Rotten Appletree

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**Rotten Appletree** is a character card. It is a 0/18 that, when attacked, first sets its attacker's Health to 1.

## Strategy

**Rotten Appletree** is a "scam" character, capable of taking down any character who attacks it, no matter how big. Usually, **Rotten Appletree** goes in position 4, to maximize its chance of getting attacked before it attacks. It can weaken opposing Good Boy substantially as well, taking away its Health before it gets to buff your opponents board.

Giving **Rotten Appletree** 1 or more attack by any means, such as Power Orb, is usually a good idea, ensuring that whatever attacks **Rotten Appletree** will die, though this also means that **Rotten Appletree** might itself attack, which is generally bad since it does not get to use its ability on attack, and its attack is not very good usually. This is also not effective against Ranged characters your opponents have, though it will still reduce their toughness to 1.

While **Rotten Appletree** can trade more than 1-for-1 on curve with good luck, later in the game its Health is not impressive enough to avoid dying to most hits, so it is on average about as good as a random opponent's frontline character, and against Ranged opponents it may fail to trade at all. As with any "scam" character, it's at its best in fights where you are not favored, especially if your opponent is relying on a single particularly strong character to win the fight, as **Rotten Appletree** is one of the only characters that can trade with a character that has hundreds or even thousands of power.

**Rotten Appletree**, like most "scam" characters, is particularly good with Mirror Mirror as its mirrored copy is still very much a threat to trade with an opponent's character. It also fits well into boards with The Great Pumpkin.

**Rotten Appletree** as a Treant can fit into Treant-based late game boards, though it isn't the most impressive in that context. It gets Attack from Ashwood Elm, though it doesn't really need it, and it doesn't play well with Shoulder Faeries without a Beauty's Influence, and it doesn't appear early enough to be a great investment target for Darkwood Creeper or Heartwood Elder.

**Rotten Appletree** can also synergize well with Ancient Sarcophagus, as it might pick off a Ranged unit that has 1 health due to attacking a **Rotten Appletree**.

**Rotten Appletree** is at its best as a situational tech piece in a late game fight against an opponent you know has a large character (or Good Boy) in the front row, giving you a chance to get past a large character you otherwise cannot. Rotten Appletree can also be a solid pickup when picked up early, as it will often trade for 2, or even 3 opposing characters.

## Notes

* **Rotten Appletree**'s ability is implemented as a temporary reduction in Health equal to the attacker's maximum Health minus 1.
* As with any decrease in maximum Health, the attacker's "current health" becomes the minimum of its current health and its new maximum Health (so in this case, the attacker's damage prior to attacking **Rotten Appletree** doesn't matter).
* If the attacker has a Support or other Aura buffing its Health, attacks **Rotten Appletree** (and doesn't die), and then loses the Aura (perhaps the supporting character dies, for example), its maximum Health can be reduced to or below 0, resulting in it dying immediately.
* **Rotten Appletree**'s ability does not change when upgraded.

## History

 June 18, 2021 | Released in *Storybook Brawl's* Early Access launch.