Pizza Power's Balatro Team Tour

TL;DR

• Sign up and get drafted onto a team.
• Play one set each week against someone around your seed.
• Sets are best-of-3 (BO3) by default.
• Teams win the week by winning at least 51% of their sets.
• Schedule your set by Thursday at 11:59 PM EST/EDT.
• If you absolutely can't get your set played that week, talk to your opponent, captains, and a TO.
• Don't stream snipe.
• Don't get live coaching during games.
• Don't be a jerk.
• If something weird happens, ask a TO.
• Follow PizzaPower55 on Twitch → https://www.twitch.tv/pizzapower55

What Is Team Tour?

Team Tour is a team-based Balatro Multiplayer (BMP) tournament. Players sign up, captains draft teams, and then those teams battle it out through a regular season before heading into playoffs.

Every week you'll play a 1v1 set against someone around your seed. A set is a series of games between two players, usually a best-of-3. Tournament Organizers (TOs) help run the tournament, answer questions, and handle disputes when needed.

Win your set, help your team win the week, and earn some bragging rights.

This event is not affiliated with the Balatro Multiplayer server or staff.

The goal is simple: play competitive Balatro, improve, meet people, and have fun.

Teams, Captains, and Draft

Before the season starts, captains draft players onto their teams. The draft uses a snake format:

• Captains take turns selecting players.
• Draft order is determined by the TOs.
• Captains are part of their own team and occupy a seed based on their ranking.
• The draft continues until every team is full.

The draft may take a few days depending on schedules and time zones.

Seeds

A player's seed is determined by their position in their team's draft order:

• First drafted player = Seed 1
• Second drafted player = Seed 2
• Third drafted player = Seed 3
• …and so on.

Seeds are used to help create fair weekly pairings. Players will generally only be paired against opponents within two seeds of themselves:

• Seed 4 can play Seeds 2–6.
• Seed 1 can play Seeds 1–3.

Season Format

The exact number of teams and players per team depends on signups.

• Teams are divided into conferences.
• The regular-season schedule is announced before the season begins.
• Each player is expected to play one set per week.
• A team wins the week by winning at least 51% of its sets:
  • 7-player teams need 4 set wins.
  • 9-player teams need 5 set wins.
  • 11-player teams need 6 set wins.

Weekly Pairings

Each week, captains create the set pairings, alternating back and forth:

1. Captain A sends a player.
2. Captain B responds with a player.
3. Captain B sends the next player.
4. Captain A responds.
5. Repeat until all pairings are complete.

Substitutions are allowed if needed. If a player must be substituted mid-week, captains may create a new set pairing for the substitute.

Scheduling

Once pairings are posted, reach out to your opponent and find a time to play. Please use Hammertime when sharing times — time zones are confusing enough already: https://hammertime.cyou/

• Try to have your set scheduled by Thursday at 11:59 PM EST/EDT.
• If someone refuses to communicate or make a reasonable effort to schedule, they may receive a 0–2 set loss.
• If your original time falls through, try to reschedule if you can. Nobody is required to accept a reschedule, but we encourage people to work together when they reasonably can.

Playing a set after its assigned week is allowed but should only happen as a last resort. If it does, make sure your opponent, both captains, and a TO all know. Sets can only be delayed by one week and should be completed as soon as possible. TOs may assign a forfeit if a delayed set remains unresolved for an extended period or is holding up the tournament.

Set Rules

Sets are best-of-3 (BO3) by default — first to 2 game wins takes the set. Players may agree to play a best-of-5 (BO5), but the result is still converted to a BO3 result for Team Tour scoring.

Standard settings

• Standard lobby
• 4 lives
• PvP starts at Ante 2
• Ranked ruleset
• Ranked timer (150) — players may agree to a different timer

Approved mods are the same as those allowed in Ranked; cosmetic mods are generally fine. Approved mod list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GLhYCSzx4dhJfK8wPBjaZRsLArqhWW7ruemCvNr4228/edit?usp=sharing

Pick / Ban

Before each set, players determine which deck/stake combination they'll use through a pick/ban phase. Each set draws from a pool of 9 deck/stake combinations:

1. Flip a coin.
2. The winner chooses whether they want to ban first.
3. The first player bans 1 combo.
4. The second player bans 3 combos.
5. The first player bans 3 combos.
6. The second player chooses between the final 2 remaining combos.

The selected deck/stake combination is used for the set.

Restarts, Disconnects, and Other Issues

• If both players agree, a game can be restarted for any reason.
• If someone disconnects before the first PvP blind, the game may be replayed.
• If someone disconnects after the first PvP blind, the game win goes to the player who stayed connected.
• If something strange happens that isn't covered by the rules, ask a TO — that's why they're here.

Streaming and Coaching

Streaming your set is allowed. You may read chat between games. You may not read chat during gameplay.

Live coaching is not allowed. This includes:

• Asking for advice during a game
• Receiving advice during a game
• Reading chat during gameplay
• Listening to commentary during gameplay

Other people are welcome to stream or commentate sets, but players may not use those streams while playing. Stream sniping is not allowed. Don't do it.

Reporting Scores

• Post your set result in the results channel after the set.
• Both players should react to the result to confirm it's correct.
• Players are responsible for checking that their scores are reported correctly.

Playoffs

The top 4 teams from each conference qualify for playoffs. Playoffs last 3 weeks and use a single-elimination bracket:

• Quarterfinals: 8 teams → 4 teams
• Semifinals: 4 teams → 2 teams
• Finals: 2 teams → Champion

Seeding is based on regular-season performance. Tiebreakers, in order:

1. Week record
2. Set win percentage
3. Game win percentage

At the end of the playoffs, one team is crowned Team Tour champion.

Sportsmanship

This is a community tournament. Friendly banter is fine; being a jerk is not.

• Don't be racist.
• Don't be sexist.
• Don't be homophobic.
• Don't be transphobic.
• Don't harass people.
• If someone asks you to stop, stop.

If someone is making the tournament worse for everyone else, TOs may step in. That could mean a warning, a substitute, a set ruling, disqualification, or removal from future Team Tours. We'll try to be reasonable and handle situations case by case.

FAQ

How are seeds determined? By draft order within each team.

Do I have to stream? No.

Can we play BO5? Yes, if both players agree. The result is still converted to a BO3 result for Team Tour scoring.

Can we change the timer? Yes, if both players agree.

Can I read chat? Between games: yes. During gameplay: no.

What if something happens that isn't covered here? Ask a TO.

What if I have no idea what's going on? Ask a captain, a TO, or PizzaPower55.

Should I follow PizzaPower55 on Twitch? Yes. https://www.twitch.tv/pizzapower55

Is that an official tournament rule? Yes No. But it probably should be.