Plus, their choice of bringing up Balatro wasn't correct either. The developer DID play other deck builders, just not that many. Particularly, they played Slay the Spire which is the genre's most influential "Giant" and the entire reason for the game's progression structure (Small fights leading to a known big fight with particular anti-strategy gimmicks).
[0] links to an interview where the developer says they didn't play Slay The Spire ("the truth is that I hadn't played that game or seen footage of it when I designed Balatro")
