Coriandrum sativum
Nothing in coriander's stat line stands out among the annual forbs β its interest is a mild native profile that turns into a genuinely hard hitter in the invasive role, plus a reliable edible-leaf income.
Nothing in coriander's stat line separates it from the 200-odd annual forbs β it is middling to slow on every axis, and unusually it is slow at both ends of tempo, opening below the category's midpoint on initiative (28) and cruising below it on sustained speed (34). What it has instead is a split personality between its roles. Native to Africa, Europe and South Asia, it is a gentle buffer; invasive across a broad spread β East Asia, both coasts of North America, Oceania and South America β its attack rises sharply, and its widely-introduced range makes it one of the harder-hitting weeds in that role.
Its starter, Insect Alliance, unlocks at Lv 1 for 2 Sun: Calls in insect allies β the foe's whole bench sickens. β about 30 native / 36 invasive. The free once-per-battle ability, r-Selected Riot (Lv 25), All-out reproduction: +8 ATK and speed, kept. The advanced attack, Ragweed Burst (Lv 40, 6 Sun), is its heaviest blow β around 46 native, 52 invasive β An all-in burst of growth. See moves.
Coriander keeps two always-on traits. Ephemeral Bolt arrives at Lv 10: while it is above half HP it hits a little harder, then that edge fades as it drops low β it rewards finishing fights fast. A second trait, Soil Seed Bank, stacks on at Lv 68: a roughly even chance, when it is knocked out, to come back once at a sliver of HP as a weak seedling. Below Lv 10 it has neither. See abilities.
Coriander is not toxic, thorny or a climber, so no Moss Pole fits it. Play it native with defensive field gear to prop up the buffer role; play it invasive with gear that adds to its attack, where the card actually has teeth.
At Lv 40 coriander reads 103 HP native (89 uncushioned) on a DEF of 2 β paper-thin. The story is the attack gap: ATK 21 native jumps to 37 invasive, one of the larger native-to-invasive climbs in the category, so the same card is a pushover at home and a real threat abroad. Retreat costs 16 Sun. Benched native it lends an overshield bar; invasive it pays Faustian bench self-damage per hit and concedes 2 prizes on a knockout. See stats.
By Lv 100 its HP reaches 190 native while DEF stays down at 3 β a bigger soft body, not a wall. Retreat rises to 33 Sun and the inverted tempo bottoms out, so a grown coriander is slow. Maturing turns it into a durable-enough attacker in the invasive role; it never becomes a defensive card.
Roughly USDA zone 6b β it should come through winters that bottom out near -20 Β°C. Colder than that and it wants shelter, a wall, or a winter indoors. In the plant's own terms its comfortable range runs from a cold edge near 3.4 Β°C up to a warm edge around 28.7 Β°C, which puts it in a Subtropical Β· wide-ranging band. Use that as a guide rather than a promise: the zone is an estimate carrying better than a full zone of error, which is why it reads "roughly."
The chip on the card reports the climate where you are standing, so the reading changes as you travel. Thrives here means your local winter low and summer heat both fall inside coriander's range, and it earns x2 battle XP; In range means it survives but sits near one of its edges (the longer label says which), for x1.25; Colder than its range and Hotter than its range mean your season runs past an edge, with no bonus. Battle XP is the only thing climate changes β it touches nothing about damage, stats, growth speed or the economy. A plant that reads "colder than its range" is usually just a tender plant facing a hard winter outdoors, not a weak card.
Coriander is a Ruderal. It deals extra damage to Specialists (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes) and takes extra from Competitors (perennial herbs, vines, shrubs, broadleaf trees); against the off-wheel Weird categories it is neutral. See weaknesses & resistances.
Coriander earns its place two ways. Its leaf is edible, so the matching leaf fertilizer (nitrogen) pays a coin bonus β a dependable income from a plant you will scan often. In battle, keep it home only as a bench buffer; its real combat value is invasive, where the attack climb and a heavy advanced move let it punch above a weed's weight, though its glass DEF means it still wants to end fights before it is hit back. It plays as a fast skirmisher only briefly β its power edge overtakes its tempo by about Lv 22.
Leveling trades speed for power. A plantβs 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 β native adds a HP cushion, invasive an attack edge, neutral neither β with the card at its crossover and fully grown at LvΒ 100.