Juniperus horizontalis
A low-spreading conifer that plays a native support role: a firm-armored wall that heals in sun and shields your active from the bench.
Creeping juniper is a low, spreading Conifer that fights as a native support wall: it opens by splashing the enemy bench, heals itself in sun, and projects a Sun overshield from the bench once mature. It is native to Eastern and Western North America, and no invasive card exists, so it only ever plays as a native buffer.
Its starter attack, Needle Rake, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun, dealing about 34 damage and splashing the enemy bench. The free once-per-battle ability, Mother Tree, arrives at level 25: Channels the grove: evens the bench's health and revives the fallen; a matured canopy also shares Sun. It is a mid-fight mend. The advanced attack, Evergreen Strike, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (42 damage) as a straight hit. Most of your creeping juniper sit below level 40, where only the starter is unlocked. None of its moves carry an initiative rider. See Moves.
Creeping juniper keeps two always-on traits. Photosynthesis arrives on the level 10 riser and heals it in sun, but as a sustain trait it fires only about 60% of the time, so treat the mend as likely rather than guaranteed. Network arrives on the level 68 riser: while benched it projects a gold Sun overshield bar onto your active, the canopy-tree support role. Below the level 68 riser it offers only the healing. See Abilities.
Creeping juniper is non-toxic: striking it carries no contact recoil, and its attacks carry no poison rider. Its habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native support piece, defensive field gear — a Cloche, or a calcium/magnesium amendment — reinforces the wall it is already built to be. See statuses.
At level 40 creeping juniper reads 140 HP with 24 ATK — modest offense, as befits a support card. DEF is 22, firm for the conifer band, so it takes hits far better than a weed or herb. Its tempo is lopsided: turn 1 runs on a very low initiative (7), so it is badly out-paced early, but every turn after runs on a much stronger SPD (37), making it a relentless cruiser once the fight settles. Retreat costs 20 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, creeping juniper climbs to 276 HP and 44 ATK, and its DEF reaches 49 — as a conifer it hardens into a genuine wall, so a mature juniper shrugs off hits that would flatten a soft card. Retreat rises to 44 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to about 1% of cap, so it acts last against almost anything younger. Maturing buys real durability at the cost of ever leading a turn.
As a conifer, creeping juniper sits in the Specialist succession group. It hits Competitor plants (perennial herbs, shrubs, trees, vines) for ×1.5 and takes only ×0.667 from them; it is weak to Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs), which strike it for ×1.5 while resisting its blows. Against other Specialists and the off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play creeping juniper as a native wall and bench battery: park it behind your active to feed the Sun overshield once it hits the level 68 riser, and let its firm armor and in-sun healing keep it standing while it splashes the enemy bench. Its own damage is low, so it wins by lasting, not by hitting. On economy, creeping juniper is inedible, so any nutrient you feed it banks ×1.25 XP toward faster growth rather than coins. It plays as a slow-opening support cruiser that only gets tankier with levels, crossing over around level 4 as a native — and it is always stronger at higher levels, 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.