Populus simonii
A fast broadleaf tree that shields early and heals its bench late, playing either role — an East Asian native or a European invader.
Simon's Poplar is a fast-growing Broadleaf tree that fights as a bench-support tree, shielding the front line early and healing allies as it matures. It is native to East Asia and invasive across Europe, 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, best behind a stronger hitter.
Its starter attack, Limb Lash, unlocks at level 1 and costs 2 Sun, dealing about 36 damage as a native and 44 as an invasive — a plain hit with no rider. The free once-per-battle ability, Canopy Recruitment, arrives at level 25: Pushes a sapling into the canopy: heal 35% and +3 ATK. It mends the plant. The advanced attack, Deadfall, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (40 native / 44 invasive) and saps the target, wearing it down. 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.
Simon's Poplar keeps two always-on abilities. Network arrives early, on the level 10 riser: this canopy-tree trait projects a gold Sun overshield bar onto your active plant while this one is benched, so it shields from the sidelines from the start. At level 68 it gains Mycorrhiza, which heals a benched ally — but that one triggers only about 60% of the time, so treat it as a frequent bonus rather than a guarantee.
Simon's 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.
At level 40 Simon's Poplar reads 103 HP as a native and 89 as an invasive, with ATK of 19 native versus 28 invasive — the invasive form gains a real edge (native ATK 19 to invasive ATK 26). 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, Simon's Poplar swells to 190 HP native / 165 invasive and 33 / 56 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 adds the late Mycorrhiza heal.
As a broadleaf tree, Simon's 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 Simon's Poplar as a native support tree: its early Network overshield makes it a valuable bencher from low levels, and the late Mycorrhiza heal adds sustain to the team. As an invasive its higher ATK and sap on the advanced move make it a fair attacker, though the Faustian bench damage cuts against its support identity. It is inedible, so any nutrient you feed it banks ×1.25 XP toward leveling rather than coins. It fights as a fast supporter early and grows into a durable helper as it levels, crossing over around level 35 as a native and 37 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.