Blueprint Balatro Guide: What It Copies, What It Cannot, and Best Targets

What Does Blueprint Copy in Balatro?

Blueprint repeats the compatible active effect of the Joker immediately to its right. That includes many scoring effects, retriggers, card-generation triggers, and current values from scaling Jokers. If the target currently gives X3 Mult, the copied effect can apply another X3 Mult when its normal trigger occurs.

Blueprint does not copy the target Joker's Foil, Holographic, Polychrome, or Negative Edition; Eternal, Perishable, or Rental stickers; passive rule changes; or a debuffed ability. A Polychrome target can still have a copyable base ability, but Blueprint repeats that base ability rather than the separate Polychrome X1.5 Edition bonus.

How Blueprint Chooses and Activates Its Target

Position decides the target: Blueprint reads the Joker one slot to its right. Put Blueprint at the far right and it copies nothing. Move it before a different action and it can copy a different compatible Joker for that action. This is why one Blueprint may copy Perkeo while leaving the shop, Cartomancer when a Blind begins, Burnt Joker on a discard, DNA on the first hand, and a scoring Joker for the winning hand.

Timing still belongs to the copied effect. A copied 'when scored' ability waits for scored cards; a copied 'held in hand' ability waits for that phase; and a copied start-of-Blind ability cannot be recovered after that moment has passed. Moving Blueprint after pressing Play Hand does not rewrite the target already locked for that scoring sequence.

Scaling also stays on the original card. Blueprint does not build a separate Hologram, Vampire, Green Joker, or Constellation value. It reads the target's current value and applies a second instance of that value when the compatible trigger fires.

7 Blueprint Compatibility Rules That Prevent Bad Copies

1. Check the in-game compatibility message: The target tooltip is the fastest final check because some Jokers contain active and passive parts.
2. Separate ability from Edition: Foil, Holographic, Polychrome, and Negative belong to the card modifier layer and are not copied.
3. Do not copy a debuffed target: A debuffed Joker has no active ability for Blueprint to repeat while the debuff applies.
4. Current scaling value can be repeated: Blueprint uses the target's current chips, +Mult, or XMult result without owning a second growth counter.
5. Retriggers can be premium targets: Mime, Hanging Chad, Sock and Buskin, Hack, and similar compatible retriggers can outperform a simple flat bonus.
6. Passive rules usually fail: Hand-size changes, suit or rank rules, shop rules, and many end-of-round economy effects are incompatible.
7. Choose the action, not one permanent target: Reposition Blueprint between shop, Blind, discard, hand, and cash-out phases when another compatible trigger is more valuable.

The 29 Jokers Entirely Incompatible with Blueprint

Blueprint Examples: Polychrome, Debuffs, and Timing

These cases answer the questions that a simple compatible/incompatible list misses.

Does Blueprint copy Polychrome?

Can Blueprint copy a debuffed Joker?

Should Blueprint stay on one Joker all round?

Blueprint with Brainstorm, Mime, Baron, and Other Copy Chains

Blueprint can copy another Blueprint or Brainstorm as long as the chain resolves to a compatible final target and does not form a closed loop. Each copy adds another instance of the final effect. Brainstorm always refers to the leftmost Joker, while Blueprint refers to its immediate right, so the same cards may require a different arrangement for score timing.

For Baron and Mime builds, count what is being multiplied and what is being retriggered. Adding one more Baron-style XMult instance is not automatically better than adding one more Mime retrigger; the best split depends on the number of held Kings, Red Seals, existing retriggers, and current Mult. Use the Joker Calculator to compare candidate orders rather than relying on a universal slogan.

Chance-based copied effects roll independently. Copying Bloodstone or Space Joker does not force both instances to succeed together. This improves the number of opportunities, not the certainty of any one roll.

Common Blueprint Mistakes

• Putting Blueprint on the right edge: There is no Joker to its right, so there is no target.
• Counting Polychrome twice: The target's Edition is separate from the ability Blueprint copies.
• Copying rarity instead of value: A Rare target can be worse than a Common retrigger or a scaled scoring Joker in the current hand.
• Ignoring a mixed active/passive effect: Blueprint may copy the scoring part but not the hand-size penalty or other passive part.
• Moving after the trigger: Repositioning cannot recover a start-of-Blind, discard, or scoring event that has already been evaluated.

A 6-Step Blueprint Decision Check

1. Name the next action: leave shop, select Blind, discard, play hand, score cards, or cash out.
2. List only Jokers with compatible effects that trigger during that action.
3. Remove debuffed targets and ignore Editions or stickers when estimating the copied ability.
4. Compare current-value XMult, +Mult, chips, retriggers, economy, and card generation rather than card rarity.
5. Place Blueprint immediately left of the chosen target before committing the action.
6. For close scoring choices, test both candidate orders in the Balatro Joker Calculator.

Use Blueprint as a Timed Copy Slot, Not a Permanent Pair

The safest Blueprint rule is precise: it copies the compatible ability of the Joker immediately to its right at the relevant trigger. Editions, stickers, passive rules, and debuffed abilities stay outside that copy.

Once compatibility is clear, optimize by phase. Copy setup when setup matters, retriggers or XMult when scoring matters, and move before—not after—the trigger. That approach answers more runs correctly than memorizing a single best target.