🔗 Share this article

the popular card game’s special Avatar expansion will not hit the general market until later this week, yet following early access events this past weekend, a low-cost green spell saw a sharp rise in price.

From the initial reveals, the earthbending cub garnered widespread focus. This two-power, two-toughness priced at a single green and one generic mana, it includes the Earthbend 1 ability (arguably the most effective among the elemental mechanics available). The major perk with this card comes from an additional effect: If you tap a creature for mana, you gain one extra green mana.

At its cheapest, the card sold for $26.98. After the pre-release weekend, though, the market price has shot up to nearly $50 including listings priced at sixty dollars. Why are we seeing Vivi prices for this cute lil guy? Primarily thanks to the incredible mana acceleration it can produce.

Upon entering the battlefield, Badgermole Cub turns one land into a creature that has earthbending. Combined with its other power, while it stays in play, those lands produces twice the mana — plus mana-producing creatures in your control that generate mana.

An ideal partner for synergy is Llanowar Elves, an inexpensive 1/1 which can be tapped for a green resource. However numerous alternative mana dorks out there. Druid of the Cowl is a higher-cost choice a 1/3 creature at a two-mana value instead.

Deploying terrain, mana-producing creatures, alongside this card, it's simple to summon an enormous high-cost monster into play within a few turns. Momentum builds out of control if you keep the pressure on from that point.

By incorporating another color in this strategy, options such as these mana-fixing creatures work perfectly that generate any color of mana. Another card, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove lets you play another terrain per turn as well as makes every land you control into every basic land type. You can also consider such as the enchantment A Realm Reborn, at a six-mana investment provides every card you own the ability to be tapped for any color mana — even any creature under your control.

This card may be OP regarding accelerating your resources, yet what’s the endgame finisher with this archetype? A common and powerful choice has been Ashaya. Power and toughness match your land count, and it changes all of your nontoken creatures to be Forests along with their other types. In other words, every single creature on your board can generate two green mana when tapped.

Another creature provides a high-cost, powerful body that benefits from lots of lands (like Ashaya, its stats are equal to the number of lands you control).

Nissa works perfectly as a go-to Planeswalker. One of her abilities allows Forest lands tap for one more G. (Combined with earthbend, this results in all earthbend forests generate three green mana.) One loyalty ability functions like a proto-earthbend, adding counters on terrain, a useful effect but does not overlap with earthbend. The minus ability, though, renders your entire land base unbreakable and lets you draw out your remaining Forests from your library. Should you manage to use that ability, it almost certainly game over.

Badgermole Cub is nearly mandatory in any decks using green and Avatar built around Earthbending. By including red and green, consider Bumi. It possesses earthbend 4, plus if damage is dealt to an opponent, each animated land untap and can attack again. Although this card is a fan favorite Commander, the cute little Badgermole Cub will surely stay among the top, possibly the sought-after card in the Avatar set.