Rubus saxatilis
A thorny native shrub that bites back at anything striking it, played as a buffer and coin piece.
Stone bramble is a Shrub that fights as a native buffer with average damage and a prickly defence. It is native to East Asia, Europe, Eastern North America and South Asia, and no invasive card exists, so it plays only as a native buffer, never as an attacker. Its edible fruit makes it a steady coin earner, and its Thorns trait taxes anything that attacks it.
Its starter attack, Tick Tumble, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun, dealing about 30 damage as a native. The free once-per-battle ability, Chaparral Climax, arrives at level 25: Owns the dry hillside: heal 60% and +4 ATK. The advanced attack, Sucker Punch, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun (35 native) and binds the target in place. Most of your stone bramble sit below level 40, where only the starter is unlocked. None of its moves carry an initiative rider. See Moves.
Stone bramble keeps one always-on trait, Thorns, which arrives on the level 10 riser: its prickles bite back at whatever strikes it, returning some damage to the attacker on contact. It works every time, not on a chance, and applies from the level 10 riser onward. See Abilities.
Stone bramble is non-toxic, so there is no poison rider and no toxic contact recoil — its Thorns bite is a physical return, not a 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 for a little DEF — firms its middling armor and pairs well with the contact bite. See statuses.
At level 40 stone bramble reads 103 HP with ATK of 27. DEF is 12, in the middle shrub band, so it holds a hit better than a soft herb but is no wall. Its tempo is nearly even, tilting to the cruise: turn 1 runs on its initiative (40) and every turn after on a slightly higher SPD (43), so it is a shade quicker in a long fight than off the mark. Retreat costs 15 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, stone bramble swells to 190 HP and 49 ATK, and its DEF firms to 25 — a real gain for a shrub, though still short of a tree's wall. Retreat rises to 30 Sun, and its tempo has sunk to about 1% of cap, so a mature bramble acts last against almost anything younger.
As a shrub, stone bramble 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 stone bramble as a native buffer with a little bite: bench it for the HP cushion and overshield, or bring it out and let its Thorns tax every attacker while its average attack chips in. The contact bite makes it a slightly better wall than its stats alone suggest, though it is still a support and collection piece more than a threat. On economy, it is edible with a resolved fruit, so feeding it Phosphorus pays ×1.25 coins, while any other nutrient banks ×1.25 XP toward faster growth. It plays as an even-tempo buffer that leans on its bulk as it levels, crossing over around level 27 — 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.