Baillonella toxisperma
A native-only broadleaf tree that plays as a defensive buffer and collection piece.
A Vulnerable rainforest giant — a strong native buffer whose rarity projects a large bench overshield. It is a broadleaf tree in battle. It is native to Africa and is recorded as invasive nowhere, so it only ever plays the native buffer role — there is no attacker scenario for this card.
The starter attack Branch Bash unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun: Pins the foe under a fallen branch. It deals about 28 damage.
The free once-per-battle ability Old-Growth Reaction arrives at level 25: Centuries of shade — the foe stalls and withers. It costs no Sun — its price is being usable only once per battle.
The advanced attack Deadfall opens at level 40 for 6 Sun: The whole tree comes down. It hits for about 41.
Most cards you field sit well below level 40, so introduce these slots in order — a young plant has only its starter.
This card keeps two always-on traits, drawn from its category pool; the rest of that pool was dropped and it never gets it. Buttress Roots (from level 10) flares wide anchoring roots, so the tree cannot be bound or trapped in place — it ignores the Bind status outright.
A second, different trait stacks on later: Canopy Gap (from level 68) leaves the tree standing apart in the canopy — it takes no bench-splash or spread damage aimed at a neighbour. So for most of its playable life — including at the level 40 snapshot the stats below are read at — this card runs its first trait alone, and only a fully levelled specimen holds both.
This card carries no special trait keywords, and as a broadleaf tree it is not eligible for a Moss Pole (that is for climbers — vines and epiphytes). A Calcium/Magnesium soil amendment adds flat DEF, which suits a wall like this. Playing native, lean into bench support that feeds the overshield it and its benched natives project. See field gear for the full list.
Read at level 40, it carries 103 HP, including the +15% native cushion, with DEF 29 and a retreat cost of 16 Sun. Its attack reads 20 ATK.
It is slow off the mark but relentless after: a low opening tempo (13 initiative) but a higher sustained tempo (34 SPD), so it often loses turn 1 and then out-paces the foe from turn 2.
As a native it and any benched natives project a bench overshield onto your active. It never holds the invasive role, so it pays no Faustian self-damage. See stats.
As a broadleaf tree it hardens into a wall. HP swells to 190 native / 165 invasive and DEF climbs to 67 as the heartwood sets, so a mature specimen genuinely soaks hits a young one cannot. ATK caps at 35 / 35. Retreat rises to 33 Sun as it roots down with age, and its once-brisk tempo has sunk to near its floor — the tempo pips in Stats above are as fast as this card ever moves. Levelling buys raw bulk and reach; it costs turn-order speed.
In the succession type chart this broadleaf tree is a Competitor. Its attacks hit Ruderal cards (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics and bulbs) for ×1.5, while Specialist cards (succulents, conifers, ferns and epiphytes) hit it for ×1.5 and shrug its own blows down to ×0.667. Matchups against the off-wheel Weird categories (carrion-aroids, carnivorous plants, mycotrophs and vascular parasites) are neutral both ways. See weaknesses & resistances.
This is a native-only card: play it as a buffer and wall, soaking hits and feeding the bench overshield. It earns its keep in single-player battles for coins and as a family-tree collection piece more than as a top-tier attacker. It is edible with a resolved edible part, so feeding it Phosphorus pays ×1.25 coins; any other nutrient banks ×1.25 XP instead. As a Vulnerable species it is rarer than most, so it projects a larger bench overshield bar and pays a bigger stewardship bounty when caught. As a tree it is bulk-favored almost from birth — its crossover into power-dominance sits at a low level (see the Total power gallery below).
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.