How to Use Tarot Cards in Balatro: All 22 Cards Explained

In Balatro, Tarot cards are one-use consumables that alter playing cards in your deck or create other resources. To use one, obtain it during a run, check its effect and target requirement, then select the requested card or cards if prompted. The game has 22 Tarot cards, and their effects range from card enhancements and suit changes to money and generating other consumables.

How Tarot cards work in Balatro

Tarot is an in-game mechanic, not a guide to reading a divination deck. The Balatro FAQ describes Tarot cards as consumables that modify playing cards in your deck—for example, by changing rank or suit or adding chips—and says you can acquire them in the shop during a run.

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Not every Tarot directly improves scoring. Some change selected playing cards; others remove or copy cards, affect your money, or create Tarot, Planet, or Joker cards. Their value depends on the current deck and the poker hands you are trying to build.

How to use a Tarot card

1. Get one during your run. The in-game shop is one documented way to acquire Tarot cards.
2. Read its effect and target requirement. Check whether it asks you to select playing cards or instead creates a resource or affects money.
3. Select targets if prompted. Choose the required card or cards and follow the on-screen prompt. Controls can differ by platform, so use the prompt shown in your game rather than relying on a universal button sequence.
4. Use the effect with your deck in mind. A suit change, rank increase, or card removal can matter differently depending on which hands you are trying to draw and play.

All 22 Tarot cards in Balatro

The official Steam listing states that Balatro has 22 Tarot variants. The effects below follow the listed card descriptions; target caps and randomness are included where specified.

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Effects and target counts are listed by the Game Design Lab Balatro wiki. The Wheel of Fortune is the entry here with a stated chance; the other listed effects are described directly.

How to compare Tarot effects

• Enhancements: The Magician, Empress, Hierophant, Lovers, Chariot, Justice, Devil, and Tower change selected cards into a named card type.
• Rank and suit changes: Strength raises the rank of up to two selected cards by one; The Star, Moon, Sun, and World convert up to three selected cards to a named suit.
• Deck changes: The Hanged Man destroys up to two selected cards, while Death converts the left of two selected cards into the right one.
• Money and Joker effects: The Hermit doubles money; Temperance pays based on the total sell value of current Jokers; Judgement creates a random Joker; and Wheel of Fortune offers a stated 1-in-4 chance of adding one of three editions to a random Joker.
• Other consumables: The High Priestess creates up to two random Planet cards, The Emperor creates up to two random Tarot cards, and The Fool creates the last Tarot or Planet card used during the run.

For any card that needs targets, follow the displayed selection prompt and confirm the exact effect text in your current game. This is especially useful if an update changes a description or limit.

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