Helianthus tuberosus
A fast, self-healing sunflower that plays as a native supporter or a hard-hitting global invader, and a strong coin-earner off its edible tubers.
The Jerusalem artichoke is a Perennial herb — a fast, sustain-heavy sunflower with real reach. It is native to eastern and western North America and invasive across Africa, East Asia, Europe, Oceania, South America and South Asia, so it plays both roles: a healing buffer at home and a hard-hitting attacker abroad. It is one of the more useful cards in this batch and a strong coin-earner.
Its starter, Herbal Draught, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun and heals it 12% of the hit; it deals 30 as a native and 34 as an invasive. The free ability Seral Persistence opens at level 25: Refuses to be replaced: heal 60%, and the foe can't heal. That big self-heal plus heal-denial makes it very hard to remove. The advanced attack Tonic unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun, heals 15%, and hits for 35 native / 39 invasive. No move carries an initiative rider.
It keeps two always-on traits. From level 10 it holds Bitter Principle: an attacker that strikes it is Withered. From level 68 it adds Vernalization Memory, a +5 ATK boost that kicks in from turn three onward — it bolts late in a fight and hits harder the longer it lasts, which pairs naturally with all its self-healing.
No combat keyword, and as a perennial herb it is not Moss-Pole-eligible. Its kit is built around staying alive, so field gear that extends its longevity or, on the invasive line, sharpens its already-higher attack is the pick. A Nitrogen amendment is wasted on combat here — feed it for the economy (below).
At level 40: HP 103 native / 89 invasive, ATK 26 native / 37 invasive, DEF 1 — very soft. The invasive ATK is clearly higher than the native's; that gap is the introduced-range term the engine adds to a globe-spanning invader, not a flat multiplier. On tempo it is fast both ways, with a strong sustained speed (53) that out-cruises most bodies and a solid opening initiative (38). As a native it gets the +15% HP cushion and bench overshield; as an invasive it instead pays Faustian self-damage to its own bench on each damaging attack (growing as it levels) and concedes 2 prizes when it is knocked out.
By level 100 HP reaches 190 native / 165 invasive and ATK 48 / 76, but DEF stays low at 1 — a soft weed swelling in health, not armor. Retreat climbs to 24 Sun and its tempo falls to roughly 1% of cap. It ends as a large, self-healing body that still relies on speed and sustain rather than toughness.
Perennial-herb is in the Competitor group: ×1.5 into Ruderal, ×0.667 from them, ×1.5 taken from Specialists. Neutral against other Competitors and the Weird categories.
At home, play it as a sticky native supporter — its self-heal, heal-lock and late ATK ramp let it grind fights out while feeding a bench overshield. Abroad, it is a fast invasive attacker whose damage climbs with Vernalization Memory, at the cost of chipping its own bench. Its best off-battle value is economy: it is an edible root crop, so the matching Potassium fertilizer pays ×1.25 coins, making it a reliable coin generator. It leans on speed as a skirmisher until roughly level 32 at home (or 33 abroad), after which its bulk and attack take over. Each plant runs one Sun bar (cap 120, refilling +1 every 15 minutes). The starter attack costs 2 Sun, the advanced attack 6, and the ability is free — it is priced by being usable only once per battle. Retreating to the bench costs 12 Sun, and an empty bar attack-locks the card until it refills. From level 52 it regenerates Sun mid-battle, and at level 85 a capstone makes the starter free and drops the advanced attack to 2 Sun.
See nativity, moves, abilities, stats, statuses, field gear, weaknesses & resistances, the Battle Lab and the category guide for the mechanics referenced here.
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.