Balancing in VS mode

Many plants in VS mode have different sun prices than in the main adventure mode in order to account for the difference in utility compared to single player. For example, coffee bean’s price was changed from 75 to 25 in order to better allow the plants team to implement mushroom-based defenses. However, I believe some of these adjusted sun prices in this mode are in need of further consideration and adjustment. For example, Repeater only costs 150 in this mode as opposed to its normal cost of 200, allowing the player on the plants team to get a decently powerful shooter for fairly cheap. Most zombies get melted by Repeater, especially when the plant is allowed to be spammed due to its lowered cost and fast recharge. Please consider either raising it to 175 or reverting it to its normal price of 200 sun; this will make its pricing more consistent with its actual worth in the mode and help prevent the zombie team from getting even their most well-thought-out strategies quickly annihilated.

But as oppressive as Repeater may be, it cannot hold a candle to the plant that is far and away the most deserving of a price increase: the Doom-Shroom. Doom-Shroom is so insanely overpowered in VS mode that it is often the only unit on either side to be banned in competitive play. It allows for the plant team to wipe almost the entire board of zombies whenever needed, immediately putting the zombies at a huge disadvantage. Doom-Shroom retains its original price from adventure mode: 125 sun which is ludicrously low for its function, especially when the coffee bean needed to activate it costs far less now. The zombie team has to pay twice the combined price of Doom-Shroom and coffee bean for a flag zombie, who spawns a wave that can just get obliterated by Doom-Shroom anyways. Doom-Shroom leaves a crater that cannot be planted on after exploding, but this is nowhere near enough of a detriment to the plants to prevent it from being spammed. Its long recharge time is also not big enough of a disadvantage to prevent it from being used very frequently, as the plants player can simply stockpile them on the lawn and wait to wake them up with coffee bean. It is not hyperbole to say that Doom-Shroom’s price in vs mode should be doubled at a minimum, because using it almost always ensures a plant victory. I also believe that the craters it leaves should be changed to stay permanently on the lawn in vs mode, as this creates a better opportunity for strategic mid-late game counterplay for the zombies team after they survive a monumental setback from the explosive, as well as making Doom-Shroom a much bigger commitment from the plants player with real consequences for them if they use it at the wrong moment.

There are other plants that should maybe also have their prices raised a smidge like Squash, due to it being a very dependable and cheap instakill plant with a faster recharge time than the others. Puff shroom allows for mind-numbing stalling tactics due to costing no sun at all, and even though you need a coffee bean to wake it up, you can still use its free sleeping version to stall zombies whenever needed. A price increase to just 25 sun in this mode would work wonders for this plant’s balance. VS mode is a very enjoyable mode but I and many others firmly believe that it would be even more fun if the plants had less easy routes to victory, and the zombies had a bit more of a fighting chance. The zombies are already fighting an uphill battle in this mode due to having a far smaller pool of options to select from as well as a smaller area of the lawn to work with, I think it’s only fair that some of the plants’ most spammable options were a bit more pricey to compensate. Again, this also allows both sides to create more nuanced strategies. Please take another look at some of these unit prices as well as others in the mode and consider adjusting them accordingly.