enough that a few High Cards are sweeping the Blinds, it translates to an extra $1 at the end of each round.
• Green Deck ( At end of each Round: <br> {{Money|2}} per remaining {{hl|blue|Hand}} <br> {{Money|1}} per remaining {{hl|red|Discard}} <br> Earn no {{hl|orange|Interest}} Discover at least {{hl|orange|75}} items from your [[collection]] Green Deck.png): This deck benefits from this Joker mainly in the early game when money is low and all hands are used to scale Green Joker, taking advantage of the $1 gained per unused discard. However, other decks would be able to provide more money long-term if the player holds $25 and continues using all hands to scale Green Joker.

Green Joker works best with hands that can be reliably made without discarding and also played repeatedly, with the rarer hands being less and less reliable. Green Joker wants weaker hands earlier anyways so it can scale more per round, as ending the Blind in one hand will make it scale to about the same size as a fresh Popcorn ({{Mult|+20}} <br> {{Mult|-4}} per round played Common Additive Mult Independent Popcorn.png) by the end of a run, far inferior to its usual capabilities.

This means it works best when playing:

• High Card (especially so, as it is always assembled)
• Pair
• Two Pair

Another possible strategy is to scale up one of the stronger hands like Straight or Four of a Kind, then use all but one of the hands as makeshift discards to try and craft that hand, leading to an even stronger end result. This strategy can lead to very high scores, and works best when paired with Jokers like Acrobat ({{xmult|3}} on {{hl|orange|final hand}} of round Play {{hl|orange|200}} hands Uncommon Multiplicative Mult Independent Acrobat.png) and Dusk (Retrigger all played cards in {{hl|orange|final hand}} of the round Uncommon Retrigger On Scored Dusk.png), but it is a lot less reliable and may necessitate discards, thereby weakening Green Joker.

• Chip Jokers help Green Joker form an important core that can bolster the strength of most, if not all hands, very reliably. Banner ({{Chips|+30}} for each remaining {{hl|orange|discard}} Common Chips Independent Banner.png) is the most obvious choice, giving +30 Chips for each unused discard in the round; in the same rarity, however, Blue Joker ({{Chips|+2}} for each remaining card in {{hl|orange|deck}} <br> {{currently|{{chips|+104}}}} Common Chips Independent Blue Joker.png) is more favorable at higher difficulties, as it is not affected by the -1 discard penalty of Blue Stake and higher, and would not be having its power significantly dampened by discards. Other reliable options include Square Joker (This Joker gains {{Chips|+4}} if played hand has exactly {{hl|orange|4}} cards <br> {{Currently|{{Chips|0}}}} Common Chips Mixed Square_Joker.png) for consistent scaling, and Stuntman ({{Chips|+250}},<br>{{hl|orange|-2}} hand size Earn at least 100 million (100,000,000) Chips in a single hand. Rare Chips Independent Stuntman.png) for an extraordinary boost at a negligible downside for builds Green Joker is oriented towards anyway.
• Multiplicative Mult Jokers are key, not only to powering through the higher Stakes, but to amplifying this Joker's strengths, and many of them synergize very well with it. Some examples include:
  • Acrobat ({{xmult|3}} on {{hl|orange|final hand}} of round Play {{hl|orange|200}} hands Uncommon Multiplicative Mult Independent Acrobat.png): With its X3 Mult boost triggering on the final hand of the round, it can be easier to use when playing large volumes of hands, as is optimal in this Joker's case. It can also lead to much more explosive plays with bigger hands.
  • Card Sharp ({{xmult|3}} if played {{hl|orange|poker hand}} has already been played this round Uncommon Multiplicative Mult Independent Card_Sharp.png): Giving a strong X3 Mult boost if the poker hand was scored previously in the round, it is almost impossible not to benefit from it due to the ease of simply playing multiple High Cards.
  • Hologram (This Joker gains {{xmult|0.25}} every time a {{hl|orange|playing card}} is added to your deck <br> {{Currently|{{xmult|1}}}} Uncommon Multiplicative Mult Independent Hologram.gif): High Card/Pair builds do not necessarily care about overall consistency or individual card quality as much, as most of the scoring is sourced from the Jokers as well as the Planet scaling. This allows the player to very easily take advantage of Hologram's fast scaling rate.
  • Ramen ({{xmult|2}}, loses {{xmult|0.01}} per {{hl|orange|card}} discarded Uncommon Multiplicative Mult Mixed Ramen.png): An unconditional X2 Mult boost, it and this Joker go together greatly, as they are only weakened by discards - something the player would not be doing in the first place in ideal scenarios if they had both.
  • Vampire (This Joker gains {{xmult|0.1}} per scoring {{hl|orange|Enhanced card}} played, removes card {{hl|orange|Enhancement}} <br> {{Currently|{{xmult|1}}}} Uncommon Multiplicative Mult Mixed Vampire.png): While it does not scale as fast as it would in builds playing full 5-card hands when paired with Green Joker (as a general rule of thumb), it is still a great option to consider, as it removes mostly insignificant buffs for much more generally useful Multiplicative Mult boosting.

• Delayed Gratification (Earn {{Money|2}} per {{hl|orange|discard}} if no discards are used by end of the round Common Economy N/A (Passive) Delayed_Gratification.png): Paying out $2 per discard at the end of the round as long as none were used, this Joker helps significantly with the economy problems playing large amounts of hands usually incurs, while being cheaper to acquire than more generic alternatives. It is slightly less valuable past Black Stake due to the -1 discard penalty.
• Burglar (When [[Blind|{{hl|orange|Blind}}]] is selected, gain {{hl|blue|+3}} Hands and {{hl|orange|lose all discards}} Uncommon Effect On Blind Select Burglar.png): Forming the best synergy with this Joker by a country mile, trading in discards for an extra three hands provides a huge power ceiling boost, allowing this Joker to reach even higher levels of Mult before key points in the run. It also gives more consistency to finding stronger hands, which can be leveraged to an effect mentioned in the Poker Hands section. However, it does turn off synergy with Banner ({{Chips|+30}} for each remaining {{hl|orange|discard}} Common Chips Independent Banner.png) and Delayed Gratification (Earn {{Money|2}} per {{hl|orange|discard}} if no discards are used by end of the round Common Economy N/A (Passive) Delayed_Gratification.png), so consider other options if these are key to the current build.
• Matador (Earn {{Money|8}} if played hand triggers the {{hl|orange|Boss Blind}} ability Defeat a Boss Blind in {{hl|orange|1 hand}} without using any discards Uncommon Economy Independent Matador.png): It can pay out tremendously if the right Boss Blind is encountered, as just playing repeated High Cards of debuffed cards (for example) can net $24 or more, enough to approach the default interest cap on its own. Only do this if the scoring provided by other sources is sufficient, however.
• Space Joker ({{hl|green|1 in 4}} chance to upgrade level of played [[Poker Hands|{{hl|orange|poker hand}}]] Uncommon Effect On Played Space Joker.png): With the high volumes of hands Green Joker builds play, this can help to periodically tune the scaling even higher.
• Vagabond (Create a [[Tarot Cards|{{hl|purple|Tarot}}]] card if hand is played with {{Money|4}} or less Rare Effect Independent Vagabond.png): Another very seamless synergy, generating a Tarot Card after every hand played as long as no more than $4 are held. Creating 3 or more in a single round can lead to very rapid deck enrichment and manipulation, allowing pivots into much stronger hands that will appreciate the sea of Mult that Green Joker will give.

• Grabber (Permanently gain {{hl|blue|+1}} hand per round Base Grabber.png) and Nacho Tong (Permanently gain an additional {{hl|blue|+1}} hand per round Play a total of 2,500 cards Upgraded Nacho Tong.png) give additional hands per round, allowing Green Joker to scale even higher.

• The Water ( Boss The Water.png) will always have your discards set to 0, meaning Green Joker effect not lose at all.

• On Blue Stake difficulty or higher, you will get -1 discard per round, meaning Green Joker will scale more.

• Black Deck ( {{hl|orange|+1}} Joker slot <br> {{hl|blue|-1}} hand every round Discover at least {{hl|orange|100}} items from your [[collection]] Black Deck.png), Blast Off ( ), and Golden Needle ( ) all have poor synergy with Green Joker due to their reduced number of hands.
• Red Deck ( {{hl|red|+1}} discard every round Unlocked from start Red Deck.png): The +1 discard bonus is completely redundant to a Green Joker build, which should only be using discards in emergencies anyway.
• Anaglyph Deck ( After defeating each [[Blinds|{{hl|orange|Boss Blind}}]], gain a [[File:Double tag.png|24px]] [[Tags|{{hl|orange|Double Tag}}]] Win a run with any [[Decks|deck]] on the {{Stake|Black}} difficulty or harder Anaglyph Deck.png): Skipping Blinds to get extra Tags means not getting those extra Mult points on this Joker, which, in very extreme circumstances, could spell the player's demise. Given the power of stacking Tags, however, this is usually a nonissue.

Green Joker has anti-synergy with any Joker related to using discards in almost every circumstance. This includes Jokers such as:

• Burnt Joker (Upgrade the level of the first {{hl|orange|discarded}} poker hand each round Sell 50 cards. Rare Effect On Discard Burnt Joker.png)
• Faceless Joker (Earn {{Money|5}} if {{hl|orange|3}} or more {{hl|orange|face cards}} are discarded at the same time Common Economy On Discard Faceless_Joker.png)
• Mail-In Rebate (Earn {{Money|5}} for each discarded [[Card Ranks|{{hl|orange|[rank]}}]], rank changes every round Common Economy On Discard Mail-In Rebate.png)
• Trading Card (If {{hl|orange|first discard}} of round has only {{hl|orange|1}} card, destroy it and earn {{Money|3}} Uncommon Economy On Discard Trading Card.png)

Another anti-synergy arises from Troubadour ({{hl|orange|+2}} hand size, <br> {{hl|blue|-1}} hand each round Win {{hl|orange|5}} consecutive rounds by <abbr title="Discards are OK to use.">playing only 1 hand</abbr> Uncommon Effect N/A (Passive) Troubadour.png), which makes the player play one hand short, thus making Green Joker scale slower.

• The Hook ( Boss The Hook.png): This boss blind counters Green Joker's scaling potential as it discards 2 random cards every hand played, causing only a net neutral at the end. It is recommended to try to win as fast as possible against The Hook so players can have some money leftover as they cannot scale Green Joker against this boss blind.

Wasteful (Permanently gain {{hl|red|+1}} discard each round Base Wasteful.png) and Recyclomancy (Permanently gain an additional {{hl|red|+1}} discard each round Discard a total of 2500 cards Upgraded Recyclomancy.png) is not recommended.

• This Joker has a direct counterpart in Ride the Bus (This Joker gains {{Mult|+1}} per {{hl|orange|consecutive}} hand played without a scoring {{hl|orange|face}} card <br> {{Currently|{{Mult|+0}}}} Common Additive Mult Mixed Ride the Bus.png): both are Additive Mult Jokers that gain power whenever a hand (regardless of type) is played, and both have ways to lose their power as well, which encourages the player to not perform a specific action (using discards in this Joker's case, or playing face cards in the other's).
• The color green is usually used to describe a beginner or inexperienced person. In Balatro, a beginner would play hands instead of discarding them, which may be a reference to this Joker's ability to gain Mult with hands, but lose Mult with discards.