Monotropa hypopitys
A neutral shrub with no nativity role — a plain base-line card that heals mid-fight, saps as it closes, plates up at low HP and cannot be Burned.
The pinesap is a Shrub that fights as a plain, neutral card: it has neither a native nor an invasive form in the arena, so it plays as a flat base line with no nativity buffs or penalties either way. Its stats are unremarkable, so it is best thought of as a collection piece, defensive traits notwithstanding.
Its starter attack, Tick Tumble, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun, dealing about 27 damage. The free once-per-battle ability, Frugivore Pact, arrives at level 25: Trades fruit for carriage: +3 ATK, and the foe's whole bench sickens. It is a mid-fight mend. The advanced attack, Bramble Scramble, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (36 damage) and saps and withers the target. Most of your pinesap sit below level 40, where only the starter is unlocked. None of its moves carry an initiative rider. See Moves.
Pinesap holds two always-on traits. Marcescence (level 10) gives +4 DEF at half HP or below. Lignotuber (level 68) leaves the card immune to Burn, with any applied Burn healing it instead. See Abilities.
The pinesap is non-toxic, so it inflicts no contact recoil and carries no poison rider when it is struck. Its habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. With no nativity role, it takes neither the native's defensive gear synergy nor an invasive's offensive one in particular — defensive field gear such as a Cloche still helps its thin armor. See statuses.
At level 40 the pinesap reads 121 HP with 18 ATK. DEF is 11, firmer for the shrub band, so it soaks a little better than a grass or succulent. Its tempo is back-loaded: turn 1 runs on its low initiative (20), where it is out-paced, but every turn after runs on its higher SPD (26), where it is relentless — a slow starter but a faster cruiser. Retreat costs 14 Sun. With no nativity role it gains no HP cushion or overshield and pays no invasive self-damage — it is a flat, neutral body either way. See Stats.
Matured to level 100, the pinesap swells to 233 HP and 30 ATK, and its DEF climbs to 21 — a solid firming for a shrub, above the soft weeds though short of a tree's wall. Retreat rises to 27 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to about 1% of cap, so a mature pinesap acts last against almost anything younger.
As a shrub, the pinesap sits in the Competitor succession group. It hits Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs) for ×1.5 and takes only ×0.667 from them; it is weak to Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes), which strike it for ×1.5 while resisting its blows. Against other Competitors and the off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play the pinesap as a plain body: it heals once mid-fight, saps on its finisher, and soaks on shrub armor that thickens when it is hurt — but with no nativity buffs it neither buffers a team nor races as an attacker. It is a serviceable filler or collection piece rather than a card that carries a fight. On economy, it is inedible, so any nutrient you feed it banks ×1.25 XP toward faster growth rather than coins. It plays as a slow-opening cruiser that leans harder on its bulk as it levels, crossing over around level 11 — but 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.