Last Stand Endless/Or Hoshmand Strategy

Or Hoshmand plays the Android version of Plants vs. Zombies and has his own strategy in Last Stand Endless.

General Principles

• Whenever the flag ends, remove all Pumpkins that don't appear damaged. That can save a lot of sun, even if the Pumpkins have been eaten by the zombies, if you remove them you can get a payback that equals the cost of each Pumpkin. Then, plant back all Pumpkins that you have removed, now you have Pumpkins that are really not damaged at all. But be careful not to remove the plant that is surrounded by a Pumpkin, especially if it's an upgrade plant or a mushroom that has to be woken up using a Coffee Bean as the payback will be lower than the cost of the plant.
• Recovering plants that have been destroyed by the zombies or removed accidentally when trying to remove the Pumpkins is usually more important than planting new plants. However, there are two exceptions for this rule:
  • In the eleventh flag as Bungee Zombies join the most important thing is to plant Umbrella Leaves, otherwise there is a high risk that the Bungee Zombies will steal expensive plants.
  • In the fourteenth flag as Digger Zombies join the most important thing is to plant Pumpkins on every plant in column A, otherwise there is a high risk that the Digger Zombies will eat the plants there quickly.

In general, these plants are used in this strategy:

• Pumpkin - Protects the surrounded plant from zombies that try to eat.
• Lily Pad - Allows to put non-aquatic plants in the pool.
  • Cattail - Shoots spikes that follow the nearest zombie and pops the balloons if there are Balloon Zombies.
• Coffee Bean - Wakes up mushrooms.
• Magnet-shroom - Pulls and confiscates metallic equipment from zombies that have it (Buckethead Zombie, Screen Door Zombie, Football Zombie, Jack-in-the-Box Zombie, Ladder Zombie, Digger Zombie). Requires Coffee Bean.
  • Gold Magnet - Pulls and up to five coins in every five seconds, the coins can be Silver coins, Gold coins, or diamonds. Unlike Magnet-shrooms, Gold Magnet doesn't require Coffee Bean and doesn't pull metallic equipment.
• Melon-pult - Lobs melons on the zombies, the melons cause 80 damage when they hit the zombies and even nearby zombies get damaged by them as well.
  • Winter Melon - Same as Melon-pult, but the melons are frozen and when they hit the zombies they cool them down and slow them down by 50%. This is always recommended to upgrade Melon-pults into Winter Melons.
• Kernel-pult - Lobs kernels or butters on the zombies (one zombie at a time), kernels cause 20 damage, and butters cause 40 damage and temporarily immobilize the zombies. This is recommended to plant a pair of Kernel-pults before it can be upgraded into a Cob Cannon. However, this is not recommended to plant Kernel-pults if there is no plan to upgrade them into Cob Cannons.
  • Cob Cannon - Allows to launch corn cobs manually on 3×3 area, the corn cobs cause 1800 damage to every single zombie in the area, therefore Cob Cannon is a multi-use instant killer. But be careful! this is not recommended to plant cob cannons other than the first four as you can see below, because they can't be protected with pumpkins, and there is no safe place to put cob cannons other than the four leftmost cob cannons in the pool as Imps can eat them quickly.
• Fume-shroom - Spays fumes that cause 20 damage 4 squares right, every single zombie on these squares gets damaged by these fumes. Requires Coffee Bean.
  • Gloom-shroom - Spays fumes four times faster than a Fume-shroom on all 8 nearby squares, every single zombie on these squares gets damaged by these fumes. Requires Coffee Bean.
• Umbrella Leaf - Prevents Bungee Zombies from stealing 8 nearby plants and protects these plants from Basketballs lobbed by Catapult Zombies.
• Cherry Bomb - Explodes instantly, when it explodes, it causes 1800 damage to all zombies on the same square or on 8 nearby squares. Can be used as an alternative for corn cobs when they are not available.
• Jalapeno - Explodes instantly, when it explodes, it causes 1800 damage to all zombies on the same lane. It also warms Gargantuars that get hit by it and still have not been killed, but don't worry, as soon as the next frozen melon hits them they cool down again. Can be used as an alternative for corn cobs when they are not available.
• Spikeweed - Not recommended to use unless upgraded into a Spikerock.
  • Spikerock - Takes long for Gargantuars to destroy and therefore stops them from destroying other plants.

According to Or Hoshmand, it's not recommended to use the following plants in Last Stand Endless:

• Peashooter, Split Pea, Snow Pea, Threepeater, Repeater, Gatling Pea - Unlike fumes, and lobbed shots, peas cannot bypass the defense of screen doors and ladders or hit Snorkel Zombies when they are submerging. Actually Split Peas can bypass screen doors and ladders if the zombies that hold them have passed them and they can also attack Digger Zombies in column A, but they are still not recommended to use because the same effect can be achieved by putting Gloom-shrooms in column B. In additionally, Winter Melons cool down the zombies just like Snow Peas.
• Torchwood - Torchwoods are useless without peas as they have nothing to turn into fireballs that way. In additionally fireballs can warm up the zombies, and unlike Jalapenos that kill all zombies in the lane instantly except for some Gargantuars that are going to cool down again as soon as a Winter Melon hits them, fireballs can warm up all zombies without killing them regularly.
• Chomper - Can eat only one zombie in every 42 seconds, can never eat Gargantuars, and there are too many zombies.
• Wall-nuts and Tall-nuts - There are too many zombies and Gargantuars can destroy them quickly. While it's important to stop zombies from eating the plants, that can be done better with Pumpkins that can be planted in every square in which there is a plant other than a Cob Cannon or a Tangle Kelp.
• Tangle Kelp - Disappears as soon as it kills the zombies, and the zombies in the pool are not very powerful so the Gloom-shrooms in the three rightmost columns in the pool are enough to kill all of them and the risk that they are going to destroy any plant is very low.
• Potato Mine - Disappears as soon as it kills zombies, and there is no way to make sure that only Gargantuars get hit by it, not even using a Pumpkin as it kills Digger Zombies when they are digging.
• Scaredy-shroom - Performs like a Peashooter in terms of damage except that its shots cannot be turned into fireballs when they go through Torchwoods, not practically cheaper than a Peashooter as it requires a Coffee Bean to wake up, and stops shooting when there is a zombie that comes too close.
• Cactus - One Cattail is enough to pop all balloons, therefore planting a Cactus is a waste of space and sun as it pops balloons only in its lane.
• Blover - Again, one Cattail is enough to pop all balloons, and there is no need to blow Balloon Zombies off using a Single-use plant.
• Hypno-shroom - Can be eaten only by one zombie, and there is no way to make sure that only Jack-in-the-Box Zombies eat it, and Gargantuars never eat it.
• Garlic - There are too many zombies and there is no good reason to divert them into other lanes, and Gargantuars destroy it quickly.
• Marigold - Does nothing but giving extra coins, and there are many zombies that give many coins when they are killed in anyway.

According to Or Hoshmand, this is how the zombies are ranked from the biggest threat to the smallest threat in Last Stand Endless:

1. Giga-gargantuar - Tries to smash every plant in the lane and throws an Imp when loses half of its health points, has 6000 health points.
2. Gargantuar - Same as Giga-gargantuar, but has 3000 health points.
3. Jack-in-the-Box Zombie - Tries to destroy the plants by exploding, there is no way to know whether he is going to explode before he is killed or his Jack-in-the-box is confiscated by a Magnet-shroom.
4. Bungee Zombie - Tries to steal the plants from above.
5. Digger Zombie - Tries to eat the plants from left to right in order to avoid normal shots.
6. Catapult Zombie - Tries to destroy the leftmost plant using basketballs and drives into the house and on the way crashes the plants if runs out of basketballs.
7. Football Zombie - Runs fast and has 1670 health points unless his helmet is confiscated by a Magnet-shroom.
8. Ladder Zombie - Tries to lay ladders on the Pumpkins, the ladder also protects the Ladder Zombie from plants that try to shoot him from the front.
9. Balloon Zombie - Flies over the lane and avoids most shots, but one Cattail is enough to pop all balloons. Balloon Zombies that fly over the pool have a unique weakness, once their balloon is popped they drown.
10. Dolphin Rider Zombie - Tries to jump over the plants in the pool.
11. Snorkel Zombie - Submerges in the pool and avoids shots from plants other than Lobber plants as long as doesn't try to eat any plant.
12. Buckethead Zombie - Has 1370 health points unless his bucket is confiscated by a Magnet-shroom.
13. Screen Door Zombie - The screen door protects the zombie from plants that try to shot him from the front.
14. Pole Vaulting Zombie - Tries to jump over the first plant in the lane that is not a Spikeweed or a Spikerock.
15. Newspaper Zombie - The newspaper is his shield, stops for a second and then runs fast when loses his newspaper.
16. Conehead Zombie - Has 640 health points.
17. Normal Zombie - Has 200 health points.

First Flag

At the beginning there are only Normal Zombies, Flag Zombies, Conehead Zombies, Newspaper Zombies, and their Ducky Tube counterparts except for Newspaper Zombies that don't have a duck tube counterpart, as well as ambushing Ducky Tube Zombies that can also be Buckethead Zombies sometimes.

Put a Winter Melon in each grass lane in column A, a Winter Melon with a Pumpkin in each pool lane in column E, a Gold Magnet with a Pumpkin in the pool in column F, a Cattail with a Pumpkin in the pool in column F, a Cob Cannon in the pool in columns A-B, and a Kernel-pult in the pool in the remaining lane in columns A-B.

The locations of the Gold Magnet and the Cattail are interchangeable, the only important thing is that both of them are in the pool and in column F. There is only one Gold Magnet and one Cattail in this strategy as Or Hoshmand believes that it's enough to have only one plant of each of these types. They have limitations, but it's necessary to keep room for other plants.

The locations of the Cob Cannon and the pair of Kernel-pult that has not been upgraded into a Cob Cannon yet are also interchangeable, the only important thing is that both of them are in the pool and in columns A-B. They should be there because there is no safer place to put a Cob Cannon and they cannot be protected by Pumpkins.

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Second Flag

As of the second flag there are Pole Vaulting Zombies. Now it's time to upgrade the pair of Kernel-pults into a Cob Cannon. Other than that, it's not necessary to add new plants as one Winter Melon in each lane is still enough to kill all zombies.

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Third Flag

As of the third flag there are Buckethead Zombies and their Ducky Tube counterparts as regular zombies and not only as ambushing ones. Now it's time to put the final four Kernel-pults in the remaining squares in the pool in columns C-D. Later, they will be upgraded into Cob Cannons, and in the meantime they will attack the zombies in the pool. Again, even though it takes longer to kill Buckethead Zombies, one Winter Melon in each lane is still enough to kill all zombies.

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Fourth Flag

As of the fourth flag there are Screen Door Zombies. Now it's time upgrade one of the pairs of Kernel-pults into a Cob Cannon. The screen doors don't protect the zombies from Winter Melon attacks.

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Fifth Flag

As of the fifth flag there are Snorkel Zombies. Now it's time to upgrade the final pair of Kernel-pults into a Cob Cannon. While Snorkel Zombies cannot be attacked by most shooting plants as long as they don't try to eat any plant, Winter Melons can still attack them as they are Lobber Plants.

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Sixth Flag

Usually, there are still no Dolphin Rider Zombies in the sixth flag in this strategy. However, this is already recommended to put a Fume-shroom with a Pumpkin in each lane in the pool in column G. later, the Fume-shrooms will be upgraded into Gloom-shrooms.

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Seventh Flag

As of the seventh flag there are Dolphin Rider Zombies. Now it's time to upgrade the Fume-shrooms into Gloom-shrooms. The Gloom-shrooms will attack the Dolphin Rider Zombies even after they jump over them. Even the Dolphin Rider Zombies cannot reach the Winter Melons now.

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Eighth Flag

As of the eighth flag there are Football Zombies. Now it's time to put Gloom-shrooms with Pumpkins in the pool in column H. Be careful! the football zombies are very tough, and one Winter Melon in each grass lane may not be enough to kill all zombies anymore. If the zombies get too close to the Winter Melons it's strongly recommended to launch a corn cob on them.

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Ninth Flag

As of the ninth flag there are Balloon Zombies. Now it's time to put the final Gloom-shrooms with Pumpkins in the pool in column I, and the pool is finally full, therefore you can remove the Lily Pad from the seed bank and ignore any warning about it until they are destroyed by the zombies. Don't worry about the Balloon Zombies, you already have one Cattail and it's perfectly enough to pop all their balloons. Balloon Zombies that fly over the pool just drown when their balloon is popped.

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Tenth Flag

As of the tenth flag there are Jack-in-the-Box Zombies. Jack-in-the-Box Zombies are very dangerous as they can destroy many expensive plants when they explode, especially if they are on lane 2 or lane 5, and there is no clue when they are going to explode if at all. Therefore, now it's time to put a Magnet-shroom with a Pumpkin in F2 and F5. The Magnet-shrooms will reduce the availability of metallic equipment for the zombies, including Jack-in-the-box.

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Eleventh Flag

As of the eleventh flag there are Bungee Zombies. Bungee Zombies make a new threat as they try to steal the plants from above, except for Cob Cannons that they can never steal. Therefore, now it's time to put an Umbrella Leaf in B2, B5, E2, and E5. This is recommended to protect the umbrella leaves in E2 and E5 already in this flag. don't worry about the Gloom-shrooms in the pool, if a Bungee Zombie tries to steal one of them they can kill the Bungie Zombie fast enough before he manages to steal one of them.

Each Umbrella Leaf protects another area beside itself:

• The Umbrella Leaf in B2 protects A1, B1, C1, A2, C2, A3, B3, and C3.
• The Umbrella Leaf in B5 protects A4, B4, C4, A5, C5, A6, B6, and C6.
• The Umbrella Leaf in E2 protects D1, E1, F1, D2, F2, D3, E3, and F3.
• The Umbrella Leaf in E5 protects D4, E4, F4, D5, F5, D6, E6, and F6.

The Umbrella Leaves unnecessarily protect the Cob Cannons and therefore this strategy doesn't take the advantage of the inability of Bungee Zombies to steal cob cannons, but these are still the best squares to put the umbrella leaves as they protect the most plants they can that way.

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Twelfth Flag

As of the twelfth there are Ladder Zombies. Don't worry, Ladder Zombies are not huge threats. In additionally, the Magnet-shrooms will remove the ladders eventually. There is something more important to do now, put a Pumpkin on each Winter Melon in colomn A, the pumpkins will protect the Winter Melons from Digger Zombies later. In additionally, put a Fume-shroom in B1 and B6, the Fume-shrooms will be upgraded into Gloom-shrooms that will attack the Digger Zombies later, and in the meantime they will attack the zombies that have got to column F or passed it.

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Thirteenth Flag

As of the thirteenth flag there are Catapult Zombies. Catapult Zombies make a new threat as they try to destroy the leftmost plant in their lane, and if they run out of basketballs they drive towards the house just like a Zomboni except that they don't apply an ice trail, and on the way they crush plants. Fortunately, we are already well-prepared to Catapult Zombies as the Umbrella Leaves protect from the basketballs just like they protect from Bungee Zombies, and the plants that we already have can kill Catapult Zombies quickly. Therefore, now it's time to upgrade the Fume-shrooms in B1 and B6 into Gloom-shrooms that will attack the Digger Zombies later.

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Fourteenth Flag

As of the fourteenth flag there are Digger Zombies. Digger Zombies make a new threat as they try to go all the way to the leftmost by digging. However, they don't try to enter the house usually, but only to eat the plants from left to right which is the opposite direction from that of most zombies, unless the pickaxe is confiscated by a Magnet-shroom and then they stop digging. Fortunately, we have prepared well to the Digger Zombies in the last two flags, and we only have to put Pumpkins on the Umbrella Leaves and the Gloom-shrooms in column B. As of now, all plants on the lawn are protected by Pumpkins finally, and it's strongly recommended to put all next plants with a Pumpkin except for Cherry Bombs, Jalapenos, and Spikerocks.

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Fifteenth Flag

As of the fifteenth flag there are Gargantuars. Gargantuars make a huge threat, the second biggest threat only to their tougher variant, Giga-gargantuar. They try to destroy plants by smashing them using a Telephone pole or a Wildlife crossing sign, and that way they can destroy instantly all plants except for Spikerocks. In additionally, they require 3000 damage in order to kill them, and therefore they cannot be killed instantly using a single Instant-kill plant unliike other zombies, and moreover when they lose half of their health points they throw an Imp that my get instantly to any column from A to E. Unfortunately, we cannot do very much in order to kill the gargantuars faster yet, and it's rather recommended to put a Magnet-shroom in F1 and F6 in order to reduce the availability of metallic equipment even more.

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Sixteenth Flag

In the sixteen flag there are no new zombies. However, as you can see, lane 1 and lane 6 are more vulnerable than lane 2 and lane 5. That's because there are Gloom-shrooms in the pool that attack the zombies in lane 2 and lane 5, these Gloom-shroom are relatively safe because in the pool there are no zombies that can destroy them very fast when they are protected by pumpkins, and they are rather more threatened by Jack-in-the-Box Zombies in lane 2 and lane 5. On the other hand, in lane 1 and lane 6 there are no Gloom-shrooms in a nearby lane, and there is no safe nearby lane for Gloom-shrooms. Therefore, now it's time to put a Fume-shroom in E1 and E6. Unlike other Fume-shrooms, these Fume-shrooms should never be upgraded into Gloom-shrooms because they should attack the zombies from column F to column I.

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Seventeenth Flag

Again, in the seventeenth flag there are no new zombies. However, even with the Fume-shrooms land 1 and lane 6 are still more vulnerable than land 2 and lane 5. Unfortunately, new Cob Cannons cannot be planted safely in any lane in columns C-D, because they cannot be protected by Pumpkins, and Gargantuars throw Imps and the Imps can destroy the Cob Cannons quickly. Therefore, it's recommended to put extra two Winter Melons in lane 1 and lane 6 before putting Winter Melons in land 2 and lane 5. Because there is not enough sun for all Winter Melons yet, it's recommended to plant one Winter Melon in each flag.

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Eighteenth Flag

Again, in the eighteenth flag there are no new zombies. Now it's time to plant another Winter Melon in lane 1 or lane 6, the lane with fewer Winter Melons among them.

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Twentieth Flag

In the iPad version or Plants vs. Zombies there are Giga-gargantuars as of the twentieth flag, and regardless of the game version the number of Gargantuars starts increasing. Now it's time to plant the third Winter Melon in lane 1 or lane 6, that probably wasn't possible in the nineteenth flag due to shortage of sun.

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Twenty-First Flag

As of the twenty-first flag there are Giga-gargantuars in all free versions of Plants vs. Zombies. Giga-gargantuars are the final new zombies and there will be no new zombies in later flags. Giga-gargantuars are the biggest threat in Last Stand Endless as they behave just like normal Gargantuars but they are two times tougher than normal gargantuars. Therefore, as of this flag it's strongly recommended to use Cherry Bombs and Jalapenos in order to attack the zombies when Corn cobs are not available. Now it's time to plant the third Winter Melon in lane 1 or lane 6, the lane with two Winter Melons.

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Twenty-Third Flag

After there are finally three Winter Melons in lane 1 or lane 6, now it's time to plant the second Winter Melon in lane 2 or lane 5. Just because lane 2 and lane 5 are less vulnerable than lane 1 and lane 6 because of the Gloom-shrooms in the pool doesn't mean that land 2 and lane 5 don't need extra Winter Melons.

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Twenty-Fourth Flag

Now it's time to plant the second Winter Melon in lane 2 or lane 5, the lane in which there is still only one Winter Melon.

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Twenty-Sixth Flag

Now it's time to plant the third Winter Melon in lane 2 or lane 5.

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Twenty-Seventh Flag

Now it's time to plant the third Winter Melon in lane 2 or lane 5, the lane in which there are still only two Winter Melons. This is the final Winter Melon that has to be planted, now there are finally three Winter Melons in each grass lane.

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Twenty-Ninth Flag

Now it's time to put a Gloom-shroom in G2 or G5. The Gloom-shroom will attack zombies in G1/G6, H1/H6, and H2/H5.

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Thirtieth Flag

Now it's time to put a Gloom-shroom in G2 or G5, the square that is still blank. The basic structure of this strategy is finally complete.

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Thirty-First Flag

Now it's time to start putting Spikerocks in G1 and G6 in order to stop Gargantuars from destroying other plants. It's recommended to put Spikerocks in G1 and G6 before putting Spikerocks in H2 and H5 as lane 1 and lane 6 are still more vulnerable than lane 2 and lane 5.

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Thirty-Second Flag and onwards

Now it's time to put Spikerocks in H2 and H5. This is recommended to renew the Spikerocks in G1 H2 H5 and G6 whenever they disappear.

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