Magic: The Gathering‘s Avatar set has been out during prerelease week for some time now, and it’s finally launching tomorrow. Although the community’s morale about Universes Beyond has been on the lower end since Spider-Man’s debacle and the announcement that next yr will feature 4 UB Standard sets total, Avatar has numerous hype surrounding it, and it has been received thoroughly. With interesting mechanics that completely encapsulate what the Avatar IP is all about, the brand new Magic: The Gathering set has numerous potential for interesting gameplay and funky combos. One among the brand new outstanding cards is already clear, and it’s Badgermole Cub.
If there’s something that MTG players learned in the course of the prerelease period of the Avatar set is that some cards and mechanics may be incredibly broken with a dedicated deck, which is very true for airbending and earthbending. Waterbending is a robust mechanic, however it could also be less game-changing than others. Firebending is amazingly powerful with the correct mana outlets, corresponding to MTG‘s Zhao, the Moon Slayer, who can get a counter on itself for 7 mana and switch all nonbasic lands into Mountains. Nonetheless, airbending and earthbending can dramatically reshape a game, and Badgermole Cub is the proper example of the latter.
The Best Badgermole Cub Combos in Magic: The Gathering Explained
Badgermole Cub Breaks Fetchlands
Fetchlands are land cards that help you sacrifice them, pay 1 life, search your library for a basic land, and put it into play. That is an important option to thin the deck and have the precise land type you would like in any respect times, and it’s particularly strong since the newly played lands enter untapped. Avatar’s earthbend mechanic in MTG means that you can turn any given land right into a creature with haste and various +1/+1 counters on it equal to the earthbend value, and when the land creature dies, it comes back to the battlefield tapped. So yes, this implies you’ll be able to play Badgermole Cub and earthbend a fetchland, sacrifice it to get a basic land into play, after which the fetchland returns to the sphere so that you can use again next turn.
Badgermole Cub + Llanowar Elves Can Reshape Standard
Badgermole Cub has a capability that reads “Every time you tap a creature for mana, add an extra Green mana,” which suggests that you may effectively solid Llanowar Elves on turn 1, then Badgermole Cub on turn 2, and immediately have one other two mana to solid anything. This works on all mana dorks, which suggests creatures that may tap for mana, like the enduring Birds of Paradise, present in MTG‘s Final Fantasy Chocobo Bundle. Since each Llanowar Elves and Badgermole Cub are legal in Standard, this could possibly be the core of a brand new Green Stompy deck.
This combo may be taken even further by adding fetchlands into the combination, playing a fetchland on turn 2, and using the primary combo explained above alongside one other mana dork, a mana rock, or possibly even one other Badgermole Cub, netting you 8-10 mana on turn 3.
How Badgermole Cub Can Make Commander’s Most Hated Playstyle Worse
Depending on who’s asked, some of the heinous crimes in a Commander game is when a player on the table uses mass land destruction, as it will possibly take a given game back many turns, making the sport longer and ruining combos for others. Nonetheless, tools like Strip Mine and Wasteland are more socially acceptable because they aim a particular land. The issue is that you may earthbend each Strip Mine and Wasteland with Badgermole Cub, meaning they may be used twice to destroy opposing lands because they return to the sphere after getting used.
This works with any earthbend card, but Badgermole Cub is certainly one of the most affordable when it comes to mana cost.
Badgermole Cub Gives Your Urza’s Saga A Lot More Value
Urza’s Saga is arguably some of the iconic cards in the sport without delay, and it’s extremely powerful in artifacts matter decks. Since that is each a land and a saga, it will possibly be the goal of earthbend, meaning it comes back to the sphere once its third chapter is complete. The powerful effect of that is that players can create the token from Urza’s Saga twice (once on chapter 2 after which on chapter 3), after which repeat the method once the land comes back into play, due to earthbend. This may be further enhanced with cards like Life from the Loam or Fringe of Eternities’ Icetill Explorer, repeatedly cycling Urza’s Saga back into play.
Two Commander Staples Create a Powerful Infinite Combo With Badgermole Cub
There are a lot of cards that either break Badgermole Cub or which might be broken by it, and this includes the favored Ashaya, Soul of the Wild, and Zuran Orb. These are powerful cards in MTG Commander decks on their very own, but they are sometimes a part of some combo strategy. On this case, if each are on the sphere and also you solid Badgermole Cub, it will possibly earthbend itself attributable to being a Forest, due to Ashaya. Then, Zuran Orb may be activated by sacrificing the earthbent Badgermole Cub to realize 2 life, meaning that Badgermole Cub comes back into play, its ETB earthbend ability triggers again, and because it’s still a Forest, it will possibly trigger itself to repeat the cycle again and again. Achieving this awards you with:
- Infinite life
- Infinite gain life triggers
- Infinite ETB (enter the battlefield) triggers
- Infinite LTB (leave the battlefield) triggers
- Infinite death triggers
- Infinite sacrifice triggers
- Infinite landfall triggers