MY PERSONAL OPINIONS ON THE PLANTS OF PLANTS VS. ZOMBIES (it's not done)
This will mostly concern the base game alongside the Community DLC. 
PvZ Fusion will be its own beast because SWEET MERFICUL CRAP that's a lotta
plants.

(Updated November 1st, 2025, re-formatted December 20th, 2025)

Daytime [Learn how to play the game... because apparently manuals aren't a 
thing.]

Peashooter: It's pretty much a tutorial plant; It's pretty much the most paltry
baseline of plant you can think of, whose only real saving grace is that it's
kinda cheap. But not by much. I'm already bored let's move on.

Sunflower: About as plain of a plant as you can get, whose only purpouse is to
generate funding for your other plants. But, let's be honest, without her, you
wouldn't be able to get much of anywhere. Sure, you could make decent progress,
but that'd require unholy amounts of lawnmower usage, RNG manipulation, and
Puffshroom spam. No thank you, I like making more sun.

Cherry Bomb: I almost always like to build my defenses such that instant-use
plants like the Cherry Bomb aren't needed, but the ability to eliminate a
cluster of problematic zombies before they get rid of that Winter Melon you've
been trying to protect is always a nice one to have.

Wall-Nut: It's cheap, but that's about the only thing going for it. Also works
in a pinch if other defensive options aren't in your reach, but after that I 
barely even touch it. (Unfortunately for me, Zombotany's a thing.)

Potato Mine: I used to absolutely loathe this plant when I was younger, seemed
like a rather lame plant at the time. What good could blowing up a zombie do if
it takes 15 seconds to arm in the first place? And only in a 1x1 area?

Well, a lot more than you think when you're trying to stall for sun production.

Snow Pea: Oh look, it's the better peashooter. Not so good at crowd control,
but you can only do so much when you're only able to fire a single pea at a 
time. The true potential comes in freezing zombies, which works as an indirect
double damage for every other plant involved... except for fire-base attacks.
Sticklers.

Chomper: Man, man, poor Chomper got shafted *hard*. I really really REALLY want
to be able to get rid of the worst zombies with him, but apparently anything 
bigger than a normal zombie can hard counter the Chomper.
Kinda sucks big-time; I like 'im. 

Repeater: Oh look, it's the better Peashooter. 
(Wait, didn't I say this already?) Technically not as good as the Gatling Pea, 
but you don't have to worry about that obnoxiously slow recharge time.


Night-time [oh shit where'd the sun go]

Puffshroom: Cheap, spammable, and kinda dinky. People madder than I use him
religiously in challenge runs... but I don't. He usually gets the boot after
the first flag; By that time, I've got better plants ready. I don't like 
spamming the guy to deal with anything tougher than a Conehead anyways.

Sun-Shroom: Gets you started on sun production quicker when you don't have any
falling from the sky, but if you can stand the wait, just use the Sunflower. 
I personally HATE those 15-increments.

Fume-Shroom: Crowd control's cool and all, but I only bring him when no other
good option to deal with screen doors shows up.

Grave Buster: Only useful when gravestones show up, but what he does comes in 
twofold: Gets rid of a potential problem when the final wave shows up AND gives
money for doing so. What's not to love?

Hypno Shroom: Sounds pretty useful at first, but most of the time your hypno'd zombie either shuffles off the board aimlessly, 
or instantly dies to some other zombie because you already damaged him enough. (Becomes much more useful in Fusion, but that's 
for another time.)

Scaredy Shroom: A cheap Peashooter for night levels that don't take place on
the roof. A downright worse version of the baseline plant otherwise. Usually
gets booted after the first flag.

Ice Shroom: The best instant to use for when you know you've got enough 
firepower to whittle 'em down. Also stops them dead in their tracks, in case a
Blood Moon shows up.

Doom Shroom: The best instant, period, but not overpowered. I like placing him
in the front, as the crater he leaves behind could be a real pain if I want to
plant there. I kinda dislike Hard Mode making him destroy plants as well, 
that's just rude. I've come to expect a lot better from you, Community DLC.


The Pool [Water is now a thing, have fun with that.]

Lilypad: You plant the thingy on water. You put plants on the thingy.
(Somehow Imitaters don't drown when imitating them.)

Squash: The Potato Mine's older, slightly more expensive, better, and less 
dumpier brother.

Three-Peater: Only of actual use if you're going for the "Don't Pea in the Pool"
cheevo, otherwise you might as well save up that sun and plant a couple of
Repeaters insteead.

Tangle Kelp: A lot more useful in the Fog, where a sudden ambush buckethead
might not be very healthy for your three seashrooms and sunshroom. Still pretty
good at anti-dolphin, though.

Jalapeno: Without this plant, Zombonis would be an absolute nightmare. Still 
extremely useful without 'em around, as the game likes to spam zombies on a
single lane WAY too much. Don't even get me started on the Imps.

Spikeweed: One of the greatest plants if you're looking to funnel zombies in a
single lane. but I don't play like that. Pops tires pretty good, though.

Torchwood: Good powerscaling potential, not so much in space efficiency.
I hope you packed a Tall-Nut with him.

Tall-Nut: Though the Tall-Nut has a lot of respect for his smaller brother, I 
don't carry the same sentiment. As far as I care, he's the superior Wallnut,
both in zombie stalling AND special ability. Stopping Dolphin Riders dead in 
their tracks is something I live for.


The Fog [OH GOD I CAN'T SEE THE PLAYFIELD- WHAT THE HELL'S EATING MY PLANTS]

Sea Shroom: Another cheap, not nearly as spammable frontline fodder plant.
Boring.

Plantern: Seems like a useful plant in theory, but it ONLY works on the fog.
Nowhere else. Does LITERALLY nothing else. Fuck the Plantern. 
(Considerably better in Fusion, but that's for another time.)

Cactus: Oh look, it's a Peashooter. That pops Balloons. Instantly becomes 
useless after she's introduced, rest in piss lmao 

Blowver: The much better version of Plantern. Also gets Balloon Zombies to fuck
off too, what's not to love? ...Aside from the slower recharge rate in the
Community DLC. That's not cool, man.

Split Pea: Only useful in the stage it's introduced in.
After that, just toss it in the compost bin, nobody's gonna miss it.

Starfruit: The best straight-shooting plant you can get if you can accomodate
for it's wonky firing angles. Also decent against tunnelers, but honestly the
Magnet Shroom's far better against 'em. Good for getting rid of stragglers,
though.

Pumpkin: Welp, there went Wallnut's purpose. Okay, maybe it's a little more 
expensive, but being able to give ANY plant the toughness of a Wallnut? 
Hell yeah I'm picking that over the dopey little bowling ball.

Magnet Shroom: One of the only mushrooms worth using in the daytime, it's more
than satisfying screwing over Digger zombies and any other poor zombie fool
thinking they could bypass my defenses with metal. I don't feel bad for 'em, 
welcome to lawn-side TSA security, douches.


The Roof [And you thought Lilypads were annoying.]

Cabbage-pult: Teaches you about the roof's mechanics, is kinda like the 
Peashooter otherwise. However, it's much more better in that pult-type plants
can circumvent anything the zombies hold in front of them, and are able to
fight against those damned snorkel zombies. Like hell I'm using him though.

Flower Pot: Face it, without this plant, you can kiss your chances of 
beating the roof world(s) goodbye.

Kernel-Pult: Technically weaker than his Cabbage counterpart, but the butter
mechanic makes up for that threefold. The first line of defense I use when
playing anything related to the roof.

Coffee Bean: Oh hey mushrooms aren't glorified paperweights when the sun's
involved now. Some of 'em do pretty cool things, like the Magnet, Ice, or Doom
Shroom... but most of the time you're just wasting your sun. God forbid you try
going for the Good Morning Achivement.

Garlic: Only of real use in Zombotany, or maximizing Gloom Shroom danage. Other
than that, far less useful than its real world counterpart. Could make good
Bungee/Ladder bait though.

Umbrella Leaf: With just two, Basketball lobbers are nothing more than a pitiful
joke, and with an extra two (or four), Bungees aren't able to steal any of your
plants at all, AND compeltly nullify make those ambushes. Best only when those
two are around. Anything more than that, or without them to worry about... 
you're just wasting sun.

Marigold: You know what's better than making money? Making LOADS of money!
You know what's better than making LOADS of money? Making LOADS of money in 
Last Stand! You know what's even better than making LOADS of money in 
Last Stand? The Zen Garden, but I'm not patient enough for that.

Melon Pult: The almanac isn't technically lying to you, but he becomes a lot
more powerful when paired with a winter melon. Other than that, I fuckin' love
that guy. I also like watermelon in general, so that's a good bonus right there.

The Upgrades [Not really a world, just needed a place to put 'em]

Gatling Pea: Good powerscaling with a Torchwood, but most of the stages last 
too damn short to properly use 'em. Wait for Survival: Endless or Last Stand.

Twin Sunflower: Useful for Survival, otherwise more of a zombie taunt.
Could be good for early/mid-game? Or mini-games with four waves.

Gloom Shroom: Gloom-shroom's main use case is not for my playstyle.
I much prefer even columns.

Cattail: Oh lookie here, it's Cactus's superior cousion, and it's not even 
close. Some people even beat entire waves of zombies with just a single 
column to spare using this girl. What's not to live?

Winter Melon: Best plant in the game, pretty much the best features of Snow Pea
and Melon-Pult, two favorites of mine! No zombie would ever dare- OH GOD WHERE
DID THAT IMP COME FROM

Gold Magnet: Kinda useful if you have a lawn's worth of Marigolds, otherwise 
just pick up the coins yourself, 'ya lazy fucking bum.

Spikerock: The only bad thing I have to say about Spikerock is the slow 
recharge time, but that applies to every single upgrade plant you can buy 
from Dave. Makes for great frontline material!

Cob Cannon: Is there any reason to use this thing OTHER than Survival: Endless?

TO-DO:

Get the Community DLC properly working (read: not immediately crash when 
opened), preferrably on the latest update, then report back to this page for 
updated info.