Quercus palustris
A broadleaf tree that buffers on defence at home and turns attacker where it is invasive.
A bulky oak built around shutting off enemy healing, hardening into heartwood late. It is a broadleaf tree in battle. It is native to Eastern North America, where it plays as a defensive buffer, and invasive in Europe, where it turns attacker.
The starter attack Deathshadow unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun: Casts a shade nothing recovers in — the foe can't heal. It deals about 27 damage as a native and 28 as an invasive.
The free once-per-battle ability Canopy Recruitment arrives at level 25: Pushes a sapling into the canopy: heal 35% and +3 ATK. It costs no Sun — its price is being usable only once per battle.
The advanced attack Canopy Closure opens at level 40 for 6 Sun: Closes the canopy — nothing below it recovers. It hits for about 27 native and 28 invasive.
Most cards you field sit well below level 40, so introduce these slots in order — a young plant has only its starter.
This card keeps two always-on traits, drawn from its category pool; the rest of that pool was dropped and it never gets it. Buttress Roots (from level 10) flares wide anchoring roots, so the tree cannot be bound or trapped in place — it ignores the Bind status outright.
A second, different trait stacks on later: Heartwood Core (from level 68) hardens the trunk with dense heartwood, adding flat DEF that grows as the tree levels. So for most of its playable life — including at the level 40 snapshot the stats below are read at — this card runs its first trait alone, and only a fully levelled specimen holds both.
This card carries no special trait keywords, and as a broadleaf tree it is not eligible for a Moss Pole (that is for climbers — vines and epiphytes). A Calcium/Magnesium soil amendment adds flat DEF, which suits a wall like this. Playing native, lean into bench support that feeds the overshield; playing invasive, a Cloche helps by absorbing incoming contact poison. See field gear for the full list.
Read at level 40, it carries 140 HP as a native (a +15% cushion) against 122 as an invasive, with DEF 30 and a retreat cost of 19 Sun. Its attack steps up modestly as an invasive (25 native to 28 invasive).
Its opening tempo (initiative, 39) and sustained tempo (SPD, 39) sit close together, so it holds one steady pace through a fight rather than swinging early or late.
Playing native, it and any benched natives project a bench overshield onto your active; playing invasive, it pays Faustian self-damage to its own bench on each damaging attack (growing as it levels) and concedes 2 prizes when knocked out. See stats.
As a broadleaf tree it hardens into a wall. HP swells to 276 native / 240 invasive and DEF climbs to 70 as the heartwood sets, so a mature specimen genuinely soaks hits a young one cannot. ATK caps at 44 / 52. Retreat rises to 41 Sun as it roots down with age, and its once-brisk tempo has sunk to near its floor — the tempo pips in Stats above are as fast as this card ever moves. Levelling buys raw bulk and reach; it costs turn-order speed.
In the succession type chart this broadleaf tree is a Competitor. Its attacks hit Ruderal cards (annual forbs, grasses, aquatics and bulbs) for ×1.5, while Specialist cards (succulents, conifers, ferns and epiphytes) hit it for ×1.5 and shrug its own blows down to ×0.667. Matchups against the off-wheel Weird categories (carrion-aroids, carnivorous plants, mycotrophs and vascular parasites) are neutral both ways. See weaknesses & resistances.
Play it native as a front-line wall and buffer — soak hits, feed the bench overshield, and lean on its kit. Play it invasive as an attacker, where its higher attack cap does the work, but mind the Faustian bench chip. It is edible with a resolved edible part, so feeding it Phosphorus pays ×1.25 coins; any other nutrient banks ×1.25 XP instead. As a tree it is bulk-favored almost from birth — its crossover into power-dominance sits at a low level (see the Total power gallery below).
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.