Pinus pinea
An armored conifer that heals in sun and shields the bench with Sun late — a European native or a southern invader.
Italian stone pine is a Conifer that fights as an armored wall: high defense, a sun heal, and a self-buff to press when it can. It is native to Europe and invasive in Africa and Oceania, so the arena can cast it either way — as a native buffer for your bench or as an invasive attacker. It is a genuinely sturdy card, one of the tougher options in this set.
Its starter attack, Raysteal, unlocks at level 1 and costs 2 Sun, dealing a plain hit of about 31 damage as a native and 34 as an invasive. The free once-per-battle ability, Resin Seal, comes in at level 25: Seals the wound with resin: heal 40%. It raises the pine's own attack for the rest of the fight. The advanced attack, Duff Dive, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (26 native / 28 invasive) and lands a straightforward, heavier hit. Most of your pines sit below level 40, where only the starter is available. None of its moves carry an initiative rider, so it never seizes a turn.
Italian stone pine keeps two always-on traits. Photosynthesis arrives on the level 10 riser and heals it in sun, though it triggers only about 60% of the time. Network arrives on the level 68 riser: as a canopy tree, from the bench it projects a gold Sun overshield bar onto your active plant every turn, giving a benched pine real support value late. See Abilities.
It carries no offensive trait keywords, so nothing punishes an attacker for hitting it. It is non-toxic: no contact recoil, no hazard ring. Its growth habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. Its natural bulk means field gear can go either way — DEF gear as a native wall, offensive gear to sharpen the invasive attack.
At level 40 the pine reads 140 HP as a native and 122 as an invasive, with ATK of 22 native versus 29 invasive — a solid invasive jump. DEF is 20, high in the conifer band, so it soaks hits far better than the herbs and succulents around it. Its tempo is slightly back-loaded: turn 1 runs on a lower initiative (28) and every turn after on a marginally higher SPD (30), so it is out-paced early and steadier later. Retreat costs 18 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and, while benched, projects an HP overshield onto your active; as an invasive it pays Faustian self-damage to its own bench on each damaging attack and concedes 2 prizes when knocked out. See Stats.
Matured to level 100, the pine climbs to 276 HP native / 240 invasive and 39 / 56 ATK, and its DEF reaches 44 — a conifer grows into a true armored wall, the payoff of the category. Retreat rises to 39 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to roughly 1% of cap, so it acts last but survives long enough for that not to matter. Maturity buys it real durability at the cost of speed.
As a conifer, the pine is in the Specialist succession group. It hits Competitor plants for x1.5 and is hit for only x0.667 by them; it is weak to Ruderal plants, which strike 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 Italian stone pine as a wall: as a native, sit it on the bench late for the Network Sun overshield and cushion, or up front to soak hits and heal in sun; as an invasive, use its buff and heavier attack to trade favorably behind that armor. It is one of the more durable cards here and holds up against Competitor-group foes. Its economy is growth-only — it is inedible, so any nutrient banks x1.25 XP rather than coins. It fights as a steady wall that only gets harder to move as it levels, crossing over around level 11 as a native and 13 as an invasive — always stronger higher up, so 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.