Papaver cambricum
Welsh poppy is a native-only perennial-herb with the fastest opening in this group and a late resprout save, but a weak attack — a sturdy, spiteful buffer rather than a finisher.
Welsh poppy is a perennial-herb: a persistent card that opens very fast and clings to life, but hits softly. It is native to Europe and invasive nowhere, so it only ever plays the native buffer role — there is no attacker scenario to build for it. Its value is tempo and survivability, not damage.
Its starter, Stolon Reach (Lv 1, 2 Sun), runs a stolon out fast for 30; it carries no initiative rider, relying on its raw tempo instead. The free once-per-battle ability, Stabilization (Lv 25), pins the ground down so the foe stalls and cannot break away — Pins the ground down — the foe stalls, and can't break away. — a lockdown that keeps a target from retreating. The advanced attack, Perennial Problem (Lv 40, 6 Sun), hits for 40, its heaviest blow. See moves.
Two always-on traits, one per stage. From Lv 10 it carries Basal Rosette, a flat +3 DEF that meaningfully firms up an otherwise floor-level herb. At Lv 68 Resprout stacks on: the first time a lethal hit would drop it, it has a 60% chance to survive at 25% HP — a coin-flip-plus save, not a guarantee, and only once per battle. Together they make it stubborn to remove, which is the point of a buffer.
It holds no thorns or Toxin trait, so it does not punish contact. It is not a climber, so no Moss Pole. A Calcium/Magnesium amendment stacks onto the rosette for a genuinely sticky wall build, which plays to its strengths better than any attack gear. See field gear.
At Lv 40 (Perennial herb) it reads 103 HP and a low 18 ATK — the weak attack is the catch, and why it rarely finishes fights itself. Its displayed DEF is 1, the soft herb floor, with the Basal Rosette adding a further flat +3 in combat. Its standout is opening tempo: initiative 53 is the highest in this group, so it almost always lands the first hit, while sustained Speed 39 is more ordinary — a quick starter that slows to a cruise. Retreat costs 12 Sun. As a native it gains the +15% HP cushion and projects a bench overshield. See stats.
By Lv 100 HP reaches 190 and ATK 31, while its displayed DEF stays at 1 — no wall, though the Basal Rosette's flat +3 still helps in combat. Retreat rises to 22 Sun and the inverted tempo sinks to roughly its 1% floor, so its trademark first-strike edge fades and it relies on bulk and the resprout save. Maturing buys durability at the cost of the speed that made it interesting.
As a perennial-herb it is a Competitor: ×1.5 into Ruderals (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs), ×0.667 against Specialists (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes), even into other Competitors and the Weird categories. Its weak attack means it often loses damage races even where the type chart favors it. See weaknesses & resistances.
Play it native as a durable, first-striking buffer: it opens the exchange, its ability keeps a foe from escaping, and the rosette-plus-resprout package makes it hard to finish. Its low attack means it is a support piece, not a lead — pair it with a real damage dealer and let it soak, stall and lend an overshield. It is not edible, so fertilizer banks ×1.25 XP rather than coins, making it a growth and collection piece. It fights as a fast skirmisher until about Lv 34, after which its bulk outweighs its fading tempo.
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.