Dwarf rotala

Overview

Dwarf rotala is a slight Aquatic that fights as an attrition piece: light on armor and short on raw power, it borrows defence from its bench, saps what it hits, and wears the enemy active down with a wilt aura. It is native to East and South Asia and invasive in Eastern North America, Oceania and South America, so the arena can field it either way — as a native buffer or as an invasive attacker. Its teeth are in the grind, not the punch.

Moves

Its starter attack, Slime, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun, dealing about 31 damage as a native and 32 as an invasive while sapping the target. The free once-per-battle ability, Eutrophic Pulse, arrives at level 25: A nutrient bloom fouls the water — the foe's whole bench sickens. It pins the enemy in place. The advanced attack, Anoxia, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (34 native / 35 invasive), mending the plant as it strikes and leaving the target poisoned. Most of your dwarf rotala sit below level 40, where only the starter is unlocked. None of its moves carry an initiative rider. See Moves.

Abilities

Dwarf rotala keeps two always-on traits. Duff Stuff arrives on the level 10 riser: while it is active, its effective DEF rises by half the summed DEF of your alive benched ruderals — annual forbs, grasses, aquatics and bulbs — recomputed live, so the cushion shrinks as those allies faint while the donors keep their own DEF. Allelopathy arrives on the level 68 riser: it projects a wilt aura onto the enemy active, quietly sapping whatever plant it faces. Both work at full strength from the riser that grants them. See Abilities.

Features

Dwarf rotala is non-toxic, so it carries no contact recoil and no poison rider — nothing punishes an attacker merely for striking it, though its advanced attack still applies poison on hit. Its habit is terrestrial, so it is not eligible for a Moss Pole. As a native, defensive field gear — a Cloche, or a calcium or magnesium amendment for a little DEF — offsets its thin armor; as an invasive, offensive gear pushes its aggression. See statuses.

Stats

At level 40 dwarf rotala reads 103 HP native and 89 invasive, with ATK of 23 native versus 25 invasive — a narrow gap, and the raw attack is low both ways. DEF is 2, low in the soft aquatic band, so it relies on Duff Stuff to borrow bulk from the bench rather than on its own armor. Its tempo is back-loaded: turn 1 runs on its low initiative (14) and every turn after on its higher SPD (34), so it is out-paced off the mark but relentless once the fight drags on. Retreat costs 16 Sun. As a native it gains a +15% HP cushion and, while benched, projects 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.

At Level 100

Matured to level 100, dwarf rotala swells to 190 HP native / 165 invasive and 40 / 47 ATK, while its DEF climbs only to 3 — a soft aquatic buys bulk in health and little in armor, so the bench cushion stays the better shield. Retreat rises to 33 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to about 1% of cap, so a mature card acts last against almost anything younger.

Weaknesses & Resistances

As an aquatic, dwarf rotala sits in the Ruderal succession group. It hits Specialist plants (succulents, conifers, ferns, epiphytes) for ×1.5 and takes only ×0.667 from them; it is weak to Competitor plants (perennial herbs, vines, shrubs, broadleaf trees), which strike it for ×1.5 while resisting its blows. Against other Ruderal plants and the off-wheel Weird group the matchup is neutral. See Weaknesses & Resistances.

Gameplay uses

Play dwarf rotala as an attrition piece. As a native it is a fine buffer: keep other ruderals benched to feed Duff Stuff, and let its overshield help your active hold the line. As an invasive its slightly higher ATK adds a little pressure, but it still wins by wilt, poison and pinning rather than by damage, and it pays self-damage to its own bench when it swings. It is inedible, so any nutrient you feed it banks ×1.25 XP toward faster growth rather than coins. It plays as a slow opener that turns relentless in long fights and leans harder on its bulk as it levels, crossing over around level 13 as a native and 17 as an invasive — but it is always stronger at higher levels, so there is no reason to hold it back.