Quercus pyrenaica
A non-toxic native broadleaf tree that walls the arena, shields the active with a Sun overshield and heals a benched ally, played only as a defensive anchor across Africa and Europe.
Hoary oak is a Broadleaf tree that fights as a defensive anchor: heavy armor, a Sun overshield projected onto your active, and a benched heal. No invasive card exists, so it appears in the arena only as a native buffer across Africa and Europe. Its own attack is low; its job is to wall and to prop up the rest of your team.
Its starter attack, Acorn Drop, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun, dealing about 25 damage. The free once-per-battle ability, Gap Capture, arrives at level 25: Takes the fallen giant's light: +5 ATK, kept for the match. It is a mid-fight mend. The advanced attack, Heartwood, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (about 30 damage) and mends the plant as it strikes. Most of your hoary oak sit below level 40, where only the starter is unlocked. None of its moves carry an initiative rider. See Moves.
Hoary oak keeps two always-on traits. Network arrives on the level 10 riser and, as a canopy tree, projects a gold Sun overshield bar onto the active from the bench — a durable support even while it sits behind a teammate. Mycorrhiza arrives on the level 68 riser and heals a benched ally, though as a sustain trait it fires only about 60% of the time. See Abilities.
Hoary oak is non-toxic: it holds no Toxin trait, so nothing recoils onto an attacker and its hits carry no poison. Its 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 — stacks on its already-heavy armor to make it even harder to shift. See statuses.
At level 40 hoary oak reads 140 HP with ATK of just 19 — it is not a hitter. DEF is 30, deep in the broadleaf-tree band, so it is a genuine wall that soaks hits the softer cards cannot. Its tempo is front-loaded but slow overall: turn 1 runs on its initiative (29) and every turn after on its lower SPD (25), so it leads its first turn and lags after. Retreat costs 18 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and, while benched, projects an HP overshield onto your active. See Stats.
Matured to level 100, hoary oak climbs to 276 HP and 33 ATK, and its DEF reaches 70 — as a broadleaf tree it hardens into a towering wall, buying bulk in both health and armor. Retreat rises to 39 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to about 1% of cap, so a mature hoary oak acts last against almost anything younger.
As a broadleaf tree, hoary 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 hoary oak as a native wall and support hub: park it in the active slot to soak damage, or bench it to project the Sun overshield and heal an ally with Mycorrhiza once mature. Its attack is too low to close games, so pair it with a real hitter and let it keep them alive. On economy, it is edible at the fruit, so feeding it Phosphorus pays ×1.25 coins while any other nutrient banks ×1.25 XP toward faster growth. It plays as a slow, wall-first anchor leaning harder on its armor as it levels, crossing over around level 9 — 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.