🔗 Share this article

MTG’s Avatar crossover set isn't set to hit the general market before the end of the week, however following prerelease weekends recently, one cheap green card has already exploded in value.

Throughout the spoiler season, this small creature attracted a lot of attention. This two-power, two-toughness priced at one green and one colorless mana, the card includes the Earthbend 1 ability (possibly the most effective among the four bending abilities in the set). The real boon in its design is an additional effect: Whenever you tap a creature for mana, you gain one extra green mana.

Initially, the card could be purchased below $30. Post-prerelease, yet, the going rate escalated to nearly $50 including listings for sale at $60.00. The reason for such high costs for this cute lil guy? Mainly due to the explosive mana ramping it enables.

Upon entering the battlefield, Badgermole Cub transforms a terrain card so it becomes a creature with earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, as long as it is not removed, each affected land generates double mana — plus any creatures on your side that generate mana.

A clear choice to combine with is Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 that produces one green mana. However there are plenty of other mana generation creatures in the game. Druid of the Cowl costs a bit more with stats 1/3 costing two mana as an alternative.

Using land cards, mana-producing creatures, plus the cub, it's simple to summon a very big high-cost creature on the battlefield within a few turns. And things just keep spiraling out of control if you keep the pressure on after that.

By incorporating a secondary color in this strategy, examples including Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid work perfectly that generate any color of mana. And something like a useful enchantment creature allows you to put an additional land per turn AND turns every land you control so they count as all basics. Another possibility is such as this six-mana enchantment, costing six mana provides every card you own the ability to produce a mana of any type — which covers all creatures under your control.

The cub may be OP when it comes to accelerating your resources, yet what closes out the game with this archetype? One obvious and popular answer is this legendary creature. Its power and toughness are both equal to how many lands you have, and it changes your non-token creatures into Forests along with their other types. In other words, every single creature you control may produce double green if used for mana.

Another creature is a costly, large threat that benefits from lots of lands (like Ashaya, its stats match your land total).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World works perfectly as a staple. One of her abilities allows all Forests tap for one more G. (Combined with earthbend, this results in those lands generate three green mana.) Her plus ability acts as a form of land animation, putting +1/+1 counters on a land, which is great but it isn't redundant with earthbending. Her -8 ability, on the other hand, grants your entire land base immune to destruction and lets you put onto the battlefield every Forest left from your library. If you can actually activate this power, it almost certainly game over.

The cub is a must-have for any kind of decks using green and Avatar focusing on the earthbend mechanic. When branching into red and green, consider Bumi. This card features earthbend 4, plus if he deals combat damage in combat, each animated land are ready again and can attack again. Even though Bumi is a beloved leader, the cub is definitely going to remain among the top, possibly the desired card in the collaboration.