Brugmansia aurea
A toxic, armored shrub that poisons anything that strikes it and plays either arena role — a South American native or an Old World invader.
Borrachero is a woody Shrub that fights as an armored, poisonous defender: it opens fast, carries real DEF, and punishes anything that touches it. It is native to South America and invasive across Africa and Europe, so the arena can cast it either way — as a native buffer for your bench or as an invasive attacker. Its damage is only modest, but its contact toxin and armor make it an annoying wall to break.
Its starter attack, Chipmunk Horde, unlocks at level 1 and costs 2 Sun, dealing about 24 damage as a native and 25 as an invasive — a plain strike. The free once-per-battle ability, Bramble Barrier, comes in at level 25: A wall of thorns — the foe withers against it. It raises the plant's own ATK for the rest of the fight. The advanced attack, Coppice Comeback, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (21 native / 22 invasive) and binds the target, pinning it so it cannot retreat. Most of your copies sit 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.
Borrachero holds two working traits. Toxin takes the level-10 riser by right — a deadly species is guaranteed it — so its attacks apply Poison. Sapromyophily (level 68) turns the enormous pendulous flowers into a lure: wherever the engine picks one victim out of a group, this card takes it instead of an ally. See Abilities.
Borrachero holds the Toxin trait (the toxic keyword): striking it Poisons the attacker at the toxic tier, so melee hitters take recoil damage over time for touching it. This fires in player-versus-player (PvP) as well; Sulfur soil does not neutralize it, but an attacker warded by a Cloche absorbs the Poison harmlessly. Its growth habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native, defensive field gear stacks with its wall role; as an invasive, offensive gear helps its light ATK bite. See Statuses for how Poison ticks.
At level 40 Borrachero reads 103 HP as a native and 89 as an invasive, with ATK of 16 native versus 19 invasive — a modest gap, so even the invasive form hits only moderately. DEF is 13, in the sturdy shrub band, so it blunts incoming hits rather than eating them whole. Its tempo runs turn 1 on its initiative (51) and every turn after on its SPD (34): it leads the opening exchange but is out-paced once a fight drags on. Retreat costs 16 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and a bench HP overshield; as an invasive its ATK is trait-sourced, it pays Faustian self-damage to its own bench on each damaging attack, and it concedes 2 prizes when knocked out. See Stats.
Matured to level 100, Borrachero reaches 190 HP native / 165 invasive and 28 / 35 ATK, and — unlike a soft weed — its DEF climbs to 28, so it hardens into a poisonous armored wall. Retreat rises to 33 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to roughly 1% of cap, so it opens fast when young but acts last once matured. Maturing buys armor and durability, not much extra punch.
As a shrub, Borrachero is in the Competitor succession group. It hits Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs) for ×1.5 and is struck for only ×0.667 by them; it is weak to Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes), which hit it for ×1.5 while resisting its blows. Against other Competitors and the off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play Borrachero as a wall in either role: its armor and contact toxin make attackers pay just for hitting it, so it anchors the front and buys time while a stronger plant works behind it. Its own damage is modest, so it defends rather than finishes, and its bind lets it hold a threat in place. Its economy is inedible, so any nutrient you feed it banks ×1.25 XP toward growth rather than coins. It leads early as a quick opener and leans on its armor from around level 30 as a native (about level 33 as an invasive); 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.