Magnet-shroom (PvZ)

Magnet-shroom is a mushroom that takes away metallic objects such as buckets, pickaxes, equipment, or any metal object from zombies, lowering their toughness and/or preventing them from using their special abilities, while only having a small recharge time needed between thefts. Although he does not cause any damage, he can render some of the toughest zombies almost defenseless, such as Football Zombie by removing their helmet, reducing their health to that of a normal zombie and making them easier to defeat in all situations.

About

 * For more information about this character, see Magnet-shroom

Magnet-shroom is obtained after the player beats Level 4-8. It can steal metallic objects from metallic zombies inside its range, seven columns by five rows.

Almanac entry
Magnet-shrooms remove helmets and other metal objects from zombies.

Range: nearby zombies

Special: removes helmets and other metal objects from zombies

Sleeps during the day

Magnetism is a powerful force. Very powerful. Sometimes it scares Magnet-shroom a little. He's not sure if he can handle that kind of responsibility.

Cost: 100

Recharge: fast

Upgrades
Gold Magnet: Magnet-shroom can be upgraded into Gold Magnet, which is not a mushroom, after purchasing the upgrade from Crazy Dave's Twiddydinkies for $3000 and 50 sun per planting.

Strategies
Magnet-shrooms are great against small amounts of armor and tool wielding zombies. They need to be close to the front row behind defenses to be in range of zombies, but remember that the Magnet-shroom will only affect zombies with metal (for example, it will not affect the Conehead Zombie). It is a good idea to protect the Magnet-shroom with a Pumpkin or some other defensive plant such as a Tall-nut, since they are often in front of your defensive plants. Do not forget that poles, Zombonis, catapults, and clubs or road signs are not magnetic.

Note that is not advised to use the Magnet-shroom during Survival: Endless due to the massive amount of zombies with metallic objects and, during Endless, he is almost useless with his cooldown. Also, when used in levels with Digger Zombies, make sure that the Magnet-shroom is placed near to the front so Digger Zombies will not be far enough in your defenses to eat vital plants when their pickaxes are stolen by the Magnet-shroom.

I, Zombie
Magnet-shrooms appear in many I, Zombie levels. They will take away your ladders, buckets, pickaxes, and football helmets, rendering your most powerful zombies useless and making him one of the most dangerous plants, alongside Threepeater and Kernel-pult. Use Conehead Zombies to quickly eat them without losing much sun. If the Magnet-shroom is heavily guarded, you may have to use a Bungee Zombie to steal him. However, watch out for Umbrella Leaves.

However, its strength can be turned into its weakness. By having Magnet-shrooms take an object, waiting approximately six (6) seconds, and placing a Digger Zombie at the far right square, if done correctly, the Digger Zombie will have their pickaxe removed by Magnet-shroom, pop up at the last tile to the brain, eat the plant or walk over Spikeweed, and eat the brain. This can effectively bypass many defenses or safe 50 sun as a Digger-Imp combination would usually cost 175, 50 more than the 125 that Digger Zombie is worth.

Pros

 * Renders the Buckethead Zombies, and Football Zombies, who are among the toughest zombies, helpless.
 * Makes the Jack-in-the-Box Zombie much less dangerous by taking his jack-in-the-box so it cannot destroy the player's plants except by eating them.
 * Steals Ladder Zombie's ladder, slowing it down, making it vulnerable to straight-shooting plants, and making it lose the ability to disable defensive plants. Can also remove the ladder if it is already placed down.
 * Stops Digger Zombies in its tracks.
 * Takes away the Pogo Zombie's pogo stick, forcing it to eat the player's plants instead of passing them.
 * Takes away screen doors, making the Screen Door Zombies helpless.

Cons

 * If Magnet-shroom steals Digger Zombie's pickaxe while it is in the middle of the plants or at the back, the player will be at a disadvantage to get rid of it.
 * Unlike his upgrade, Magnet-shroom cannot attract coins or diamonds from zombie drops.
 * He only attracts one object at a time.
 * He takes a short amount of time to recharge, but alongside the fact that he can only attract one object at a time, he is not useful against massive amounts of zombies.
 * His accuracy may be detrimental at times.
 * It is nocturnal, making it sleep during the day unless the Coffee Bean wakes it up, which costs an extra 75 sun.
 * He cannot steal Pole Vaulting Zombie's pole despite it looking metallic.

List of magnetic objects
The black football helmet may be a metallic object, but the only game version it is found in does not include Magnet-shroom as a plant, which means it is impossible to take the headgear unless it is destroyed.
 * Bucket
 * Screen door
 * Football helmet
 * Jack-in-the-box
 * Pickaxe
 * Pogo stick
 * Ladder
 * Trash can

Trivia

 * Unlike most mushrooms, when sleeping, he does not close his eyes. He will also appear gray, as if he had already stolen a metal object.
 * He is nocturnal while his upgrade, Gold Magnet, is not.
 * An imitated Magnet-shroom will glow thick white when attracting an object, whereas a normal glows a light blue color.
 * The sound of buzzing electricity can be heard when he steals an object.
 * He and Sea-shroom are the only mushrooms that are not obtained in the Night levels, excluding the Gloom-shroom, which is bought from Crazy Dave's Twiddydinkies.
 * He, Hypno-shroom, and Doom-shroom (when sleeping) are the only mushrooms that bounce from left to right.
 * Gold Magnet has a lower sun cost than him. It is one of two upgrade plants to do this, the other being Winter Melon.
 * It takes 15 seconds to recharge after removing a metallic object.
 * He will not steal metallic equipment from hypnotized zombies.
 * In Beghouled, if the player drags him around (without it having a match), and he has stolen a metallic object, the metallic object will appear on the other side of the Magnet-shroom.
 * Sometimes he will try to attract a metallic object when the object has just been destroyed. If so, he will appear as if he has stolen an object, but without the object.
 * He cannot steal the Pole Vaulting Zombie's pole, even though the pole appears to be metal.
 * The eyebrows from the seed packet and the Almanac image are pointed in a different way.
 * He and Fume-shroom are the only mushrooms that can be upgraded.
 * He, Fume-shroom, and Lily Pad are the only plants that can do something that their upgrades cannot do.
 * He cannot steal the Gargantuar's weapon (the metal sign), even if it is metal.
 * When he stole Pogo Zombie's pogo stick, the stick's handle appears to be broken.
 * This also occurs when blocked by a Tall-nut or when the zombie loses it.