Silvergrass

Overview

Silvergrass is a fast, fragile Grass that fights as a pure aggressor. It is native to Africa, East Asia, Oceania, and South Asia, and invasive across Europe, Eastern and Western North America, and South America, so the arena can cast it either way - as a native buffer or, more naturally, as an invasive attacker. As a Ruderal plant it sits on the fast, expendable side of the wheel: high speed and reach, essentially zero armor.

Moves

Its starter attack, Razors, unlocks at level 1 and costs 2 Sun. It ignores the target's armor and hits harder each time it lands, so it has no fixed damage number and stays a real threat to walls. The free once-per-battle ability, Sod Formation, comes in at level 25: Mats the ground over — Bind and Wither the foe. The advanced attack, Thatch Choke, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (32 native / 36 invasive) - a plain heavy hit. Most of your silvergrass sit below level 40, where only the starter is available. None of its moves carry an initiative rider, so it never seizes a turn. See Moves.

Abilities

Silvergrass keeps two always-on traits. Allelopathy arrives on the level 10 riser and hangs a wilt aura on the enemy active, chipping whoever it faces. Spore-drift arrives later, on the level 68 riser, and chips the enemy bench as well, spreading its pressure past the front-liner. Neither has a chance element - both run whenever the conditions are met. See Abilities.

Features

Silvergrass carries no special trait keywords - no thorns, no toxin, no contact recoil - so nothing punishes an attacker for hitting it. It is non-toxic, showing no hazard ring. Its growth habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As an invasive, offensive field gear doubles down on its speed and reach; as a native, defensive gear only slightly offsets its near-total lack of armor.

Stats

At level 40 silvergrass reads 103 HP native / 89 invasive, with ATK of 27 native versus 37 invasive - native ATK 27 jumping to invasive ATK 37, one of the wider gaps here, so it wants to be played as an invasive. DEF is just 1, at the floor of the grass band - effectively no armor at all. Its tempo is a slow starter and faster cruiser: turn 1 runs on its initiative (38), and every turn after on its very high SPD (56), where it is relentless. Retreat costs 12 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and a bench HP overshield; as an invasive it pays Faustian self-damage to its own bench on each damaging attack and concedes 2 prizes when knocked out. See Stats.

At Level 100

Matured to level 100, silvergrass reaches 190 HP native / 165 invasive and 50 / 75 ATK, but its DEF only reaches 1 - as a grass it gains bulk purely in health and stays essentially unarmored, so it lives and dies by speed. Retreat rises to 24 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to roughly 1% of cap, so even a mature silvergrass is out-paced by young cards. See Stats.

Weaknesses & Resistances

As a grass, silvergrass is in the Ruderal succession group. It hits Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes) for x1.5 and is struck for only x0.667 by them; it is weak to Competitor plants (perennial herbs, shrubs, broadleaf trees), which hit it for x1.5 while resisting its blows. Against other Ruderals and the off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.

Gameplay uses

Play silvergrass as an invasive attacker: its armor-piercing opener plus the wilt and bench chip let it grind down walls and the whole enemy team, and its high SPD means it usually gets the extra hits in. The trade-off is that any solid Competitor hitter can end it in a swing, so use it to apply pressure, not to soak. It is inedible, so any nutrient banks x1.25 XP rather than coins - grow it for stats. It opens a touch slow but its speed and damage take over quickly, crossing over around level 33 native and 34 invasive; keep leveling it.