Salvia azurea
A native-only perennial-herb Competitor from central and eastern North America, built to grind out long fights on self-heals but low on raw power.
Blue sage is a perennial-herb and a Competitor by succession group. It is native to eastern and western North America and is invasive nowhere, so it only ever plays the buffer role — there is no attacker form to build around. It is a modest card that wins by outlasting, not out-hitting.
It opens with Steady Growth at level 1 for 2 Sun, dealing 34. At level 25 it gains the free once-per-battle ability Perennating Bud — Breaks a stored bud: heal 40%. — a strong 25% self-heal that suits a long grind. Its advanced attack, Self-Medicate, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun and both strikes for 29 and heals a little. None of its moves seize the initiative.
Blue sage keeps a single always-on trait, Resprout, which arrives at level 10 and matures at level 68 — so it survives one lethal hit at reduced strength for most of its life and only reaches full effect late. Resprout triggers about 60% of the time, so it is a save you can hope for but not rely on.
No thorns, no toxin trait, not a climber — nothing punishes an attacker and it takes no Moss Pole. A calcium/magnesium amendment for flat DEF is the field gear that helps it most.
At level 40 it reads 103 HP and 23 ATK with just 1 DEF — its attack is low even for a herb. Opening tempo is 37 and sustained tempo 34: a quick starter that eases off slightly as the fight goes on. As a native it carries a 15% HP cushion and projects an HP overshield onto your active while benched. Retreat costs 11 Sun.
By level 100 its HP grows to 190 and ATK to 41, while DEF barely leaves its band at 2. Retreat rises to 21 Sun and its early quickness has faded toward the tempo floor. Maturing gives it durability and a slightly harder hit, but it remains a soft, low-armor herb.
As a Competitor it deals 1.5× to Ruderals (annual-forb, grass, aquatic, bulb) and takes 1.5× from Specialists (succulent, conifer, fern, epiphyte), resisting Ruderal hits at 0.667×; Weird is neutral. With low DEF and low ATK it struggles against anything that trades blows squarely.
Blue sage is a native-only buffer: bench it to project an overshield and self-heal through attrition. Honestly, it is one of the weaker cards — low attack and thin armor mean it earns steady but small coin in single-player and needs stronger teammates. Its main value is as a collection piece for the family tree. Inedible, so fertilizer banks ×1.25 XP. It plays as a light skirmisher until about level 25, after which its bulk takes over; level it without hesitation, since higher levels only help.
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.