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This is the article used for general card terminology. These terminologies are often used in place of other words.

General Terminologies[]

Area of Effect[]

Area of Effect, or AoE for short, is a certain card type which affects most or all minions. Some targets for Area of Effect cards include all (opposing faction), all (friendly faction) or both.

Bait[]

Bait refers to the act of playing a card that forces or deceives the opponent to counter it immediately with other cards that could have been better used elsewhere. Cards used as Bait often have the potential to become dangerous when left unchecked, such as even if they fail to bait the opponent, they are still able to create heavy pressure.

One example of a bait card is Doubled Mint, whose initial stats are so poor that it can be easily destroyed by even a Bungee Plumber, but can force costly plays if not dealt with promptly.

Block Charge[]

Block Charging describes a scenario where a player is under constant attack by a minion that has low strength and lacks the Bullseye Trait. Since non-Bullseye attacks charge up the block meter, they effectively allow the opposing hero to block and obtain their superpowers without taking too much damage. Block Charging is usually more beneficial, as it allows the player to manipulate the Super-Block meter easily and reduce pressure by keeping weak minions on board, preventing the opponent from playing stronger ones directly and restricting their options.

Dance Off and More Spore are common Block Charge examples, because they create weak minions (Backup Dancer/Button Mushroom) that have no threatening attributes and very low stats.

Board control[]

Board control is an unofficial card term, referring to a player's ability to keep the opponent from building up minions on the board so that they don't gain an early or late advantage. Control decks are often most associated with this term due to their removals and their large minions late game.

Brick[]

Brick derives from the eponymous construction material that, while deadly as a weapon wen given the chance, is unwieldy due to its high mass. In the context of PvZH, it refers to cards that one cannot play, either due to cost issues or if there are no valid targets, effectively reducing the player's avaliable options. For example, Shamrocket/Rocket Science can brick one's hand if the opponent abuses minions that have 3 or less strength, while Cornucopia and Zombot 1000 are bricks because they cost too much, with Doom-Shroom being an example of both, since it not only has a very high cost but also requires your opponent to play lots of high-strength minions to be borderline useful. When building decks, it is important to include enough cheap cards so they don't brick long enough for the opponent to win as they can be detrimental to setup.

Buff[]

A buff is the opposite of a nerf, and is a change made to a card to make it more effective or powerful. Buffs include Soul Patch and at one point, A Shadow Falls.

Alternatively, buffing a fighter refers to increasing its stats or ability. The Beastly and Mega-Grow classes specifically specialize in buffing fighters. Buffing cards include Going Viral, Fertilize, Blazing Bark, and Rock Wall. Cards that buff themselves include High-Voltage Currant, Overstuffed Zombie, Zombot's Wrath (when its conditions are met), and Alien Ooze (when used on heights and Environments).

Build-around[]

Build-around is a term used to a card with specific synergies, which can encourage the player to build specific decks around them, the decks themselves sometimes called builds. Some decks are built around one or multiple cards or a tribe. Some examples of decks that are built around a card or a tribe are Re-Peat Moss (due to its powerful synergy with tricks) or the Flower tribe (due to Briar Rose or Power Flower due to both having a huge benefit with the same tribe on the board). Many build-around decks have win conditions, most normally one turn kills or to put strong board control with those cards.

Burst[]

Burst, or Burst potential, refers to a player's ability of dealing massive damage in one or two turns, allowing a player to finish off the opponent very easily. It can play a role in aggro decks because they work as a strong finisher if the player loses board control. Combo decks often rely on burst to kill their opponent from full health.

Card Advantage[]

Card Advantage is a term to describe which player has more access to cards within their hand. Having more cards allows a player to have more answers to threats that are played on the board.

Clog[]

Clog is a term relatively unique to PvZH tied to the minion limit. Lane Clogging occurs if they are filled with weak minions (or if they have their stats reduced by other cards) that don't contribute in fighting, effectively clogging them and preventing future plays of other minions. This in turn allows safe setup of future plays for the opponent (especially with those that have Strikethrough cards, as they), and in extreme cases can leave a large opening if they are suddenly removed without proper replacement.

When trying to build a deck, keep in mind certain Evolution cards can get around lane Clogging, as they must be played on another minion on the same team to activate their abilities.

For example, if the zombie hero plays Dance Off, they will end up with two weak Backup Dancer. If that is followed up by a Disco Zombie, the zombie hero will effectively have clogged all of their ground lanes, where the Backup Dancers continually Charge the plant hero's block meter. Assuming if the zombies aren't removed or boosted, on turn 5 the plant hero can follow up with Ketchup Mechanic and then Scorched Earth, destroying all zombies on the ground and leaving the zombie hero defenseless while Ketcup Mechanic is able to deal heavy damage to them.

Cost[]

Similar to mana, cost is a neutral term for the sun/brain price of cards. An "x-cost" card requires x sun/brains to play. Pea Pod, Arm Wrestler, Bungee Plumber, and Superpowers are all "1-cost" cards.

Curve[]

Curve is a term that refers to the distribution of the cost of cards in a deck. Playing cards on curve means playing a card on the earliest turn possible for their costs, which can provide a tempo and card advantage.

Drop[]

Drop is a term used to describe the cost of a card. Example: A "2-drop" is a card which costs 2 sun/brains, such as Newspaper Zombie.

Face[]

Face is a slang term which refers to the player's hero as a target for damaging attacks or effects. Example: By "going face" or "attacking face" refers to focusing attacks against the enemy hero rather than teammates on the board. "Face damage" refers to damage to the enemy hero. Face decks are normally associated with aggro decks due to their aggressive playstyle focusing on the opposing hero than teammates.

Free to play[]

Free to play, also known as F2P is a term used to refer to a player not buying content within the game. A usual free to play player collection will often have few super-rares and legendaries.

Leap[]

Leap is a slang for Evolutionary Leap, which is praised for its extreme potential. Evolutionary Leap is often used due to its low cost for its ability to transform a zombie into something costing 1 brain more, allowing devastating fighters to enter without having to pay for its usually high cost.

Lethal[]

Lethal is a term originated from the game Hearthstone which means to have sufficient damage to defeat the opposing hero and win the game. To "have lethal" is a measure of having imminent and unavoidable success. To "miss lethal" is when a player who has lethal was countered by a Super-Block Meter activation or an oversight in card combos.

Mana[]

Mana is a neutral nickname given to the sun/brain currency of cards that is derived from the resource in the game Hearthstone. It is similar to drop. Example: Winter Squash and Mad Chemist cost "4 mana" to play, both being considered "4 drops".

Meta[]

The meta, or the metagame, describes the trends of decks within Plants vs. Zombies Heroes. The meta is primarily an interest seeking to anticipate the choices of the opposing hero. Due to being able to not see the hero being fought against and not being able to see their deck, the contents of the deck and the deck do not become clear until a key card or a hint is revealed. The player being able to anticipate their opponents' moves gives the player a strong tactical advantage.

Notable meta decks from the following sets are:

Game release[]

Galactic Gardens[]

Colossal Fossils[]

Triassic Triumph[]

  • Kabloom berry builds.
  • Nightcap burst.
  • Solar healing.
  • Solar Flare aggro.
  • Professor Brainstorm Valkyrie with Mustache Monument.

Mill[]

Mill is a term that originated from the game Hearthstone which refers to a range of phenomenon related to card draw. In Plants vs. Zombies Heroes, milling refers to forcing the opponent to have too many cards (by causing them to overdraw or via bouncing enemy fighters on the field), resulting in their Super-Block Meter unable to block more hits because the player cannot add the resulting Superpower into their hand. Mill decks are decks that aim to win by overdrawing the opponent. Typical mill cards include Regifting Zombie, Pogo Bouncer in conjunction with In-Crypted or Mixed-Up Gravedigger, Backyard Bounce and Zombot Stomp.

Because Milling an opponent technically can sometimes give them a card advantage, such decks must resolve to working around it.

Mulligan[]

The mulligan, also known as a card selection stage, occurs at the very start of a match before play. In-game, this is called "redrawing cards." Both players are given 4 randomly chosen cards from their respective deck as their starting hand, which they can redraw as many as they want if they are not happy with their hand. After redrawing a card, there is no way to redraw the new card they are given. Once both players are finished with the mulligan, the game goes into play with the first turn occurring.

Nerf[]

A nerf is a card change made by developers to make a card less effective or powerful. Nerfs are also used in level redesigning to make a level easier. Some examples of nerfed cards or levels include Clique Peas, Briar Rose, Jurassic Fossilhead, Disco-Naut, StrawberrianImpfinity Rides Again, and A Shadow Falls.

OP[]

Overpowered is a slang for cards that are generally considered unbalanced or too powerful by the community in certain attributes. Examples include Quickdraw Con Man, Galacta-Cactus, or Haunted Pumpking.

Pay to win[]

Pay-to-win, also known as P2W is a term used to refer to paying for game content in order to unlock more cards. Notable decks with many legendaries are referred as pay-to-win.

Ramp[]

Ramp is a term used to refer to gaining more sun/brains than usual or using cards that discount other cards. Examples of ramp cards include Gargologist, Flag Zombie, Cryo-Brain and Sunflower.

Removal[]

Removal is a term to refer the elimination or destruction of minions from the board. There are two types of removal, hard removal and soft removal, which differentiate primarily in their dependence of minion health. Removals can be either tricks or minions.

Hard Removals use destroy effects, which can remove a minion regardless of their health. These include Cob Cannon's Evolution ability, Squash, Primordial Cheese Shover's Evolution ability and Locust Swarm.

Soft removal use damage to remove cards that usually have low stats, enough for them to be taken out or to weaken them with another card. These include Bonk Choy, Kernel-Pult, Berry Blast, Tennis Champ, Extinction Event and Bungee Plumber

RNG[]

RNG is an algorithm that produces random results or such. Examples include the Super-Block Meter, Molekale, Evolutionary Leap, Transformation Station, Interdimensional Zombie and Buried Treasure. Praying to RNGesus means praying for good luck.

Signature[]

Signature or Sig stand for Signature Superpower. These differ from other Superpower cards in the fact that they are marked as Legendary cards, and under normal circumstances, can only be used by said hero. For example, Green Shadow's Sig is Precision Blast, whereas Super Brainz' Sig is Carried Away.

Tech[]

Tech, short for Technical and sometimes Silver Bullet, refers to a card that is extremely niche and only specializes in countering a specific style of play. These cards are very useful under the right circumstances, but their utility can vary heavily otherwise. The definition of a Tech card can vary.

For example, Brainana, Forget-Me-Nuts, Dark Matter Dragonfruit, Umbrella Leaf, Sportacus and Black-Eyed Pea can all be classified as anti-trick Tech cards since they have abilities that deter Zombie Tricks. Brainana and Umbrella Leaf are the closest to a Tech card among these, as they have little use outside of countering Zombie Tricks.

Bonus Track Buckethead and Wing-Nut are textbook examples of Tech cards as well. They both disable bonus attacks for the other side, and while they both have meaningful tribes, their utility drops dramatically if the enemy doesn't rely on them as much.

The most obvious example of a Silver Bullet would be Squirrel Herder, since not only is it easily countered, but also has a rather niche ability of destroying just one Nut or Berry.

Tempo[]

Tempo is an unofficial term that describes which way the momentum of a match is going, as well as a label for decks that tend to maintain tempo on their side. Tempo is concerned with the player's control over the game in the immediate and short-term, particularly with minions played on the board. Tempo is closely related to board control.

Top-deck[]

A top-deck is a slang term for a card that has just been drawn from the top of the deck. A top deck can be either used as a term for a player to draw a card with no cards in their hand or a player drawing a card that can help deal with the situation rather than playing other cards already in their hand. Top-decking can also refer to drawing the best card possible for the current situation, mostly those that results in lethal that otherwise would result in a loss.

For example, if the opposing Plant Hero has a full board of 2-Strength plants, the best possible top-deck for a Hearty hero would be Weed Spray. Another example is top-decking a Going Viral when a plant is blocking lethal to ensure victory before your opponent. In a nutshell, this will ensure that you or your opponent will win a game they should've not won in the first place due to its infuriating nature of luck this takes.

Trading[]

A trade or trading involves the loss of one or more cards or teammates in order to destroy one or more teammates. Value trading is when one player plays less cards than the opponent in order to remove one or multiple teammates. If a Peashooter has been buffed with Embiggen and Fertilize, using Rocket Science to remove it can generate a 3-for-1 trade for the Zombie Hero, due to the zombie hero essentially countering three cards at the cost of one. Value trading also includes the cost of the card used. For example, using Bungee Plumber to remove a Magnifying Grass would be a more value trade than using Rocket Science, due to the cost difference of Bungee Plumber.

Value[]

Value refers to how effective a card is compared to other cards that have similar characteristics. For example, a Pea Pod has more value than a Peashooter despite costing just as much, because its ability gives it +1StrengthPvZH/+1HeartPvZH at the beginning of every turn. Value can also refer to how a card can effectively neutralize a combination of cards, sometimes with a lower cost. Notable examples of cards with high value in this sense include Exploding Fruitcake, Berry Blast, Lawnmower, Devour and Cut Down to Size.

Win condition[]

A win condition is a specific means or strategy by which a deck can achieve victory. Decks may have one or more win conditions, and a win condition may be a specific aim of the deck or simply one of various ways in which it could win the match. Re-Peat Moss decks, for example, generally aims to obtain victory through its namesake card.

Deck Archetypes[]

Aggro[]

An aggro deck, sometimes known as a rush deck, is a deck whose main purpose of winning is to do damage to the enemy hero as quickly as possible, through the use of playing low-cost minions and damaging tricks to overwhelm the opposing hero. Aggro decks bypass the opposing fighters by playing their own minions in empty lanes, or by using cheap soft removal such as Bungee Plumber or Berry Blasts to get enemy minions out of the way. In some cases, Strikethrough cards are also used. Solar Flare and Wall-Knight have very good aggro builds in the plant side, while Impfinity and Electric Boogaloo have the most powerful decks in the zombie side.

The term aggro itself is derived from the word "aggressive," referring to how quickly the deck aims to deal damage.

Budget[]

A budget deck is a deck that uses as few sparks as possible, so new players can fight comfortably earlier on. These decks mostly rely on the use of basics, uncommons and rares, having few cards from other categories. These types of decks are often either aggro or midrange decks due to their limited options. These decks are meant to be used when the player first begins to rack up gems and be able to buy packs and get new cards and more sparks to craft and create more powerful decks. Some examples of budget decks are Aggro builds and Sports builds due their build-arounds involving generally lower rarity cards.

Combo[]

A combo deck is a deck which involves using two or more cards to execute a great effect within the game, normally game-winning. Most combo decks are normally aiming for a one-turn kill, but some are used to establish dominance and maintain tempo. Combo decks are mostly control, and normally have cards to delay the opponent until key cards could be drawn and played. Some aggro decks are considered to be combo decks, due to some cards being able to establish board control, allowing the opponent to be rushed down.

Control[]

A control deck, sometimes known as a late-game deck, is a deck which revolves around winning the game in the late game through removal cards (usually tricks), stalling, healing and powerful cards in later turns. Control decks try to control the early game, before having a balance of large fighters to eventually overwhelm opponents, such as Cob Cannon and Trickster.

Gimmick[]

Gimmick decks, sometimes known as meme decks, generally only have one win condition or strategy reliant on a single combo or card. These are arguably the least consistent decks to play, but are usually the most fun for the player (and usually infuriating for the opponent, if possible). Notable gimmick/meme decks include double Sergeant Strongberry, PvZH Deadly IconDeadly Fire Roosters, or board flooding followed by Bad Moon Rising with Super Brainz/Huge-Gigantacus.

Midrange[]

A midrange deck seeks to attains victory during the mid-game. They are a mix between aggro decks and control decks, by seeking to control the early game, then overwhelming the opponent using medium-sized fighters before the late game. Midrange decks often try to use minions with high value for efficient trading and maintain card advantage through card draw or tempo plays. A subtype of midrange decks are tempo decks. They are similar to midrange decks, being centered on tempo, but focus more on aggro than using control.

Zoo[]

A zoo deck is a deck focused around a large amount of low and medium-cost minions. Zoo decks generally aim to flood the board with minions, overwhelming the opponent and achieving victory through board control. Zoo decks use mostly cheap minions and efficient trading to dominate the battlefield, before turning their attacks toward the enemy hero. To put it simply, a zoo deck acts as a control deck but eventually turns into an aggro deck when given the chance. Many Pet Decks and Imp Decks, as well as certain others including the Flag Zombie, fall under Zoo Decks since they rely on abusing cheap minions and flooding the field quickly.

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