Arctium tomentosum
An annual-forb whose armor-ignoring pioneer attack hits harder each landing, with real invasive damage but paper-thin defense.
Woolly burdock is an annual-forb — a fast, soft weed built around a ramping pioneer attack. It is native to East Asia and Europe and invasive in eastern and western North America, so it holds both roles: a native buffer at home, an attacker abroad. It is a serviceable single-player coin-earner but folds quickly under return fire.
Its opening attack is Colonize (level 1, 2 Sun) — a pioneer-spread ramp with no fixed damage number that ignores armor and hits harder each time it lands: "Pioneer spread that ignores armor and hits harder each time it lands." The ability Disclimax (level 25) does "Holds the ground open — the foe stalls and withers." Its advanced attack, Scatterseed (level 40), costs 6 Sun for 25 native / 29 invasive: "Scatters wide — the foe's bench sickens and wilts."
From level 10 it carries Rapid Cycling — its sustained tempo climbs a point each checkup, up to +5, so it accelerates through a long fight. At level 68 it adds Ballistic Dispersal: when it is knocked out, it chips every living enemy on the way down. Below level 68 it has only the tempo ramp.
No thorns, no toxin, no keyword. Not a climber, so no Moss Pole. Its armor-ignoring starter is its best asset against tanky foes, and Rapid Cycling rewards drawing the fight out.
At level 40 it reads, native, HP 103 / ATK 26; invasive, HP 89 / ATK 35 — a clear attacker step. DEF is 1 (floor) and retreat 12 Sun. Opening tempo 38, sustained tempo 46: a slightly slow opener that cruises faster, sped up further by Rapid Cycling. Invasive, it pays Faustian bench self-damage each attack and concedes 2 prizes on a knockout. Its armor-ignoring starter means its damage does not care about the enemy's DEF at all.
By the cap, native HP reaches 190 and ATK 47 (invasive 165 / 69), while DEF crawls to 1 — biomass, no armor. Retreat rises to 23 Sun and its base tempo sinks near floor. Maturing buys a harder-hitting attacker with the same glass jaw.
Woolly burdock is a Ruderal: ×1.5 into Specialists (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes), ×1.5 taken from Competitors (perennial herbs, vines, shrubs, broadleaf trees), even with fellow Ruderals.
Native, it is a fast bench buffer. Invasive, its armor-piercing ramp makes it useful against durable single-player opponents that shrug off ordinary attacks — but its floor DEF means it must be backed up on the bench. It is edible with a root you eat, so a Potassium amendment pays ×1.25 coins (any other fertilizer banks ×1.25 XP). It plays as a tempo skirmisher until about level 29, after which its bulk takes over; level it up.
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.