Toadstool

Toadstool is a premium plant in Plants vs. Zombies 2. It was released on June 23, 2015 for $4.99, and its price was reduced to $3.99 after the 2015 Food Fight event. However, its price was restored to $4.99 after Cold Snapdragon was revealed.

Like Chomper, Toadstool can eat most types of zombies but will take 30 seconds to fully digest each enemy, during which Toadstool is vulnerable to attacks. When confronted with obstacles such as tombstones and surfboards, or an inedible enemy like the Pianist Zombie, Toadstool will use its tongue to attack, dealing 2.5 normal damage shots per attack, which is quarter the damage of Chomper, but at 4x the speed. The main differences between the Chomper and the Toadstool are that Toadstool costs 50 more sun, but will produce 50 sun after fully digesting a zombie, and can extend its tongue forward 2 tiles to kill or damage enemies.

Toadstools cannot consume the following zombies:
 * Gargantuar variants (including Gargantuar Prime, Jurassic Gargantuar and Flying Gargantuar)
 * Zombie Bull
 * Barrel Roller Zombie (with his barrel)
 * Robo-Cone Zombie
 * Mecha-Football Zombie
 * Pianist Zombie
 * Disco-tron 3000
 * Zombie King
 * Cavalry Zombie (The horse)
 * Fisherman Zombie
 * Zombie Chicken and Ice Weasel (will attack them with its tongue but not eat them)

Origins
Toadstool is based on the term toadstool, another word used to refer to mushrooms. The name is also a play on the word Toad, as Toadstool displays many toad-like attributes, such as its long, sticky tongue and a vocal sac.

Almanac entry
Sun cost: 200

AREA: Single

RANGE: Close

RECHARGE: Fast

Toadstools gulp down zombies whole, then produce sun.

Weakness: vulnerable while chewing

Toadstool just can't stand being idle. "I keep everything that I want to do on lists, and keep the lists where I can see them so that I'm always motivated!" she said. Whenever there's work to be done, she's always the first to hop to it.

Plant Food effect
When fed with Plant Food, Toadstool grabs up to four random zombies in a 5x3 area, chews for a short amount of time and then produces 50 sun for each zombie it ate. If there are only inedible zombies in the area, Toadstool will instead attempt to attack them; if there are no targets available, Toadstool will do nothing (so players should not waste a Plant Food on a Toadstool if there are few or no zombies in its area).

Costumed
When Toadstool swallows zombies, it will release a smog cloud, which poisons zombies on contact.

Strategies
Toadstool can be considered an upgrade to Chomper: while it initially costs 50 more sun, its ability to generate sun from eating zombies means that Toadstool can quickly refund this investment. Its increased attacking range also assists it in combating inedible threats such as Robo-Cone Zombies, Mecha-Football Zombies and Gargantuars by giving it extra time to damage them. However, Toadstool continues to suffer from Chomper's greatest weakness, namely the long digestation time during which it is rendered vulnerable to attacks.

Generally speaking, any plants that capable of delaying zombies can greatly help Toadstool by defending it while it is digesting zombies. This includes:
 * Stunning plants such as Iceberg Lettuce and Kernel-pult.
 * Slowing plants such as Winter Melon and Sap-fling.
 * Defensive plants such as Wall-nut and Endurian.
 * Plants that can push enemies back such as Primal Peashooter and Chard Guard.

Toadstool is particularly useful in Sun Bombs levels, as it is one of the few sun-producing plants allowed in these levels. While the dropped sun is generally enough for building defenses, the sun generated by Toadstool will give the player much more freedom in using instant plants or repairing defenses. Sun Bean can also be substituted in these levels.

Toadstool can also be used to defeat Chicken Wrangler Zombie from Wild West and Weasel Hoarder from Frostbite Caves without them releasing their respective payloads, although it should be remembered that both world have inedible threats that can get past Toadstools - namely Zombie Bulls and Troglobites with their frozen blocks.

Toadstool can eat Octopi without needing to chew, making them the ideal counter for the Octo Zombie.

Trivia

 * Toadstool is the most expensive mushroom in sun in the whole series.
 * Toadstool displays a functional vocal cord in its idle animation; this is illogical however as only male toads have vocal cords, while Toadstool is stated to be female in the Almanac.
 * In the 3.6 update, it could be used in Last Stand levels.
 * Toadstool is referred to as female in the Almanac, but male in the developer diary for Lost City Part 2.
 * Toadstool will continue to make chewing noises and produce sun even after the level ends or when the player is on the rewards screen.
 * Despite being a toad, it is not able to be planted in water in Big Wave Beach.
 * There is a glitch when it sticks out its tongue and consumes a zombie, and the player exits the level and returns to it. The Toadstool will simply shake up and down, its mouth open, and it will stay that way until the level ends, or if it is consumed or dug up.
 * Toadstool is the only mushroom in which its name does not end with the suffix, -shroom.
 * In the chinese version, zombies grabbed by its tongue become confused. However, this doesn't affect its performance.
 * According to the credits, the Toadstool is voiced by Aaron Schneider.
 * Toadstool, Venus Flytrap (Plant Food effect) and Chomper are the only plants that can eat zombies.
 * It is the only premium plant that is able to produce sun.