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 three major categories: fighter cards, trick cards and environment cards. A fighter card spawns a friendly fighter on the field when it is 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 can do a variety of things when it is played, ranging from making additional friendly fighters, modifying their attributes or destroying them, to gaining or adding cards from or into the player's deck. After the ability ends, the trick card is automatically removed for the match. Finally, an environment card is played similar to a trick card that affects a selected ground lane and all compatible fighters on it when it is played, and is overridden and removed once another environment card is played on the same lane.

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 card that is only gained at the start of the game and every time the hero successfully blocks an attack, another one is an environment, a special kind of trick card that affects the lane it is played on.

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 their deck starting from the second turn, and there are certain abilities that can give the player additional cards, either from or outside the deck. Each player can only have ten cards in their hand at once before the game stops giving them cards.

Decks are required to have forty cards, and four of a single type of card can be put in at most. Therefore, it is very important to consider what cards are needed. Superpowers do not count to the deck's total number of cards.

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, trick, and environment cards at the same time since they only have one play turn before the "Fight!" phase occurs. Zombies have two separate phases, the first exclusive to fighters and the second for tricks and environments, 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 a number of cards that can form synergy with the main tribe of the class. An example of a plant synergy is Buff-Shroom boosting Shroom for Two, both part of the tribe, the main tribe of the  class, and an example of a zombie synergy is Zombot Drone Engineer boosting Space Cadet, both part of the  tribe, the main tribe of the  class.

Note that there are also examples of fighters within main tribes outside of the class, for instance being a mushroom plant in the  class or  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 and a few examples 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 it is destroyed. The ghost version has identical stats to the original fighter, but without the Afterlife trait.

Amphibious
"Play on Water or Land"

- Game Description

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

Anti-Hero
"''+(number of Strength points) Strength when no (Zombies/Plants) are here"

- Game Description

Any fighter with this trait does more damage if it hits the opposing 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 it is 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 tricks or abilities that reduce 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 this hurts"

- Game Description

Exclusive to zombies.

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

Double Strike
"After combat here: This does a Bonus Attack"

- Game Description

Exclusive to plants.

Any fighter with this trait attacks again as long it manages to survive during combat.

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. The opposing hero cannot see how much brains are spent on that fighter until the "Zombie Tricks" phase. While it is concealed, the fighter is immune to all methods of damage and card abilities (from both the plant and zombie side), with and Spyris being the only exception.

Hunt
"''When a (Zombie/Plant) is played, this (Plant/Zombie) moves there""

- Game Description

Any fighter with this trait moves to where an opposing fighter is played most recently.

Overshoot
"Before combat here, do (amount of damage) to the Plant Hero"

- Game Description

Exclusive to zombies.

Any fighter with this ability does a certain amount of damage to the opposing hero before combat.

Splash Damage
"When this 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 on adjacent lanes, in addition to the lane it is on 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
"Hits the Zombie here and the Zombie Hero"

- Game Description

"Hits all Plants here and the 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
"Put it back in its owner's hand"

- Game Description

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

Bonus Attack
Any fighter that receives this effect attacks again as long it manages to survive during combat. Any plant with the Double Strike trait gets this effect.

Heal
Restore health of a damaged ally unit or the hero.

Shielded (Can't be hurt)
Any fighter that receives this effect is unable to get hurt in any way in that turn with the exception of Force Field. However, they are not immune to instant-kill tricks like Lawnmower, or stat-degraders like Nibble.

Conjure
"Gain a random card of this type"

- Game Description

This effect draws a card of a specified tribe, rarity, or set from the entire game.

Crafting
Crafting is a feature that can be accessed by tapping the desired card in the Collection or the Deck Building section. It allows the player to directly create new cards without having to purchase Packs.

Crafting a new card requires Sparks, a special kind of resource that cannot be purchased with money and can only be gained by recycling cards and completing certain Hero Quests. Currently, most collectible cards in the game can be crafted and recycled, with the exception of certain Event cards that are slated to become craftable in the near future. In addition, all Basic - Common cards cannot be recycled, and cards with 4 copies of will have their crafting option disabled.

The number of Sparks required for crafting, and rewarded with recycling, is determined by the card's rarity. Crafting a new card will always require more Sparks than the amount given by recycling a card of equal rarity, making the process generally extremely inefficient.

1. Cannot be recycled 2. 10 prior to update 1.8.23 3. 2000for the first 10 weeks after the card release; only applies to cards that have been released. 4. 75 prior to update 1.14.13

Trivia

 * As stated above, some traits are exclusive to either side:
 * There are no plant fighters that have the Gravestone, Deadly, Frenzy, Afterlife or Overshoot traits.
 * There are no zombie fighters that have the Team-Up, Splash Damage or Double Strike traits.
 * Prior to update 1.2.11, there were no zombie fighters with the Strikethrough trait either.
 * Prior to update 1.2.11, cards were referred to as teammates.
 * Prior to update 1.2.11, Bullseye was named Truestrike.
 * Prior to update 1.16.10, Frozen Tundra, 's signature superpower, was the only zombie card that gave the Freeze effect to plants.
 * 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.
 * Prior to update 1.6.27, if a fighter had a trait, it wasn't shown in their card.
 * If a card's cost is reduced via any card abilities or gimmicks in some missions, the cost number is colored green instead of black. On the other hand, if its cost is increased, the number is shown red instead.
 * Bringing 4 of the same card cause the "Add" button to appear gray for the remaining ones. Tapping "Add" causes the number "x4" to flash red, indicating that no more of that card can be added anymore.