Blueprint

Blueprint copies the ability of the joker directly to its right.

Effect: Copies ability of Joker to the right

Blueprint copies the ability of the joker to its right in Balatro. Rare, $10. Unlock: win a run. What it can and cannot copy, and best targets.

Cost: $10

Rarity: Rare

Category: Effect Jokers

Unlock requirement: Win 1 run.

Verdict

The strongest joker in the game, and it scores nothing on its own. Blueprint does not add to your build — it squares it.

Why it works

The copy resolves as a separate trigger, so copying an X Mult joker multiplies instead of adding. Point Blueprint at a joker currently sitting at X8 Mult and the pair produces X64, not X16.
It copies the joker's live scaled value, not its printed base. A Hologram that has grown to X4.75 is copied at X4.75, and both halves keep growing together every time you add a card.
One slot roughly doubles the exponent of your whole build. Nothing else in the game trades a single slot for that much score.
It reads position, not identity, so a single Blueprint retargets for free every time your build changes. There is no cost to re-pointing it.

Joker placement

Immediately to the LEFT of your single best joker, since Blueprint copies the joker to its right. If your best joker is already leftmost, you want Brainstorm instead.

How to play

Do not buy Blueprint first. With nothing to its right it contributes exactly zero. Buy the scaler, then buy Blueprint.
Re-drag Blueprint after every single shop. Its target is positional, and leaving it aimed at a joker you have since outgrown is one of the most common ways a good run quietly stops scaling.
Point it at the largest MULTIPLICATIVE number on your board, never the largest additive one. Copying a +30 Mult joker adds 30. Copying an X4 joker multiplies by 4.
Blueprint pointed at another Blueprint does nothing. Chains need a real joker at the end.

Combos

Baron + Mime

Five Kings held: Baron alone is 1.5^5 = X7.6. Add Mime and every King triggers Baron twice, giving 1.5^10 = X57.7. Make those Kings Steel and each one contributes 1.5^4, giving 1.5^20 = X3,325. Point Blueprint at Mime so every held ability fires three times and it becomes 1.5^30 = X191,751.

Mime retriggers held-in-hand abilities, and Baron is a held-in-hand ability. Blueprint copying Mime adds a third trigger to every King and every Steel enhancement at once, so the exponent grows rather than the base.

Brainstorm

Your keystone joker counted three times instead of once.

Order the row as [keystone] ... [Blueprint][Brainstorm]. Brainstorm copies the leftmost joker, and Blueprint copies Brainstorm, so Blueprint also resolves as the keystone. The keystone fires once itself and twice more through the copies.

Cavendish

X9 Mult from two cards costing $14 total, and the copy keeps working if the original pops.

X3 copied is X3 again, so the pair multiplies to X9. Blueprint is not subject to Cavendish's 1-in-1000 destruction roll, so the copy survives the original.

Traps

Buying Blueprint at $10 during Antes 1-3 with nothing worth copying. That is most of your early economy spent on zero score, and the tempo loss is usually what kills the run, not the ante.
Aiming it at an additive joker. The copy just adds a second flat bonus. Against an X Mult target the same slot squares your build instead.
Leaving Blueprint in the rightmost slot, where it copies nothing at all. Check its position every time you buy or sell.

Benchmarks

Ante 8

Turns a roughly X10 build into a roughly X100 one. That is typically the gap between a 30,000 hand and the 100,000 the Ante 8 boss demands.

Endless

Effectively mandatory. The requirement multiplies by more than 10x per ante past Ante 10, so only multiplicative growth keeps pace, and Blueprint is the cheapest way to double your exponent.

How it works

Blueprint copies the ability of the joker directly to its right. Many jokers can be copied; passive rule changes like Oops! All 6s, Four Fingers or Showman cannot. Order matters, so move your best copyable joker to Blueprint's right. It is Rare and costs $10.

How to unlock

Win a run.

Copyable by Blueprint/Brainstorm

yes

Best combos

Brainstorm: Brainstorm copies your leftmost joker, so two copiers can double one key joker.
Baron: Another X1.5 per held King.
Perkeo: Two Negative consumable copies every shop.
The Family: Another X4 Mult on Four of a Kind.

Frequently asked questions

What does Blueprint do in Balatro?

Copies ability of Joker to the right

Is Blueprint good in Balatro?

Blueprint is S-tier (9.8/10). The strongest joker in the game, and it scores nothing on its own. Blueprint does not add to your build — it squares it.

What is the best Blueprint combo?

Blueprint with Baron and Mime: Five Kings held: Baron alone is 1.5^5 = X7.6. Add Mime and every King triggers Baron twice, giving 1.5^10 = X57.7. Make those Kings Steel and each one contributes 1.5^4, giving 1.5^20 = X3,325. Point Blueprint at Mime so every held ability fires three times and it becomes 1.5^30 = X191,751. Mime retriggers held-in-hand abilities, and Baron is a held-in-hand ability. Blueprint copying Mime adds a third trigger to every King and every Steel enhancement at once, so the exponent grows rather than the base.

When is Blueprint a bad pick?

Buying Blueprint at $10 during Antes 1-3 with nothing worth copying. That is most of your early economy spent on zero score, and the tempo loss is usually what kills the run, not the ante.

Where should Blueprint go in the joker order?