Synedrella nodiflora
A hard-hitting Annual forb card with no armour that comes back from a knockout half the time.
Nodeweed is a Annual forb card with both roles: native across eastern and western North America and South America, invasive in Africa, East Asia, Oceania and South Asia. Native it is a cushioned bench piece; invasive it is a serious attacker. See nativity and categories.
The starter attack, Insect Alliance, unlocks at level 1 for 2 Sun, reading 32 native and 36 invasive. Calls in insect allies β the foe's whole bench sickens. It is the card's hardest hit and its cheapest.
The free once-per-battle ability, Ecesis, unlocks at level 25 and costs no Sun. Establishes fast: heal 35% and gain speed.
The advanced attack, Somnolent Smell, unlocks at level 40 for 6 Sun, reading 25 native and 29 invasive. A narcotic scent β the foe sickens and sleeps through its turn. It hits for noticeably less than the starter at three times the Sun, so take it for its effect only. See moves.
Ephemeral Bolt arrives on the first riser at level 10, adding attack power while the card is above half health. It burns bright and fades, so the bonus applies to your opening exchanges and disappears once the card is worn down.
Soil Seed Bank stacks on at level 68: a 50% chance to survive a knockout, returning at a low fraction of health. That is the highest survival chance in its group, paid for with the weakest comeback β many seeds, weak seedlings. It is a seeded roll, not something you can influence.
The species record lists no toxicity and no trait keywords, so no poison rider applies. For field gear, anything that keeps this card above half health protects its attack bonus as well as its life. Its growth habit is not vine, epiphyte or hemiepiphyte, so a Moss Pole does not apply.
At level 40 native reads 103 HP and 26 ATK; invasive reads 89 HP and 37 ATK β a very large step for the attacker role. Armour is 1, the lowest reading available. Retreat is a cheap 12 Sun. Opening tempo is 28, which is low, with sustained tempo at 37 β so it usually takes a hit before it lands one. Invasive it pays Faustian bench damage per damaging attack and concedes 2 prizes on knockout. See stats.
By level 100 native reaches 190 HP and 47 ATK, invasive 165 HP and 75 ATK, with armour only at 1. It stays a glass cannon. Retreat rises to 23 Sun and the inverted tempo has sunk to its floor. The revival is what makes the matured card worth fielding, since nothing else about it becomes durable.
Annual forb is in the Ruderal succession group. Ruderal reclaims from Specialist, so this card hits succulents, conifers, ferns and epiphytes harder. It loses to Competitor β perennial herbs, vines, shrubs and broadleaf trees. See weaknesses and resistances.
Invasive this hits genuinely hard for its cost, and the level 68 revival means the opponent often has to remove it twice. Lead with the starter attack, which out-damages the advanced slot outright.
The problem is the order of play: low opening tempo on a card with no armour means it frequently absorbs a hit first, which both damages it and switches off its attack bonus. Support it with tempo, or accept that it trades rather than opens.
It is edible and its economy group is leaf, so a nitrogen soil amendment pays it Γ1.25 coins. See the battle lab.
Leveling trades speed for power. A plantβs 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 β native adds a HP cushion, invasive an attack edge, neutral neither β with the card at its crossover and fully grown at LvΒ 100.