Stunlocked by a choice

[Tommy]

Balatro on mobile, I'm on 9/8, Needle boss blind, black Ghost deck. which really doesnt mean much, but context might matter.
I've been going to the moon. Got the following Jokers:
Poly Brainstorm
Brainstorm
Neg Blueprint
Neg Scholar (its an Ace build)
Neg Misprint
2 Hanging Chads
Burnt
Down to 4 cards per hand due to a lucky Ace Ouija and 2 Ectos.
In the shop before me is aa Steel Joker currently at x3.6. Which joker could I get rid of for Steel? My High Card is at lvl 38, so maybe Burnt? I've been pulling Chariots, Dejas, and Cryptids wherever possible already, and the highest I hit on a hand was 556M.

Options are:
A) sell a Chad for Steel,
B) Sell Burnt for Steel,
C) Ignore Steel
What is the best suggestion here? If I get Steel, it will likely become my 1st slot Joker for x3.6^4 and rising

[Tommy]

Huh. You know, writing it out seems to make the choice really obvious. Chad for Steel, right?

[RazzberryMocha]

Why not sell burnt joker? Hand levels reach a point of diminishing returns pretty quickly and it seems you've already hit that point (for burnt to be worth x2 you would need to use it for 13 more rounds, an amount your run might not last long enough to see). Also, if you're playing glass cards then each chad is effectively x4, so definitely don't sell those unless if you get something better than that.

[Tommy]

Originally posted by RazzberryMocha:

Why not sell burnt joker? Hand levels reach a point of diminishing returns pretty quickly and it seems you've already hit that point (for burnt to be worth x2 you would need to use it for 13 more rounds, an amount your run might not last long enough to see). Also, if you're playing glass cards then each chad is effectively x4, so definitely don't sell those unless if you get something better than that.

Only thing is, I don't have that many glass jokers in the pot, 27 Aces total, 2 glass. the one time I hit 556 was with a glass red seal (which broke) and 2 red seal steel in hand. And if I don't play a glass, I am effectively only aadding +20 mult from Scholar Chads, +44 if Chad is 1st. Meanwhile, I am also leveling High at +4 per blind. Trying as hard and fst as I can to cut or convert any non-special non-Aces.
My brain isn't wanting to function at higher-level math today, but both seem somewhat viable. The only thing i'm missing is a Bloodstone to reaally screw my brain over.

[malogoss]

I mean, what does a Hanging Chad really do?
It retriggers an Ace 2 times. Given your HC level, that's roughly +20% score, then +20% for each copy of Scholar. But that 20% does not take into account all your steel cards and the Misprint. The 2nd Hanging Chad is worse in terms of %, by definition.

Let's say we're generous and the 2nd Chad gives +50% score.

The steel joker is x3.6 score. And can be copied 3 times. That's x168 score, or +16,800% to compare with Chad. Add a single steel card to your deck, x168 becomes x208.

The Burnt gives you like +10% score per round for now, that's absolutely crazy. So if you sell a Chad, you made up your loss in a few rounds, you can keep growing, you get a Steel joker that can also grow and that you can copy 3 times.

If you did not sell a Chad, you blundered. The bonus given by the Ace scoring is nothing compared to HC base mult that will grow and is likely boosted by 2-3 steel cards held in hand,

[Tommy]

Originally posted by malogoss:

I mean, what does a Hanging Chad really do?
It retriggers an Ace 2 times. Given your HC level, that's roughly +20% score, then +20% for each copy of Scholar. But that 20% does not take into account all your steel cards and the Misprint. The 2nd Hanging Chad is worse in terms of %, by definition.

Let's say we're generous and the 2nd Chad gives +50% score.

The steel joker is x3.6 score. And can be copied 3 times. That's x168 score, or +16,800% to compare with Chad. Add a single steel card to your deck, x168 becomes x208.

The Burnt gives you like +10% score per round for now, that's absolutely crazy. So if you sell a Chad, you made up your loss in a few rounds, you can keep growing, you get a Steel joker that can also grow and that you can copy 3 times.

If you did not sell a Chad, you blundered. The bonus given by the Ace scoring is nothing compared to HC base mult that will grow and is likely boosted by 2-3 steel cards held in hand,

Thanks. I have been at this shop since I sent the post (friends group playing MonHun and all that). Just deciding to get back into Balatro aa bit.