One of Avatar's most adorable collectible cards turns out to be a powerful compact force.

MTG’s Avatar crossover set isn't set to become widely available in the coming days, but due to prerelease weekends recently, an affordable green creature has already exploded in market worth.

From the initial reveals, Badgermole Cub attracted significant interest. This two-power, two-toughness requiring a single green and one generic mana, it has the Earthbend 1 ability (arguably the most effective within the elemental mechanics available). The major perk with this card comes from another power: If a creature is tapped to produce mana, add an additional green mana.

Initially, this card sold for $26.98. Following the early events, yet, its value escalated to $49.66 and one seller offering as high as $60. The reason for premium pricing for this little creature? Primarily because of the incredible mana acceleration it can produce.

As it hits play, this creature converts a land into a creature granting it earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, if it is not removed, each affected land generates double mana — along with any creatures you have that produce resources.

An ideal partner to combine with includes Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 that produces G mana. Yet numerous creatures that make mana in the game. Another option costs a bit more that’s a 1/3 for two mana instead.

Deploying terrain, creatures that tap for mana, and Badgermole Cub, you can easily get a very big and very expensive creature on the battlefield early in the game. And things just keep spiraling exponentially with continued aggression from there.

When adding another color using this method, examples including Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are excellent picks that generate all five colors. Additionally, this powerful dryad enables playing one extra land each turn plus makes every land you control into every basic land type. You can also consider something like this six-mana enchantment, which for six mana provides each permanent you control the capacity to be tapped for a mana of any type — which covers all creatures in play.

This card could be too strong in terms of boosting mana production, but what closes out the game with this archetype? A common and powerful choice already is this legendary creature. Its stats match how many lands you have, and it makes each creature you own into Forests as well as their original types. Essentially, each creature in play is able to produce double green when tapped.

This additional option is another expensive, beefy creature that benefits from a high land count (similar to Ashaya, P/T match how many lands you have).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World is an excellent fit as a go-to Planeswalker. One of her abilities makes Forest lands produce extra green. (If you have the cub, that means those lands produce triple green.) Her main ability is essentially an early earthbend, placing counters on terrain, handy but does not overlap with earthbending. Her -8 ability, on the other hand, renders your entire land base unbreakable and lets you put onto the battlefield your remaining Forests in your deck. Should you manage to use that ability, it almost certainly you win.

The cub is pretty much essential for any kind of green-based Avatar strategies built around earthbend. When branching into red-green, consider this legendary card. He has earthbend 4, plus if he deals combat damage to an opponent, all land creatures untap for another attack. Even though Bumi has emerged as a beloved leader, the cute little Badgermole Cub is set to be among the top, possibly the sought-after card from this expansion.

Dustin Zhang
Dustin Zhang

A passionate gamer and writer specializing in creating detailed guides to help players master their favorite games and improve their skills.