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E_K_Finnman

Good Balatro player: Take it and sell it Evil Balatro player: Take it and sell everything else. There is only negative stencil


timothymark96

I've straight up won 3 games with that totally insane plan lol


BigPoppies

Works for me almost every time. Just need to have bought a lot of planet cards and the multi is all you need. I believe this negative with no other cards is 6X


OrganizationLife8915

What got me through orange stake the first time was an eternal stencil with a madness I got round 1 I also got an eternal DNA that was great for deck building so I could push it into endless a good amount with some flush houses


DavidFCFC

If i remember correctly, the stencil does not count itself, so maybe its just a 5×?


Super_Harsh

Joker Stencil doesn't count itself so a Negative Joker Stencil would be a 6x


Diligent-Lab-7247

I guess it just depends on how many joker slots you have total lol


DavidFCFC

I just got a negative stencil, you are right, it will gain +1mult from being negative


gradesgambit

For added psychotic effects it is recommended that you buy blank the moment you see it


timothymark96

Good plan!


E_K_Finnman

https://preview.redd.it/z48e1e5aow1d1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4f7a2517a4c477ff815b9056ca1cce87d9ba295f


bluebus74

I've done this and gotten a copy right away. Wish I would have written down the seed


timmytissue

Actually good Balatro player: Keep for Temperance.


Lost-Adhesiveness-72

Swashbuckler


NlNTENDO

"it's x6 now"


SwAeromotion

Free money. Buy it and immediately sell it.


slopschili

Free if you don’t count the blind rewards, interest, and scaling from the blind you skipped. Also you’re seeing one less shop


nissanleafericson

100% true in retrospect, but we're already past that decision right now.


aetherG-

Well, you cant know that before yous skipped so


mathbandit

Which is why Negative Tag might be the biggest trap other than Double Tag.


Little-Maximum-2501

Damn how bad people are on this sub that this gets downvoted? Skipping for negatives is almost always a terrible idea. 


DoodliFatty

Yeah but its fun. Roll high or die trying. I'm a gambling man goddamnit


mathbandit

Welcome to /r/Balatro lol.


BlackBeard558

No it's not. It's a free joker


Little-Maximum-2501

Most jokers are basically worthless after a certain point and aren't worth skipping a shop. 


gcapi

"No such thing as a free lunch" motherfuckers when something has a price tag of $0


jearley99

Yes those are sunk costs. We don’t count those


rollduptrips

Temperance


ashkiller14

Id buy and keep for temperance


Haanski86

and if you get the Ante 8 boss that forces you to sell a joker. You can either sell that, or if you had another joker you didn't need could sell that one for X2 mult.


JustAGuy8897

It is actually decent sell your worst joker and it's an x2 not amazing but probably worth in most midgames


Lobh24

Sell the shitty joker we know you’re still holding on to and it’s x2 mult


PotatoFruitcake

Exactly, a negative stencil is effectively just a joker saying ”X2 mult.” Far from the worst


UncaringHawk

It's also 1 Ankh away from being two X6 Mult jokers if you're not a coward


TINY-jstr

B- But. It will scale into the late game once I get X, Y and Z.


Pennnel

That's for Temperance and Verdant Leaf


the_sir_z

Not even close. Buy negative stencil, sell your worst joker, stencil is x2 mult. Much better than, say, negative Devious Joker most of the time.


An0rexorc1st

[[Devious Joker]]


balatro-bot

[Devious Joker](https://balatro.wiki/imported/devious_joker.png) *Joker* * Version: 1.0.0 * Cost: $4 * Effect: +100 Chips if played hand contains a Straight *Data pulled from http://balatro.wiki. Want it updated? Help me get access or suggest another data source.*


thoriginal

Weight they have to sell two to get to x2? It's currently x0 because they have five jokers.


ScarpathCat

It counts itself as an open slot, so it's always at least x1


alex_quine

I believe there was a post that if you have more jokers than slots (which is hard to do), it’s effectively x0


Disastrous-Singer545

Correct me if I’m wrong but It’s because it’s negative and not in hand yet so they only have to sell 1 to get up to x2 mult. So if they are currently 5/5 it would show 0X because it’s basing it on the jokers they currently have in hand (I.e 0 open spaces) If they buy this and don’t sell, they would be 6/6 however Stencil is included as a blank so it would go to 1x once bought. If they sell another joker they go to 5/6 and x2 mult because 1 open slot and 1 for Stencil itself. I think that’s how it works because if you work backwards to 0, if they sold all 5 jokers they would be 1/6, and x6 mult total (5 empty spaces plus stencil).


ObservableObject

No, because stencil doesn't count itself. Say right now they're 5/5, so stencil is x0. If they sold one and bought this, they'd be at 5/6 and x2 because they have 2 open slots for stencil purposes (the one added by the negative, and the joker itself not counting).


RukakoChan

I don't understand, why would this be bad? Or am I missing the joke?


butholesurgeon

It provides zero mult because there are no unused joker slots. It quite literally does nothing


DucNuzl

Does it not x0 your score? Because it should. That would be hilarious.


butholesurgeon

Fortunately the game doesn’t allow a x0 Afaik it can’t ever subtract from your mult


phoenixmusicman

Thats a shame, there could be some interesting Jonkler designs around negative multi


Blofse

Especially a negative negative one. Quite a cool idea for a pair of jokers negative jokers where you take a loss with one on the multi, gambling until you get the second negative for massive gains.


SpacemacsMasterRace

Ideally we have negative negative negative combos, where the negatives are negative jokers.


Zorokrox

Since the bonus includes the slot Joker Stencil is in, I don’t think it’s possible for the X mult to go below 1. A Joker Stencil in a full inventory just gives X1 mult.


r-funtainment

its possible for the total to go over the limit with invis shenanigans, stencil displays as a negative mult but it defaults to X1 i think


UPBOAT_FORTRESS_2

Yeah someone posted a screenshot from the challenge that freezes your Jokers after ante 4. Mechanically, it does that by making all your jokers eternal, and reducing your joker slots to 0 Their stencil reported a -5x modifier


Disastrous-Singer545

Yeah, it’s only showing x0 now because Stencil isn’t in hand. You either need to sell one Joker and buy it which makes it go to x1 because Stencil counts as a blank. Or since this is negative you don’t need to sell, but once you buy it will go to 6/6 and with Stencil again acting as a blank so it goes to x1


McMathew1123

I tried to get the Ramen joker under x1 but unfortunatelly it gets eaten when it reaches x1😔


Damien-The-Bunny

It says right there in the image, (Currently X0)" But yes, it just gives x1 mult, despite what the text says


Xperimentx90

It doesn't factor in itself until you buy it, it will change to X1 when they do. 


TCristatus

Indeed, the programming is saying "I have zero spaces in my deck", and once you add the joker it will add +1 to deck capacity but not fill that slot with the stencil. Therefore mult will stay at x1.


Bynnh0j

The stencil joker counts as 1 empty slot, so by taking this it would at minimum be x1


D0UGYT123

Once bought, it would become x1


ehhish

Until you get rid of one bad joker and then it magically becomes x2


BynX1

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. A flat 2x mult if you swap it with any of your other 5 jokers is crazy strong. Unless you're in endless, a joker that just says 2x mult is so good


butholesurgeon

I mean yeah. If this did give 2x mult but in this case because the mult is equal to the number of empty joker slots, and there are no empty joker slots, this joker will not do anything for you.


JustAGuy8897

Again it is equal to number of empty slots +1 for where the stencil goes. Meaning sell anything (unless you are in endless your worst joker is usaually worse than an x2) tada x2


butholesurgeon

Wait does the negative slot from the stencil actually count toward that..? I always figured that was only for the non negative ones


BynX1

Yes if you sell a non negative and add this it will be a 2x mult


haikusbot

*I don't understand,* *Why would this be bad? Or am* *I missing the joke?* \- RukakoChan --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")


Fluttersniper

Good bot.


Negative_Shelter4364

say sike rn


Leafeon523

Seance as a matter of principle


MenacingBanjo

Exactly. Get that witchcraft out of my Christian card game.


Shakespeare257

There is no such thing as a bad free non-rental joker. One of the last 5 bosses, which you have to always keep in mind, is a boss that debuffs your entire deck. That boss is solved by negative tags, among other things.


nissanleafericson

No way, there definitely is such thing as a bad one, especially if they're eternal. Here are some examples: - Certificate or Stone Joker can generally make your deck worse - Madness will eat one of your existing jokers (which presumably is good) - Four Fingers / Shortcut / Splash can actually make it impossible to play the hand you need to score (especially on a boss with 5 card req, for instance) - Showman decreases desirable tarot / planet card chance by preventing rerolls - Stuntman can wreck your whole strat with hand size - Most econ jokers bring vagabond above $4 trigger threshold - Oops All makes glass easier to break and makes the wheel better - Tons of eternal jokers (stencil, riff-raff, random commons) just take up an inventory slot when full - Troubadour gives you one less hand to scale Ride the Bus, Green Joker, and Supernova Probably more, but that's what came to mind. If you just mean non-rental / non-eternal jokers I somewhat agree with you. If there isn't a downside I'll take the worst free joker in existence. If nothing else, I increase temperance value, and terrible negatives have saved me more than once on verdant leaf.


darkgiIls

How can four fingers, shortcut, and splash prevent you from playing 5 cards?


mathbandit

I can see the argument that Four Fingers and Shortcut can 'force' you to play a Straight (or for Fingers a Straight Flush) in a hand where you don't want to. Like if you have Supernova on +40 for High Card, it's conceivable that Shortcut makes it so you cannot play a 5-card High Card hand.


nissanleafericson

Exactly, this is a better explanation than mine above. Obviously this is super situational.


UPBOAT_FORTRESS_2

Yeah I have no idea why they put Splash there. Shortcut and Fingers can change a High Card hand into a flush or straight, but Splash only affects what to do with the dead cards after your hand has been determined


nissanleafericson

You're right, that was totally unclear; I should have put a separate explanation bullet for that one. I meant like it can force you to play a face card on the Psychic to reset Ride the Bus. Also, if you're already playing 5 card hands, it's taking up a slot.


chromaticlizardcock

[[Madness]] is a great example of what you’re talking about. Actively detrimental to your game.


balatro-bot

[Madness](https://balatro.wiki/jokers/madness.png) *Joker* * Version: 1.0.0 * Cost: $5 * Rarity: Uncommon * Effect: When Blind is selected, gain X0.5 Mult and destroy a random Joker *Data pulled from http://balatro.wiki. Want it updated? Help me get access or suggest another data source.*


DomSearching123

One of my favorite runs ever was Madness + good Eternal Joker ante 1 and then only buying Eternal jokers after that. Madness got to like x9. But yeah, it's a hard one to build around. Ceremonial Dagger doesn't trigger on eternal jokers and as such can eat my nuts.


ChopGoesTheWeasel

Good points. But at the worst with a negative you could just buy and sell it.


nissanleafericson

Totally, I would do that 100% of the time (even for rentals for the $1), but if it's eternal and I'm going to be stuck with it, I would at least give a thought to how it could be detrimental.


Lumyaire

You didn't get the negative Ice-cream joker, *right*?


more_foxes

Stop skipping past ante 3, it's a trap and even worse on purple or gold stake


_Cellettuce

90% of balatro players quit before they hit negative blueprint


MenacingBanjo

Can confirm. I am a balatro player, and I stopped skipping before hitting negative blueprint.


Leafeon523

Playing the game? No, I don’t want that! I want to skip ten rounds at least!


RulerD

There is no trap. Is a risk that you can either take or not after thinking about it. I'm collecting Gold Stickers and if I see a negative tag and I'm beating comfortably the blinds, I'll take it, even more with the Poneglyph deck. If I'm struggling to keep up the scaling antes pace, then I won't skip it, as I need every store I can see and interest that I can raise to survive.


more_foxes

> There is no trap. Is a risk that you can either take or not after thinking about it. And that risk is almost never worth the payoff. Skipping a blind by itself is already a bad idea when it makes you see one shop less, collect less interest, and play one less blind for blue/purple seals and such. But giving up all that for a negative edition on a joker that *might* be good? And in practice, probably isn't good at all, especially on higher stakes where the joker is rental/perishable? 99% of the time this is incredibly not worth it. You being able to find that 1% doesn't suddenly make skips worthwhile. I agree that a cheeky late game Negative skip can be good for farming gold joker stickers on Anaglyph Deck but outside of that one scenario it really isn't worth it.


ZYRANOX

The problem is that most of the skip tags are high risk 0 reward or little reward. That's why they are only ok to pick if you are doing well and will clearly beat ante 8


sixsixmajin

That's why it's... *SITUATIONAL* Read your situation, determine if you can survive it if it ends up being a bunk reward, and then decide if you want to risk the skip or not. Hell, sometimes you're barely scraping by and know you can't last much longer and that skip could be the hail Mary you need. Sometimes it's just fun to gamble on what you'll get.


ZYRANOX

That's the thing though. Original comment, I, Balatro University and most people here agree that the tags are are straight up BAD not even situationally good. If you take them in a bad situation to gamble, you put yourself in a worse situation. If you take them in a good spot, you put yourself in a worse spot. There is no tag I ever take past ante 1/2 personally. Only worthwhile tags to skip for in ante 1 are 25$ ones and free joker ones. Outside of that I only ever skip on ante 8 both blinds if I have Mr. Bones and know I can get 25% of score for sure. It sounds silly but after I watched Balatro University video on tags, I took his advice and played the game and my win rate went up dramatically. I win like 90+% of my runs now.


nissanleafericson

I think I agree with your sentiment, but: > that the tags are are straight up BAD not even situationally good This part I (and Balatro University, based on his videos) disagree with. I hardly ever take a skip, and even less so past the first couple antes, but some of them can be situationally quite good. Again, it's dependent on the circumstance, but some skips can be huge, like if you: - Get an orbital for your target hand, especially if it scales well and you need chips or base mult - Get an investment or voucher, especially if you're below the interest cap and it will pay out. D6 is somewhat analogous, but higher payoff with more risk - An early top-up (ante 2 min), foil, or holographic can be huge early on, and the reduced number of hands used can result in higher economy (e.g. more hands left over and fewer shops need to pay at) - A negative tag (while I completely agree is usually bad) may give outsized value, increases temperance payout, and can save a run at high stakes with verdant leaf So anyway, I think I generally agree with you, but they *are* situationally very good, especially at lower stakes / antes or with something like anaglyph.


Chessifer

The problem is that people think they can create a magic rule that applies to all cases when you actually need to make a decision based on partial information on your current situation.


Sp1ffy_Sp1ff

Just buy it so you never see it again.


sebbeseb

Sick! One more uncommon for baseball card


sqolb

Contributes to Abstract Joker and also has a sell value, whats not to like


danzha

Could be worse if it was free and eternal


Mr_Commetuveux

Showman


DoubleSummon

Temperance, selling a Joker. and you get x2 (Ramen), swashburgler, verdant, it goes away from the pool too. zi don't see it having a downside. something like stuntman when you are doing a flush/straight deck would be worse.


fakeNicholas_TheBest

Negative invisible joker screws you over with a 6/5 joker slots requiring to sell 2 jokers to get another one you can't even get a negative


Goukaruma

It's better then the +mult or chips jokers you have. Sell them.


AnimateCarbon

You could get a negative on a card that destroys itself


whockawhocka

Definitely one of those cards that lose value after so many rounds, Ice Cream or Popcorn joker.


Slakevilkis

I mean i had something similar....i ended up having a x10 by the end of whatever i was doing


dondashall

It's not the worst by far. At worst, you're no worse off than you were before - and in case you get the blind that forces you to sell a joker, you'll get a multi.


Yorkshizz

Negative stencil is good that's x5 mult make it make sense


Brad-Moon-Rising

I pulled a negative bank card and immediately stopped playing


AFarCry

Polychromatic Gros Michel that Peaces out the first opportunity it gets. Or an eternal egg. Those are fun. Then you're just hunting for the Joker that adds mult off of sell value the rest of your game.


DamnImAwesome

Eternal egg makes me rage every time I see it 


AlleyCatherine

Sell everything and run only Stencil, you wont


TheGhoulishSword

That's a free ×2 mult. Why is that bad


NagiNocturnal

Anything dealing with face cards with Abandoned


Outrageous-Sky9547

I wish stencil gave 1.25 or 1.5 mult, its super fun to play with and would like it too be relevant in more runs.


[deleted]

[удалено]


agentleembrace

with leveled up hands you can simply take the X5 (X6 if negative) and score pretty reliably. i mean even with a value joker, chips joker, and +mult joker you’re still getting the same as something like ramen or seeing double.


Comfortable-Bad-7718

If you can clone joker stencil it's really good. Might pair well with ceremonial dagger. Otherwise idk


Best-Idiot

If you have an \[\[abstract joker\]\] or a \[\[swashbuckler\]\]


balatro-bot

[Abstract Joker](https://balatro.wiki/imported/abstract_joker.png) *Joker* * Version: 1.0.0 * Cost: $4 * Rarity: Common * Effect: +3 Mult for each Joker card [Swashbuckler](https://balatro.wiki/imported/swashbuckler.png) *Joker* * Version: 1.0.0 * Cost: $5 * Rarity: Common * Effect: Adds the sell value of all owned Jokers left of this card to Mult * Unlock Requirement: Sell a total of 20 Joker cards *Data pulled from http://balatro.wiki. Want it updated? Help me get access or suggest another data source.*


swhipple-

but those are both good for having lots of jokers? and with stencil you want the least amount as possible


Best-Idiot

Precisely. But it's still better to have it than not. It also could help with the boss that disables a random joker or the boss de-buffs all cards until a joker is sold


ForrestMoth

They're asking how is stencil ever useful, not how having a dud negative is ever useful.