One of the Avatar-themed cutest MTG cards turns out to be a powerful little contender.

Magic: The Gathering’s collaboration with Avatar won’t get a wider release before the end of the week, yet following pre-releases over the last few days, a low-cost green spell has already exploded in value.

From the initial reveals, this small creature attracted widespread focus. A 2/2 requiring a single green and one generic mana, it has the Earthbend 1 ability (arguably the most effective within the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The real boon in its design lies in its second ability: Whenever a creature is tapped to produce mana, add an additional green mana.

At its cheapest, the card could be purchased below $30. Following the early events, yet, the market price has shot up to $49.66 including listings as high as $60. What explains premium pricing on this adorable card? Primarily because of the rapid resource generation it can produce.

When it arrives play, the cub converts a land into a creature granting it earthbend. Combined with its other power, if it remains on the board, each affected land yields two mana instead of one — plus any creatures you have that produce resources.

A clear choice for synergy is this one-mana elf, a cheap 1/1 that taps to generate one green mana. But many creatures that make mana available. Druid of the Cowl costs a bit more with stats 1/3 at a two-mana value in comparison.

By playing lands, mana-producing creatures, alongside this card, you can easily get a very big and very expensive monster on the board early in the game. Momentum builds exponentially with continued aggression from there.

By incorporating an additional hue using this method, cards like Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are all great options which produce all five colors. Another card, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove lets you play one extra land per turn as well as makes your entire land base into every basic land type. It's also worth trying such as this six-mana enchantment, which for six mana gives every card you own the power to be tapped for one mana of any color — which covers any creature you have on the board.

The cub may be OP regarding accelerating your resources, but what closes out the game for a deck like this? A common and powerful choice has been Ashaya. Its power and toughness are set by your land count, plus it turns your non-token creatures into Forests in addition to their other types. This means, all your creatures in play is able to tap for two G if used for mana.

Another creature is another expensive, beefy creature that benefits from a high land count (similar to Ashaya, its power and toughness match your land total).

This Planeswalker fits really well as a staple. One of her abilities makes Forest lands generate an additional green mana. (Combined with earthbend, this results in each one produce triple green.) Her main ability is essentially a proto-earthbend, adding counters to a noncreature land, which is great but it isn't redundant with earthbending. The minus ability, though, makes your entire land base indestructible and allows you to search for every Forest left in the deck. If you can actually activate the ultimate, it’s pretty much you win.

Badgermole Cub is pretty much essential for any kind of green-based Avatar strategies focusing on the earthbend mechanic. By including Gruul colors, consider this legendary card. This card features earthbend 4, and when he deals combat damage to a player, land creatures become untapped and may attack once more. Although this card is a beloved leader, the cute little Badgermole Cub is set to be among the top, possibly the sought-after card in the Avatar set.

Danielle Nelson
Danielle Nelson

Lena is a health enthusiast and writer with a background in nutrition, sharing evidence-based tips for everyday wellness.