Finally beat Jokerless.
I did it with A five of a kind build based on twos. I didn't get telescope but had good enough early game economy and a lucky spectral card.
That also means I've beaten all the challenges. Honestly cruelty was harder and I feel like Jokerless just makes you develop a better understanding of how to actually play Balatro.
I won after a dozen or so attempts by going for something similar: 4 of a kind Aces. A couple Grims in some early spectral packs helped immensely in drawing that hand consistently.
yeah for me this was the biggest learning: you almost can't do it with basic hand types.
I had plenty of excellent runs with straight or flush, but you basically can't scale past ante 4/5 on a straight or flush build.
Five of a kind is the easiest nonstandard has to build into, and if you can get a telescope, it's linear scaling is close to enough to get you through to the end.
Five of a kind aces would be my target because of cryptid, death, grim, and if you are really lucky, ouija.
But realistically, just ouija early and then build around that.
I don't think 4 of a kind scales well enough to make it past ante 6/7
It scales well if you got the blue seals and a couple of glass cards in case of emergency