Amelanchier canadensis
A thorny shrub that plays either role - a native buffer that hurts attackers or an invasive attacker that buffs and saps.
Canada serviceberry is a Shrub that fights as a thorn-backed aggressor: it buffs its own attack, saps its target, and punishes anything that hits it. It is native to Eastern North America and invasive across Europe, so the arena can cast it either way - as a native buffer for your bench or as an invasive attacker. It is a serviceable mid-tier card that plays a bit more offensively than most shrubs.
Its starter attack, Chipmunk Horde, unlocks at level 1 and costs 2 Sun for about 26 damage native / 27 invasive - a plain hit. The free once-per-battle ability, Nurse Shrub, arrives at level 25: Shelters the whole bench — evens their health, and calls the fallen back. It raises the plant's own attack. The advanced attack, Hedgerow Havoc, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (26 native / 27 invasive) and saps the target, weakening it as it deals damage. Most of your serviceberries sit below level 40, where only the starter is available. None of its moves carry an initiative rider. See Moves.
Serviceberry keeps one always-on trait: Thorns. Because a card holds only one trait per riser, Thorns arrives in full on the level 10 riser and is never dropped. Whenever an opponent lands a melee hit, a share of that damage is reflected straight back, so a patient attacker grinds itself down against it. See Abilities.
Serviceberry carries the Thorns keyword, the source of its contact recoil. Its growth habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. It is non-toxic, with no hazard ring, so only its spines punish an attacker. As a native, defensive field gear suits a supporting role; as an invasive, offensive gear leans into its attack-buff plan.
At level 40 serviceberry reads 103 HP as a native and 89 as an invasive, with ATK of 23 native versus 25 invasive - a modest invasive edge, and its native attack is a touch below the pack. DEF is 11, mid-range for the shrub band. Its tempo is front-loaded: turn 1 runs on its initiative (51) and every turn after on its slower SPD (36), so it leads early and is out-paced later. Retreat costs 14 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and a bench HP overshield; as an invasive it pays Faustian self-damage to its own bench on each damaging attack and concedes 2 prizes when knocked out. See Stats.
Matured to level 100, serviceberry reaches 190 HP native / 165 invasive and 42 / 46 ATK, and its DEF climbs to 23 - a shrub gains a moderate amount of armor, enough to blunt weaker hitters but short of a tree's wall. Retreat rises to 27 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to roughly 1% of cap, so a mature serviceberry acts last against almost anything younger. Maturing buys bulk and a firmer Thorns bite; it costs you speed.
As a shrub, serviceberry sits in the Competitor succession group. It hits Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs) for x1.5 and takes only x0.667 from them, while Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes) strike it for x1.5 and resist its blows. Against other Competitors and the off-wheel Weird group the trade is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play serviceberry offensively when you can. As an invasive, buff its attack, then sap and grind down a target while Thorns punishes anything that swings back; as a native it makes a decent buffer whose spines and HP cushion protect a fragile ally. It is inedible, so feeding it any nutrient banks x1.25 XP rather than coins. It plays as a quick skirmisher early and leans on its bulk as it grows, crossing over around level 29; higher levels only strengthen it, so there is no reason to hold it back.
Leveling trades speed for power. A plant’s 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 — native adds a HP cushion, invasive an attack edge, neutral neither — with the card at its crossover and fully grown at Lv 100.