Maackia amurensis
A tanky support tree that punishes attackers through retaliation and backs the bench with a Sun overshield; a legume, so it brings an economy perk.
Amur maackia is a Broadleaf tree that plays as a tanky support tree with a retaliation edge. It is native to East Asia, where it is a buffer, and invasive in Europe and eastern North America, where it takes the attacker role. Being a legume, it also brings an economy perk (see Gameplay uses).
The starter, Branch Bash, unlocks at Lv 1 for 2 Sun and deals 28 native / 30 invasive: Pins the foe under a fallen branch. The free ability, Canopy Recruitment, unlocks at Lv 25: Pushes a sapling into the canopy: heal 35% and +3 ATK. It is a heal plus a lasting ATK boost. The advanced attack, Lignin Lockdown, unlocks at Lv 40 for 6 Sun and hits for 23 native / 24 invasive: Goes woody and immovable β the foe stalls and wilts. Neither attack carries an initiative rider.
Tannin Load arrives at Lv 10 and is a retaliation trait: whenever this card is struck by a damaging hit it Withers the attacker with a small stacking debuff, so trading blows into it costs the attacker β a multi-hit attack eats the recoil once per hit. Network stacks on at Lv 68: as a canopy tree it projects a gold Sun overshield onto your active while benched β a reserve the active spends only after its own Sun bar runs dry β and this works from any nativity, native or invasive. So early on it plays as the retaliator and only gains the Sun-battery role at Lv 68. Both are working traits.
It holds no toxicity trait and no thorns trait. As a broadleaf tree it is not a Moss Pole climber. For field gear, a native copy wants support and defence gear to lean on the cushion; an invasive copy wants attack gear. Because it carries Network, it is a useful bench card on any team for the Sun overshield it projects. See /wiki/abilities.
At Lv 40: HP 103 native / 89 invasive, ATK 20 native / 25 invasive, DEF 24 β firm for a young tree. Opening tempo (Initiative) 44 and sustained tempo (SPD) 42 are close, so it is quick and steady on both turns rather than a starter or cruiser specialist. Native gives the +15% HP cushion and the bench HP overshield; invasive lifts the ATK cap, pays Faustian self-damage to its bench on each damaging hit, and concedes 2 prizes on KO. Retreat costs 14 Sun. See /wiki/stats.
By Lv 100 DEF hardens to 55 and HP reaches 190 / 165, with ATK at 36 / 49. Retreat climbs to 27 Sun and tempo has fallen to about 1% of cap. It matures into a defensive tree that punishes attackers through Tannin Load and backs the bench with Sun.
Broadleaf tree sits in the Competitor group: strong at x1.5 into Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs), weak at x0.667 to Specialists (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes), and even against other Competitors and Weird cards. See /wiki/weaknesses-resistances.
It is a support tank first. Bench it for the Sun overshield, and put it in front against attackers to make Tannin Load bite. As an invasive it hits harder and concedes prizes, which is fine for aggressive coin runs, but its real strength is durability and retaliation. Because it is a legume (Fabaceae), one in four caught in the wild arrives with the Nitrogen amendment already applied β a free head start worth about 300 coins, though it sits in a soil slot and decomposes after about a month. It is not edible, so fertilizer banks x1.25 XP for growth. Its bulk makes it power-favored from fairly low; the crossovers are Lv 27 native and Lv 29 invasive.
Leveling trades speed for power. A plantβs 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 β native adds a HP cushion, invasive an attack edge, neutral neither β with the card at its crossover and fully grown at LvΒ 100.