Picea omorika
A native-only conifer that hits softly but heals in sun and shields the bench with a Sun overshield, played purely as support.
Serbian spruce is an armored Conifer that fights as a defensive support piece, not a damage dealer. It is native to Europe and has no invasive form, so the arena only ever plays it as a native buffer. As one of the game's Specialist plants it flips the usual matchup wheel. Its ATK is low, so value it for staying power and Sun support rather than offense.
Its starter attack, Branch Bash, unlocks at level 1 and costs 2 Sun, dealing about 26 damage - a plain, light strike. The free once-per-battle ability, Fire-Climax Forest, comes in at level 25: A forest that needs to burn — the foe is set alight, and the fire spreads home too. The advanced attack, Resin Trap, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (about 31 damage), mends the plant, and pins the target so it cannot retreat (see statuses). Most of your spruces sit below level 40, where only the starter is available. None of its moves carry an initiative rider, so it never seizes a turn. See Moves.
Spruce keeps two always-on traits. Photosynthesis arrives on the level 10 riser and heals it in sun, but it triggers only about 60% of the time, so it is a slow, unreliable top-up. Network arrives later, on the level 68 riser, and projects a gold Sun overshield bar onto your active from the bench - a canopy-tree effect that helps your front-liner absorb hits and fuel its own moves. See Abilities.
Spruce carries no special trait keywords - no thorns, no toxin trait, no spore chemistry - so nothing punishes an attacker for hitting it. It is non-toxic, showing no hazard ring. Its growth habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native it only plays defense, so defensive field gear that adds DEF plays to its conifer armor and support role.
At level 40 spruce reads 140 HP with ATK of only 15 - genuinely low, which is why it is a supporter, not a striker. Because there is no invasive card, it never gains trait-sourced ATK. DEF is 17, solid for the conifer band, so it holds up well under fire. Its tempo is a quick starter and slower cruiser: turn 1 runs on its initiative (28), where it leads, and every turn after on its SPD (22), where it is out-paced. Retreat costs 19 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and a bench HP overshield, and it never pays the invasive attacker's Faustian self-damage or extra prizes. See Stats.
Matured to level 100, spruce reaches 276 HP and 25 ATK, and as a conifer its DEF climbs to 37 - a strong armored wall, though its damage stays modest. Retreat rises to 41 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to roughly 1% of cap, so a mature spruce acts last but is very hard to remove and keeps feeding Sun to your active. See Stats.
As a conifer, spruce is in the Specialist succession group, which sits on the opposite side of the wheel from most cards. It hits Competitor plants (perennial herbs, shrubs, broadleaf trees) for x1.5 and is struck for only x0.667 by them; it is weak to Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs), which hit it for x1.5 while resisting its blows. Against other Specialists and the off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play spruce as a bench anchor and Sun battery. Its low ATK means it should rarely be your damage source; instead it soaks hits, self-heals in sun, and once Network is online it shields and fuels whatever active you put in front. Its Specialist typing also lets it beat the Competitor cards that dominate the roster. It is inedible, so any nutrient banks x1.25 XP rather than coins - grow it for stats. It leads early on tempo and only gets tankier as it levels, crossing over around level 9; keep leveling it.
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.