🔗 Share this article

MTG’s special Avatar expansion will not get a wider release until later this week, but following prerelease weekends this past weekend, an affordable green creature has already exploded in value.

From the initial reveals, this small creature drew a lot of attention. A creature with stats 2/2 that costs a single green and one generic mana, the card includes the Earthbend 1 ability (possibly the strongest among the elemental mechanics available). Its key advantage here comes from another power: Whenever you tap a creature for mana, add an additional green mana.

When first listed, this card was available below $30. Following the early events, however, its value jumped to $49.66 with at least one listed for sale at $60.00. The reason for Vivi prices for this cute lil guy? Mainly thanks to the rapid resource generation it provides.

As it hits play, this creature turns a terrain card so it becomes a creature that has earthbending. Combined with its other power, if it is not removed, those lands generates double mana — plus other creatures on your side that generate mana.

A clear choice for synergy is Llanowar Elves, an inexpensive 1/1 that produces G mana. Yet numerous creatures that make mana available. Druid of the Cowl costs a bit more a 1/3 creature costing two mana as an alternative.

Deploying terrain, dorks that generate resources, plus the cub, it's simple to summon an enormous and very expensive creature into play early in the game. And things just keep spiraling exponentially by maintaining dominance from that point.

By incorporating an additional hue using this method, cards like Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are all great options that generate all five colors. And something like Dryad of the Ilysian Grove allows you to put one extra land per turn plus transforms your entire land base so they count as all basics. You can also consider for example a card called A Realm Reborn, which for six mana provides each permanent you control the ability to tap and generate one mana of any color — which covers all creatures in play.

This card might seem overpowered in terms of accelerating your resources, yet what closes out the game in such a strategy? An often-seen solution is this legendary creature. Its power and toughness are both equal to the number of lands you control, and it makes all of your nontoken creatures Forests as well as other subtypes. Essentially, each creature you control is able to generate two green mana if used for mana.

Another creature provides a high-cost, powerful body that thrives with lots of lands (like Ashaya, P/T are based on how many lands you have).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World is an excellent fit in this deck. Her passive ability causes Forest lands generate an additional green mana. (Combined with earthbend, that means each one generate three green mana.) Her main ability is essentially an early earthbend, putting +1/+1 counters to a noncreature land, which is great but it isn't redundant with earthbend. Her -8 ability, on the other hand, renders all of your lands indestructible and allows you to draw out every Forest left from your library. Should you manage to use this power, it’s pretty much game over.

This card is nearly mandatory in any decks using green and Avatar built around the earthbend mechanic. If you dip into red-green, consider this legendary card. This card features earthbend 4, and when it hits a player to a player, all land creatures untap for another attack. While that version has become a beloved leader, this small creature is definitely going to remain one of the most, maybe the desired card in the Avatar set.