Considering playing Citron? Good choice, though you may find him more difficult to play well than some of the other Plant Heroes in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes.
Citron is compatible with both Guardian and Smarty cards. This mean’s he’s not only a lategame hero, but one your opponents will have trouble with from start to finish.. as long as you play your cards right.
Citron is a professional at stalling. It’s hard to compete with the defensive Team-Up Nuts among Guardian cards, the freezing capabilities of many Smarty cards, and of course the self-buffing Beans.
You can be fairly flexible with his decks, but the ability to hide freezing Plants while hiding behind Wall-Nuts and other Nuts like them is invaluable. There’s no other hero quite like this Citron and his Signature Superpower, Peel Shield, is the ultimate in stalling technology.
Most of this hero’s decks will be packed with Nuts and Beans, but you can’t forget the Plants that freeze. It’s generally best to choose between a deck focused around defending either Beans or your freezing Plants with the Wall-Nuts. You can’t have everything, you know.
Superpowers
Signature Superpower (Only Citron can use this Superpower)
Peel Shield
Plants can’t be hurt this turn. Draw a card.
Compatible superpowers
Root Wall
A Plant gets +2 Health and can’t be hurt this turn.
Transmogrify
Transform a Zombie into a random Zombie that costs 2 Brains or less.
Nut Signal
Make a 6 Health Wall-Nut with Team-Up. Draw a card.
Notable card combinations
These combinations are laid out with the most important card bolded and followed by a plus sign (+) with cards the important card will either affect or be affected by. You can look at the card specifics in the tables below this section.
Below each combination briefly explains why these cards are good friends. Always remember card synergy when building a deck.
- Snowdrop + Chilly Pepper, Snow Pea, Winter Melon, Iceberg Lettuce, Winter Squash
- Snowdrop gains +2 Strength and +2 Health when a Zombie is frozen. These Plants and Tricks all freeze.
- Winter Squash + Chilly Pepper, Snow Pea, Winter Melon, Iceberg Lettuce
- Winter Squash destroys frozen Zombies. These Plants all freeze.
- Admiral Navy Bean + Weenie Beanie, Bean Counter, Navy Bean, Jumping Bean, Sting Bean, Sow Magic Beans
- Admiral Navy Bean does 2 damage to the Zombie Hero when you play other Beans. These are all Beans.
- Spineapple + Wall-Nut, Mirror-Nut, Prickly-Pear, Poppin’ Poppies, Water Chestnut, Potato Mine
- Spineapple gives +2 Strength to Plants with no Strength when played. These Plants have no Strength or spawn Plants with no Strength.
- Spineapple + Hibernating Beary
- Spineapple gives Plants with no Strength +2 when played. Play Hibernating Beary first, then Spineapple to give the Beary a head start.
- Smackadamia + Small-Nut, Wall-Nut, Mirror-Nut, Water Chestnut, Jugger-Nut, Pea-Nut, Mixed Nuts, Pismashio
- Smackadamia gives all Nuts +2 Health when played. These are all Nuts.
- Bean Counter + Weenie Beanie, Admiral Navy Bean, Navy Bean, Jumping Bean, Sting Bean, Sow Magic Beans
- Bean Counter gains +1 Strength and +1 Health when you play another Bean and adds two 1STR/1HP Weenie Beanies to your hand when played. These are all Beans.
- Mirror-Nut + Wall-Nut, Water Chestnut, Small-Nut, Jugger-Nut, Pea-Nut, Mixed Nuts, Pismashio
- Mirror-Nut does 2 damage to the Zombie Hero when any of your Nuts are hurt. These Plants are all Nuts.
- Navy Bean + Admiral Navy Bean, Lightning Reed, Cattail, Brainana, The Great Zucchini, Sting Bean, Water Chestnut
- Navy Bean grants all Amphibious Plants +1 Strength and +1 Health when played. These are all Amphibious Plants.
Don’t ignore these cards if you have them!
These are cards that don’t quite have the synergy of those listed above but are definitely notable and worth considering. Smarty has a lot of cards that don’t have a lot of direct synergy — maybe that’s why they’re called Smarty? Have to be smart to use them!
Pismashio – This Plant may be dull but a 2 Strength/3 Health Plant for 2 Sun isn’t a bad deal. Consider this card for early game if you’re going the Smackadamia route.
Shellery – One of the few offense-oriented cards with Team-Up. Shellery’s 1 Sun cost and 2 Strength plus Team-Up is a nice deal for a lot of teams.
Cattail – Who needs synergy when you have a 3 Sun cost Amphibious card with 3 Strengh and 2 Health? Not me! Smart is full of Amphibious Beans with some good synergy but Cattail is good as soon as it’s played.
Steel Magnolia – This baby not only grants itself and whatever Plant is in its lane +2 Health, it grants +2 Health to every plant next door. A great card for decks heavy in Team-Up cards, which you will be as Citron.
Rescue Radish – A 3/4 Root with 3 Sun, Rescue Raddish may not seem like much.. until you need to save an important Plant from harm’s way. A good combination of cost, strength, and utility.
Pismashio – This Plant may be dull but a 2 Strength/3 Health Plant for 2 Sun isn’t a bad deal. Consider this card for early game, especially if you’re going the Smackadamia route.
Grave Buster – (Trick) The big benefit of Zombies with the Gravestone ability for a Zombie Hero player is that you, the Plant Hero player, can’t see what is in the grave before the battle phase starts. The Grave Buster wipes those pesky Gravestones out before they turn into a problem.
Wall-Nut Bowling – (Trick) Absolutely amazing offensive Trick that does 6 damage to each Ground lane. A late game monster with the ability to dent or outright kill almost anything the Zombie Hero can throw at you.
Tough Beets – A great lategame card, especially Citron’s Smarty and Guardian Team-Up cards. Play him only when every other lane is stacked for the best results.
Carrotillery – Another rare offensive-use Team-Up card. A worthy addition to most decks.
Iceberg Lettuce – A 1 Sun cost card that immediately freezes a Zombie. What’s bad here? Answer: Nothing.
Brainana – If you want your opponent to have to take a break for a turn, this is the card to play. Brainana drains all their brains, and with their brains go their ability to do much. An amazing stalling Plant.
Winter Melon – It’s a freezing Plant! With Splash Damage 4! The only downside here is its cost is 7, but if you’ve got a lategame deck (and a Winter Squash to spare) it’s an amazing lategame card for most situations.
The Great Zucchini – Just in case you really want to be sure every Zombie dies to your next amazing play, The Great Zucchini goes ahead and transforms every Zombie into useless 1 Strength/1 Health Zombies cannon fodder. An amazing card you should definitely have in your deck if you have it.
Soul Patch – Another amazing card, this time effectively keeping your hero alive. If you have one, use it.
Compatible cards
Below are all the Guardian and Smarty cards currently available in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes that you can use with Citron. There are separate tables for Plants and Tricks.
A card’s rarity is noted next to their name in parenthesis. The more rare a card is, the less likely you are to get it from a pack and the more it costs to craft. The rarities are Common (C), Uncommon (UC) , Rare (R), Super Rare (SR), and Legendary (L).
Smart Plants
| Plant | Type | Special Effects | Unique Ability |
|---|---|---|---|
 Admiral Navy Bean (C) | Bean | Amphibious, Team-Up | When you play another Bean, do 2 damage to the Zombie Hero. |
 Shellery (C) | Leafy | Team-Up | |
 Snowdrop (C) | Flower | This gets +2 Strength and +2 Health when a Zombie is frozen. | |
 Weenie Beanie (C) | Bean | ||
 Lightning Reed (R) | Leafy | Amphibious, Splash Damage 1 | |
 Snow Pea (C) | Pea | When this hurts a Zombie, Freeze that Zombie. | |
 Cattail (C) | Animal | Amphibious | |
 Chilly Pepper (UC) | Pepper | When played: Freeze a Zombie. | |
 Vanilla (C) | Flower | ||
 Rescue Radish (UC) | Root | When played: Bounce another Plant. | |
 Bean Counter (SR) | Bean | This gets +1 Strength and +1 Health when you play another Bean. When played: Add two 1 Health/1 Strength Weenie Beanies to your hand. | |
 Carrotillery (C) | Root | Team-Up | |
 Navy Bean (UC) | Bean | Amphibious, Team-Up | When played: All Amphibious Plants get +1 Strength and +1 Health. |
 Snapdragon (SR) | Dragon Flower | Splash Damage 3 | |
 Winter Squash (R) | Squash | When a Zombie becomes frozen, destroy that Zombie. | |
 Jumping Bean (R) | Bean | When played: Bounce a Zombie. | |
 Smoosh-Shroom (C) | Mushroom | ||
 Threepeater (C) | Pea | Attacks here and next door. | |
 Brainana (SR) | Banana | Amphibious | When played: The Zombie Hero loses their Brains. |
 Winter Melon (L) | Fruit | Splash Damage 4 | When this hurts a Zombie, Freeze that Zombie. |
 The Great Zucchini (L) | Squash | Amphibious | When played: Transform all Zombies into 1 Health/1 Strength Zombies. |
Smarty Tricks
| Trick | Effect |
|---|---|
 Iceberg Lettuce (UC) | Freeze a Zombie. |
 Sow Magic Beans (R) | Shuffle four 4 Strength/4 Health Magic Beanstalks into your deck that cost 1 Sun and say “When played: Draw a card.” |
 Spring Bean (C) | Bounce a Zombie. |
Guardian Plants
| Plant | Type | Special Effects | Unique Ability |
|---|---|---|---|
 Potato Mine (C) | Root | Team-Up | When destroyed: Do 2 damage to a Zombie here. |
 Small-Nut (C) | Nut | ||
 Sting Bean (C) | Bean Pea | Amphibious, Bullseye | |
 Wall-Nut (C) | Nut | Team-Up | |
 Cactus (C) | Cactus | Bullseye | |
 Jugger-Nut (R) | Nut | Armored 1, Bullseye | |
 Pismashio (C) | Nut | ||
 Sea-Shroom (UC) | Mushroom | Amphibious | |
 Water Chestnut (UC) | Root Nut | Amphibious, Team-Up | |
 Hibernating Beary (R) | Berry Animal | When hurt: This gets +4 Strength. | |
 Pea-Nut (C) | Pea Nut | Team-Up | |
 Spineapple (C) | Fruit | When played: Plants with no Strength get +2 Strength. | |
 Steel Magnolia (UC) | Flower | When played: Plants here and next door get +2 Health. | |
 Guacodile (UC) | Fruit Animal | When destroyed: Do 4 damage to a Zombie here. | |
 Mirror-Nut (SR) | Nut | When your Nuts get hurt, Do 2 damage to the Zombie Hero. | |
 Prickly-Pear (R) | Cactus Fruit | When hurt: Do 4 damage to a Zombie here. | |
 Smackadamia (C) | Nut | When played: Your Nuts get +2 Health. | |
 Tough Beets (R) | Root | Armored 1 | When played: This gets +1 Health for each Plant and Zombie. |
 Poppin’ Poppies (SR) | Flower | When played: Make 1-Health Lil’ Buddies with Team-Up here and next door. | |
 Soul Patch (L) | Vine | Armored 1 | If your Hero would get hurt, this gets hurt instead. |
Guardian Tricks
| Trick | Effect |
|---|---|
 Gardening Gloves (C) | Move a Plant. Draw a card. |
 Grave Buster (UC) | Destroy a Gravestone. |
 Wall-Nut Bowling (L) | Make a 6 Health Wall-Nut with Team-Up in each Ground land. Attack for 6 damage in those lanes. |
 Doom-Shroom (SR) | Destroys all Plants and Zombies with 4 Strength or more. |
And that’s about all there is to say about the tricky Citron’s card arsenal! Hopefully this guide helps you on your way to building a more effective team for him and climbing the ranks with it.
If you enjoyed this guide and would like to see other heroes given the same treatment, worry not! Every Plant hero in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes is getting the same treatment. As a matter of fact, here are the links to a few. The others are in progress!
- PvZ Heroes Wall-Knight deck resource guide
- PvZ Heroes Spudow deck resource guide
- PvZ Heroes Solar Flare deck resource guide
- PvZ Heroes Green Shadow deck resource guide
Published: Oct 30, 2016 02:29 pm