Strategy by 雪漠北, 朴心_, and 泪已留空心无言, optimized by 火风之背影 and Crescendo.
Tempo:
First half: Card 3: Ice - Doom | Imitater Doom | Cherry + Jalapeno + Squash; 18 | 16 | 16
Second half: Card 3: Doom | Ice - Imitater Doom | Cherry + Jalapeno + Squash; 15 | 19 | 16.
(I actually played approximately 15 | 20 | 15 because I used other instants too early, so the Imitater Doom has not recharged when I'm supposed to use it. These waves have poor Jack suppression.)
The card sequence has to suppress Jacks, kill Gigas, stop ice trail, and alleviate Pumpkin stress. This is pretty challenging for beginners. Every zombie (except the normal Zombie) is a threat.
There are two ideas:
1. Card 3: Ice - Doom | Imitater Doom | Cherry + Jala + Squash; 18 | 16 | 16
(Use Ice early, immediately after a new wave, freezing Diggers from the previous wave and all other zombies from the current wave)
2. Card 3: Doom | Ice - Imitater Doom | Cherry + Jala + Squash; 15 | 19 | 16
(Use Ice late, just before using Imitater Doom, freezing all zombies from the current wave)
Advantages of 1:
1. Better Giga resistance, because they are frozen early
2. The 18s wave stops Ice trail at column 7, Cherry to blast more zombies.
3. 18 | 16 | 16 has perfect Jack suppression. I'll explain this in a later video. Jacks may explode on the 19s wave when using 15 | 19 | 16
Disadvantages of 1:
1. The Imitater Doom is not protected by Ice. You have to find other ways (e.g. Pumpkin) to protect it
2. More Pumpkin stress (from Dolphin)
When Gigas are present, use 1 for more damage. When Gigas are absent, use 2 for less Pumpkin stress. The tempo above does exactly that.
In the first half, the Imitater has to be protected somehow:
For the first 5 waves, there are no Ducky Tube Zombies, so I can use them on column 9. All Imitaters on the first half are used within Jack's "safe period"
W2: 4-9, about 10s after spawning. Snorkels have already gone past col. 9
W5: 3-9, same as W2
W8: 3-8, same timing as W2, protected with PUMPKIN
W10: 5-7, time it exactly such that Zomboni won't crush it (at most 7.34s)
W13: 3-7, about 13s after spawning. Snorkels are slowed down by Ice. They can't reach col. 7
After that, all Imitaters are protected with ICE
Jack:
Most Jacks are Doomed within their "safe period" before they explode. However, this strategy still has the following weaknesses:
1. On extreme (variable) tempos, a new wave may spawn before I use any instants. The timing will be completely messed up.
2. During the second half, Diggers can be frozen after 13.58s, but the earliest late Jack opens its box at 13.22s. It can explode before being frozen
3. If Jacks are slowed down late, it will escape the range of Doom-shroom used on column 9.
4. Squash may target other zombies and miss Jack. This happens at 1:53 and 2:51
For 3 and 4, sometimes Jacks can be directly killed by Melon and Starfruit, but if there's a Football Zombie blocking, it can cause great trouble.
Digger and Dolphin
This strategy uses many Starfruits to alleviate Pumpkin pressure, but the pressure is still very high. Even if you add 1 Gloom on each side ( • Super-Rear Cobless ), it will be much easier. Repair Pumpkins ASAP.
Giga:
This strategy lacks strong AOE plants. Each row only has level 1 DPS, and at the end of a flag (W9, W20), it may have level 2 (very unstable). You may have to stall them until the next flag and then Doom them.
Bungee:
W10: Use Ice. The Starfruits are safe ( • Starfruit vs Bungee Zo... ). Other plants are usually OK, but I don't have a rigorous proof.
W20: Use Doom. Bungees on row 1-4 are Doomed. If a Bungee steals 5-4, kill it with a Jalapeno. If it steals 5-5/6-4/6-5, ignore it and plant the Starfruit back.
Reference:
www.bilibili.com/video/BV16T4...
www.bilibili.com/video/BV1DE4...