Brassica rapa
An even-tempo annual-forb that pools defence from your benched ruderals and plays either role — an African and European native or a near-global invader.
Field mustard is an upright Annual forb that fights as an even-tempo skirmisher: light on armor, it borrows defence from its bench and keeps the same pace off the mark as it does in a long fight. It is native to Africa and Europe and invasive across East Asia, North America, Oceania, South America and South Asia, so the arena can field it either way — as a native buffer or as an invasive attacker. Its damage is fair as an invasive and low as a native; its bulk comes from the bench.
Its starter attack, Cultivate, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun, dealing about 31 damage as a native and 36 as an invasive. The free once-per-battle ability, Disclimax, arrives at level 25: Holds the ground open — the foe stalls and withers. It is a self-buff that raises its attack. The advanced attack, Somnolent Smell, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (24 native / 30 invasive) and pins the target as it strikes. Most of your field mustard sit below level 40, where only the starter is unlocked. None of its moves carry an initiative rider. See Moves.
Field mustard keeps two always-on traits. Duff Stuff arrives on the level 10 riser: while it is active, its effective DEF rises by half the summed DEF of your alive benched ruderals — annual forbs, grasses, aquatics and bulbs — recomputed live, so the cushion shrinks as those allies faint while the donors keep their own DEF. Reseed arrives on the level 68 riser: when field mustard is knocked out, a fresh Seedling token steps up in its place, the annual-forb signature. Both work at full strength from the riser that grants them. See Abilities.
Field mustard is non-toxic, so it carries no contact recoil and no poison rider — nothing punishes an attacker for striking it. Its habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native, defensive field gear — a Cloche, or a calcium or magnesium amendment for a little DEF — offsets its thin armor; as an invasive, offensive gear pushes its aggression. See statuses.
At level 40 field mustard reads 84 HP native and 73 invasive, with ATK of 23 native versus 39 invasive — the invasive gap is wide, though the native attack is low. DEF is 2, low in the soft annual-forb band, so it relies on Duff Stuff to borrow bulk from the bench rather than on its own armor. Its tempo is even: turn 1 runs on its initiative (56) and every turn after on its SPD (56), which match, so it is neither a fast opener nor a fast cruiser. Retreat costs 12 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and, while benched, projects an HP overshield onto your active; 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, field mustard swells to 147 HP native / 128 invasive and 42 / 81 ATK, while its DEF climbs only to 3 — a soft forb buys bulk in health and little in armor, so the bench cushion stays the better shield. Retreat rises to 24 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to about 1% of cap, so a mature card acts last against almost anything younger.
As an annual forb, field mustard sits in the Ruderal succession group. It hits Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes) for ×1.5 and takes only ×0.667 from them; it is weak to Competitor plants (perennial herbs, vines, shrubs, broadleaf trees), which strike it for ×1.5 while resisting its blows. Against other Ruderal plants and the off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play field mustard as a steady, even-paced skirmisher. As a native it makes a solid buffer: keep other ruderals benched to feed Duff Stuff and let its overshield harden the active. As an invasive its higher ATK gives it real pressure — buff its attack, pin with the advanced move, and reseed back in when it falls, accepting the self-damage it pays its own bench. It is edible at the leaf, so feeding it Nitrogen pays ×1.25 coins while any other nutrient banks ×1.25 XP toward faster growth. It plays as an even-tempo skirmisher leaning harder on its bulk as it levels, crossing over around level 45 as a native and 44 as an invasive — but it is always stronger at higher levels, 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.