The Smash

"The Smash's name says it all. He likes to smash stuff. Mostly Plants. He doesn't move fast, but he does hit hard. And when his Gargantuar pals join the fight, it's a big ol' problem-o!"

- Crazy Dave

The Smash is a zombie hero in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes, and the leader of the and  classes. His signature superpower is Slammin' Smackdown, which instantly destroys a selected plant with 4 or less.

He is the hero version of Gargantuar.

Origins
The Smash's design may be based on the stereotypical Hispanic wrestler, sometimes known as luchadores. This is supported with some references to wrestling, primarily in his missions.

His name may be a reference to a Gargantuar's primary method of attacking, which is smashing plants with the large weapon it holds, or rather in this case, his huge fists.

Statistics

 * Classes: ,
 * Superpowers:
 * Signature: Slammin' Smackdown - Destroy a Plant with 4 or less.
 * Other:
 * Heroic Health - Heal your Hero for 6.
 * Possessed - A Zombie gets +2 and Frenzy.
 * Galvanize - A Zombie gets +2/+2.
 * Boss Fights:
 * Plant Mission 09: Battle for the Belt
 * Plant Mission 17: Boom at the Backyard Brawl
 * Plant Mission 28: Attack of the Wrestle Maniac
 * Plant Mission 36: The Smash Unleashed!
 * Battle Area: Wrestling Ring

Hero description
The Smash enjoys...SMASHING!

PvZHeroes.com strategy
The Smash defends early, then builds up brains for enormous Zombies that are almost as big as he is!

With
The Smash is mostly known for using Gargantuar zombies, which means his goal for the win is to be on the defensive at the start, only after which he may turn aggressive as the game progresses. It is best to load up on some tough early-game zombies like Arm Wrestler, Sumo Wrestler or Conehead. The Smash's combination of the Hearty and Beastly classes also has some synergies. For example, he can boost Armored zombies with Loudmouth and stat-boosting tricks such as Vitamin Z, turning them into ironclad tanks. He can also increase the survivability of Frenzy zombies such as Vimpire by playing health-boosting tricks like Camel Crossing or Going Viral.

Since The Smash has access to more Gargantuar zombies than any other zombie hero (except Electric Boogaloo), you can create strategies making use of Gargantuars. One such strategy is using Smashing Gargantuar to give all Gargantuars on the field Frenzy, allowing them to do direct damage to the plant hero should they manage to destroy a plant. Gargologist can reduce the cost of Gargantuars, allowing a Smashing Gargantuar on the third turn. Due to the number of Gargantuar zombies he can use, Gargologist becomes an essential part of most decks you use with him. Cards such as Nurse Gargantuar and even Zombot 1000 can be played early while Gargologist is in play.

Gargantuars aside, The Smash can also play a deadly pet deck. Cat Lady gets more strength for each pet card played in one turn, while Zookeeper buffs the strength of all pet zombies whenever a pet card is played. Camel Crossing is also part of the pet tribe, allowing you to boost the health of all your pet zombies and trigger the abilities of Cat Lady and Zookeeper. Combining these two cards with other pets will do massive damage to the opposing hero or even finish them off before they have a good chance to play cards that can stop them. Alternatively, you can create a sports deck with a few heavy hitters in case of late game, with Energy Drink Zombie, Synchronized Swimmer, and  being sports zombies that come from the Beastly class that only The Smash can use with his sports synergy decks.

The Smash also has the most healing cards of any zombie hero, so use it to your advantage to keep you alive long enough to bring in your Gargantuars and other tough late-game zombies. Examples are Medic, Nibble, and Nurse Gargantuar. He also has many instant-kill tricks that can dispose of potential threats, including Locust Swarm, and most importantly, his signature superpower, Slammin' Smackdown. Rolling Stone and Weed Spray may come in handy when the opponent decides to play low-strength plants.

The Smash's only major weakness is his low card draw, as he has very few reliable ways to draw cards. The only reliable source of cards is Interstellar Bounty Hunter, although some other cards like Terrify and Going Viral can draw cards too. However, this may not be the case if a Gargantuar deck is used, particularly because Gargantuar zombies already have a high brain cost. He can also make use of Haunting Zombies or s to keep up with the cards in his hand.

Against
Take caution of his Gargantuars as they can spell doom as the game progresses. This will only get more dangerous if The Smash plays a Gargologist, which allows him to get them on the field earlier. When this happens, your chances of winning will quickly decrease. Unless you are using a high sun-cost deck, it is recommended to use or  to take down his Gargantuars, though only Solar heroes may use either of these. If you are playing as a Kabloom hero, damaging tricks such as Sizzle also work albeit to a lesser extent. Apart from destroying the Gargantuars, you should also destroy any Gargologists as quickly as you can.

Guardian heroes can deal with The Smash's Gargantuars effectively, as they have access to, which can easily clear the field of Gargantuars, but also destroy high-strength plants, and Shamrocket, which offers a safer option, but can only destroy one Gargantuar. They can also use to prevent dangerous Gravestone zombies from emerging, like Sumo Wrestler, Loudmouth, and particularly, Rodeo Gargantuar. However, since Guardian plants tend to have low strength, be wary of Rolling Stone or Weed Spray.

Furry Fiends
This is The Smash's pet deck. If you cannot get of all his pet zombies quickly, Zookeeper and Cat Lady will become so strong, they can basically defeat you in one turn. Fortunately, both are fragile, meaning if you can destroy his pet zombies before the Zombie Tricks phase, you will basically win from there, since Camel Crossing will not be very effective. Use Solar Flare as she has access to cheap damaging tricks such as Berry Blast and efficient hard removals such as.

All You Can Eat
This Smash deck is all about zombies that benefit from plants being played on their lanes. If you fail to realize that, they will become too strong for you to survive their attacks. However, if you do, you can basically play instant-kill cards to remove them before they have a chance to get boosted. Once again, Solar Flare is the best hero against this deck for the aforementioned reasons.

Gaggle of Gargs
This is The Smash's Gargantuar deck. If you cannot defeat The Smash in the early rounds, then his Gargantuars will most likely seal your defeat unless you have effective ways to remove them with expensive cards. Use Wall-Knight or Solar Flare as Wall-Knight has to wipe clean Gargantuars at a cheap cost, while Solar Flare has cheap removal tricks to get rid of any early-game threats. Remember that The Smash requires a good early start to win with this deck.

Secret Agent Man
This deck relies on Secret Agent to Bounce The Smash's strong zombies, especially Intergalactic Warlord and Zombot Battlecruiser 5000, not to mention Coffee Zombie as well. As such, it is best to remove these zombies immediately before they can be Bounced and replayed. Spudow is one of the best heroes against this deck, as a Berry Blast or two will take care of the threats like Intergalactic Warlord and Coffee Zombie, while Zombot Battlecruiser can be taken care of with .

Trivia

 * Before update 1.4.14, The Smash could use Rock Wall instead of Possessed. This was most likely changed because both the Hearty and Beastly classes can give zombies the Frenzy trait.
 * Because of this, The Smash now has access to almost all Frenzy cards in the game, with the exception of Kitchen Sink Zombie.
 * In the first comic strip of A Schooling at Zombie U, The Smash makes an appearance where he is seen eating a book.
 * The Smash has access to the most healing zombies and tricks, as well as the most instant-kill tricks, out of any zombie hero.
 * The Smash can also play the second most Gargantuar cards (after Electric Boogaloo), only missing Triplication, Wizard Gargantuar, Zombot's Wrath, Hippity Hop Gargantuar, Imp-Throwing Gargantuar, Gas Giant, Gargantuars' Feast, Surprise Gargantuar, and Zombot Stomp.
 * This is ironic since he is based on a Gargantuar and yet he does not have the most Gargantuar cards.
 * The same occurs with Nightcap, having less mushroom cards than Solar Flare despite being based on a mushroom.
 * He shares the same battle music as.
 * When The Smash is on low health, The Smash appears to facepalm, most likely aiming towards himself.
 * When a legendary plant is played, the feather on his mask will spin around.
 * There used to be a bug that happened when the player had the quest "Play 3 Gargantuars," where simply playing as The Smash would add 1 to the meter even if you didn't actually play a Gargantuar of any kind. This was later patched.
 * His head does not appear to be attached properly, as sometimes during his idle animation, it will slightly come off, and he will use his finger to push it back into place.
 * When The Smash is defeated, the Imp on his back will raise a white flag.
 * This may be a reference to Dr. Zomboss from Plants vs. Zombies, who also raises a white flag when defeated.
 * The Smash is the only Hearty zombie hero that doesn't have a sports-themed strategy deck.
 * This is ironic, as there is a sports zombie in the Beastly class, Energy Drink Zombie, who became craftable before strategy decks were added to the game.