Chlorophytum laxum
A native-only, drought-tough herb that regenerates in any weather and later gains a chance to survive a killing blow, but hits softly and has no armor.
Pongol Sword is a hardy Perennial herb that fights as a self-regenerating staller. It is native across Africa, East Asia, Oceania, and South Asia, and the arena only ever casts it as a native buffer for your bench; no invasive attacker card exists, so it supports rather than finishes. Its damage is low, but its healing traits let it grind out long fights, making it a durable filler.
Its starter attack, Herbal Draught, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun and deals about 29 damage while leaving poison on the target. The free once-per-battle ability, Seral Persistence, arrives at level 25: Refuses to be replaced: heal 60%, and the foe can't heal. It is a self-heal. The advanced attack, Winterkill, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun and both strikes for about 26 damage and mends the plant as it hits. Most of your specimens 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 and statuses.
It keeps two always-on traits. Succulence arrives on the level 10 riser and lets it regenerate in any weather, though as a chance-gated trait it fires only about 60% of the time. Resprout arrives on the level 68 riser and, when it works (again about 60% of the time), lets the plant survive one otherwise-lethal hit at roughly a quarter health. Together they make it hard to finish off, but neither is a guarantee. See abilities.
It carries the Succulence keyword, which drives its any-weather regeneration, and no toxin, so it shows no hazard ring and its contact deals no recoil; the poison it applies comes from its starter attack. Its growth habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native, defensive field gear such as a Cloche stacks well with its healing to make it even harder to kill.
At level 40 it reads 103 HP and 23 ATK. DEF is just 1, at the rock-bottom floor of its band, so it relies on healing rather than armor. Tempo is front-loaded: turn 1 runs on its initiative (37) and later turns on its lower SPD (23), so it opens reasonably fast but is out-paced in a long fight. Retreat costs 12 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and a bench HP overshield. Link Stats.
Matured to level 100, it swells to 190 HP and 41 ATK, but its DEF only reaches 1 — as a soft herb it gains health, never armor, so a big hit still lands hard even if its regeneration then claws some back. Retreat rises to 22 Sun and its tempo has sunk to roughly 1% of cap. Maturing unlocks Resprout on top of Succulence, its best payoff for leveling.
As a perennial herb it is in the Competitor group. It hits Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs) for x1.5 and takes only x0.667 from them; it is weak to Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes), which strike it for x1.5 while resisting its blows. Against other Competitors and the Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play it as a sticky native staller: its two healing traits plus a self-mending attack let it soak damage while its bench overshield protects a stronger ally, and it can grind down foes it cannot out-hit. Its value is also economic: it is inedible, so any nutrient you feed it banks x1.25 XP toward levels. It fights as a fast skirmisher until about level 19, then its bulk takes over, so leveling it only helps.
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.