Among the Avatar-themed most charming MTG cards proves to be a nasty small powerhouse.
the popular card game’s collaboration with Avatar will not become widely available until later this week, but due to pre-releases this past weekend, one cheap green card experienced a surge in price.
From the initial reveals, Badgermole Cub garnered widespread focus. This two-power, two-toughness priced at one green and one colorless mana, it includes Earthbending 1 (arguably the strongest of the elemental mechanics available). Its key advantage with this card is its second ability: Each time you tap a creature for mana, it provides bonus green mana.
When first listed, this card was available below $30. Following the early events, though, the going rate escalated to $49.66 and one seller offering priced at sixty dollars. Why are we seeing Vivi prices for this little creature? Mainly due to the incredible mana acceleration it can produce.
When it arrives the board, the cub converts one land so it becomes a creature granting it earthbend. And with that second ability, as long as it stays in play, each affected land yields two mana instead of one — in addition to other creatures you have that generate mana.
An ideal partner for synergy includes this one-mana elf, an inexpensive 1/1 which can be tapped for a green resource. But there are plenty of creatures that make mana out there. This particular druid costs a bit more with stats 1/3 for two mana in comparison.
By playing lands, creatures that tap for mana, alongside this card, you can easily get an enormous and very expensive threat on the board by round three or four. Momentum builds rapidly by maintaining dominance from that point.
By incorporating a secondary color in this strategy, examples including these mana-fixing creatures work perfectly that generate any mana color. Another card, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove enables playing another terrain per turn as well as makes every land you control into every basic land type. You can also consider for example this six-mana enchantment, at a six-mana investment provides all of your permanents the power to tap and generate a mana of any type — which covers any creature under your control.
This card could be too strong in terms of accelerating your resources, however what closes out the game in such a strategy? A common and powerful choice has been Ashaya. Power and toughness are both equal to the number of lands you control, plus it turns each creature you own Forests as well as other subtypes. Essentially, every single creature on your board can generate two green mana by tapping.
This additional option is another expensive, beefy creature that benefits from lots of lands (as with the previous card, P/T are based on your land total).
Nissa fits really well as a staple. Her static effect causes Forest lands generate an additional green mana. (Combined with earthbend, that means those lands produce triple green.) Her main ability is essentially a form of land animation, placing counters on terrain, which is great but it isn't redundant with earthbending. Her -8 ability, on the other hand, grants all of your lands unbreakable and lets you search for your remaining Forests from your library. Should you manage to use that ability, it’s pretty much game over.
Badgermole Cub is a must-have for any kind of decks using green and Avatar built around the earthbend mechanic. If you dip into Gruul colors, consider Bumi. He has earthbend 4, and if he deals combat damage to a player, each animated land untap and may attack once more. While that version is a beloved leader, the cub is definitely going to remain among the top, possibly the desired card in the collaboration.