Celtis laevigata
A heavily armoured Broadleaf tree card that cannot be pinned and, once matured, cannot be reached by splash or spread effects either.
Southern Hackberry is a Broadleaf tree card with both roles: native across eastern and western North America and South America, invasive in East Asia and Europe. Native it is a cushioned wall projecting a bench overshield; invasive it is a modest attacker. See nativity and categories.
The starter attack, Whomp, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun, reading 38 native and 38 invasive. The full weight of the tree, all at once. It is the card's hardest hit by a wide margin.
The free once-per-battle ability, Gap Capture, unlocks at level 25 and costs no Sun. Takes the fallen giant's light: +5 ATK, kept for the match.
The advanced attack, Mast Bombard, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun, reading 24 native and 24 invasive. A mast year's worth of fruit onto the whole bench. It hits for well under the starter at three times the Sun cost, so take it for its effect only. See moves.
Buttress Roots arrives on the first riser at level 10. It is an immunity rather than an armour bonus: this card cannot be Bound, so any Bind spent on it is wasted.
Canopy Gap stacks on at level 68 and is a second immunity — this time to spread and splash effects, the ones that reach past the plant in front to hit others. A card carrying both immunities is unusually awkward to handle: it cannot be pinned in place, and it cannot be caught by area damage aimed at your side. See statuses.
The species record lists no toxicity and no trait keywords, so no poison rider applies. For field gear, this card is already durable, so gear that extends its time on the field converts into damage. Its growth habit is not vine, epiphyte or hemiepiphyte, so a Moss Pole does not apply.
At level 40 native reads 103 HP and 24 ATK; invasive reads 89 HP and 24 ATK — a small step, which follows from a narrow invasive range. Armour is 25, among the best here. Retreat is 16 Sun. Opening tempo is 32 and sustained tempo is 32, both middling. Invasive it pays Faustian bench damage on every damaging attack and concedes 2 prizes on knockout. See stats.
By level 100 native reaches 190 HP and 43 ATK, invasive 165 HP and 44 ATK, with armour at 57. The tree shape: it climbs to a wall as wood density carries armour up with the health pool. Retreat rises to 33 Sun and the inverted tempo has sunk to its floor, so the matured card is slow and committed — but it is holding two immunities while it stands there.
Broadleaf tree is Competitor: strong into Ruderal — annual forbs, grasses, aquatics and bulbs — and weak to Specialist, meaning succulents, conifers, ferns and epiphytes. See weaknesses and resistances.
Play it as a wall that punches once. Lead with the starter attack, because the advanced slot is a downgrade on damage, and rely on armour plus two immunities to keep it standing. The pairing is the selling point: opponents who plan to lock your active plant or to sweep your side with splash damage find neither works here.
Offence is limited. The attack stat is fine but the invasive step is small, so this is not a card that closes games — it is a card that refuses to lose one quickly.
It is edible with a fruit economy group, so a phosphorus soil amendment pays it ×1.25 coins. Durable and dependable. See the battle lab.
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.