One of the Avatar-themed cutest MTG cards turns out to be a formidable compact force.
the popular card game’s collaboration with Avatar will not get a wider release before the end of the week, but following pre-releases recently, a low-cost green spell experienced a surge in market worth.
From the initial reveals, this small creature drew widespread focus. A 2/2 priced at G and 1 mana, it features level 1 earthbending (possibly the most effective among the elemental mechanics available). Its key advantage in its design comes from another power: Whenever you tap a creature for mana, you gain one extra green mana.
When first listed, the card could be purchased for $26.98. Post-prerelease, though, the going rate escalated to nearly $50 including listings as high as $60. Why are we seeing Vivi prices for this cute lil guy? Mostly because of the incredible mana acceleration it provides.
When it arrives play, this creature converts a land to a creature land that has earthbending. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, while it remains on the board, those lands yields two mana instead of one — plus other creatures you have which tap for mana.
A clear choice to combine with would be Llanowar Elves, a low-cost creature that taps to generate a green resource. However many creatures that make mana out there. Another option is a higher-cost choice with stats 1/3 costing two mana instead.
By playing lands, dorks that generate resources, and Badgermole Cub, you can easily get a massive high-cost threat on the battlefield within a few turns. Momentum builds rapidly with continued aggression from there.
When adding a secondary color in this strategy, cards like these mana-fixing creatures are excellent picks that generate any mana color. Another card, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove lets you play one extra land per turn AND turns all of your lands providing all land types. You can also consider for example a card called A Realm Reborn, at a six-mana investment provides all of your permanents the capacity to be tapped for any color mana — even any creature you have on the board.
This card may be OP regarding boosting mana production, but what’s the endgame finisher with this archetype? One obvious and popular answer has been Ashaya. Its power and toughness are set by the number of lands you control, and it changes all of your nontoken creatures Forests along with other subtypes. Essentially, each creature on your board can produce double green by tapping.
This additional option is a costly, large threat that benefits from lots of lands (similar to Ashaya, its power and toughness are equal to your land total).
Nissa, Who Shakes the World is an excellent fit as a go-to Planeswalker. One of her abilities causes every Forest produce extra green. (With a Badgermole Cub, so all earthbend forests yield three G.) Her plus ability acts as an early earthbend, putting +1/+1 counters on terrain, which is great but does not overlap with earthbending. Her -8 ability, on the other hand, grants each land you control unbreakable and lets you search for all the remaining forests from your library. If you can actually activate this power, this typically means you win.
This card is pretty much essential for any kind of decks using green and Avatar that use Earthbending. If you dip into red and green, you can use Bumi. It possesses earthbend 4, and when it hits a player in combat, all land creatures become untapped and can attack again. Even though Bumi has emerged as a fan favorite Commander, the cub will surely stay among the top, possibly the popular pick in the collaboration.