Card

Cards are the main collectibles available in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes. They are the main methods used by plant and zombie heroes to combat the opposing side.

Overview
Cards are divided into two major categories: fighter cards and trick cards. A fighter card spawns a friendly fighter on the field when played which in most cases attack enemy fighters or the opposing hero, and is destroyed and removed once its health reaches 0. A trick card generates a variety of abilities when played, ranging from spawning additional friendly fighters, modifying their attributes or destroying them, to gaining or creating additional cards in the player's deck. After the effect ends, the trick card is automatically removed. Each card also has a set of attributes, such as cost, strength, health, class and tribe - one of which is a superpower, a special kind of trick card that is only gained at the start of the game and every time the hero successfully blocks an attack.

At the start of the game, each player is given four cards in their hand, and is also given the chance to replace each card once with another random one taken from the player's deck. Each player is also given a random superpower card from the player's list of available cards, which cannot be replaced. The player also draws a card from the deck every turn, and there are special abilities that can give the player additional cards, either from or outside the deck. Each player can only have ten cards in their deck at once before the game stops giving them cards.

Decks can have up to forty cards, and four of a single type of card. Superpowers do not count to the deck's total number of cards. It is very important to consider what cards are needed.

A card can be played providing that the card's cost does not exceed the player's currency stockpile balance, and that there are valid targets (for trick cards) or lanes (for fighter cards) for the card. Once the card is played, the player's currency stockpile balance is decreased by an amount equal to the card's cost. Plants can play both fighter and trick cards at the same time since they only have one play turn before the "Fight!" phase occurs. Zombies have separate fighter and trick phases, giving them two play turns before the "Fight!" phase occurs.

Tribes
Each side has unique tribes that can allow cards to create synergies. Each class has a main tribe, as well as two cards that can form synergy with the main tribe of the class, one basic and the other premium. An example of a plant synergy is Peashooter taking benefit from The Podfather, both part of the class, and an example of a zombie synergy is Zombot Drone Engineer taking benefit from Space Cadet (or Beam Me Up), both part of the  class.

Note that there are also examples of fighters within main tribes outside of the class, for instance Fume-Shroom being a mushroom plant in the class or Disco-Tron 3000 being a science zombie in the  class.

Turn order
The zombies' fighter turn comes first, followed by the plants' combined turn, followed in turn by the zombies' trick turn, after which the "Fight!" phase occurs during which fighters engage in combat against the opposing side. Destroyed/used cards are removed and the turn order starts over from the beginning.

In the "Fight!" phase, zombie fighters attack first, then plant fighters attack afterwards even if the plant fighter has its health down to 0 after being attacked. Because of this, the game immediately ends if a Strikethrough zombie defeats the plant hero, even if there is a plant in the same lane with Strikethrough that is about to finish off the zombie hero.

Traits
Although every fighter is unique, many of them share common traits, which the player needs to know to use them the best way. Present here is a list of traits that many fighters have, along with an explanation of them:

Afterlife
"When this is destroyed, you can play it a second time"

- Game Description

Exclusive to zombies.

Any fighter with this trait returns to the owner's hand as a "ghost" version of itself when destroyed. The ghost version has identical stats to the original card, but without the Afterlife trait.

Amphibious
"Play on Water or Land"

- Game Description

Any fighter with this trait are not restricted to just ground or heights lanes in terms of placement, but can also be placed in aquatic lanes.

Anti-Hero
"+(Number of Strength Points) Strength against Heroes"

- Game Description

Any fighter with this trait does more damage if it hits the opponent's hero. This only applies if the lane is clear of enemy fighters, so playing anything in front of that fighter nullifies the Anti-Hero trait.

Armored
"Reduce damage to this by (number)"

- Game Description

Any fighter with this trait takes reduced damage when attacked, with the number specifying the amount of damage that is subtracted. If the damage done is less than the resistance number, the fighter does not take any damage. However, this effect does not protect the fighter from any effect that reduces its stats by a set amount.

Bullseye
"Doesn't charge the opponent's Block Meter"

- Game Description

Any fighter with this trait does not fill up the opposing hero's Super-Block Meter upon a successful attack.

Deadly
"Destroy any Plant it hurts"

- Game Description

Exclusive to zombies.

Any fighter with this trait always destroys any enemy fighter this does damage to. Heroes are not affected by this, and Armored enemy fighters can survive the attack as long the fighter's damage does not exceed their damage resistance.

Frenzy
"When this destroys a Plant, it attacks again"

- Game Description

Exclusive to zombies.

Any fighter that has this trait attacks once more if it destroys the enemy fighter in front of it and survives without being destroyed itself.

Gravestone
"Hides in a Gravestone until it's time for tricks"

- Game Description

Exclusive to zombies.

Any fighter with this trait is not revealed until the user's trick stage begins, they are instead concealed by a gravestone. While concealed, the fighter is immune to all damage and tricks (either from the plant or zombie side), with Grave Buster being the only exception.

Splash Damage
"When it attacks, it also deals (amount of damage) damage to Zombies next door"

- Game Description

Exclusive to plants.

Any fighter with this trait does a certain amount of damage in adjacent lanes, in addition to the lane it is in when it attacks. Heroes, however, do not take Splash Damage if adjacent lanes are empty. Splash Damage cannot be increased in any way, even if the fighter's strength has been increased.

Strikethrough
"This hits the (Zombie/Plant) here and the (Zombie/Plant) Hero"

- Game Description

Any fighter with this trait does damage to all enemy fighters in its lane, including the opposing hero.

Team-Up
"You can fit two Plants here"

- Game Description

Exclusive to plants.

Any fighter with this trait can be played in a lane that is already occupied by an allied fighter, regardless of whether that fighter already occupying the lane has the Team-Up trait or not.

Effects
Some cards afflict other fighters with certain effects. Present here is a list of effects that a fighter can receive, along with an explanation of each of them:

Freeze
"That (Zombie/Plant) skips its next attack"

- Game Description

Any fighter that receives this effect is immobilized, forcing it to skip its next attack. Using a card that makes the immobilized fighter do a bonus attack instantly cancels out the Freeze effect.

Bounce
"Push it off the board. It can be replayed"

- Game Description

Any fighter that receives this effect is returned to the owner's hand, removing all stat changes and damage taken.

Crafting
This feature is for players who have more than 4 of each card. Since you can carry only 4 maximum, any more cards over 4 are basically useless. (Ex: If you have 9 Bluesberry cards, you can only carry a maximum of 4 Bluesberries, rendering the other 5 useless.)

All cards except for Basic - Common cards can be recycled. When you recycle a card, it is gone from your deck, but you get Sparks, the currency for crafting. Collect Sparks and use them to craft new cards that you don't own or need more of.

Trivia

 * As stated above, some traits are exclusive to either side:
 * There are no plant fighters that have the Gravestone, Deadly, Frenzy or Afterlife traits.
 * There are no zombie fighters that have the Team-Up or Splash Damage traits.
 * Prior to update 1.2.11, there were no zombie fighters with Strikethrough either.
 * Brain Freeze has the only zombie card that gives the Freeze effect, Frozen Tundra, his signature superpower.
 * Prior to update 1.2.11, cards were referred to as teammates.
 * Prior to update 1.2.11, Bullseye was named Truestrike.
 * The spark symbol is similar to the Power Zap symbol except being blue instead of purple.
 * If a fighter has two or more traits, it has a green star in place of the strength symbol.
 * All plant Bullseye cards are in the Guardian tribe.
 * Prior to update 1.6.27, if a plant or zombie had a trait, it wasn't shown in their card.