Dark Matter Dragonfruit

Dark Matter Dragonfruit is a in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes, and a member of the  class. It costs 8 to play, and has 6/6. It has the Amphibious and Splash Damage 6 traits, and its ability increases the cost of all zombie tricks by 6. This ability stacks with each Dark Matter Dragonfruit on the field, and persists until all Dark Matter Dragonfruits are removed from the field. Its closest zombie counterpart is Defensive End.

Origins
It is based on the pitaya, which is also known as the dragonfruit, and an actual dragon, a mythical creature with reptilian and sometimes, avian traits.

Its name is combination of "dark matter," referring to it being a Galactic Gardens card, and "dragonfruit," the real-life plant it is based on.

Statistics

 * Class: Smarty
 * Tribes: Dragon Fruit Plant
 * Traits: Amphibious, Splash Damage 6
 * Ability: Zombie Tricks cost 6 more.
 * Set - Rarity: Galactic - Legendary

Card description
''Their ancestors were hunted to the depths of space. Now their descendants are back for cold, fruity vengeance.''

Update 1.16.10

 * Added to the game.

With
This can be a game-changing card, turning the tide of the battle in your favor. Not only does it have high raw stats, along with the Amphibious and Splash Damage 6 traits, but it has an extremely powerful ability, namely making all zombie tricks cost 6 brains more. This makes up for a common weakness to tricks that can destroy plants, especially Rocket Science and Locust Swarm. It can also easily destroy three zombies in just one attack, thanks to its incredible Splash Damage 6. If you are able to have two Dark Matter Dragonfruits on the field, the zombie hero has almost no way to play any tricks at all and is forced to only play zombies and environments.

Because of how powerful this can be, you should try hard to protect it. Playing in on the aquatic lane will keep it relatively safe, but also reduces its Splash Damage effectiveness. You can play this to the left of a powerful zombie like Nurse Gargantuar or to destroy them before they attack. However, keep in mind that it cannot destroy high health zombies by itself like Wizard Gargantuar or Zombot 1000, which can destroy Dark Matter Dragonfruit.

Green Shadow can use stat-boosting cards to help keep it alive and do even more damage (note that increases its strength does not increase the Splash Damage). can do an even better job at protecting it with all of his Team-Up plants as well as health-boosting tricks. can make use of plants such as and  to generate more sun, allowing her to play this earlier and making it harder to deal with.

An easy way to win as Nightcap is to play this in Pair Pearadise. Your opponent will be unable to play any tricks, even 1-brain cost tricks if it is played on turn 8 as they will all cost 12 brains more.

Take note that although it can easily prevent the zombie hero from playing tricks, they can still play environments that can ruin your strategies such as Total Eclipse, or even make use of Teleportation Zombie instead of Teleport to play zombies in the zombie tricks phase.

Against
This is easily one of the most dangerous plants in the Smarty class, let alone the entire game. Not only does it boast outstanding stats and traits, but its ability prevents you from playing tricks that could destroy it easily, like Rocket Science, for quite a few turns. Also, since plants play second, your opponent can simply play this without letting you know, especially when you have spent a lot of brains on zombies, forcing you to have a mind-reading session with your opponent until you find out that they do not have this card in their procession.

The best way to get rid of it is to use Deadly zombies. Combining many zombies with the also works well. You can also play Gargantuars that can survive through Dark Matter Dragonfruit high damage like Wizard Gargantuar or Wannabe Hero if your hero's health is 6 or more. Playing Zombot 1000 allows you to destroy Dark Matter Dragonfruit instantly, along with all other plants on board.

If you are forced to use tricks to destroy Dark Matter Dragonfruit, the cheapest option is Cut Down to Size which and Rustbolt possess, which can be played on the 7th turn if Dark Matter Dragonfruit is in play (or immediately if you get it with a Super-Block). Another option is using Evaporate which Electric Boogaloo and Immorticia have. However, be sure to deal damage to Dark Matter Dragonfruit with Bungee Plumber or a weak zombie to hit that plant in order to use Evaporate on it. Other than that, Rocket Science is the least expensive trick that is not a superpower; namely 9 brains, while Locust Swarm cost 11 brains, which can be quite late to use.

A way to reduce the impact of this plant is by having Gentleman Zombies and Medulla Nebula to give you some brains for tricks, but be careful if they are nearby Dark Matter Dragonfruit.

Take note that this plant does not affect zombie environments so use them for an advantage to boost up your zombies and aim at defeating the plant hero if you cannot destroy Dark Matter Dragonfruit. Total Eclipse can lower Dark Matter Dragonfruit's stats if it is on any ground lane while boosting environments like Moon Base Z can make a powerful zombie damage the plant hero's defenses quickly. While Teleport can be expensive if this plant is on board, Teleportation Zombie is an alternative to teleport zombies without worrying about this plant's ability.

Trivia

 * It and are currently the only  cards in the game.
 * Coincidentally, both have the Splash Damage trait, and are in the Smarty class.
 * It currently has the highest Splash Damage stat in the game, at Splash Damage 6.
 * It is also the most expensive plant with the Splash Damage trait in the game, costing 8.
 * It was originally named "Deep Space Dragonfruit."
 * It, Forget-Me-Nuts and Defensive End are the only cards in the game that can increase the cost of the opposing player's tricks.
 * Out of these, it is the only one with the Legendary rarity.
 * During development, it originally had 5/5 and made zombie tricks cost 5 more.