Cakile edentula
A coastal annual-forb skirmisher that pools armour from its benched ruderals and pins its target, playing either arena role — an Eastern North American native or a wide invader.
American searocket is a fleshy Annual forb that fights as a bench-fed skirmisher, drawing armour from the ruderals behind it while pinning down what it hits. It is native to Eastern North America, where it serves as a native buffer, and invasive across Africa, East Asia, Europe, Western North America and Oceania, where the arena fields it as an attacker. Its attack is fair rather than fearsome, so it does best trading in longer exchanges.
Its starter attack, Superhero, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun, dealing about 35 damage as a native and 37 as an invasive. The free once-per-battle ability, Ecesis, arrives at level 25: Establishes fast: heal 35% and gain speed. The advanced attack, Ragweed Burst, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (48 native / 50 invasive) and pins the target in place as it strikes. Most of your searocket sit below level 40, where only the starter is unlocked. None of its moves carry an initiative rider. See Moves.
American searocket keeps two always-on traits. Duff Stuff arrives on the level 10 riser: while it is your active its effective DEF rises by half the combined DEF of your still-standing benched ruderals — annual forbs, grasses, aquatics and bulbs — recomputed every turn, so the cushion shrinks as those allies faint, and the donors keep their own armour. It is a real, always-on defence, not a chance effect. Reseed arrives on the level 68 riser: when the plant is knocked out, a fresh Seedling token steps up in its place. See Abilities.
American searocket is non-toxic: it holds no Toxin trait, so striking it costs an attacker nothing in contact recoil and it lays no poison. Its growth 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 — helps offset its thin armour; as an invasive, offensive gear presses its higher attack. See statuses.
At level 40 American searocket reads 84 HP as a native and 73 as an invasive, with ATK climbing from 25 native to 32 invasive — a clear gap in the invasive's favour. DEF is just 2, at the soft floor of the annual-forb band, so it takes hits with little armour of its own and depends on the pooled Duff Stuff bonus instead. Its tempo is uneven: turn 1 runs on its initiative (26) and every turn after on its SPD (48), so it is out-paced off the mark but relentless in a longer fight. 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, American searocket swells to 147 HP native / 128 invasive and 44 / 63 ATK, while its DEF creeps only to 3 — as a soft forb it buys bulk in health and barely any in armour, so it still leans on its bench for defence. Retreat rises to 24 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to about 1% of cap, so a mature searocket acts last against almost anything younger.
As an annual forb, American searocket sits in the Ruderal succession group. It hits Specialist plants — succulents, conifers, ferns and epiphytes — for ×1.5 while taking only ×0.667 from them; it is weak to Competitor plants — perennial herbs, shrubs and trees — which strike it for ×1.5 and shrug off its blows. Against other Ruderals and the off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play American searocket with a bench of other ruderals behind it so Duff Stuff can prop up its armour, and use its pin to lock a target you want to grind down. As a native it is a solid buffer whose pooled defence lets it trade above its DEF; as an invasive its higher attack and the pin make it a passable disruptor, though it still wins by attrition rather than force. It is edible with a resolved leaf, so feeding it Nitrogen pays ×1.25 coins, while any other nutrient banks ×1.25 XP toward faster growth. It plays as a slow-opening skirmisher that leans harder on its bulk as it levels, crossing over around level 31 as a native and 32 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.