Gamochaeta spiciformis
Gamochaeta spiciformis is a native-only annual-forb with a fast rider opening but weak attack — a fragile skirmisher and family-tree collection piece more than a battle winner.
Gamochaeta spiciformis is an annual-forb: a fast, low-biomass weed that leans on a hard opening rather than durability. It is native to South America and invasive nowhere, so it only ever plays the native buffer role — there is no attacker scenario for this plant. Its opening speed is its whole appeal, because its attack is genuinely low.
Its starter, Quick Bloom (Lv 1, 2 Sun), hits for 38 and carries the initiative rider: Seizes initiative: first in the wild, acts again on a kill. In a wild encounter that grants hard priority — it strikes first regardless of tempo, unless the other side also brings a rider, in which case they cancel. In the arena the same rider instead lets it seize the turn and act again only on a killing blow. The free once-per-battle ability, Old-Field Takeover (Lv 25), overruns the whole field: Overruns the whole field — the foe's bench withers and sickens. — reaching the enemy's entire bench. The advanced attack, Groundcover Grab (Lv 40, 6 Sun), pins and saps for 25. See moves.
Two always-on traits, one per stage. From Lv 10 it carries Photoblastic, a light-triggered heal of about 2% of maximum HP each checkup, sunny weather only. At Lv 68 Soil Seed Bank adds a 50% chance to cling to the first lethal hit and revive at 15% HP. Both are small, honest weed traits — a trickle of sun-fed sustain and one extra life — not enough to make a frail card durable.
It holds no thorns or Toxin trait and no keyword, so it neither retaliates nor poisons on contact. It is not a climber, so no Moss Pole. Given its floor DEF and low attack, a Calcium/Magnesium amendment or a Cloche does more for it than any offensive gear. See field gear.
At Lv 40 (Annual forb) it reads 103 HP and just 17 ATK — the low attack is the headline, and it is why this card struggles to close out fights. DEF is 1, a soft floor. Opening tempo (initiative) is 35 and sustained tempo (Speed) is 37, both brisk for a young card. Retreat costs 12 Sun. As a native it gains the +15% HP cushion and projects a bench overshield onto your active. See stats.
By Lv 100 its HP grows to 190 and ATK to 30, but DEF stays near the floor at 1 — biomass, not armor. Retreat rises to 22 Sun and its tempo falls to roughly its 1% floor, so the speed that carried it early is spent. Even fully grown it remains a soft, modest attacker.
As an annual-forb it is Ruderal: ×1.5 into Specialists (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes), ×0.667 against Competitors (perennial herbs, vines, shrubs, broadleaf trees), even into other Ruderals and the Weird categories. Its thin DEF compounds the problem against any heavy hitter. See weaknesses & resistances.
Be honest with this one: it is a weak card. The rider opening and field-wide ability give it a niche as a native tempo-and-chip piece with an overshield to lend, but its low attack means it rarely finishes anything on its own — keep it on the bench behind a real threat. It is not edible, so every fertilizer you feed it banks ×1.25 XP rather than coins, making it a growth project and a family-tree collection piece more than a coin engine. It fights as a fast skirmisher until about Lv 27, after which its bulk edges ahead of its fading tempo — though "ahead" is relative for a card this soft.
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.