A standout from the Avatar-themed cutest MTG cards is a formidable little powerhouse.

the popular card game’s collaboration with Avatar will not get a wider release before the end of the week, but due to early access events this past weekend, a low-cost green spell experienced a surge in price.

Even during previews, Badgermole Cub drew significant interest. A 2/2 requiring one green and one colorless mana, Badgermole Cub has level 1 earthbending (possibly the most effective within the set’s four “bending” mechanics). Its key advantage in its design comes from an additional effect: If mana is generated by tapping a creature, you gain one extra green mana.

At its cheapest, the card could be purchased for $26.98. Post-prerelease, yet, the market price has shot up to nearly $50 and one seller offering as high as $60. The reason for Vivi prices for this cute lil guy? Mainly due to the incredible mana acceleration it can produce.

When it arrives play, this creature turns one land so it becomes a creature with earthbend. And with that second ability, as long as it stays in play, every earthbent land produces twice the mana — in addition to any creatures in your control that produce resources.

An ideal partner for synergy would be Llanowar Elves, a low-cost creature that taps to generate G mana. But many creatures that make mana in the game. Druid of the Cowl costs a bit more that’s a 1/3 costing two mana in comparison.

Deploying terrain, creatures that tap for mana, alongside this card, you may quickly play an enormous high-cost creature on the battlefield by round three or four. And things just keep spiraling rapidly with continued aggression from that point.

By incorporating a secondary color with this approach, examples including these mana-fixing creatures work perfectly which produce all five colors. Another card, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove enables playing another terrain each turn plus makes your entire land base so they count as all basics. You can also consider such as a card called A Realm Reborn, which for six mana grants every card you own the capacity to tap and generate one mana of any color — even all creatures in play.

The cub may be OP in terms of boosting mana production, yet what’s the endgame finisher with this archetype? An often-seen solution has been Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Its stats are both equal to the number of lands you control, and it makes each creature you own to be Forests as well as their other types. This means, each creature you control can produce double green when tapped.

Another creature is another expensive, beefy creature that thrives with many terrain cards (like Ashaya, its power and toughness are equal to the number of lands you control).

Nissa is an excellent fit as a staple. Her static effect allows all Forests produce extra green. (Combined with earthbend, that means each one yield three G.) One loyalty ability is essentially a form of land animation, placing counters to a noncreature land, which is great but does not overlap with the cub's ability. Her ultimate, on the other hand, renders your entire land base immune to destruction and lets you put onto the battlefield every Forest left in your deck. Should you manage to use that ability, this typically means the game ends.

Badgermole Cub is a must-have for all green Avatar deck focusing on the earthbend mechanic. If you dip into red and green, you can use this legendary card. It possesses earthbend 4, and when he deals combat damage to an opponent, each animated land are ready again and can attack again. Although this card is a fan favorite Commander, the cub will surely stay among the top, possibly the sought-after card from this expansion.

Daniel Zimmerman
Daniel Zimmerman

Lena is a tech journalist with over a decade of experience covering AI and cybersecurity, passionate about making complex topics accessible.