Top 15 Best and Worst Plants in PvZ1 (2024)

Okay, so...my last lists of best and worst plants and zombies caused quite a few arguments, but I'm remaking them. This time, I'm separating them into lists for PvZ1, and PvZ2. Why? Because of the differences between games. For example, Magnet-shroom was in my list of favourites, but lost points for its PvZ2 iteration. This time around, things will be different, and I will put my favourites and least favourites for the two games separately.

I'm going to try and stop any arguments from going on in the comments. These are all my opinions, and however much you may disagree, you can't change that.

As with last time, the list is based on usefulness, design, and creativity, but plants that are only useful in a few situations or stages are unlikely to show up.

Top Fifteen Best Plants[]

Without further ado, I present to you, my top fifteen favourite PvZ1 plants!

15th: The Explosive Freezer[]

Ice-shroom...a cool plant that can stall every zombie onscreen, with the exceptions of zombies that are immune to it. Ice-shroom is the only plant in the original that could stop every zombie onscreen at once, and add to that the low cost and it's a pretty good plant.

14th: The Masher[]

Want a cheap way to dispose of early zombies? Look no further than...Potato Mine! Potato Mine is a plant I use in most levels to deal with the first few zombies, and without it, those levels would be significantly harder. It saves 75 sun compared to the cheapest permanent defence (unless you want to use Puff-shroom + Coffee Bean) in day levels, and that's a lot at the start of a level. A simple, but highly useful plant.

13th: The Nuke[]

Doom-shroom can obliterate an entire huge wave for 125 sun, or 200 during the day. While I don't use it often, I can't deny that it's an incredibly good plant, especially in Survival: Endless.

12th: The Coolest Peashooter[]

Snow Pea...I can't tell you how often I have used Snow Pea. It's useful all the way through Adventure Mode the first time round...but once you get the pults, it loses some usefulness, which is why it's so low in the list.

11th: The Colonel-pult[]

Hey look, PopCap have finally made that same joke. Kernel-pult is a step up from Snow Pea, as it's cheaper and while it offers less dps, the buttery stalling is immensely useful. Use the two together and...Gargs go down with ease. Sometimes without throwing Imps. Shame that this and Snow Pea are useless on Zombonis.

10th: The Stinker[]

Want some cheap, effective, and long-lasting crowd control, with the added effect of ignoring shields? Look no further! Fume-shroom will solve all your zombie-related problems! Armed with a mid-ranged fume cannon, the Fume-shroom will zap all the zombies away in no time! Buy one now for only $74.99! Get it before its price goes up to $124.99!

9th: The Diverter[]

What is there to say that hasn't been said already? This makes plants like Starfruits and Gloom-shrooms shine, and can be great for cheapening strategies in things such as Last Stand. There really isn't anything wrong with it, and it's creative. However, being such an unusual utility plant means I don't use it for every situation.

8th: The Crusher[]

Squash was lower in the last list due to its suckiness in PvZ2 (get your targeting sorted out!) but in PvZ1, it's like Potato Mine, but better in every way for only 25 sun more. A great go-to plant for early defences and taking out priority targets.

7th: The Flower of Power[]

The serious lack of usefulness in PvZ2 made me put Sunflower in the honourable mentions, instead of in the actual list, last time around. This time, that's not gonna happen. Sunflower is such a vital plant for daytime levels, and such a great singer, that I had to put her in this list. However, her usefulness is simply because you have no other alternatives except at night, where the only other alternative is significantly better. Therefore...she's no higher than seventh.

6th: The Rocker[]

If there's one thing I hate fighting it's those freaking Zombonis. If there's one plant I love to beat them with, it's this. Spikerocks equal an endless defence against Zombonis in regular levels, and a long-lasting defence in Survival Modes, while also stalling Gargs like a pro and dishing out a lotta pain to regular zombie types too.

In PvZ2, it loses durability and is more expensive, so although you can plant it more due to the quicker recharge, I don't like it much in PvZ2. That's why, last time around, this ended up in honourable mentions, like Sunflower.

5th: The Thief[]

Moving up a few spaces since I don't need to take PvZ2 into account, Magnet-shroom is an incredibly versatile plant for disarming and weakening so many zombie types, including some of the deadliest ones around. It would be a sin to not put it in this list. I find it especially helpful against Diggers, Ladders, Pogoers and Footballers.

4th: The King of Protectors[]

Pumpking...wait, no, Pumpkin, is the ultimate in defences, unless you include PvZ2, then Infi-nut rules. Pumpkin is a staple plant for long-term defences and is such a good way to protect against Diggers, Imps, or even zombies that attack your front lines, since it can save you some space.

If only it were in PvZ2, then I could have strategies with both Pumpkin AND Infi-nut.

3rd: The Copier[]

Imitater's my name, copying's my game!

Imitater is useful in any situation, as it can be any other plant and let you use that plant more often. Do I need to say any more?

2nd: The stinkiest of them all[]

As with the last list, Gloom-shroom, despite being my favourite plant, is not the plant I consider best, due to the difficulty in using it in regular strategies. It relies on other plants to be useful and is vulnerable to my most hated of enemies, so...yeah. Gloom-shroom is good and all, but you all know what's coming next.

1st: The Ultimate Plant Form[]

Okay, so last time I referenced the song "All Hail Shadow", and this time I reference one of Shadow's other names.

Well, it's because Winter Melon rules. 500 sun for something that does a lot of DPS in a wide area and slows everything it hits. Overpowered. There is no other word for it. And I love it for that. Winter Melon obliterates almost anything and with support, no zombie will get past its might.

Top Ten Worst Plants[]

Well, I might as well do this too...

Originally going to be top fifteen, but I could only think of twelve plants that I could put in this list. Some of the plants in this list, I'm surprised I forgot about in my previous list too.

And no, I do NOT hate Sea-shroom or Plantern. You won't be seeing those in this list.

A couple of (dis)honorable mentions:

Hypno-shroom: It's...not really got much utility. It gains a lot of points for creativity, but even at night, it has little use. Still fun to play around with though.

Jalapeno: Yes it explodes a whole row of zombies. But Cherry Bombs generally hit more zombies for only 25 sun more. Yes, it melts ice trails. But Spikeweeds/rocks can stop them from showing up in the first place. I only ever use this if it's on a conveyor-belt, or in Bobsled Bonanza and S:E. Plus, it doesn't work with laddering strategies in S:E.

10th: The Twins[]

Twin Sunflower is great in the sequel, but this is PvZ1, where it costs 200 total sun and has a very slow recharge, as well as requiring a Sunflower first in order to be planted.

Therefore, it has next to no usefulness in regular levels, only being useful when space becomes an issue in long-term game modes like Survival: Endless.

9th: The Dog[]

I know a lot of people like the Cattail, but I don't. It costs 250 sun and can only be put in water, as well as having very little effectiveness against large groups. However, it's better than Homing Thistle because it's a Balloonist counter and can be used for No Sunflower Strategies in the Pool Stage, that's why it didn't get so low in this list as Homing Thistle did in my last list.

8th: The Coward[]

Scaredy-shroom is totally useless during the day, as...well Peashooter costs the same, but takes up one seed slot and doesn't hide. On top of this, even at night it has limited usefulness. Puff-shrooms and Sea-shrooms are better for early attacking, and Diggers, Balloonists, Bungees, or any other zombies capable of getting deep into your defences with ease can wreak havoc when you have a Scaredy-shroom defence. There's a reason the Scaredy-shroom scenario in I, Zombie Endless is simply free sun.

7th: The Richest Plant[]

A plant that can literally make coins! YAY! But alas, Marigold is only useful for extra money that can easily be obtained via the Zen Garden or Survival: Endless. Add to that a recharge that really doesn't need to be so slow, and it has little use outside of Last Stand.

6th: The Triplets[]

Threepeater: Three peas, triple the power. Only, it requires a lump sum payment, and so it's a lot easier to set up Peashooters, Repeaters, Snow Peas, most other plants, than it is to set up Threepeaters. By the time you can plant them easily, they have little use. You may as well spam Repeaters with either Snow Pea or Torchwood support.

5th: The Flytrap[]

It went up in my opinion since I watched a speedrun of PvZ where it was pretty useful. Plus, in the online version, well...Giga Footballers beware.

But aside from that, in normal situations, when would a sensible person use it? I mean, really, when would you ever use it? It. Just. Plain. Sucks.

4th: The Anti-Air Pea[]

The worst possible way they could have made a counter to Balloonists. Simply put...a Peashooter that costs slightly more and can hit Balloon Zombies. That's it, and so...why does it exist? Balloonists could've been countered by, say, a plant that allows other plants to attack flying zombies, or it could've been countered by pults, and have Cabbage-pult introduced earlier, something other than simply this thing!

P.S. It's also one of my least favourite plants in GW too.

P.P.S. It looks awesome in PvZ2 though.

P.P.P.S. I think it's a prem in PvZ2 though. Dang.

3rd: The Two-Way Pea[]

What purpose does Split Pea serve other than countering Diggers?

NOTHING.

And to counter Diggers, you can use Potato Mines, Jalapenos, Gloom-shrooms, Magnet-shrooms, or even Spikerocks! There isn't a good reason to use it.

2nd: The So-called Star[]

Starfruit can be used effectively. I've seen it. But...I don't personally like it. At all. Even with Garlics, Pumpkins, and everything else you can use to support it...I don't like it. End of story. Why not spam something more reliable like Repeaters? Or use Glooms behind the Garlics instead of this? It's also the only plant that can counter Diggers which is WORSE AT COUNTERING THEM THAN SPLIT PEA.

1st: The Golden Thief[]

*Gasp* An upgrade to Magnet-shroom! Magnet-shroom can be made better? WOOHOO-wait, it only picks up coins that I can click anyway? I mean...really? REALLY?

Gold Magnet is the only plant that does something you can already do anyway, and is basically a plant for lazy people. If it actually produced extra money, perhaps by turning stolen metal objects into coins, then great! But this...why? For Last Stand when you spam Marigolds, it can be useful, but still...

And then there's the console version. Where you just have to move the cursor near coins to pick them up. Here, collecting coins is easier than in any other version, and...Gold Magnet is utterly, totally, useless, moreso than normal.

WHY THE BUCK DOES THIS CARPPY PLANT EXIST???

I have an idea of how to use it: When you have some spare sun, plant a Magnet-shroom in front of a Gargantuar, then immediately upgrade it. Then, let the Gold Magnet get crushed. That's what it deserves.

Well, now that I've got that outta my system, I'll move onto the zombies in PvZ1. That'll be a top and bottom ten, since there are less zombies than plants.

Of course, I'm sure you all know what zombie will inevitably come at the top of the worst zombies list, but I still ought to make it.