🔗 Share this article

Magic: The Gathering’s Avatar crossover set isn't set to become widely available in the coming days, yet after pre-releases this past weekend, one cheap green card saw a sharp rise in price.

Even during previews, this small creature drew a lot of attention. A creature with stats 2/2 that costs a single green and one generic mana, the card includes the Earthbend 1 ability (perhaps the best of the elemental mechanics available). Its key advantage in its design is an additional effect: Whenever a creature is tapped to produce mana, you gain one extra green mana.

When first listed, Badgermole Cub could be purchased below $30. Post-prerelease, yet, the market price escalated to $49.66 including listings priced at sixty dollars. Why are we seeing premium pricing on this adorable card? Mainly because of the rapid resource generation it enables.

As it hits the battlefield, the cub converts a terrain card into a creature with earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, if it remains on the board, each affected land yields two mana instead of one — along with mana-producing creatures in your control which tap for mana.

The obvious go-to to combine with would be the classic Llanowar Elves, a low-cost creature which can be tapped for one green mana. But numerous other mana generation creatures out there. Druid of the Cowl is a more expensive alternative a 1/3 creature for two mana as an alternative.

By playing lands, mana-producing creatures, alongside this card, it's simple to summon a very big pricey creature into play by round three or four. Momentum builds rapidly by maintaining dominance after that.

When adding another color in this strategy, options such as Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are excellent picks that can make any mana color. And something like Dryad of the Ilysian Grove enables playing an additional land per turn AND turns your entire land base so they count as all basics. You can also consider something like the enchantment A Realm Reborn, which for six mana gives each permanent you control the capacity to be tapped for one mana of any color — even each creature under your control.

This card might seem overpowered when it comes to ramping up your mana generation, however what’s the endgame finisher with this archetype? An often-seen solution already is Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Power and toughness match the number of lands you control, plus it turns each creature you own into Forests along with other subtypes. In other words, each creature on your board may tap for two G if used for mana.

Another creature is a costly, large threat which gains from a high land count (like Ashaya, its stats are equal to your land total).

This Planeswalker is an excellent fit as a go-to Planeswalker. One of her abilities causes Forest lands produce extra green. (With a Badgermole Cub, this results in each one generate three green mana.) Her main ability is essentially an early earthbend, putting +1/+1 counters to a noncreature land, a useful effect but it isn't redundant with earthbending. The minus ability, however, makes all of your lands unbreakable enabling you to put onto the battlefield every Forest left in the deck. Once you trigger that ability, it almost certainly you win.

This card is pretty much essential for all green-based Avatar strategies focusing on the earthbend mechanic. When branching into red-green, consider Bumi. He has earthbend 4, plus if it hits a player to a player, land creatures untap and may attack once more. Although this card has emerged as a fan favorite Commander, the cub is set to be among the top, possibly the sought-after card in the collaboration.