As Balatro is still a roguelike, you can bet the bosses of each section, called Boss Blinds, are there to ruin your run. The randomized aspect of the game makes it slightly harder to defend against them, but some are still easier than others. That’s why we have gathered a ranking of the Balatro Boss Blinds, so you’ll know what you’re up against.
There are Tarot cards that can let you reroll a Boss Blind, but those are somewhat rare, so you probably won’t get them at the right time. On top of that, you’d have to carry that consumable for far too long as it takes up important space.
14. The Pillar
This is definitely the easiest boss you can possibly face, especially in the first or second Ante. Unlike the bosses that debuff based on the suit, The Pillar operates only on cards already played in the Small and Big Blinds. Unless you used every hand possible to win those two, there should be plenty of remaining cards to cancel out the losses of any debuffs.
13. All Four Suit Debuff Boss Blinds
These can’t be ranked separately, as they all do the same thing with roughly the same difficulty level. As far as Boss Blinds go, these are fairly easy to beat. One of these will likely be the boss of the first Ante, so there’s not a major concern as your deck is varied enough. As long as you can make hands lucrative or large enough that the debuffed card doesn’t really matter, you’ll succeed without any issues. The longer a run goes, the more chances you have to add new cards to the deck to offset this.
12. The Manacle
For the most part, this Boss is just a nuisance, as you will only get to draw seven cards instead of eight. This is going to hurt you when trying to draw to a straight or similar, but it won’t hurt you too badly in the long run. The biggest difficulty here is that you are a bit more susceptible to bad draws, and there is a chance that a missing card could be what keeps you from victory. If you get an item that lets you play an extra hand, you should be able to manage this.
11. The Hook
As The Hook will discard two extra cards, it makes setting up a future strategy a little more difficult. Your chances of putting down a pair to try and draw into a straight will be made much harder. However, if you don’t have a good hand, you’re getting a free discard of two cards on top of whatever hand you’ve made. You can easily play around debuffs, but losing the one card that would’ve set up a great hand can easily sink you.
10. The Water
Not being able to discard is a pretty big deal, but there’s no guarantee it will be what ends the run. You can get around this as long you have upgraded a couple of hands, so you aren’t overly reliant on discards. Having a good selection of Jokers will also be how you survive this one, so anything that gives a decent multiplier is a must. You can maybe get away with a single attempt at just going for a High Card, but more than that will likely end in your defeat.
9. The Psychic
There’s no real way to make this one sound good. It’s not the worst Boss Blind, but it’s not great. Being forced to put down five cards regardless of what you have is a tough ask, and it will likely keep you from creating any meaningful hands. However, you can still discard into hopefully a flush or straight to offset it, but that’s not always doable. Once again, your Jokers will be what see you through this round. Victory will be a lot easier if you also have at least one Joker that increases your number of hands.
There is a direct way to cheese this Boss Blind, and that is with the Splash Joker. That card makes it so that every single card played is counted, even if they don’t make part of the hand. So if you make a pair, the three additional cards will also count and factor into the multiplier.
8. The Mark
This is one of two bosses that seeks to make it so you have no idea what you are doing. Anything from a Jack to a King will all be face down, so you have no idea what they are. This is particularly rough if you know you have some especially good face cards with solid effects, as you’ll never be able to play them reliably. This isn’t the worst boss that does this, but you need to be entirely careful if you risk using one of the face-down cards.
7. The Serpent
For this boss, you better have a decent starting hand size or bank of discards, because you’ll need them. Getting only three cards back will likely decimate your ability to make a good hand. You’ll be throwing away discards just to get enough cards in hand to make something workable. However, once you run out of discards and still only hold four (or fewer) cards, this becomes a clearly lost battle.
6. The House
Unless you get obscenely lucky, this will cost you at least one hand, which you can’t necessarily afford. The thing is, the cards won’t flip over. Only the newly drawn cards will be face up; the initial group remains a mystery. So even if you put down five cards on a whim, there will still be three you won’t know. You can always discard them, but that’s equally risky as you could be throwing away gold.
5. The Tooth
The Tooth is one of those that you’ll likely get on Ante 6 or 7, probably just when you’re confident in your current cash stock. You’ll lose money here, no matter your Joker layout or how upgraded your best hand type is. Obviously, if you have a solid straight or flush, you can get through this in a single hand, and $5 might not be too terrible. However, this boss doesn’t stop at $0, so if you’re not set up enough, you will absolutely go into the negatives. With any luck, you can offset that with your winnings, but that is never guaranteed.
4. The Flint
Are you prepared to be completely kneecapped? No matter how amazing your build and layout is between cards and Jokers, you’re getting half your normal results. This would be bad even on a normal Blind, but against a boss with an increased score requirement? This one is absolutely killer, so you just need to maximize where you can to win. If possible, you’ll want to have upgraded at least Pair, Two Pair, and Full House to level two or three. This won’t be easy, but it’s clearly not the worst.
3. The Eye
If you’ve put all your chips into a specific hand type, this boss could potentially end the whole run. You can almost guarantee your first hand can be your best type, but your run might be over if it doesn’t beat the boss. This is one of those bosses you are honestly better off saving a reroll for because it’s hard to plan for the Eye and build up a strategy. If you’re going to build out only one hand type, you better maximize it.
2. The Wall
While this one isn’t the hardest, it can present an unwinnable challenge. If you got this one in the first Ante, you might be able to handle it. But if you get hit with a harder blind than you have the potential multiplier to handle, it won’t matter how many great hands you can make. This one is frustrating because you know just from seeing it coming that it’s not going to be easy, but at least you can prepare a little.
1. The Needle
I don’t know how you could ever survive this one because you get a single attempt to beat this boss. Unless you get some god-combo of Jokers, playing cards, and an incredible starting draw, I don’t see how you can win. There’s no room for error here, as being under the limit even a little bit means your immediate defeat. There’s no question this is the hardest Boss Blind, and you’re going to have to earn your win.
There really is a wide gap between the easiest and toughest Boss Blinds in Balatro. What do you think about our ranking? Let us know in the comments!
