Alcea rugosa
One of the fastest cards in the game, with a hard-hitting advanced attack and effectively no armour at all.
Russian Hollyhock is a Perennial herb card with both roles: native to Europe and invasive in eastern North America. Native it is a cushioned bench piece; invasive it is a fast attacker. See nativity and categories.
The starter attack, Stolon Reach, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun, reading 30 native and 31 invasive. Runs a stolon out fast β and keeps the speed.
The free once-per-battle ability, Seral Persistence, unlocks at level 25 and costs no Sun. Refuses to be replaced: heal 60%, and the foe can't heal.
The advanced attack, Deep Root Strike, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun, reading 40 native and 42 invasive. Draws on deep roots for a heavy blow. This is a large step up from the starter and the clear reason to level the card past level 40. See moves.
Basal Rosette arrives on the first riser at level 10 at full strength, adding a small amount of armour. On a card whose base armour is essentially zero, that small flat addition is a large proportion of its total defence β though it remains a fragile plant.
Vernalization Memory stacks on at level 68, adding attack power from the third turn onward only. For the first two turns it does nothing. Given how fast this card is, it will usually have acted twice before the trait switches on, so think of it as a reward for surviving into a longer fight.
The species record lists no toxicity and no trait keywords, so no poison rider applies. For field gear, survivability is the whole problem β anything that prevents damage outright is worth more than a marginal reduction. Its growth habit is not vine, epiphyte or hemiepiphyte, so a Moss Pole does not apply.
At level 40 native reads 103 HP and 19 ATK; invasive reads 89 HP and 22 ATK. Armour is 1 β the lowest reading you will see. Retreat is a cheap 12 Sun, which genuinely helps: you can pull it out before it dies. The headline is tempo, with opening tempo at 52 and sustained tempo at 52, both near the top of the range. This card acts first against almost anything. Invasive it pays Faustian bench damage per damaging attack and concedes 2 prizes on knockout. See stats.
By level 100 native reaches 190 HP and 34 ATK, invasive 165 HP and 41 ATK, with armour only at 2. The soft-herb divergence: a large body with no plating. Retreat rises to 23 Sun, and the inverted tempo has sunk to its floor β which costs this card more than most, because acting first was its entire advantage. What it keeps is a much larger attack stat and the turn-3 bonus on top of it.
Perennial herb is Competitor: strong into Ruderal β annual forbs, grasses, aquatics and bulbs β and weak to Specialist, meaning succulents, conifers, ferns and epiphytes. See weaknesses and resistances.
A racer. It acts first, its advanced attack hits hard, and its cheap retreat means you can strike and withdraw before the near-total lack of armour catches up with it. Played invasive it is a real threat in short fights.
The failure mode is equally clear: anything that survives the opening and hits back will remove it in one exchange. Do not ask it to hold a lane, and do not rely on Vernalization Memory unless the fight is genuinely going long.
It is edible and its economy group is leaf, so a nitrogen soil amendment pays it Γ1.25 coins β note that is nitrogen rather than the phosphorus most fruit cards want. See the battle lab.
Leveling trades speed for power. A plantβs tempo (SPD + INI, the turn-order edge) fades as it grows, while its power (HP + ATK + DEF, net of the rising Sun cost to retreat) climbs. The crossover is the level where power overtakes tempo: below it the plant is a fast skirmisher, above it a heavyweight. Shown for each stance this plant can actually hold β native adds a HP cushion, invasive an attack edge, neutral neither β with the card at its crossover and fully grown at LvΒ 100.