One of Avatar's cutest MTG cards is a nasty small powerhouse.
Magic: The Gathering’s special Avatar expansion isn't set to become widely available in the coming days, however after pre-releases over the last few days, a low-cost green spell has already exploded in market worth.
Throughout the spoiler season, this small creature drew widespread focus. A creature with stats 2/2 priced at one green and one colorless mana, the card features level 1 earthbending (possibly the best within the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The major perk here is another power: Whenever you tap a creature for mana, you gain one extra green mana.
At its cheapest, the card was available below $30. Following the early events, though, its value escalated to nearly $50 with at least one listed for sale at $60.00. Why are we seeing premium pricing for this cute lil guy? Mostly due to the rapid resource generation it provides.
When it arrives the battlefield, the cub converts a land into a creature with earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, as long as it remains on the board, every earthbent land produces twice the mana — along with mana-producing creatures you have that generate mana.
An ideal partner for maximum effect would be the classic Llanowar Elves, an inexpensive 1/1 that taps to generate G mana. But there are plenty of other mana generation creatures in the game. This particular druid is a higher-cost choice a 1/3 creature at a two-mana value instead.
By playing lands, dorks that generate resources, alongside this card, you may quickly play a massive pricey monster on the battlefield within a few turns. And things just keep spiraling out of control by maintaining dominance from that point.
By incorporating another color using this method, examples including Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are excellent picks that generate any mana color. Additionally, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove allows you to put an additional land each turn plus transforms your entire land base so they count as all basics. You can also consider something like the enchantment A Realm Reborn, which for six mana provides each permanent you control the ability to tap and generate one mana of any color — including all creatures in play.
This card might seem overpowered when it comes to boosting mana production, however what’s the endgame finisher for a deck like this? A common and powerful choice is Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Its stats are both equal to how many lands you have, and it makes each creature you own Forests along with other subtypes. Essentially, all your creatures on your board can produce double green if used for mana.
Another creature is another expensive, beefy creature that benefits from many terrain cards (similar to Ashaya, its power and toughness are equal to your land total).
Nissa fits really well in this deck. One of her abilities causes Forest lands tap for one more G. (Combined with earthbend, so those lands generate three green mana.) Her plus ability acts as a form of land animation, putting +1/+1 counters on terrain, handy but does not overlap with earthbend. The minus ability, however, makes each land you control immune to destruction and allows you to put onto the battlefield all the remaining forests from your library. Once you trigger that ability, it’s pretty much you win.
The cub is a must-have in any green Avatar deck that use Earthbending. By including red-green, you can use Bumi. It possesses earthbend 4, and when he deals combat damage to a player, each animated land untap and can attack again. While that version has become a popular Commander choice, this small creature is definitely going to remain one of the most, maybe the desired card from this expansion.