Ginkgo

Overview

Ginkgo is a Broadleaf tree card with both roles: native to East Asia, invasive in Europe and eastern North America. Native it is a cushioned buffer projecting a bench overshield; invasive it is a modest attacker. See nativity and categories.

Moves

The starter attack, Deathshadow, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun, reading 23 native and 26 invasive. Casts a shade nothing recovers in — the foe can't heal.

The free once-per-battle ability, Leaf Litter, unlocks at level 25 and costs no Sun. Buries the ground in litter — the foe's whole bench withers.

The advanced attack, Canopy Closure, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun, reading 23 native and 26 invasive. Closes the canopy — nothing below it recovers. It matches the starter's damage while costing three times the Sun, so it is worth using for its effect alone. See moves.

Abilities

Buttress Roots arrives on the first riser at level 10. It is not an armour bonus despite the name — it is an outright immunity to Bind. This card cannot be pinned, so every Bind an opponent spends on it is wasted. On a plant this slow that matters more than usual, because a slow card is exactly what an opponent wants to lock down.

Heartwood Core stacks on at level 68, adding armour that scales with the card's level rather than a flat amount. Heartwood only forms in a mature trunk, and the trait pays out accordingly — it is worth progressively more the further you take the card. See statuses for what Bind does.

Features

The species record lists no toxicity and no trait keywords, so no poison rider applies. For field gear, the problem to solve is tempo rather than durability — this card is already hard to hurt and desperately slow. Its growth habit is not vine, epiphyte or hemiepiphyte, so a Moss Pole does not apply. Its conservation status is endangered.

Stats

At level 40 native reads 103 HP and 15 ATK; invasive reads 89 HP and 23 ATK. Armour is 21, which is good. The number to look at is tempo: opening tempo is 13 and sustained tempo is 13, both far below everything else in this bracket. This card acts last in almost every matchup, and you should plan around that rather than hope otherwise. Retreat is 16 Sun. Invasive it pays Faustian bench damage on every damaging attack and concedes 2 prizes on knockout. See stats.

At Level 100

By level 100 native reaches 190 HP and 25 ATK, invasive 165 HP and 45 ATK, with armour climbing to 46. The tree shape holds — armour rises with wood density instead of flattening, and Heartwood Core scales alongside it, so the two compound. Retreat rises to 33 Sun. The inverted tempo has sunk to its floor, but that costs this card less than most: it was already the slowest thing on the field, so it loses an advantage it never had.

Weaknesses & Resistances

Broadleaf tree is Competitor: it crowds out Ruderal — annual forbs, grasses, aquatics and bulbs — and loses to Specialist, meaning succulents, conifers, ferns and epiphytes. See weaknesses and resistances.

Gameplay uses

Play this as a wall and nothing else. It will not win a race, it will not out-damage anything, and both of its attacks land in the same modest range. What it does is absorb: good armour, scaling armour on top of that, and complete immunity to being pinned down. Park it in front of something you need to keep alive.

The Bind immunity is the reason to pick it over another tree. Against any opponent whose plan involves locking your active plant in place, this card simply ignores that plan and keeps taking hits.

It is edible with a fruit economy group, so a phosphorus soil amendment pays it ×1.25 coins. A slow, durable, dependable income card. See the battle lab.