Phlox drummondii
A Ruderal annual-forb that seizes the opening and reseeds after death, native to eastern North America and invasive across four regions.
Annual phlox is an annual-forb, the fast, disposable Ruderal archetype: it strikes first and reseeds when it falls. It is native to eastern North America (a buffer role) and invasive across East Asia, Europe, South America and South Asia (an attacker role). Its wide invasive range makes the attacker form the more dangerous one.
It opens with Superhero at level 1 for 2 Sun, dealing 34 native / 36 invasive. This move carries the initiative rider: in a wild encounter it strikes first regardless of tempo (if both sides bring a rider they cancel and normal order decides). In the arena that same rider works differently — it does not grant first strike; instead, when the move lands a killing blow that actually drops the body, the attacker keeps the turn and acts again, and a lethal chain can sweep a chipped bench. At level 25 it gains Ruderal Rush — Weedy haste — a burst of speed, kept for the match.. Its finisher, Covercrop Crush, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun and lands 31 native / 33 invasive.
It keeps two always-on traits. Duff Stuff comes online at level 10 and is a real defence: while active, its effective DEF rises by half the summed DEF of its alive benched Ruderal allies (annual-forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs), recomputed live so it fades as those allies faint. Reseed stacks on at level 68 — when this card is knocked out it leaves a fresh Seedling token behind. Because a reseed is a genuine death (the parent concedes its prize and only a seedling steps up), an enemy initiative rider that finishes it in the arena still seizes the turn.
It has no thorns and no toxin trait, and is not a climber, so no Moss Pole. Its best field gear is a calcium/magnesium amendment for flat DEF, and — as a Ruderal — it benefits from being benched alongside other Ruderals to feed its Duff Stuff.
At level 40 it reads 103 / 89 HP, 23 / 29 ATK, and 2 DEF — very soft. Its opening tempo is 32 and sustained tempo 34: a touch slow off the mark on raw stats but relentless afterward, though the rider makes its opening moot in wild fights. Native gives a 15% HP cushion and a bench overshield; invasive hits harder but pays Faustian self-damage each attack and concedes 2 prizes on a knockout. Retreat costs 16 Sun.
By level 100 its HP reaches 190 / 165 and ATK 41 / 57, but DEF only 3 — it swells in mass without ever hardening. Retreat climbs to 33 Sun and its inverted tempo has settled near its floor. What maturing buys is a bigger reseeding body; what it never buys is armor.
As a Ruderal it deals 1.5× to Specialists (succulent, conifer, fern, epiphyte) and takes 1.5× from Competitors (perennial-herb, vine, shrub, broadleaf-tree); it resists Specialist hits at 0.667×. Weird is neutral. Its paper-thin DEF is its real weakness — anything that hits hard erases it in a turn.
Invasive is where it shines: a fast, aggressive opener that seizes the wild initiative and, in the arena, can act again off a kill. Native, it is a cheap buffer that reseeds itself and pads a Ruderal bench's Duff Stuff. It is a decent early coin-earner but frail; keep it on a bench of allies rather than out front alone. Inedible, so fertilizer banks ×1.25 XP. It leans on speed until about level 23, after which its bulk and attack dominate — but level it freely, as higher levels only make it stronger.
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.