Quercus agrifolia
A native-only broadleaf tree that anchors the bench — a slow armor wall that shares Sun with your active and heals an ally late.
California live oak is a heavy, canopy Broadleaf tree that fights as a bench-support wall: it shields your active with Sun, mends an ally deep into its growth, and simply refuses to fall. It is native to Western North America and no invasive card exists — the arena only ever fields it as a native buffer for your team. Among this batch it is one of the more useful support pieces: not a hitter, but a genuinely tough anchor.
Its starter attack, Leaf Smother, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun and slams a heavy branch down for about 24 damage. The free once-per-battle ability, Nurse Log, arrives at level 25: The fallen feed the next: heal 25%, even the bench, and call back the lost. The advanced attack, Deadfall, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (39 native) and draws on the heartwood to strike and heal itself as it lands. Most of your live oaks sit below level 40, where only the starter is unlocked. None of its moves carry an initiative rider, so it never seizes a turn. See Moves.
California live oak carries two always-on traits on separate risers. Network arrives at full strength on the level 10 riser: while it sits benched, it projects a Sun overshield onto your active — the canopy-tree support trait that buys a fragile front-liner an extra hit of survival. Its second trait, Mycorrhiza, arrives on the level 68 riser and heals a benched ally when it fires, but it triggers only about 60% of the time, so treat that heal as a coin-flip bonus rather than a guarantee. See Abilities.
California live oak carries no trait keywords — no thorns, no toxin, no spore chemistry — so nothing punishes an attacker for striking it; it is non-toxic, so nothing chemical bites back either. Its growth habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native, defensive field gear — a Cloche, or a calcium/magnesium amendment for a little extra DEF — reinforces the one thing it is built to do, soak hits and protect the bench.
At level 40 California live oak reads 140 HP and 16 ATK. DEF is 30, up in the broadleaf-tree band where a tree forms a real wall, so it soaks hits far better than any herb or grass — damage is diminishing armor (ATK ÷ (ATK+DEF)), not flat subtraction, so that DEF matters more the harder it is hit. Its tempo runs on initiative (40) on turn 1 and on SPD (9) every turn after; as a heavy tree it moves on a slow clock either way, so it tends to act after lighter, younger cards. Retreat costs 18 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and, while benched, projects an HP overshield onto your active — stacking with its Network Sun shield. See Stats.
Matured to level 100, California live oak climbs to 276 HP and 28 ATK, and its DEF reaches 70 — a broadleaf tree keeps building its armor wall, so a mature live oak is a fortress that shrugs off all but the heaviest hitters. Retreat rises to 39 Sun as it roots in, and its tempo has sunk to roughly 1% of cap, so it acts last against almost anything young. Maturing buys it near-impenetrable bulk at the cost of ever moving first.
As a broadleaf tree, California live oak sits in the Competitor succession group. It hits Ruderal plants (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics, bulbs) for ×1.5 and takes only ×0.667 from them; it is weak to Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes), which strike 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 California live oak as a native anchor and bench engine: its tree-tier DEF and HP cushion let it stand up front, its Network trait feeds your active a Sun overshield, and its late Mycorrhiza can top up a benched ally — a lot of protection from one card. Its damage is unremarkable, so it holds the line rather than closing games. On economy, it is not an edible-part plant here, so any nutrient you feed it banks ×1.25 XP as a growth boost rather than paying coins. It fights as a slow, sturdy skirmisher whose bulk and attack take over around level 7 — but it is always stronger at higher levels in raw stats, 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.