Hamamelis vernalis
A heavily armored native broadleaf tree from eastern North America that heals and shields its bench allies.
Ozark witch-hazel is a heavily armored Broadleaf tree that fights as a bench-support wall: low attacks but high DEF and traits that keep its allies alive. It is native to Eastern North America and has no invasive card, so the arena only ever fields it in its native, support role. Its own damage is weak, so its value is as a durable anchor and bench healer.
Its starter attack, Raysteal, unlocks at level 1 and costs 2 Sun, dealing about 29 damage; it also splashes the enemy bench, chipping a benched foe as it hits. The free once-per-battle ability, Gap Capture, arrives at level 25: Takes the fallen giant's light: +5 ATK, kept for the match. The advanced attack, Canopy Closure, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (24 damage) and saps the target, weakening it as it lands. Most of your witch-hazels sit well below level 40, where only the starter is available. None of its moves carry an initiative rider, so it never seizes a turn. See Moves.
It keeps two always-on traits, both support-flavored. Mycorrhiza arrives on the level 10 riser and heals a benched ally — but it triggers only about 60% of the time, so the heal is unreliable turn to turn. Network comes in on the level 68 riser and, as a canopy tree, projects a gold Sun overshield bar onto your active from the bench, adding a buffer on top of its healing. Together they make it a strong backline anchor even though its own attacks are weak. See Abilities.
It carries no trait keywords — no thorns, no toxin chemistry — so nothing punishes an attacker for hitting it. It is non-toxic: no contact recoil and no poison rider baked in. Its growth habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native, defensive field gear stacks on its heavy armor to make it a near-immovable backline support.
At level 40 it reads 103 HP with 17 ATK — its ATK is low, since it invested everything in bulk and support. DEF is 24, high in the broadleaf-tree band, so it shrugs off hits that would fold a herb. Its tempo is front-loaded: turn 1 runs on a fast initiative (44) that leads, but from turn 2 on its slower SPD (28) gets out-paced, so it opens quick and then cruises behind. Retreat costs 13 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and, while benched, projects an HP overshield onto your active. See Stats.
Matured to level 100, it grows to 190 HP and 30 ATK, and its DEF climbs all the way to 56 — as a broadleaf tree it hardens into a true armored wall, nearly unbreakable from the front even though its own offense stays weak. Retreat rises to 25 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to roughly 1% of cap, so a mature tree acts last against almost anything young.
As a broadleaf tree it sits in the Competitor succession group. It hits Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs) for x1.5 and takes only x0.667 from 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 it as a native backline anchor whose job is to keep your team alive — bench it to heal an ally and project a Sun overshield onto your active, or park it up front to soak hits behind its heavy armor while a real hitter finishes fights. Do not rely on it for damage. It is inedible, so any nutrient you feed it banks x1.25 XP rather than coins. It opens fast but is really a slow wall as it levels, crossing over around level 22; it is always stronger at higher levels in raw stats, 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.