Nepeta faassenii
An invasive-only perennial herb that opens with poison and self-heals - a fragile, aggressive attacker with no native form.
Catmint is a low Perennial herb that fights as a poisoning attacker: it opens by inflicting poison, mends itself, and pushes damage with almost no armor. It is invasive across Europe, and there is no native version, so it only ever plays as an invasive attacker. It is a soft, aggressive card that trades poison chip and self-healing for staying power - it is not a body you can hide behind.
Its starter attack, Steady Growth, unlocks at level 1 and costs 2 Sun for about 39 damage, and it leaves the target poisoned so it keeps losing health each turn. The free once-per-battle ability, Perennating Bud, arrives at level 25: Breaks a stored bud: heal 40%. It restores health mid-fight. The advanced attack, Winterkill, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (31 damage) - a straightforward heavier hit. Most of your catmint sit below level 40, where only the poison starter is available. None of its moves carry an initiative rider. See Moves and Statuses.
Catmint keeps a single always-on trait: Resprout. Because it draws only one eligible trait, Resprout arrives at half strength on the level 10 riser and matures on the level 68 one. When it works it lets the plant survive one otherwise-lethal hit at roughly a quarter health - but it triggers only about 60% of the time, so treat it as a coin-flip reprieve. See Abilities.
Catmint carries no special trait keywords. Although its starter move inflicts poison, the plant does not hold the Toxin trait, so it is non-toxic to the touch - there is no contact recoil and no hazard ring, and an attacker takes no damage for hitting it. Its growth habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As an invasive it wants offensive field gear to press its attacking plan.
At level 40 catmint reads 89 HP with 36 ATK; there is no native card, so it only ever fights as an invasive, where its attack is boosted well above its home value. DEF is just 1, at the very floor of the perennial-herb band, so it takes hits with essentially no armor. Its tempo is front-loaded: turn 1 runs on its initiative (37) and every turn after on its slightly slower SPD (36), so it opens fast and is edged out only slightly later. Retreat costs 11 Sun. As an invasive it draws its attack from its trait profile, pays Faustian self-damage to its own bench on each damaging attack, and concedes 2 prizes when knocked out. See Stats.
Matured to level 100, catmint swells to 165 HP with 74 ATK, but its DEF only reaches 2 - as a soft herb it gains health and almost no armor, so it stays fragile against any real hitter. Retreat rises to 21 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to roughly 1% of cap, so a mature catmint acts last against almost anything younger. Maturing buys HP, attack, and a firmer Resprout; it never buys toughness.
As a perennial herb, catmint sits in the Competitor succession group. It hits Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs) for x1.5 and takes only x0.667 from them, while Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes) strike it for x1.5 and resist its blows. Against other Competitors and the off-wheel Weird group the trade is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play catmint as a fragile poison attacker. Open with the poison strike, then heal through trades while the poison chips the opponent down - it is best sent at something it can out-race before its thin armor gives out. Because it only ever plays invasive, expect to lose extra prizes if it falls, so pick your spots. It is inedible, so feeding it any nutrient banks x1.25 XP rather than coins. It plays as a quick opener that stays roughly even later, crossing over around level 26; higher levels only raise its stats, 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.