Erigeron pulchellus
A soft perennial herb that can cling to life through a lethal hit, played only as an Eastern North American native buffer.
Robin's plantain is a non-toxic Perennial herb that fights as a soft, resilient skirmisher. It is native to Eastern North America with no invasive form, so the arena only fields it as a native buffer. Its armor is minimal, so it survives on health and its comeback trait rather than on defense.
Its starter attack, Steady Growth, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun, dealing about 35 damage in a clean hit. The free once-per-battle ability, Perennating Bud, arrives at level 25: Breaks a stored bud: heal 40%. It is a mid-fight mend. The advanced attack, Deep Root Strike, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (about 43 damage) in a larger clean hit. Most of your robin's plantain sit below level 40, where only the starter is unlocked. None of its moves carry an initiative rider. See Moves.
Robin's plantain keeps one always-on trait, Resprout. It arrives at half strength on the level 10 riser and matures on the level 68 riser, so for most of the card's life it is the weaker version — a real difference. When it works, Resprout lets the plant survive one otherwise-lethal hit at roughly a quarter of its health, but as a sustain trait it fires only about 60% of the time, so treat it as a lucky reprieve rather than a guarantee. See Abilities.
It is non-toxic and holds no Toxin trait, so it deals no contact recoil to attackers. 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 — helps offset its near-total lack of armor. See statuses.
At level 40 robin's plantain reads 103 HP with an ATK of 25. DEF is just 1, at the soft floor of the perennial-herb band, so it takes hits with almost no armor and survives on health and Resprout instead. Its tempo is lopsided: out-paced turn 1 on its initiative (35) but quicker afterward on a higher SPD (47), a slow starter and a fast cruiser. Retreat costs 12 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and, while benched, projects an HP overshield onto your active. See Stats.
Matured to level 100, robin's plantain climbs to 190 HP and 46 ATK, but its DEF only reaches 1 — as a soft herb it buys bulk in health and none in armor. What maturing really buys is a full-strength Resprout; what it costs is tempo, which has sunk to about 1% of cap, so a mature robin's plantain acts last against almost anything younger. Retreat rises to 23 Sun.
As a perennial herb, robin's plantain sits in the Competitor succession group. It hits Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs) for ×1.5 and takes only ×0.667 from them; it is weak to Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes), which strike it for ×1.5 while resisting its blows. Against other Competitors and the off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play robin's plantain as a native buffer that trades on stubbornness: its Resprout can steal an extra turn from a lethal blow, its heal stretches the fight, and its bench overshield props up your active. It is a light support piece, not a heavy hitter, and its Resprout matters most once matured past the level 68 riser. On economy, it is inedible, so any nutrient you feed it banks ×1.25 XP toward faster growth rather than coins. It plays as a slow-starting, fast-cruising skirmisher leaning harder on its bulk as it levels, crossing over around level 29 — 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.