Celosia argentea
A soft annual-forb pioneer that plays either arena role — an African native buffer or a widespread invasive attacker — pooling defence from its benched ruderal allies.
Silver cockscomb is a soft Annual forb that fights as a low-armor pioneer, drawing much of its staying power from the ruderal allies on your bench. It is native to Africa and invasive across East Asia, Europe, eastern and western 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 modest and its armor thin; it is a support body and a collection piece more than a hitter.
Its starter attack, Summer Crush, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun, a plain strike dealing about 31 damage as a native and 36 as an invasive. The free once-per-battle ability, Nudation, arrives at level 25: Strips the ground bare — heavy Wither, and the foe can't heal. It is a mid-fight mend. The advanced attack, Arrowseed, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (38 native / 43 invasive), a heavier plain strike. Most silver cockscomb sit below level 40, where only the starter is unlocked. One of its attacks carries an initiative rider: it seizes the initiative and strikes first in wild encounters, and in the arena it instead finishes a kill and keeps going. See Moves.
Silver cockscomb keeps two always-on traits. Duff Stuff arrives on the level 10 riser: while cockscomb 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 fades as those allies faint while the donors keep their own DEF. It is a real, always-on defence, not a chance effect. Reseed arrives much later, on the level 68 riser: when cockscomb is knocked out, a fresh Seedling token steps up in its place. See Abilities.
Silver cockscomb is non-toxic: it has no contact recoil and no poison rider, so 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/magnesium amendment for a little DEF — offsets its thin armor; as an invasive, offensive gear pushes its aggression. See statuses.
At level 40 silver cockscomb reads 84 HP native and 73 invasive, with ATK of 24 native versus 38 invasive — the invasive form hits distinctly harder. DEF is just 2, at the soft floor of the annual-forb band, so on its own it takes hits with almost no armor — which is what Duff Stuff is there to shore up while its bench holds. Its tempo is back-loaded: turn 1 runs on its initiative (35) and every turn after on its faster SPD (48), so it opens a step behind and then cruises relentlessly. 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, silver cockscomb swells to 147 HP native / 128 invasive and 44 / 79 ATK, but its DEF only reaches 3 — as a soft annual forb it buys bulk in health and almost none in armor, so it stays exposed to any real hitter and still leans on Duff Stuff's pooled defence. Retreat rises to 24 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to about 1% of cap, so a mature cockscomb acts last against almost anything younger.
As an annual forb, silver cockscomb 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 Ruderals and the off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
As a native, play silver cockscomb as a support body: keep a bench of ruderal allies alive so Duff Stuff can pool their DEF onto it, let its HP cushion and overshield steady your active, and heal through longer fights. As an invasive its higher ATK lets it push damage, but it still wins by attrition rather than force, and each hit costs it a little of its own bench. It is a modest card either way — a buffer and a collection piece more than a carry. On economy, silver cockscomb 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 a slow-opening cruiser that leans harder on its bulk as it levels, crossing over around level 34 as a native and 34 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.