Quercus rubra
A heavy broadleaf tree that walls up, shields the bench, and poisons on contact — a native buffer in North America and an invasive attacker in Europe.
Northern red oak is a Broadleaf tree that plays as a heavy, armored anchor: it soaks damage, protects the bench, and taxes attackers on contact. It is native to Eastern North America and invasive in Europe, so the arena can cast it either way — as a native buffer for your bench or as an invasive attacker (see nativity). It is a strong, well-rounded card in either role.
Its starter attack, Acorn Drop, unlocks at level 1 and costs 2 Sun; it strikes and splashes damage onto the opposing bench, for about 27 damage as a native and 30 as an invasive. The free once-per-battle ability, Stand Replacement, arrives at level 25: A fire that takes the whole stand — the foe burns, and so do its neighbours. The advanced attack, Out on a Limb, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (42 native / 48 invasive) and saps the target, withering its offense. Most of your oaks sit below level 40, where only the starter is available. See Moves.
Red oak keeps a single always-on trait: Network, which arrives at level 68. As a canopy tree it projects a gold Sun overshield bar onto your active from the bench — a strong protective effect that rewards keeping the oak benched behind your hitter. See Abilities.
Red oak carries the toxic keyword and holds the Toxin trait, so striking it Poisons the attacker at the mild tier. That recoil fires in player-versus-player (PvP) too, Sulfur soil does not neutralize it, and only a Cloche-warded attacker absorbs it (see statuses). Its growth habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native, defensive field gear like a Cloche or a Ca/Mg amendment deepens its wall; as an invasive, offensive gear makes its higher ATK count.
At level 40 red oak reads 140 HP as a native and 122 as an invasive, with ATK of 26 native versus 34 invasive — the invasive role delivers a real, meaningful damage jump. DEF is 24, in the strong broadleaf-tree band. Its tempo is even: turn 1 on its initiative (26) and every turn after on its SPD (26), both the same, so it is steady rather than fast. Retreat costs 19 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and a bench HP overshield; 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, red oak becomes an armored wall: 276 HP native / 240 invasive, 46 / 67 ATK, and DEF climbing to 56 — as a broadleaf tree it turns hard hits into chip damage. Retreat rises to 40 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to about 1% of cap, so it acts last against younger plants. Maturing buys near-impregnable armor and the bench shield; it costs any tempo.
As a broadleaf tree, red oak sits in the Competitor group. It hits Ruderal plants for ×1.5 and takes only ×0.667 from them; it is weak to Specialist plants, which strike it for ×1.5 while resisting its blows. Against other Competitors and the Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.
As a native, play red oak as a wall and support anchor: it soaks damage, splashes the bench, poisons attackers, and feeds a Sun overshield once network is online. As an invasive, lean on its higher ATK and the bench splash to pressure the whole board — just mind the self-damage it deals its own bench and the extra prizes it hands over if it falls. Economically it is inedible, so any nutrient you feed it banks ×1.25 XP rather than coins. As a native it fights as a fast skirmisher until about level 8, then its bulk takes over; as an invasive that crossover comes around level 10 — either way, keep leveling it.
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.