Celery Stalker

Celery Stalker is the second plant obtained in Neon Mixtape Tour in Plants vs. Zombies 2. When planted, it hides underground and waits until a zombie passes over it. At that point, it resurfaces and rapidly attacks the zombie from behind. While attacking, it is vulnerable and zombies can eat it. However, after about three seconds of having no zombies in its range, it hides again. It is also a defensive plant that can be replaced with another Celery Stalker if the player has Wall-nut First Aid.

Almanac entry
Sun cost: 50

TOUGHNESS: Elevated

DAMAGE: Huge

RECHARGE: Mediocre

Celery Stalker pops up and bashes zombies from behind.

Special: waits until zombies pass over it, then pops up and attacks

Celery Stalker resents the implication that there's anything unsavory about his attack style. He simply believes that discretion is the better part of vegetation.

Plant Food upgrade
When fed with Plant Food, Celery Stalker spawns three additional Celery Stalkers on random unoccupied tiles on the screen.

Strategies
Celery Stalker's greatest strength is its high damage capability. It can reliably kill even Relic Hunter Zombie at full health on its own. However, its small range, low health, and slow reaction times mean that Celery Stalker will fare poorly against groups of enemies. It also does not function well as a defensive plant due to its toughness.

Because of all the weaknesses mentioned above, the best way to use Celery Stalker is to treat it as an early-offense plant. It should be used to take care of the first few zombies but should be replaced as the level progresses.

Celery Stalker can be also used as a counter for Punk Zombies when his jam is playing, because they cannot kick it back while it is underground. However, it should not be used against MC Zom-B when while rap is playing, as MC Zom-B will attack and kill it before it can even start to attack him.

A good plant to use with Celery Stalker is Stunion, since its stunning effect lasts 12 seconds, meaning Celery Stalker is capable of dealing 120 normal damage shots to a stunned zombie. And because Stunion stuns group of zombies, the player can avoid stunning the wrong zombie if Iceberg Lettuce is used. Keep in mind that mechanical zombies cannot be stunned by Stunion. While Celery Stalker is busy attacking, the player can use Sweet Potato to protect Celery Stalker from being eaten.

Kernel-pult and Celery Stalker also make a good pair. While Kernel-pult stuns zombies from a distance, Celery Stalker can inflict major damage on the stunned, immobile. Combine the two with with an column of area-of-effect plants such as Melon-pult to weed out the weaker zombies, thus protecting the Celery Stalker from being eaten, while only the stronger zombies get stunned by Kernel-pult's butter, and are killed by Celery Stalker.

Good way to use Celery Stalker is in Frostbite Caves in levels where ice floe direct zombies away of this row and the other one in that row, where the ice floe directs zombies back to previous lane. Just place Celery Stalker behind the space where the second ice floe directs zombies and it will be invincible killing machine. Just beware of Ice Weasels and Dodo Rider Zombies as they can go over ice floes.

Celery Stalker is useless on Lily Pad in Big Wave Beach, if the tide is high enough, because if the zombie eats a Lily Pad, the Celery Stalker dies too, so, it will not be able to strike zombies from behind.

Celery Stalker also shouldn't be used aganist Imp Porters, since when an Imp Porter dies, he drops his backpack, instantly killing the plant. And because Celery Stalker attacks zombies from behind, it would die instantly.

Trivia

 * It is a pun on the words "celery stalk" and "stalker."
 * Celery Stalker, Cactus, and Scaredy-shroom are the only plants that hide.
 * Celery Stalker can technically be planted on Lily Pads. It must be planted on wet sand first and Lily Pads on them afterwards.
 * Celery Stalker's almanac makes reference to a Shakespeare quote, which roughly translates out to "discretion is the better part of valor."
 * Before the 4.0.1 update Celery Stalker was glitched in Far Future, Dark Ages, Frostbite Caves, and Big Wave Beach. It came up to the surface before a zombie completely passed it, allowing the zombie to eat it while it damages it. Therefore, its range is moved slightly to the right, and because of that, it cannot damage zombies eating a defensive plants in front of itself. Now he gets up correctly.
 * Celery Stalker does not attack tombstones or the tents and backpacks left by Imp Porter behind it.
 * Celery Stalker does its Zen Garden watering animation in the Neon Mixtape Tour Side A's trailer.
 * Same goes to Peashooter.
 * Celery Stalker, Bonk Choy, Ghost Pepper, Split Pea, Homing Thistle, Starfruit, and Squash are the only plants who can direct their attacks backwards.
 * He is the first plant only allowed to attack backwards.
 * Celery Stalker, Spikeweed, Spikerock, and Cactus(In Plants vs. Zombies 2) are the only plants wherein one of their primary uses to be passed by.