🔗 Share this article

MTG’s Avatar crossover set will not get a wider release until later this week, but following early access events this past weekend, an affordable green creature saw a sharp rise in price.

From the initial reveals, the earthbending cub garnered significant interest. This two-power, two-toughness requiring one green and one colorless mana, it has level 1 earthbending (perhaps the strongest of the set’s four “bending” mechanics). Its key advantage in its design is an additional effect: Each time you tap a creature for mana, add an additional green mana.

Initially, the card was available below $30. Post-prerelease, yet, its value has shot up to $49.66 with at least one listed for sale at $60.00. The reason for Vivi prices on this adorable card? Primarily due to the incredible mana acceleration it provides.

As it hits the battlefield, the cub turns a terrain card to a creature land that has earthbending. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, while it is not removed, each affected land produces twice the mana — along with any creatures you have which tap for mana.

The obvious go-to to combine with is the classic Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 that taps to generate a green resource. Yet there are plenty of other mana generation creatures out there. This particular druid is a higher-cost choice a 1/3 creature costing two mana as an alternative.

Deploying terrain, mana-producing creatures, plus the cub, it's simple to summon an enormous and very expensive creature on the board within a few turns. Momentum builds exponentially by maintaining dominance from there.

By incorporating a secondary color using this method, examples including these mana-fixing creatures work perfectly which produce any color of mana. Another card, a useful enchantment creature allows you to put an additional land every round plus transforms all of your lands providing all land types. Another possibility is such as a card called A Realm Reborn, at a six-mana investment gives each permanent you control the power to tap and generate one mana of any color — even all creatures in play.

Badgermole Cub could be too strong in terms of accelerating your resources, but what closes out the game in such a strategy? An often-seen solution already is Ashaya. Power and toughness match your land count, and it changes all of your nontoken creatures into Forests along with their original types. Essentially, every single creature in play is able to tap for two G by tapping.

Harmonious Grovestrider is a costly, large threat that thrives with many terrain cards (as with the previous card, its stats are based on your land total).

This Planeswalker fits really well in this deck. One of her abilities causes Forest lands tap for one more G. (With a Badgermole Cub, so all earthbend forests generate three green mana.) One loyalty ability acts as a form of land animation, placing counters on a land, a useful effect but does not overlap with the cub's ability. Her ultimate, on the other hand, renders your entire land base immune to destruction and allows you to put onto the battlefield your remaining Forests in your deck. Once you trigger the ultimate, this typically means the game ends.

This card is pretty much essential for all decks using green and Avatar focusing on Earthbending. By including Gruul colors, there’s Bumi. He has earthbend 4, and when damage is dealt in combat, each animated land are ready again for another attack. While that version has emerged as a popular Commander choice, this small creature will surely stay among the top, possibly the sought-after card in the Avatar set.