Malus × purpurea
An attacker-only Broadleaf tree card — native nowhere — that is heavily armoured, quick, and punishes whatever strikes it.
Purple Crab Apple is a Broadleaf tree card, and it is attacker-only: the species record lists no native range and marks it invasive in Europe. There is no buffer version to build toward — it never takes a native health cushion and never projects a bench overshield, so everything below is written for the attacker role. See nativity and categories.
The starter attack, Branch Bash, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun and reads 31 in the attacker role. Pins the foe under a fallen branch.
The free once-per-battle ability, Canopy Recruitment, unlocks at level 25 and costs no Sun. Pushes a sapling into the canopy: heal 35% and +3 ATK.
The advanced attack, Buttress Bash, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun and reads 36. Swings a buttress root and pins the foe. It is a genuine step up from the starter, so the extra Sun is worth paying once the slot opens. See moves.
Tannin Load arrives on the first riser at level 10 at full strength. When this card is struck, the attacker takes Wither and loses attack power for the rest of the fight — no turn or Sun spent.
Mycorrhiza stacks on at level 68, healing a benched ally each checkup. It triggers roughly 60% of the time rather than every checkup, so read it as a trend across a long fight rather than a dependable tick.
The species record lists no toxicity and no trait keywords, so no poison rider applies. For field gear, this card already has good armour, so gear that extends its stay converts directly into extra recoil and extra damage. Its growth habit is not vine, epiphyte or hemiepiphyte, so a Moss Pole does not apply.
At level 40 the attacker reads 89 HP and 29 ATK. Armour is 26, among the highest in this batch. Retreat is 14 Sun, cheaper than most trees. Opening tempo is 40 and sustained tempo is 36, both good — a fast, well-armoured tree. It pays Faustian self-damage to its own bench on every damaging attack and concedes 2 prizes on knockout. See stats.
By level 100 the attacker reaches 165 HP and 56 ATK, with armour at 60. The tree shape holds: it climbs to a wall as wood density carries armour up alongside the health pool. Retreat rises to 29 Sun and the inverted tempo has sunk to its floor, so the matured card trades its speed for bulk while keeping the recoil trait.
Broadleaf tree is in the Competitor succession group: strong into Ruderal — annual forbs, grasses, aquatics and bulbs — and weak to Specialist, meaning succulents, conifers, ferns and epiphytes. See weaknesses and resistances.
A rare thing: an attacker-only card that is also durable. Most cards without a native role are fragile racers, and this one instead brings heavy armour and a retaliation trait, so it can stand in a lane and win exchanges rather than needing to end them quickly.
The Faustian bench cost is the standing constraint — it applies on every damaging attack and there is no native role to switch to when the back row gets thin. Keep a bench that can absorb it.
It is edible with a fruit economy group, so a phosphorus soil amendment pays it ×1.25 coins. Solid on both axes. See the battle lab.
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.