Betula papyrifera
An armored native broadleaf tree from North America that shields and heals its bench and plays either role — a native anchor or a European invader.
Paper Birch is an armored Broadleaf tree that fights as a bench-support wall: moderate attacks, high DEF, and traits that shield and heal its allies. It is native to both eastern and western North America and invasive in Europe, so the arena can field it either way — as a native anchor for your bench or as an invasive attacker. It is a strong, well-rounded support tree.
Its starter attack, Acorn Drop, unlocks at level 1 and costs 2 Sun, dealing about 27 damage as a native and 27 as an invasive — a plain, reliable hit. The free once-per-battle ability, Gap Capture, arrives at level 25: Takes the fallen giant's light: +5 ATK, kept for the match. The advanced attack, Transpiration Drain, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (30 native / 30 invasive) and saps the target, weakening it as it lands. Most of your birches sit well below level 40, where only the starter is available. None of its moves carry an initiative rider, so it never seizes a turn. See Moves.
It keeps two always-on traits, both support-flavored. Network arrives early, on the level 10 riser, and as a canopy tree projects a gold Sun overshield bar onto your active from the bench — a reliable buffer from turn one it holds the trait. Mycorrhiza comes in on the level 68 riser and heals a benched ally, but it triggers only about 60% of the time, so that heal is unreliable turn to turn. Together they make it a durable backline that both shields and mends. See Abilities.
It carries no trait keywords — no thorns, no toxin chemistry — so nothing punishes an attacker for hitting it. It is non-toxic: no contact recoil and no poison rider baked in. Its growth habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native, defensive field gear stacks on its heavy armor to make it a hard backline anchor; as an invasive, offensive gear helps its moderate attacks matter.
At level 40 it reads 121 HP as a native and 106 as an invasive, with ATK of 26 native versus 26 invasive — the invasive edge is slim here. DEF is 21, high in the broadleaf-tree band, so it shrugs off hits that would fold a herb. Its tempo is back-loaded: turn 1 runs on a slower initiative (31) that gets out-paced, but from turn 2 on its faster SPD (46) takes over, so it opens behind and then keeps pace well. Retreat costs 16 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and a benched 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, it grows to 233 HP native / 203 invasive and 47 / 47 ATK, and its DEF climbs all the way to 48 — as a broadleaf tree it hardens into a true armored wall, nearly unbreakable from the front. Retreat rises to 34 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to roughly 1% of cap, so a mature birch acts last against almost anything young but is very hard to remove.
As a broadleaf tree it 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; it is weak to Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes), which strike it for x1.5 while resisting its blows. Against other Competitors and the off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play it as a native backline anchor: bench it to project a Sun overshield onto your active and heal an ally, or park it up front to soak hits behind its heavy armor while a hitter finishes fights. As an invasive its moderate ATK and toughness make it a capable frontline attacker too. It is inedible, so any nutrient you feed it banks x1.25 XP rather than coins. It opens slow but grows into an armored wall as it levels, crossing over around level 20; it is always stronger at higher levels in raw stats, 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.