Celery Stalker

Celery Stalker is the second plant obtained in Neon Mixtape Tour in Plants vs. Zombies 2.

When planted, Celery Stalker hides underground and waits until a zombie passes over it. At that point, it resurfaces and rapidly attacks the zombie from behind, exposing itself to other zombies' attack in the process. 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. Celery Stalker cannot be planted on planks in the Pirate Seas and water tiles in Big Wave Beach, nor can it attack objects such as tombstones and frozen blocks.

Etymology
Celery Stalker is based on the plant Apium graveolens, known as celery in English. Its name is a portmanteau of the word "celery stalk" and "stalker", referring to its ability to remain hidden from enemies and attack when the right moment comes.

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 main strength comes from its high damage dealing capability, this allows it to easily pick off zombies when in small numbers and greatly damage foes with large amounts of health. 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 or end game clean-up plant. It can take out the initial zombies at low cost, but should be replaced as multiple zombies begin entering the same lanes at once. At the end of large zombie waves, if the player's defenses and sun supply have been severely compromised, its low cost makes it suitable for picking off the last few zombies if the surviving plants are not sufficient.

Celery Stalker can also be used as a counter for Punk Zombie when his punk jam is playing, because they cannot kick it back while it is underground. However, it should not be used against MC Zom-B while rap jam is playing, as MC Zom-B will attack and kill it before it can even start to attack him unless the MC Zom-B is stalled by Stallia, frozen by Iceberg Lettuce, stunned by Stunion or Chili Bean's gas.

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 a group of zombies, the player can avoid stunning the wrong zombie, unlike if Iceberg Lettuce was to be used. Keep in mind that mechanical zombies cannot be stunned by Stunion, and E.M.Peach should be used against them instead. 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 zombie. Combine the two 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 the stronger zombies get stunned by Kernel-pult, and are killed by Celery Stalker.

A good place to use Celery Stalker is in Frostbite Caves in levels where the ice floes directs zombies to another lane then back to the previous one. Just place Celery Stalker behind the space where the second ice floe directs zombies and it will be an invincible killing machine. Just beware of Ice Weasels and Dodo Rider Zombies as they can go over ice floes.

Celery Stalker also should not be used against Imp Porters, since when an Imp Porter dies, he drops his backpack, which falls back and instantly kills it.

It is also best to avoid using it in tandem with Primal Peashooter or Chard Guard as they usually end up pushing the zombies out of its range.

Trivia

 * 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.
 * It is the fastest attacking plant with the attack speed of ten normal damage shots per second.