Vouchers can make or break your run in Balatro, and deciding which ones to buy from the shop is key to your success. Vouchers offer permanent buffs that come in handy once you face the obnoxiously high Boss Blinds your decks must clear in the late game.
Priced at $10 each, they are also the most expensive upgrades in the game, so you typically want to buy Vouchers that immediately impact the game. But there’s one voucher that doesn’t do much of anything, at least at first. The aptly named Blank Voucher stands out among the 32 Vouchers in the game for being odd and seemingly useless.
Despite the playful question mark at the end of its description — which reads “Does Nothing?” — the Blank Voucher literally does nothing to improve your run — until it transforms, that is.
What does the Blank Voucher do in Balatro?
All Vouchers, once purchased, trigger the possibility of a much more powerful, level 2 version of that Voucher appearing in the Shop. In the case of the Blank Voucher, the worst one in the game becomes Antimatter, the best Voucher in the game. Antimatter gives players an extra Joker slot, which opens up even more avenues for stacking up your Chips and Mults. Trust me, having 6 Jokers instead of 5 is powerful. Stocking up on the best Jokers is how you’ll make it past the ridiculous score thresholds present in Purple, Orange and Gold Stake runs, so the more the merrier. Antimatter is particularly useful against the finisher Boss Blind Verdant Leaf, which debuffs all your cards until you sell a Joker card. With Antimatter, you gain an extra slot you can fill with a cheap Joker you don’t care about until you satisfy Verdant Leaf’s condition.
To unlock Antimatter, Blank Voucher must be purchased 10 times in multiple runs. Once Antimatter is unlocked, you’ll still be spending $10 each and every run on a Blank Voucher for the possibility of Antimatter appearing in the shop, but you won’t have to do that 10 times again.
So is paying for Blank Voucher worth it? Probably. Like much of Balatro, it comes down to luck. If you’re rolling in the dough because a Lucky Cat build got your economy purring, then it’s likely worth it. But if you’re strapped for cash, it feels wrong to waste $10 on Blank Voucher and then never even see Antimatter during the rest of your run.
Still though, that potential for a +1 Joker slot might just make it worth the risk.