Populus × canescens
A fast broadleaf tree that heals its bench and shields the front line, playing either role — a Eurasian native or an invader in Africa and North America.
Gray Poplar is a fast-growing Broadleaf tree that fights as a supportive bench-healer: quick off the mark, generous with healing, and built to keep a team standing. It is native to East Asia and Europe and invasive across Africa and eastern North America, so the arena can cast it either way — as a native buffer for your bench or as an invasive attacker. It is a solid support card that shines behind a strong front line.
Its starter attack, Whomp, unlocks at level 1 and costs 2 Sun, dealing about 38 damage as a native and 41 as an invasive, splashing some onto the opponent's bench. The free once-per-battle ability, Old-Growth Reaction, arrives at level 25: Centuries of shade — the foe stalls and withers. It mends the plant. The advanced attack, Transpiration Drain, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (29 native / 32 invasive) and heals as it strikes. Most of your poplars sit below level 40, where only the starter is available. None of its moves carry an initiative rider, so it never seizes a turn.
Gray Poplar keeps two always-on abilities. Mycorrhiza arrives on the level 10 riser and heals a benched ally, but it triggers only about 60% of the time, so treat it as a frequent bonus rather than a guarantee. At level 68 it gains Network, a canopy-tree trait: while benched it projects a gold Sun overshield bar onto your active plant, protecting the front line from the sidelines.
Gray Poplar carries no special trait keywords — no thorns, no toxin chemistry — so nothing punishes an attacker for hitting it. It is non-toxic: no contact recoil and no poison rider. Its growth habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native, general defensive field gear (a Cloche, a Ca/Mg amendment) suits its support game; as an invasive, lean into offense to make its attack count.
At level 40 Gray Poplar reads 103 HP as a native and 89 as an invasive, with ATK of 23 native versus 32 invasive — the invasive form gains a clear edge (native ATK 23 to invasive ATK 31). DEF is 17, in the broadleaf-tree band, so it has middling armor. Its tempo is front-loaded: turn 1 runs on a high initiative (56), with a still-brisk SPD (48) afterward, so it leads early and stays reasonably quick. Retreat costs 16 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and, while benched, 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, Gray Poplar swells to 190 HP native / 165 invasive and 42 / 63 ATK, with DEF reaching 36 — a broadleaf tree gains health and a fair amount of armor, toughening into a sturdy wall without a conifer's peak. Retreat rises to 33 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to roughly 1% of cap, so its early speed edge is gone. Maturing buys bulk and steadier support.
As a broadleaf tree, Gray Poplar is in the Competitor succession group. It hits Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs) for ×1.5 and is struck for only ×0.667 by them; it is weak to Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes), which hit 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 Gray Poplar as a native support tree: park it on the bench so Mycorrhiza keeps allies healed and Network shields the active, or send it out to open with a bench-splash and self-heal. As an invasive its higher ATK makes it a fair attacker, though the Faustian bench damage cuts against its healing identity. It is inedible, so any nutrient you feed it banks ×1.25 XP toward leveling rather than coins. It fights as a fast support early and grows into a durable helper as it levels, crossing over around level 34 as a native and 36 as an invasive — 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.