Fraxinus profunda
A well-armored, critically endangered broadleaf tree that plays only as an Eastern North American native, healing its bench and withering foes from behind a heavy DEF wall.
Pumpkin ash is a heavy, well-armored Broadleaf tree that fights as a defensive support: strong DEF, modest damage, and a steady stream of heals for the rest of your team. It is native to Eastern North America and has no invasive range, so the arena only ever casts it as a native buffer — never an attacker. It is a solid wall-and-healer card, and one of the rarer species you will meet, listed as critically endangered in the wild.
Its starter attack, Leaf Smother, unlocks at level 1 and costs 2 Sun, dealing about 26 damage; it splashes a little onto the enemy bench. The free once-per-battle ability, Climax Community, comes in at level 25: The forest as it ends up: heal 70% and +5 ATK. The advanced attack, Out on a Limb, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (40 damage) and saps the target, withering its strength as it hits. Most of your ashes sit below level 40, where only the starter is available, and none of its moves carry an initiative rider, so it never seizes a turn.
Pumpkin ash keeps two always-on abilities. Mycorrhiza arrives on the level 10 riser and heals a benched ally, but it triggers only about 60% of the time, so the mend is likely rather than guaranteed. Network arrives on the level 68 riser: as a canopy tree it projects a gold Sun overshield bar onto your active from the bench. Neither is dropped once earned.
It carries no special trait keywords and, as a terrestrial tree, is not eligible for a Moss Pole. It is non-toxic, so it shows no hazard ring and nothing punishes an attacker for hitting it. Since it only ever plays as a native, defensive field gear — a Cloche or a Ca/Mg amendment — leans into its already-heavy armor and supportive game.
At level 40 it reads 121 HP and 23 ATK. DEF is 24, high in the broadleaf-tree band, so it shrugs off hits that would fell a softer card. Its tempo is even — turn 1 runs on its initiative (51) and every turn after on its SPD (51), both the same — so it keeps a steady, middling pace throughout. Retreat costs 19 Sun. Because it always plays as a native, it gains the +15% HP cushion and, while benched, projects an HP overshield onto your active. See Stats.
Matured to level 100, pumpkin ash climbs to 233 HP and 42 ATK, and its DEF hardens to 54 — as a broadleaf tree it becomes a formidable armored wall. Retreat rises to 41 Sun and its tempo has sunk to roughly 1% of cap, so a mature ash acts last against almost anything young. Maturing buys heavy toughness at the cost of ever moving first.
As a broadleaf tree, pumpkin ash is 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 hit 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 pumpkin ash as a defensive anchor and team healer: sit it up front to soak damage while its bench heals and overshield keep your hitters alive, and use its withering advanced attack to blunt an aggressive opponent. Its own damage is modest, so it protects and supports rather than finishes. It is inedible, so any nutrient you feed it banks ×1.25 XP toward growth rather than coins. It fights as a steady skirmisher until about level 28, after which its bulk takes over completely — 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.