Arabian cotton

Overview

Arabian Cotton is an even-tempo Shrub that plays as a plain, middle-of-the-road battler. It is native to Africa and Europe and invasive across East Asia, Western North America, South America and South Asia, so the arena can field it either way — as a native buffer or as an invasive attacker. It has no standout trick; it wins or loses on raw stats.

Moves

Its starter attack, Bramblemaze, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun, dealing about 29 damage as a native and 32 as an invasive — a straightforward strike. The free once-per-battle ability, Thicket Formation, arrives at level 25: Closes into thicket — Bind, and the foe can't heal. It is a mid-fight mend. The advanced attack, Bramble Scramble, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (38 native / 46 invasive) and can bind the target in place. Most of your Arabian Cotton sit below level 40, where only the starter is unlocked. None of its moves carry an initiative rider. See Moves.

Abilities

Arabian cotton runs a trait on each riser. Extrafloral Nectaries is textbook cotton biology, and from level 10 it costs every attacker 3% of its own max HP on contact, past DEF and the overshield. Lignotuber (level 68) leaves the card Burn-immune, converting an incoming Burn into a heal. See Abilities.

Features

Arabian Cotton is non-toxic — no contact recoil and no poison rider, so striking it costs an attacker nothing. Its habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native, defensive field gear such as a Cloche or a calcium or magnesium amendment offsets its thin armor; as an invasive, offensive gear pushes its aggression. See statuses.

Stats

At level 40 Arabian Cotton reads 103 HP native and 89 invasive, with ATK of 22 native versus 33 invasive — the invasive form hits meaningfully harder. DEF is just 11, at the shrub band, firmer than a weed but no wall. Its tempo is even: turn 1 runs on its initiative (52) and every turn after on its SPD (52), which match, so it is neither a fast opener nor a fast cruiser. Retreat costs 12 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and projects an HP overshield onto your active while benched; as an invasive it pays Faustian self-damage to its own bench on each damaging attack and concedes 2 prizes when knocked out. See Stats.

At Level 100

Matured to level 100, Arabian Cotton swells to 190 HP native / 165 invasive and 39 / 67 ATK, but its DEF only reaches 21 — as a shrub it buys bulk in health and only a little in armor. Retreat rises to 23 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to about 1% of cap, so a mature plant acts last against almost anything younger. Maturing buys durability and attack; it costs turn order.

Weaknesses & Resistances

As a shrub, Arabian Cotton 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.

Gameplay uses

Play Arabian Cotton straight: as a native, bench it as a buffer that feeds the overshield; as an invasive, lead with its higher ATK and trade blows, using its heal to stay in the exchange. Without a working passive it is an unremarkable card that lives on its stats, so it is a middling battler and mostly a collection and coin piece. On economy, it is inedible, so any nutrient you feed it banks ×1.25 XP toward faster growth rather than coins. It plays as an even-tempo skirmisher leaning harder on its bulk as it levels, crossing over around level 35 as a native and 36 as an invasive — but it is always stronger at higher levels, so there is no reason to hold it back.