100 Vert Realistic Tree

Ok! Maybe that's a bit insane to aim for. But after downloading countless tree assets on the store and studying them in blender... I just can't figure out how they all seem to balloon to 2-3k verts.

So I'm thinking of challenging myself to make a tree that looks photo realistic as possible but has as little verts as possible.

How should I go about it? Any tips and tricks to fake the high res but low polycount would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

 

Impostors

 

Yes I've played with imposters and they'll definitely be part of the strategy. But imposters look like ghosts close up.