🔗 Share this article

Magic: The Gathering’s Avatar crossover set isn't set to get a wider release in the coming days, however due to early access events this past weekend, one cheap green card has already exploded in price.

From the initial reveals, Badgermole Cub drew a lot of attention. A creature with stats 2/2 priced at a single green and one generic mana, the card has the Earthbend 1 ability (perhaps the strongest of the elemental mechanics available). The real boon here is an additional effect: If a creature is tapped to produce mana, it provides bonus green mana.

When first listed, Badgermole Cub was available below $30. After the pre-release weekend, yet, its value has shot up above $45 with at least one listed for sale at $60.00. What explains such high costs for this little creature? Mostly because of the incredible mana acceleration it can produce.

When it arrives the battlefield, Badgermole Cub converts a land to a creature land that has earthbending. And with that second ability, while it remains on the board, those lands yields two mana instead of one — in addition to other creatures on your side which tap for mana.

An ideal partner for synergy includes the classic Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 that produces G mana. But numerous alternative mana dorks out there. This particular druid is a higher-cost choice with stats 1/3 at a two-mana value as an alternative.

Deploying terrain, mana-producing creatures, and Badgermole Cub, you may quickly play a very big pricey threat on the board within a few turns. Momentum builds out of control with continued aggression from there.

When adding an additional hue in this strategy, options such as versatile mana producers are all great options that generate any color of mana. Another card, a useful enchantment creature enables playing one extra land per turn AND makes your entire land base into every basic land type. It's also worth trying for example this six-mana enchantment, costing six mana provides all of your permanents the capacity to tap and generate one mana of any color — including all creatures under your control.

This card could be too strong in terms of boosting mana production, yet how do you win for a deck like this? One obvious and popular answer has been this legendary creature. Its stats are set by how many lands you have, and it changes your non-token creatures Forests as well as their original types. This means, every single creature on your board can produce double green when tapped.

This additional option provides a high-cost, powerful body that benefits from a high land count (like Ashaya, its stats are equal to your land total).

Nissa fits really well in this deck. One of her abilities causes Forest lands generate an additional green mana. (With a Badgermole Cub, that means each one generate three green mana.) Her plus ability functions like a proto-earthbend, putting +1/+1 counters on a land, a useful effect though it doesn't stack with earthbend. The minus ability, though, makes your entire land base immune to destruction and lets you put onto the battlefield every Forest left from your library. Once you trigger that ability, it almost certainly game over.

This card is pretty much essential for any kind of green-based Avatar strategies that use Earthbending. When branching into red and green, there’s Bumi Unleashed. He has earthbend 4, plus if damage is dealt to a player, all land creatures untap and can attack again. While that version has become a fan favorite Commander, the cub is definitely going to remain one of, if not the most popular pick in the collaboration.