Ficus lyrata
A native-only broadleaf tree with real armor, a mild contact poison, and a mature Sun overshield for the bench.
Fiddle-leaf fig is a woody Broadleaf tree that fights as an armored support tree: it tanks well, punishes attackers with a mild poison, and later shields your active from the bench. It is native to Africa and has no invasive form, so it only ever plays the native buffer role; there is no attacker scenario for it. Its damage is modest, so it is a defensive support piece rather than a closer, but a sturdy and useful one. See nativity.
Its starter attack, Branch Slam, unlocks at level 1 and costs 2 Sun, dealing about 34 damage; besides hitting the active it also chips the enemy bench. The free once-per-battle ability, Canopy Recruitment, unlocks at level 25: Pushes a sapling into the canopy: heal 35% and +3 ATK. The advanced attack, Barking Mad, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (36 damage) and saps the target, draining it as it strikes. Most of your figs sit below level 40, where only the starter is available. None of its moves carry an initiative rider. See moves.
Fiddle-leaf fig holds a working trait on each riser. Buttress Roots (level 10) are exactly what they sound like — a buttressed trunk cannot be pinned, so the card is immune to Bound. Network (level 68) is the big one: it projects a gold Sun overshield bar onto your active plant and amplifies the whole network cluster ×1.25, which a Mulch amendment raises further. See Abilities.
Fiddle-leaf fig holds the Toxin trait and carries the toxic keyword: striking it Poisons the attacker at the mild tier, and this fires in the arena and in player-versus-player (PvP) alike. Sulfur soil does not neutralize it, though a Cloche-warded attacker can absorb the recoil. It has no other trait keywords, and its terrestrial growth habit means it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native support tree, defensive field gear such as a Cloche or a Ca/Mg amendment suits it. See statuses for how Poison ticks.
At level 40 fiddle-leaf fig reads 121 HP and 22 ATK. DEF is 19, in the broadleaf-tree band, so it takes hits considerably better than a soft herb. Its tempo is strongly back-loaded: turn 1 runs on a very low initiative (13), but every turn after runs on a higher SPD (34), so it is out-paced in the opening and steadier once the fight settles. Retreat costs 19 Sun. It only appears as a native, so it always carries the +15% HP cushion and, while benched, projects its overshield onto your active. See Stats.
Matured to level 100, fiddle-leaf fig climbs to 233 HP and 38 ATK, and as a tree its DEF rises to 41, turning it into an armored wall that shrugs off ordinary blows while poisoning anything that lands one. Retreat rises to 41 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to roughly 1% of cap, so a mature fig acts last against almost anything young. Maturing buys durability and the bench overshield at the cost of ever moving first.
As a broadleaf tree, fiddle-leaf fig is in the Competitor succession group. It hits Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs) for x1.5 and is hit for only x0.667 by 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 off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play fiddle-leaf fig as a native anchor: soak damage up front where its armor and contact poison make attacking it costly, and keep it benched late so its Network overshield protects a fragile finisher. Its own damage is only moderate, so treat it as a supporting wall rather than a closer. On the economy it is inedible, so any nutrient banks x1.25 XP rather than coins, making it a steady grower. It opens slow and grows sturdier as it levels, crossing into its bulk role around level 8; higher levels only make it tougher, 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.