Malus × floribunda
A very low-attack ornamental crab apple that leans entirely on being a DEF wall — a defensive body, not a finisher.
Japanese Crab Apple (Malus × floribunda) is a Broadleaf tree in Supplant. A very low-attack ornamental crab apple that leans entirely on being a DEF wall — a defensive body, not a finisher. It is native to East Asia — where it plays as a defensive buffer — and invasive in Europe and Eastern North America, where the arena turns it into an attacker.
Numbers below are read at level 40, where every move in its kit has unlocked.
Its kit fills in as it levels. The starter attack, Deathshadow, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun: it deals 23 as a native card and 26 as an invasive one. In effect, Casts a shade nothing recovers in — the foe can't heal.
At level 25 it gains its free once-per-battle ability, Nurse Log (no Sun cost, one use per fight): The fallen feed the next: heal 25%, even the bench, and call back the lost.
The advanced attack, Out on a Limb, arrives at level 40 for 6 Sun, dealing 34 native and 38 invasive: Two swings from the same limb. None of its moves carry the initiative rider, so it never seizes first strike — turn order is decided purely by its tempo stats (see Stats).
Every plant keeps at most two always-on traits, drawn from its category pool with the rest dropped for good. This card keeps two, and both are working traits:
For most of a card's climb it is running on the first of these alone; the second only joins late.
It is non-toxic and unarmed — it holds no Toxin or Thorns trait, so biting it carries no chemical or thorn recoil. Its useful field gear is therefore the general kit: a Calcium/Magnesium soil amendment for flat DEF, a Cloche or Stake to ward status, and Mulch for the economy. It is not a climber, so a Moss Pole does nothing for it. Played native, lean defensive (Ca/Mg to deepen its wall); played invasive, lean into offense.
Read at level 40: DEF 26, retreat 15 Sun — a broadleaf tree is a DEF wall — its cap is set by wood density, climbing far past any herb. Turn order runs on two tempo stats: initiative (50) decides turn 1, and SPD (35) decides every turn after. Here initiative leads SPD, so it opens fast and then gets out-paced.
Native, it gains a +15% health cushion (about 103 HP) and, while benched, projects a green HP overshield bar onto your active. Invasive, its attack climbs from 15 to 21 — the invasive edge is built from how widely it spreads, not a flat multiplier — but it pays "Faustian" self-damage to its own bench on every damaging attack and concedes 2 prizes when it is knocked out.
See Stats for how each number is built.
By level 100 its health reaches 190 native / 165 invasive, its attack 25 / 41, and its DEF hardens into a genuine wall (60), the payoff of its wood density. Retreat rises to 30 Sun as it roots down, and the inverted tempo has fallen to near its floor — the fast opener of its youth is gone. Growth buys raw power and trades away turn order.
Its succession group is Competitor. It hits Ruderal cards (annual-forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs) for ×1.5, and loses ground to Specialist cards (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes), which resist it to ×0.667. There is no type interaction beyond this succession wheel; see weaknesses & resistances.
Play it native as a bench buffer and overshield source; play it invasive as an attacker, mindful of the Faustian self-damage to your own bench. It is edible with a resolved fruit part, so feeding it Phosphorus (P) pays ×1.25 coins — a steady, low-effort earner. Any other nutrient banks ×1.25 XP instead. It fights as a fast skirmisher until roughly level 27 native (29 invasive), after which its bulk and attack dominate.
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.