Among Avatar's cutest MTG cards proves to be a nasty compact contender.
the popular card game’s special Avatar expansion isn't set to get a wider release in the coming days, however following pre-releases this past weekend, one cheap green card has already exploded in market worth.
From the initial reveals, this small creature garnered a lot of attention. A 2/2 requiring G and 1 mana, it features level 1 earthbending (perhaps the strongest within the four bending abilities in the set). The major perk with this card lies in another power: If you tap a creature for mana, it provides bonus green mana.
Initially, Badgermole Cub was available at around $27. After the pre-release weekend, though, the going rate has shot up to nearly $50 and one seller offering for sale at $60.00. Why are we seeing premium pricing on this adorable card? Mainly thanks to the rapid resource generation it provides.
Upon entering play, this creature transforms a terrain card so it becomes a creature granting it earthbend. Combined with its other power, while it is not removed, each affected land produces twice the mana — along with other creatures you have that produce resources.
The obvious go-to to combine with is Llanowar Elves, an inexpensive 1/1 which can be tapped for one green mana. But there are plenty of alternative mana dorks available. This particular druid is a higher-cost choice with stats 1/3 for two mana in comparison.
Using land cards, creatures that tap for mana, plus the cub, it's simple to summon an enormous high-cost monster on the battlefield early in the game. The situation escalates out of control by maintaining dominance from that point.
When adding a secondary color in this strategy, options such as versatile mana producers are excellent picks that can make any color of mana. Another card, this powerful dryad enables playing another terrain every round as well as makes every land you control providing all land types. It's also worth trying for example a card called A Realm Reborn, costing six mana grants every card you own the power to tap and generate any color mana — even any creature under your control.
The cub could be too strong regarding boosting mana production, however what’s the endgame finisher for a deck like this? A common and powerful choice is Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Its power and toughness match the number of lands you control, plus it turns each creature you own into Forests in addition to their original types. In other words, every single creature in play can produce double green if used for mana.
Harmonious Grovestrider is another expensive, beefy creature that thrives with a high land count (as with the previous card, its power and toughness are based on your land total).
This Planeswalker works perfectly as a go-to Planeswalker. Her passive ability makes all Forests tap for one more G. (Combined with earthbend, that means all earthbend forests produce triple green.) Her plus ability acts as an early earthbend, adding counters on a land, a useful effect though it doesn't stack with the cub's ability. Her ultimate, however, grants your entire land base immune to destruction and lets you search for all the remaining forests in your deck. Should you manage to use that ability, it’s pretty much game over.
Badgermole Cub is nearly mandatory for any kind of green-based Avatar strategies built around earthbend. By including red and green, you can use Bumi Unleashed. This card features level 4 earthbending, and if it hits a player to a player, each animated land become untapped and may attack once more. While that version has become a beloved leader, the cub will surely stay among the top, possibly the sought-after card in the collaboration.