Physocarpus capitatus
A non-toxic native shrub that fights as a durable Western North American buffer, arming itself with thorns and pinning what it hits.
Pacific ninebark is a Shrub that fights as a sturdy native buffer: middling damage, a shrub's firmer armor, and a thorn trait that punishes what strikes it. It is native to Western North America and has no invasive card, so the arena only ever fields it as a native buffer. It is a modest attacker whose value is in soaking hits for your team rather than dealing them.
Its starter attack, Bramblemaze, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun and deals about 27 damage — a plain hit with no rider. The free once-per-battle ability, Arrested Succession, arrives at level 25: Stops the forest before it starts — the foe stalls and can't heal. It is a mid-fight mend. The advanced attack, Thorn Wall, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (35 damage) and pins the target in place as it lands. Most of your ninebark sit below level 40, where only the starter is unlocked. None of its moves carry an initiative rider. See Moves.
Pacific ninebark keeps one always-on trait, Thorns, which arrives on the level 10 riser and stays at full strength from there. It arms the plant with thorns that jab back at anything striking it in melee. Below the level 10 riser it leans on its stats and its heal alone. See Abilities.
Pacific ninebark is non-toxic: it holds no Toxin trait, so striking it inflicts no poison and no venomous contact recoil beyond its thorns. Its habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native buffer, defensive field gear — a Cloche, or a calcium or magnesium amendment for a little more DEF — suits it best, reinforcing the armor it already carries. See statuses.
At level 40 Pacific ninebark reads 103 HP with ATK of 19 — low output for a shrub. Its DEF is 12, in the firmer shrub band, so it takes hits better than any weed or herb. Its tempo is even: turn 1 runs on its initiative (49) and every turn after on its SPD (49), which match, so it is neither a fast opener nor a fast cruiser. Retreat costs 14 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and, while benched, projects an HP overshield onto your active. See Stats.
Matured to level 100, Pacific ninebark climbs to 190 HP and 34 ATK, and its DEF firms to 25 — a shrub buys real armor as it grows, more than any soft category. Retreat rises to 29 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to about 1% of cap, so a mature ninebark acts last against almost anything younger. Maturing buys durability at the cost of ever acting first.
As a shrub, Pacific ninebark 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 Pacific ninebark as a native wall: bench it to project its overshield, or bring it in to soak hits and pin a threat while stronger teammates do the killing — its own attack is too low to carry a fight. It is a collection and support piece more than a finisher. On economy, it is inedible, so any nutrient you feed it banks ×1.25 XP toward faster growth rather than coins. It plays as an even-tempo buffer that leans harder on its bulk as it levels, crossing over around level 34 — 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.