Defensive End is an event zombie card in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes and a member of the 
Hearty class. He costs 6
to play and has 6
/5
.
He has the 
Armored 1 trait, and his ability increases the cost of all plant tricks by 2
. This ability stacks with each Defensive End on the field and persists until all Defensive Ends are removed from the field. His closest plant counterparts are Forget-Me-Nuts and Dark Matter Dragonfruit.
He was introduced in update 1.10.22, along with Blooming Heart and Fire Rooster. He became craftable in update 1.12.6.
He was made available in the Backyard Brain Bowl event and was available from 31 January 2017 to 7 February 2017.
Origins
His appearance is a mix of All-Star Zombie and Gargantuar, and he appears to be holding a field goal post, which is what football players must kick the ball through to score points from field goals.
The term "defensive end" relates to a player position in American football, located on the defensive line. They are traditionally used to counter running plays by the offense that could allow it to evade or slip through the defensive line.
His description could be a reference to the song "All-Star" by Smash Mouth (as the start of the song goes, "Somebody once told me the world was gonna role me"), referencing how he's a reference to All-Star Zombie. This is further supported by one of the song's lyrics, "Hey now, you're an all-star, get the game on, go play".
Statistics
- Class: Hearty
- Tribes: Sports Gargantuar Zombie
- Trait: Armored 1
- Ability: Plant Tricks cost 2 more.
- Set: Event
Card description
Somebody once told him the best defense is a good offence. He disagrees. Da fence he like best is da one he SMASH through.
Update history
Update 1.10.22
- Added to the game.
- ▼ Brain cost change: 5 → 6
- ▲ Strength change: 5 → 6
Update 1.12.6
- Became craftable.
- Design change: Defensive End's helmet design has been slightly changed.
Strategies
With
Defensive End has decent stats and an ability that is extremely useful against any plant hero, especially those who tend to focus on tricks such as Captain Combustible and Rose. His Armored 1 trait is also a small bonus, reducing damage on every attack and nullifying anything that does 1 damage.
All Hearty heroes can play him on turn 4 with two Flag Zombies or a Gargologist, restricting your opponent's options on tricks even further. Rustbolt can play this on turn 3 much easier thanks to his methods of gaining extra brains with the help from his 
Brainy cards.
Due to him being in the sports tribe, he can be protected by Zombie Coach or boosted by Team Mascot at the start of each turn. He also has Gargantuar synergy with Smashing Gargantuar/Supernova Gargantuar (The Smash), and Wizard Gargantuar (Rustbolt), all three allowing him to be more offensively threatening, and Gargologist can lower his cost so that he can be played earlier. But regardless of synergy, he can work in any Hearty deck in general due to the sheer usefulness of his ability.
Defensive End, however, cannot do anything against early game tricks (up to turn 5, to be precise) even if you lower his cost and play him earlier. Some tricks, such as instant kills and superpowers, are still worth the cost, so do not expect your opponent to completely give up on tricks. Also, his ability's usefulness diminishes later in the game, as there will be enough sun for your opponent to play tricks even if they have become more expensive. And finally, you should note that his ability does not affect environments, nor could he affect free superpowers they gain from a block.
Against
This zombie makes it harder for you to play tricks, as all trick cards in your hand cost 2 more sun. In this case, you have to resort to strong plants to deal with him. Tough Beets is a good counter against this, as it can be played on the turn he is played, possibly surviving while destroying Defensive End in a single attack. Cheaper options include Guacodile, or the tricks mentioned above. In general, try to avoid using tricks as you may not have enough sun to weaken or destroy Defensive End as well as other strong zombies, and rely on strong plants in general to stop strong zombies.
Pairing Winter Squash with Snow Pea, Winter Melon, Jolly Holly or Chilly Pepper is another great idea, since he will be destroyed without the use of any tricks, but be careful if you are using Iceberg Lettuce. If there is either a Smashing Gargantuar or Wizard Gargantuar on the field, try using Doom-Shroom to clear them out, or you may end up in a big trouble. The same goes for Team Mascot and Zombie Coach.
However, this can only be done at least on turn 7, and it can also destroy plants. You can also use Bouncing cards like Jumping Bean, Jelly Bean or Leaf Blower to remove him without using any tricks, although your opponent can still play him again, especially if they have Gargologist and Flag Zombie, but be careful if you are using Spring Bean. As a last resort, you can use The Great Zucchini to render him, as well any combos, useless, since he will be transformed into any zombie with 1/1, which will remove his ability.
If you are playing as a 
Solar hero, you can simply overcome his ability by creating excess sun or playing Smashing Pumpkin in the same lane as Defensive End to destroy him at the same price. However, you must also watch your sun-producing plants so they won't be destroyed. Also, if you are using a flower deck, you can play Briar Rose along with cheap flower cards such as Morning Glory in the line of Defensive End to destroy it. You may also Evolve Cob Cannon or fusioning an Eyespore in an attempt to destroy him without using your tricks.
There are also certain Superpowers that can destroy Defensive End for a cheap price, Transmogrify, Devour and Goatify are useful when dealing with him, but the latter two have restrictions on which zombie to destroy/transform, so keep that in mind.
If possible, rely on powerful environments like Force Field of The Red Plant-It instead, as environments are not affected.
Gallery
Plants vs. Zombies Wiki has a gallery for Defensive End.
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Trivia
- In the Chinese version of the game, there is a mistake in his ability description. It says: "Plant tricks cost at least 2 sun."
- However, he will cause the plant tricks to cost at least 2 sun to play even with cost-reducing cards, since a card's cost cannot go below zero and he will increase it by 2.
- When given the overshoot ability through Moon Base Z and Disco Dance Floor, Defensive End will make a pump-up gesture with his arm to indicate the overshoot attack.
Brainy
Crazy
Hearty
Sneaky