You're staring at a Celestial Pack. Three glowing orbs. One says Pluto, one says Jupiter, and the other is a weirdly enticing Ceres. If you're new to the game, you might just pick the one that matches the hand you played last. Big mistake. Honestly, the way every planet card Balatro offers can change your run is often the difference between dying at Ante 4 and hitting those "Scientific Notation" scores that look like math homework gone wrong.
Planet cards aren't just little level-up stickers. They are the foundation. Think of them as the "Base" of your skyscraper. If your base is weak, no amount of X-Mult jokers will save you when the blinds hit the millions.
The Core Nine: The Planets You See Every Run
Most of your time in the shop will be spent looking at the standard nine. These correspond to the basic poker hands. But they aren't created equal. Some scale like absolute monsters, while others—looking at you, Jupiter—can feel like a trap if you don't have the right jokers to back them up.
Pluto (High Card)
This is the "pro" card. Leveling up High Card sounds stupid. Why would you want to score a single 2 of Spades? Because you can play it every single turn without thinking. Pluto gives +1 Mult and +10 Chips. It's tiny. But if you have jokers like Burnt Joker or Space Joker, you can get High Card to level 50. Suddenly, that single 2 of Spades is worth 500 base chips. That's how you win Gold Stake.
Mercury (Pair)
Basically Pluto’s slightly cooler older brother. It gives +1 Mult and +15 Chips. It’s reliable. You've always got a pair.
Uranus (Two Pair)
This is a mid-tier card. +1 Mult and +20 Chips. Most players ignore Uranus unless they have the Spare Trousers joker. If you have the Trousers, you take every Uranus you see. If not, it’s usually skip-worthy.
Venus (Three of a Kind)
Now we're getting into the "real" hands. Venus gives +2 Mult and +20 Chips. It's a solid jump.
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Earth (Full House)
A fan favorite. +2 Mult and +25 Chips. Full Houses are easy to build once you start using Tarot cards to delete the junk from your deck. It’s a very "safe" way to play.
Mars (Four of a Kind)
This is where the scaling gets serious. +3 Mult and +30 Chips. If you’re deck-fixing with Death and Strength cards to get a bunch of Aces, Mars is your best friend. The jump in power from level 1 to level 5 is massive compared to the lower hands.
Jupiter (Flush)
The "newbie" trap. Don't get me wrong, flushes are easy. But Jupiter only gives +2 Mult and +15 Chips. It scales poorly. If you rely only on Jupiter, you will hit a wall in the late game. You need a Joker like Bloodstone or Onyx Agate to make this work.
Saturn (Straight)
Saturn is the secret MVP of the common planets. +3 Mult and +30 Chips. It scales exactly like Four of a Kind but is arguably easier to hit if you have the Shortcut or Four Fingers jokers. A high-level Straight is terrifying.
Neptune (Straight Flush)
The king of the basics. +4 Mult and +40 Chips. It’s hard to hit, but if you have a "Smeared Joker" making suits easier, Neptune will carry you to the moon.
The Secret "Hidden" Planets
You won't see these in your first few shops. You have to "unlock" them during your run by playing hands that shouldn't exist in standard poker. Once you play the hand, the planet card starts appearing in packs and the shop.
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Planet X (Five of a Kind)
You need five of the same rank. Use a DNA joker or some Death tarots to make it happen. Planet X gives +3 Mult and +35 Chips. It's basically a beefier Mars.
Ceres (Flush House)
Three of a kind and a pair, but they all have to be the same suit. It’s harder than it sounds. But the reward? +3 Mult and +40 Chips.
Eris (Flush Five)
The holy grail. Five cards, same rank, same suit. This is how people get those "uncountably large" scores. Eris gives +3 Mult and +50 Chips. The chip scaling here is insane. If you get Eris to level 10, your base score before any jokers is already enough to clear early Antes in one hand.
Why Every Planet Card Balatro Offers Matters for "The Observatory"
There is a legendary voucher called Observatory. It’s the game-changer. If you have it, every planet card in your consumable slot acts like a 1.5x multiplier for that specific hand.
Imagine you’re playing a Flush build. You have three Jupiter cards sitting in your hand. You don't use them. With Observatory, each one gives you 1.5x Mult. That's $1.5 \times 1.5 \times 1.5$, which is roughly a 3.37x multiplier just for holding the cards.
This is why expert players sometimes stop using planet cards and start hoarding them.
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Common Misconceptions About Scaling
I’ve seen a lot of people say you should always go for the "hardest" hand. That's not always true. In Balatro, consistency is king.
- High Card is often better than Flush. Why? Because you can't be "screwed" by a bad draw. If you level up Pluto enough, every hand is a winning hand.
- Blue Seals are planet factories. If you have a card with a Blue Seal, keep it in your hand at the end of the round. It creates a random planet card for the hand you played most. It’s basically a free level-up every round.
- The Telescope Voucher is mandatory. It makes Celestial Packs always show the planet for your most-played hand. Without it, you’re just gambling (which, I mean, is the point of the game, but still).
How to Actually Use This Information
If you want to win more often, stop being a generalist. Pick a "path" by Ante 2.
- The "Reliable" Path: Focus on Pluto (High Card) or Mercury (Pair). Get a "Burnt Joker" early and discard your way to level 20.
- The "Big Hand" Path: Use Tarots to make your deck 50% Spades. Hunt for Jupiter or Neptune.
- The "High Roller" Path: Use the "Strength" Tarot to turn all your 2s into 3s, then 3s into 4s, until you have 15 Kings. Then, play a Five of a Kind and start hunting Planet X.
Honestly, just experiment. The weirdest runs—the ones where you end up with level 12 Two Pair because the game kept throwing Uranus at you—are often the most fun. Just remember: a level 1 Straight Flush is usually worse than a level 10 Pair. Don't let the "poker rank" fool you. In Balatro, the "level" is everything.
The next time you open a Celestial Pack, look at your jokers first. If you have "The Duo," you want Mercury. If you have "The Trio," you want Venus. Let your jokers tell you which planet to orbit.
Check your "Run Info" screen frequently to see your current hand levels. It's easy to lose track of whether your Flush or your Full House is actually stronger when the multipliers start flying.
Next, try focusing on a single hand type for an entire run to see how the scaling feels at level 10 or higher.