Fagus × taurica
A heavily-armored broadleaf tree that heals and shields its bench, serving only as a native European buffer.
Balkan beech is a heavily-armored Broadleaf tree that fights as a support wall: it opens by splashing the enemy bench, heals its own bench, and shields your active. It is native to Europe and has no invasive card, so it serves only as a native buffer. Its own attack is low, but its armor and bench support make it a durable anchor.
Its starter attack, Leaf Smother, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun, dealing about 23 damage and splashing the enemy's benched plants. The free once-per-battle ability, Stand Replacement, arrives at level 25: A fire that takes the whole stand — the foe burns, and so do its neighbours. The advanced attack, Root Heave, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (18 damage) and mends the plant as it strikes. Most of your Balkan beech sit below level 40, where only the starter is unlocked. None of its moves carry an initiative rider. See Moves.
Balkan beech keeps two always-on traits. The first, Mycorrhiza, arrives on the level 10 riser: it heals a benched ally, though it fires only about 60% of the time. The second, Network, arrives on the level 68 riser: while benched it projects a gold Sun overshield bar onto your active, a canopy tree's gift to the front line. See Abilities.
It is non-toxic, so striking it carries no contact recoil and it lays no poison on the attacker. Its habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native it takes defensive field gear well — a Cloche, or a calcium/magnesium amendment — layering more protection onto an already firm frame. See statuses.
At level 40 Balkan beech reads 140 HP with ATK of just 15 — low, as befits a support piece. DEF is 26, in the broadleaf-tree band that stands up as a genuine wall, so it soaks hits that would fold a herb. Its tempo tilts early: turn 1 runs on its initiative (30) and every turn after on its slightly slower SPD (27), so it leads off the mark but is out-paced in a long fight. Retreat costs 18 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and projects an HP overshield onto your active while benched. See Stats.
Matured to level 100, Balkan beech swells to 276 HP and 25 ATK, and its DEF climbs to 59 — a towering tree's wall that shrugs off most attackers. Retreat rises to 39 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to about 1% of cap, so a mature beech acts last against almost anything younger; maturing buys enormous durability and support at the cost of ever moving first.
As a broadleaf tree, Balkan beech 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 Balkan beech as a bench anchor: keep it back to heal an ally and project its Sun overshield, or lead with it to tank while its bench splash chips the enemy's reserves. It will not win fights on its own low attack, but its wall of armor and its support traits make it a sturdy native buffer that buys your hitters time. On economy, it is edible with a resolved fruit, so feeding it Phosphorus pays ×1.25 coins while any other nutrient banks ×1.25 XP toward faster growth. It plays as a durable support piece leaning ever harder on its bulk as it levels, crossing over around level 11 as a native — 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.