Scalers are a type of Joker in Balatro. They will start out with no score and must meet a certain condition in order for you to increase the score or money that they give you. They can come in many types from Chips to Econ and some even have different variables to keep up their value. This has made it hard for the community to define what is and isn’t a scaler. Still though, it is generally agreed that many Scaling Jokers are very strong and are almost a must if you are playing Gold Stake for many builds. They aren’t needed but are some of the best types of Jokers as many of them go great with Pairs builds, which is optimal at high levels of play.
I have seen many discussions on what counts as one and so I have made a list of what I believe to be all the different types of Scaler that exist in the game. Do keep in mind that this is based off my judgement and many others may or may not agree with this so don’t take this as a bible of what is what in terms of Scalers. Take what I say going forward with a grain of salt.
Traditional Scaler
These are Scalers that will go up and only go up when a certain condition is met. These are more flatter Scalers, with more concreate and cosistent ways of making them go up and have no condition for decresing them in any way. The only way for them to go down would be to sell them and buy them back in the shop but for some like Fortune Teller. These should manily be built up by playing into their conditions, can be done very passively and never have the struggle of them going down. Below is a list of all of the Jokers I would consider Traditional Scalers:
| Appearance | Name | Effect |
|---|---|---|
 | Ceremonial Dagger | When Blind is selected, destroy Joker to the right and permanently add double its sell value to the Mult (Currently +0 Mult) |
 | Egg | Gains $3 of sell value at end of round |
 | Runner | Gains +15 Chips if played hand contains a Straight (Currently +0 Chips) |
 | Constellation | This Joker gains X0.1 Mult every time a Planet card is used (Currently X1 Mult) |
 | Red Card | This Joker gains +3 Mult when Booster Packs are skipped (Currently +0 Mult) |
 | Madness | When Small Blind or Big Blind is selected, gain X0.5 Mult and destroy a random Joker (Currently X1 Mult) |
 | Square Joker | This Joker gains +4 Chips if played hand contains exactly 4 cards (Currently +0 Chips) |
 | Vampire | This Joker gains X0.1 Mult per scoring Enhanced card played, removes card Enhancement (Currently X1 Mult) |
 | Hologram | This Joker gains X0.25 Mult every time card is added to your deck (Currently X1 Mult) |
 | Rocket | Earn $1 at the end of round, increases by $2 when Boss Blind is defeated |
 | Gift Card | Adds $1 of sell value to Jokers and Consumable card at end of round |
 | Fortune Teller | +1 Mult per Tarot card used this run (Currently +0 Mult) |
 | Lucky Cat | This Joker gains X0.25 Mult every time a Lucky card is successfully triggered (Currently X1 Mult) |
 | Flash Card | This Joker gains+2 Mult for per reroll in the shop (Currently +0 Mult) |
 | Spare Trouser | This Joker gains +2 Mult if played hand contains a Two Pair (Currently +0 Mult) |
 | Castle | This Joker gains +3 Chips per discarded [suit] card, suit changed every round (Currently +0 Chips) |
 | Throwback | Gains X0.25 Mult for each Blind skipped this run (Currently X1 Mult) |
 | Glass Joker | This Joker gains X0.75 Mult for every Glass Card destroyed (Currently X1 Mult) |
 | Wee Joker | This Joker gains +8 Chips when played 2 is scored (Currently +0 Chips) |
 | Satellite | Earn $1 at end of round per unique Planet card used this run |
 | Canio | This Joker gains X1 Mult when a face card is destoryed (Currently X1 Mult) |
 | Yorick | This Joker gains X1 Mult every 23 cards discarded (Currently X1 Mult) |
Sudo-Scaler
These are Scalers that will will fluctuate up and down based on certain factors or conditions that are either controllable or loose. Due to the nature of these Jokers and how they build up their Scaling, it can be based on what you play, what’s your decks current condition or if you have beaten a Boss Blind. Most of the ways they go down in score can be avoided or managed with careful planning and resource management. Not every Joker in this category will lose what they have built up but most will have that as a factor. This category also has many of the more complex Scalers. Below is a list of all of the Jokers I would consider Sudo-Scalers:
| Appearacne | Name | Effect |
|---|---|---|
 | Steel Joker | Gain X0.2 Mult for each Steel card in your Full Deck (Currently X0 Mult) |
 | Abstract Joker | +3 Mult for each Joker card (Currently +0 Mult) |
 | Supernova | Add number of time played Poker Hands has been used this run to Mult |
 | Ride The Bus | This Joker gains +1 Mult per consecutive hand played without a scoring face card (Currently +0 Mult) |
 | Blue Joker | +2 Chips for each remaining card in your deck (Currently +0 Chips) |
 | Hiker | Every played card gains permanently +5 Chips when scored |
 | Green Joker | +1 Mult per hand played -1 Mult per discard (Currently +0 Mult) |
 | Cloud 9 | Earn $1 for each 9 in your full deck at the end of round (Currently $4) |
 | Obelisk | This Joker gains X0.2 Mult per consecutive hand played without playing your most played Poker Hand (Currently X1 Mult) |
 | Erosion | +4 Mult for each card below 52 in your full deck (Currently +0 Mult) |
 | Stone Joker | +25 Chips For each Stone card in your fulll deck (Currently +0 Chips) |
 | Bull | +2 Chips for each $1 you have (Currently +0 Chips) |
 | Campfire | This Joker gains X0.25 Mult for each card sold, resets when Boss Blind is defeated (Currently X1 Mult) |
 | Swashbuckler | Adds sell value of all other owned Jokers to the Mult (Currently +0 Mult) |
 | Hit The Road | This Joker gains X0.25 Mult for every Jack discarded this round (Currently X1 Mult) |
 | Bootstraps | +2 Mult for each $5 you have (Currently +0 Mult) |
Anti-Scaler
These are Scalers that can only go down, without any means to reset them. The only way to get back their original value is to buy another that appears in the shop. Many of these type of Jokers are meant to be quick utility and scoring, rather than something meaningful and long lasting. For the scoring ones, they are more effective early to help get through rounds, where as utility may be used for a multitude of quick, in the moment reasons. Below is a list of all of the Jokers I would consider Anti-Scalers:
| Appearacne | Name | Effect |
|---|---|---|
 | Banner | +30 Chips for each remaining Discard |
 | Ice Cream | +100 Chips -5 Chips for every hand played |
 | Turtle Bean | +5 hand size, reduce by 1 each round |
 | Popcorn | +20 Mult -4 Mult per round played |
 | Ramen | X2 Mult, loses X0.01 Mult per card discarded |
 | Seltzer | Retrigger all played cards for the next 10 hands |
