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Jokers are the beating heart of Balatro. Whilst there are many ways to gain power in Balatro, the most direct is to simply buy an assortment of powerful Jokers that synergise in some way. Heck, just having access to high-quality Mult cards can be enough, and that’s where Balatro’s legendary banana enters the conversation.
Gros Michel is one of the best early-game Jokers in Balatro because it grants a huge amount of Mult for a low cost. It even has the added benefit of having no downsides… kind of. In this guide, we will go over why Gros Michel is good, and how you can unlock the legendary super banana, Cavendish.
More Balatro content:
Deck Unlock Guide | Planet Card Guide | Tarot Card Guide | Spectral Card Guide | Legendary Joker Guide | Modifier Guide | Blank Voucher Guide | Best Legendary Jokers | Tag Guide
Why Is Gros Michel So Good?
Gros Michel grants a whopping +15 Mult with no downsides, clauses, or activations. You buy it, you get the effect. Early on, this can make Ante 1-3 a cakewalk as you brute force your way through every Blind. Very few Jokers in Balatro have a Mult this high, and the ones that do, often need to be scaled or have downsides. Mystic Summit and Popcorn spring to mind here.
When we say Gros Michel has no downsides, we are of course overlooking its glaring downside. Gros Michel, like all food-based Jokers, has an expiry effect. In this instance, Gros Michel has a 1-in-4 chance of being destroyed after every Round. You better believe this will happen at the worst possible time every time it happens.
But losing Gros Michel isn’t always the end of the world, and in fact, having Gros Michel go extinct can lead to even greater power later in your run. Gros Michel crawled so a second secret banana could sprint.
How To Unlock Cavendish In Balatro
Cavendish is hidden away and incredibly rare. Even after you have met its unlock requirements, there is no guarantee you will see it appear. To unlock Cavendish, you have to have purchased Gros Michel during a run and let it expire. Then and only then will the game allow Cavendish to appear in shops.
Cavendish is supremely powerful as it grants a whopping x3 Mult with no caveats. This makes it one of the most powerful multiplicative Mult generators in the game. Whilst it can be outclassed, very few lack activation requirements. Like with Gros Michel, however, Cavendish is a food item, and therefore, can expire.
Thankfully Cavendish is far hardier than Gros Michel, as Cavendish only has a 1-in-1000 chance to be destroyed after every Round. This is such a rare occurrence, we have never had Cavendish expire during our runes (although we fully accept that we just jinxed our next run).
Cavendish is not a common occurrence even if you expire your Gros Michel. That being said, there are a few ways to increase your chances of seeing this mighty banana. Firstly, skipping Blinds that offer the Rare Tag will force a Rare Joker to spawn in your next shop. This includes Cavendish. Secondly, going into as many shops as you can and rerolling in each shop will drastically increase your odds.
That’s all we have on Balatro for now. For more Balatro content, be sure to check our other guides for more tips and tricks.
