From Plants vs. Zombies Wiki
Lil' Buddy is a triassic uncommon plant card in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes and a member of the 
Solar class. It can also be made by Poppin' Poppies.
It costs 0
to play and has 1
. It has the Team-Up trait, and its ability heals the plant hero for up to 2 when it is played.
Origins
It is based on a poppy seed pod, despite it being called Lil' Buddy.
Its name is a combination of "lil'," possibly referring to its low stats (as a fighter's implied size is related to its stats) and "buddy," referring to its appearance (although, as mentioned, Lil' Buddy resembles more of a seed pod than a bud), as well as alluding to Poppin' Poppies' description, as playing her was the only way to properly obtain it before being made into a playable card by itself. The term "li'l buddy" is also a term you give to a close friend.
Its description is a reference to how Lil' Buddy is usually played in front of a plant to protect it.
Statistics
- Class: Solar
- Tribes: Flower Seed Plant
- Trait: Team-Up
- Ability: When played: Heal your Hero for 2.
- Set - Rarity: Triassic - Uncommon
Card description
Wait, you want me to go in *front*?!?
Update history
Update 1.4.14
Update 1.16.10
- ▲ Ability added: When played: Heal your Hero for 2.
- Class change:
Guardian → Solar
Update 1.24.6
- Set - Rarity change: Token → Triassic - Uncommon
- ▲ Sun cost change: 1 → 0
Strategies
With
Despite it having only one health and no strength, Lil' Buddy has a great number of uses, primarily due to the fact it is free. It can act as a weak shield against zombies with its Team-Up trait, which could save an expensive or valuable plant as long as said zombies lack the Strikethrough trait. Its healing ability is always good to have in any case, and can be used to boost Pepper M.D., within or outside of Heal decks. It is also an excellent choice to play Evolution cards with, as it does not require prior setup and is free. Doing so can convert an otherwise useless plant into something much better, and since it has Team-Up, you can potentially put two powerful threats in one lane, even if said Evolution plant lacks the Team-Up trait itself. Notable examples include Cob Cannon (who specifically requires a Team-Up plant) and Elderberry.
Since it is a flower plant, it can be used to activate Briar Rose's ability, and give Power Flower some extra healing, if it survives. However, despite being a free plant, these are not the best uses for Lil' Buddy.
Lil' Buddy has few significant issues, with Vimpire/Ancient Vimpire not withstanding. As mentioned before it can't block Strikethrough attacks, and is also useless if a Zombie with Frenzy can break through it. Sneezing Zombie can deny healing, and Total Eclipse will restrict its placement.
Each hero has their own way of using Lil' Buddy:
- Chompzilla has access to Onion Rings, a card that's intended to make usually weak plants much more useful by essentially turning it into a free 4/4
plant for her to take the game back by force.
- Rose can use Go-Nuts to boost its strength. However, the Smarty Class often has better Team-Up plants, and Lil' Buddy will only serve as a healing card at best. It can, however, be used with Tricorn to put a big threat on board as soon as you have 6 sun.
- Wall-Knight, with his access to Poppin' Poppies, can easily make huge numbers of Lil' Buddies and achieve incredible amounts of healing. As Lil Buddy has no base strength, he can make it more threatening with Spineapple and Loco Coco, although he too has better plants to work with.
- Solar Flare has few means of using Lil' Buddy beyond healing, as the Kabloom class also has fragile plants, and Lil Buddy needs a strength boost to be viable. Since Lil' buddy cannot synergize with Kabloom plants, she is better off using others like Puff-Shroom.
Against
This plant will mainly take attacks from your zombies, and combined with its low health, Lil' Buddy is nothing serious; as long as it isn't boosted, any attack can destroy it. Zombies with the 
Frenzy or the 
Strikethrough trait can destroy Lil' Buddy and attack your opponent at the same time.
However, if Briar Rose is on the field, then this may cause a problem and spell disaster for both you and your zombies, as Lil' Buddy is also a flower. So if there is one, then it is recommended to destroy it with other cards before your zombies attack the Lil' Buddies. Alternatively, you could also play Weed Spray or The Chickening to get rid of all the Lil' Buddies without worrying about Briar Rose's ability.
If you see Pepper M.D., your opponent can play Lil' Buddy and boost Pepper M.D. greatly. Since your opponent will most likely play it on an empty lane, you will take a lot of damage. Fortunately, you can play either a 
Deadly zombie or Rocket Science on turn 3.
Gallery
Lil' Buddy's grayed out card
Lil' Buddy with the Strikethrough trait
Nibble being played on Lil' Buddy
4 Lil' Buddies in Chompzilla's hand
Old
Lil' Buddy's statistics before update 1.6.27
Lil' Buddy's statistics before update 1.4.14
In other languages
Please note that only official translations are used.
| Language |
Name |
Description
|
 English
|
Lil' Buddy
|
|
 Simplified Chinese
|
小伙伴
|
|
| Traditional Chinese
|
小傢伙
|
meaning "youngster"
|
 Russian
|
Малыш
|
|
Trivia
- Its description is grammatically incorrect, as the description is a quote from Lil' Buddy, but has no quotation marks.
- The attack it does is similar to the attack from Pair of Pears, which involves it firing seeds.
See also
due to Pecanolith's ability
Kabloom
Mega-Grow
Smarty
Solar