Pinus monticola
A firm conifer that heals in sun, shields the bench late and splashes the enemy bench on its opener, serving only as a native Western North American buffer.
Western white pine is a tall, needle-leaved Conifer that fights as a durable support: it heals in sun, chips the enemy bench on its opening attack, and late in its growth shields your active from the bench. It is native to Western North America and has no invasive form, so the arena only ever fields it as a native buffer. Its damage is ordinary; its value is its armor and its bench support.
Its starter attack, Smothering Pollen, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun, dealing about 25 damage and splashing onto the enemy bench as it lands. The free once-per-battle ability, Fire-Climax Forest, arrives at level 25: A forest that needs to burn — the foe is set alight, and the fire spreads home too. It is a mid-fight mend. The advanced attack, Forest Fire, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (33 damage) and both mends the pine and binds the target as it strikes. Most of your white pine sit below level 40, where only the starter is unlocked. None of its moves carry an initiative rider. See Moves.
Western white pine keeps two always-on traits. Photosynthesis arrives on the level 10 riser and heals it in sun, but as a sustain trait it fires only about 60% of the time. Network arrives on the level 68 riser and, as a canopy tree, projects a gold Sun overshield bar onto your active from the bench; it is not a sustain trait, so it works reliably once online — but only in the endgame. For most of the card's life only its sun-healing is available. See Abilities.
Western white pine does not hold the Toxin trait, so striking it carries no contact recoil and its attacks lay no poison. Its habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native it already carries real armor, so field gear is best spent on utility — a Cloche against status, or an amendment to lean further into its bulk. See statuses.
At level 40 western white pine reads 140 HP with ATK of 20; as a native-only card there is no invasive attack gap. DEF is 20, firm in the conifer band, so it trades hits far better than the herbs and grasses around it. Its tempo is back-loaded: turn 1 runs on its initiative (23) and every turn after on its faster SPD (38), so it opens a step behind but settles into a steady cruise. Retreat costs 19 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, western white pine swells to 276 HP and 36 ATK, and its DEF climbs to 44 — a conifer hardens into a genuine wall. Retreat rises to 40 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to about 1% of cap, so a mature pine acts last against almost anything younger. Maturing buys a real wall and its bench-shield Network, at the cost of turn order.
As a conifer, western white pine sits in the Specialist succession group. It hits Competitor plants (perennial herbs, shrubs, broadleaf trees) for ×1.5 and takes only ×0.667 from them; it is weak to Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs), which strike it for ×1.5 while resisting its blows. Against other Specialists and the off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
Play western white pine as a native wall and bench support: sit it in front to soak hits and heal in sun, or bench it to project its overshield and, once matured, its Network shield onto a harder hitter. Its own damage is unremarkable, so it earns its place through durability rather than offense. On economy, pine is inedible, so any nutrient you feed it banks ×1.25 XP toward faster growth rather than coins. It plays as a slow opener that leans harder on its bulk as it levels, crossing over around level 13 — 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.