🔗 Share this article

MTG’s Avatar crossover set won’t hit the general market in the coming days, however following early access events this past weekend, a low-cost green spell experienced a surge in price.

Even during previews, this small creature attracted significant interest. A creature with stats 2/2 that costs one green and one colorless mana, Badgermole Cub includes level 1 earthbending (possibly the best within the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The real boon in its design lies in its second ability: Each time a creature is tapped to produce mana, it provides bonus green mana.

When first listed, Badgermole Cub could be purchased below $30. Post-prerelease, however, its value escalated above $45 including listings priced at sixty dollars. Why are we seeing premium pricing for this cute lil guy? Primarily due to the explosive mana ramping it can produce.

When it arrives the board, Badgermole Cub turns a terrain card into a creature with earthbend. And with that second ability, as long as it is not removed, each affected land generates double mana — plus mana-producing creatures you have that produce resources.

A clear choice to combine with would be the classic Llanowar Elves, an inexpensive 1/1 that taps to generate one green mana. Yet numerous alternative mana dorks available. This particular druid costs a bit more that’s a 1/3 costing two mana in comparison.

Deploying terrain, dorks that generate resources, plus the cub, you can easily get a massive pricey creature into play within a few turns. Momentum builds out of control if you keep the pressure on from there.

By incorporating a secondary color in this strategy, examples including these mana-fixing creatures are excellent picks which produce any mana color. Another card, this powerful dryad enables playing one extra land every round plus makes all of your lands providing all land types. It's also worth trying such as this six-mana enchantment, at a six-mana investment gives every card you own the power to produce a mana of any type — including all creatures in play.

This card could be too strong in terms of ramping up your mana generation, yet what closes out the game for a deck like this? A common and powerful choice is this legendary creature. Its stats match the number of lands you control, and it changes your non-token creatures to be Forests in addition to their other types. In other words, all your creatures in play may produce double green if used for mana.

Harmonious Grovestrider provides a high-cost, powerful body that thrives with many terrain cards (like Ashaya, its stats are based on your land total).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World is an excellent fit as a go-to Planeswalker. One of her abilities makes every Forest generate an additional green mana. (If you have the cub, that means all earthbend forests yield three G.) Her main ability functions like an early earthbend, adding counters to a noncreature land, a useful effect but does not overlap with earthbend. The minus ability, on the other hand, grants each land you control immune to destruction and lets you draw out every Forest left in your deck. Should you manage to use that ability, it’s pretty much you win.

This card is nearly mandatory for any kind of green-based Avatar strategies that use the earthbend mechanic. By including red-green, there’s this legendary card. This card features earthbend 4, plus if he deals combat damage to a player, land creatures become untapped and can attack again. While that version is a beloved leader, this small creature will surely stay one of the most, maybe the popular pick from this expansion.