🔗 Share this article

the popular card game’s collaboration with Avatar isn't set to become widely available before the end of the week, but following early access events recently, one cheap green card has already exploded in value.

Even during previews, this small creature attracted significant interest. A 2/2 priced at G and 1 mana, it features Earthbending 1 (possibly the best within the elemental mechanics available). The major perk with this card lies in its second ability: If you tap a creature for mana, add an additional green mana.

Initially, the card could be purchased at around $27. Post-prerelease, though, the market price escalated to nearly $50 including listings priced at sixty dollars. What explains Vivi prices for this little creature? Mainly thanks to the incredible mana acceleration it provides.

As it hits the battlefield, Badgermole Cub turns a land into a creature with earthbend. Combined with its other power, if it is not removed, each affected land generates double mana — along with mana-producing creatures you have that produce resources.

An ideal partner for maximum effect would be Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 that taps to generate G mana. However many other mana generation creatures in the game. This particular druid is a higher-cost choice a 1/3 creature costing two mana in comparison.

Deploying terrain, mana-producing creatures, and Badgermole Cub, you may quickly play a very big and very expensive monster on the board early in the game. The situation escalates rapidly with continued aggression from that point.

If you dip into a secondary color using this method, cards like these mana-fixing creatures are excellent picks that generate any mana color. Another card, a useful enchantment creature enables playing an additional land every round AND makes all of your lands providing all land types. You can also consider something like a card called A Realm Reborn, costing six mana grants all of your permanents the ability to tap and generate one mana of any color — which covers all creatures you have on the board.

Badgermole Cub might seem overpowered in terms of accelerating your resources, however how do you win for a deck like this? A common and powerful choice is Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Its power and toughness are both equal to your land count, and it makes all of your nontoken creatures to be Forests in addition to other subtypes. Essentially, every single creature you control may tap for two G if used for mana.

This additional option is a costly, large threat that thrives with lots of lands (as with the previous card, its stats are equal to your land total).

Nissa is an excellent fit in this deck. One of her abilities causes Forest lands produce extra green. (If you have the cub, that means those lands yield three G.) Her main ability is essentially a form of land animation, placing counters to a noncreature land, handy though it doesn't stack with earthbend. Her -8 ability, though, grants each land you control unbreakable and lets you draw out every Forest left in the deck. Once you trigger this power, it’s pretty much game over.

Badgermole Cub is pretty much essential for any kind of green-based Avatar strategies built around earthbend. By including red-green, consider this legendary card. It possesses earthbend 4, and if he deals combat damage to a player, all land creatures are ready again for another attack. Even though Bumi is a popular Commander choice, this small creature will surely stay among the top, possibly the popular pick from this expansion.