Salvia farinacea
A fast but very low-attack perennial-herb Competitor, native across North America and invasive in Europe, South America and South Asia.
Mealy cup sage is a perennial-herb and a Competitor. It is native across eastern and western North America (buffer role) and invasive in Europe, South America and South Asia (attacker role). It is quick on its feet but hits softly, so it is more of a fast harasser than a finisher.
It opens with Taproot Anchor at level 1 for 2 Sun, dealing 27 native / 30 invasive. At level 25 it gains Alkaloid Reservoir — Empties a season of alkaloids into the foe — saturating Poison. — a 25% self-heal. Its advanced attack, Crown Division, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun and lands 36 / 40. No move carries an initiative rider.
It keeps one always-on trait, Resprout (arrives level 10, matures level 68), so for most of its life it survives one lethal hit at reduced effect and reaches full strength only late. Like all sustain, it triggers about 60% of the time — a hoped-for save, not a certainty.
No thorns, no toxin trait, not a climber, so no Moss Pole. A calcium/magnesium amendment for flat DEF is its most useful field gear.
At level 40 it reads 103 / 89 HP, a notably low 17 / 25 ATK, and 1 DEF. Both tempo stats are high — opening 39, sustained 40 — so it usually moves first turn 1 and stays fast afterward. Native gives a 15% HP cushion and a bench overshield; invasive hits a little harder but pays Faustian self-damage each attack and concedes 2 prizes on a knockout. Retreat costs 11 Sun.
By level 100 HP reaches 190 / 165 and ATK 30 / 48, but DEF only 2 — still soft. Retreat rises to 21 Sun and its early speed has bled off toward the floor. It gains bulk and a bigger hit but stays fragile.
As a Competitor it deals 1.5× to Ruderals and takes 1.5× from Specialists, resisting Ruderal hits at 0.667×; Weird is neutral. Its low attack means even favourable matchups take a while to close, and hard hitters punish its thin DEF.
Use its speed to strike first and chip, but do not expect it to carry a fight — its attack is among the lowest here. Native it is a fast buffer; invasive, a quick but weak harasser. It is a marginal coin-earner best kept on a bench and valued mainly for collection. Inedible, so fertilizer banks ×1.25 XP. It relies on tempo until about level 30, after which its (still modest) bulk and attack lead; level it freely, as more 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.