🔗 Share this article

Magic: The Gathering’s special Avatar expansion won’t get a wider release before the end of the week, but due to early access events this past weekend, an affordable green creature saw a sharp rise in value.

Even during previews, Badgermole Cub garnered widespread focus. A 2/2 priced at a single green and one generic mana, Badgermole Cub features the Earthbend 1 ability (possibly the best of the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The real boon in its design lies in another power: If you tap a creature for mana, add an additional green mana.

Initially, this card sold for $26.98. Following the early events, though, the market price escalated above $45 and one seller offering as high as $60. Why are we seeing such high costs for this cute lil guy? Mainly thanks to the rapid resource generation it enables.

As it hits play, the cub converts one land to a creature land that has earthbending. And with that second ability, while it remains on the board, every earthbent land produces twice the mana — along with mana-producing creatures on your side that produce resources.

An ideal partner to combine with is the classic Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 that produces G mana. But numerous creatures that make mana out there. Druid of the Cowl is a higher-cost choice with stats 1/3 costing two mana as an alternative.

Using land cards, creatures that tap for mana, and Badgermole Cub, you may quickly play a massive high-cost monster on the battlefield by round three or four. And things just keep spiraling rapidly by maintaining dominance from that point.

By incorporating another color in this strategy, cards like versatile mana producers are excellent picks that can make any color of mana. Additionally, a useful enchantment creature allows you to put another terrain each turn as well as makes all of your lands providing all land types. It's also worth trying something like this six-mana enchantment, at a six-mana investment grants each permanent you control the power to tap and generate a mana of any type — including each creature under your control.

This card may be OP when it comes to accelerating your resources, yet how do you win with this archetype? An often-seen solution is Ashaya. Its power and toughness are both equal to the number of lands you control, and it changes each creature you own to be Forests along with other subtypes. This means, every single creature in play is able to generate two green mana by tapping.

Harmonious Grovestrider provides a high-cost, powerful body that benefits from many terrain cards (as with the previous card, its stats are equal to the number of lands you control).

Nissa fits really well as a staple. One of her abilities makes Forest lands tap for one more G. (If you have the cub, this results in those lands generate three green mana.) Her plus ability acts as a proto-earthbend, putting +1/+1 counters to a noncreature land, which is great but it isn't redundant with earthbend. Her ultimate, on the other hand, renders your entire land base immune to destruction and allows you to put onto the battlefield all the remaining forests in your deck. Should you manage to use the ultimate, it almost certainly the game ends.

This card is pretty much essential for all green-based Avatar strategies that use Earthbending. By including Gruul colors, consider Bumi. This card features earthbend 4, plus if he deals combat damage to a player, land creatures untap and may attack once more. While that version has emerged as a popular Commander choice, the cub is set to be one of, if not the most sought-after card in the collaboration.