Raw, martial energy with balanced environmental storytelling
It may be a part of what makes Balatro special, but players with hundreds of hours already invested in the game likely won't mind manipulating this one simple thing to skew the odds in their favor
Traps cannot be played directly
Like amber, amethyst has a range of good cards that are relatively cheap and usually have added bonuses for being played and even defeated
One Hideous Laughter is the right number, because they dont have too many creatures that the Laughter destroys, but its a good Gifts target sometimes
In that situation, try to look for other strategies, often similar, that you could effectively superimpose on top of your existing list, preferably with many shared cards