Trickster is a premium legendary zombie card in Plants vs. Zombies Heroes and a member of the 
Brainy class. It costs 10
to play and has 6
/6
.
It doesn't have any traits, and its abilities reduces its cost by 1 every time a zombie trick is played while in the Zombie Hero's hand as well as doing a bonus attack when played.
Origins
Trickster is based on its name's very definition, which is someone who cheats on, deceives, or plays tricks and pranks on people, echoing with its description of how it never gets tired of the rubber chicken gag. It is also a double-entendre that references its cost reduction ability being associated with tricks.
Statistics
- Class: Brainy
- Tribe: Party Zombie
- Traits: None
- Abilities: While in your hand: This costs 1 less when you play a Trick. When played: This does a Bonus Attack.
- Set - Rarity: Premium - Legendary
Card description
Never gets tired of the rubber chicken gag.
Update history
Update 1.8.23
- ▼ Strength change: 7 → 6
- ▼ Health change: 7 → 6
Strategies
With
Trickster is a really strong zombie, not just because it is capable of fitting in many decks, but also because if you are skilled enough, you can play this zombie much earlier for a quick win. If you want to put it in your deck, you would also want to bring lots of tricks, such as Beam Me Up and Hail-a-Copter to make zombies during the Zombie Tricks phase, and other cheap tricks to lower its cost.
If you happen to get it in your hand on the 1st turn, it is recommended that you keep it as you can spam cheap zombie tricks such as Bungee Plumber, Yeti Lunchbox, and Smoke Bomb to reduce its cost, then play it on an early turn on an empty lane to do 6 free damage to your opponent
Using it in a trick deck along with Paparazzi Zombie, Trick-or-Treater, and Mad Chemist is a good strategy, as these zombies all benefit from playing tricks. Every time you play a trick, Paparazzi Zombie becomes more powerful, Trick-or-Treater and Mad Chemist give you more tricks to use, and Trickster becomes cheaper.
However, be aware if your opponent has Black-Eyed Pea on the field, as it gets stronger as well every time you play a trick, or Sportacus, as it will do 2 damage to you every time you play a trick.
Playing Teleport, then playing Trickster allows you to play it and Trickster for the same price as only Trickster in the Zombies Play phase, meaning that you could save it for the Zombie Tricks phase to either clear a powerful or pesky plant, or land a clear shot on your opponent.
However, this strategy is unusable when Brainana is played, as it prevents you from playing Teleport, unless you have enough Gentleman Zombies to replenish the brains needed to play Trickster.
If played on Mustache Monument, Trickster can do 12 damage on a single lane as the Fusion ability will make Trickster do a additional bonus attack. Meanwhile, playing him while Gargantuar Mime is on the field will result in Gargantuar Mime doing a bonus attack too, resulting in 11 damage total across two lanes.
Be aware that Wing-Nut can also make Trickster less powerful, due to being able to prevent its bonus attack. In addition, environments do not lower the cost of Trickster, despite them being played during the Zombie Tricks phase.
Against
Trickster has very high stats, and considering the way it is generally used as well as its bonus attack on play, it is a dangerous instrument at any time. The attack will likely destroy whatever it hits or do heavy damage, and may immediately end the game.
The best strategy is to finish the game and win before it can even be played, before your opponent has too many opportunities to reduce its cost, but this may be difficult or impossible if your opponent is running a trick-heavy deck, especially if it is also a control deck. It is also best to keep your health above 6 so it cannot instantly defeat you.
But if that is not possible, there are a few ways to pressure or deal with it. Tater Toss can pressure your opponent from playing Trickster on a certain lane because Hothead does 6 damage when destroyed. Peel Shield, Root Wall, and Force Field can allow plants to block its attacks. However, Peel Shield and Root Wall are limited in use because they only last for one turn
Briar Rose is also a good counter to this zombie due to its ability, filling all ground and heights lanes with flowers can destroy Trickster no matter where it is played. As a last resort, if you want to keep the sacrifice at minimum, you should consider playing instant-kill cards like Squash.
You can also Bounce it back into your opponent's hand, as its price will be reset back to 10. However, your opponent can simply play tricks to lower its price and play it again, and even that becomes unnecessary after the 10th turn.
One of the best methods of reducing the impact of Trickster is by having Wing-Nut on the field, which will disable its bonus attack. You can also make it harder to reduce its cost by playing Dark Matter Dragonfruit, which makes all zombie tricks cost 6 brains more. Forget-Me-Nuts serve a similar purpose, being a deterrent to early game tricks that can delay their progress significantly.
Gallery
| Plants vs. Zombies Wiki has a gallery for Trickster.
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In other languages
Please note that only official translations are used.
| Language | Name | Description |
|---|
| English | Trickster | |
| German | Scherzkeks | |
| Spanish | Bromista | |
| French | Farceur | |
| Italian | Prestigiatore | |
| Japanese | トリックスター
Torikkusutā | |
| Korean | 사기꾼
Sagikkun | |
| Brazilian Portuguese | Trapaceiro | |
| Russian | Шутник
Shutnik | |
| Simplified Chinese | 魔术僵尸
Móshù Jiāngshī | |
| Traditional Chinese | 騙子
Piànzi | |
Trivia
- It is the most expensive zombie fighter and the second most expensive zombie card in the game, after Gargantuars' Feast.
- It is the only card that can reduce its own cost without the help of special gimmicks.
- Assuming nothing but 1-brain tricks is played up until it is affordable, the earliest turn it can be played is on turn 4.
- On Trickster's card, the player can see a rubber chicken. This rubber chicken is thrown when it attacks.
- There is also a bag on Trickster's card, but that bag is never seen in-game. It is also in Trickster's textures too as a separate sprite.
- In Trickster's special ability animation (which can only play if they're given either
Overshoot or Hunt), Trickster pulls out a gadget with a punch glove attached to it, but in the animation, they seemingly grab it out of thin air, in a manner that suggests it would pull it from a bag that wasn't added into the final animation properly. Since this animation only plays in very specific circumstances, it was likely an unfinished animation when Trickster had a different ability somewhere during development.
- It is unaffected by Transformation Station's ability and Evolutionary Leap as no other zombie fighters are more expensive than it.
Brainy
Crazy
Hearty
Sneaky