Stage teams 5-30

5-30 pushes just the fire lane forward. Pyropup stands at the very front of lane 3 with Ignisnap close behind, while every other lane starts a few rows back, so the fire lane meets enemies first and has to survive it. Souphog is what holds it together: it burns its own HP to throw peppers, hands out Culinary Shields, and heals the units around it when it finally goes down. Sitting behind Pyropup and Ignisnap, it protects exactly the pair taking the first hits. If you don't have it, a clear of this stage used Ashlarva in that lane instead, trading the shields for a healing fire ring.

Lane 4 relies on knockback. Zappur's wave shoves enemies back down the lane, so Zapooch's chain lightning and Zapuni's splash get extra time before anything reaches them.

Lane 5 is light, just Pearpair and Voltkit, and Turtuff can replace Voltkit if you'd rather have a Shell Shield there. Gibber's piercing shell and Manteeny's constant strikes cover lane 2 in front of Boltskipper, while Snoozebo leads lane 1 ahead of Cluckeroo and Frugatoad.