When Magic: The Gathering’s Avatar: The Last Airbender set first spoiled Badgermole Cub, the community collectively lost its mind. And for good reason—this unassuming 2/2 creature for just two mana has quickly established itself as the format-warping powerhouse that everyone predicted. Whether you’re grinding Standard queues, battling in Modern, or orchestrating complex Commander combos, Badgermole Cub delivers landslide value through interactions that feel almost unfair when they resolve correctly.
What makes this little earthbender so special? At first glance, it’s a modest creature with Earthbending 1 and a mana-doubling ability. But dig deeper, and you’ll discover a card that breaks fundamental Magic rules in ways that leave opponents scratching their heads. Let’s explore five absurdly efficient plays that showcase why Badgermole Cub isn’t just good—it’s potentially one of the most versatile mythic rares we’ve seen in recent memory.
The Mana Multiplication Machine: Standard Domination
Let’s start with the most straightforward yet devastating application: Badgermole Cub’s ability to turn your mana dorks into engines of pure ramp. The card’s static ability reads, “Whenever you tap a creature for mana, add an additional Green mana.” This seemingly simple text creates explosive plays that can end games before they really begin.
Picture this common scenario: Turn one, you play Llanowar Elves. Turn two, you drop Badgermole Cub and immediately have access to four mana on turn two. That’s not just good—that’s format-defining. But it gets even more absurd when you consider the implications across multiple turns. With both Badgermole Cub and Llanowar Elves on the battlefield, each of your mana dorks effectively produces double their normal output.
This synergy becomes truly terrifying when you expand beyond basic mana dorks. Cards like Gene Pollinator, which already provide excellent value in Simic Aggro decks, become absolute monsters with Badgermole Cub support. Suddenly, you’re not just ramping—you’re creating a snowball effect that lets you deploy threats far ahead of schedule.
Badgermole Cub shines particularly well in Simic Aggro shells, where it serves multiple purposes simultaneously. It’s a respectable 3/3 body for combat, a mana accelerator for explosive turns, and a combo piece that amplifies your entire board state. Many players have found success running four copies alongside Jackal, Genius Geneticist, creating copy effects that can quickly overwhelm opponents with both board presence and mana advantage.
The real beauty here is how this play scales. One Badgermole Cub is good. Two Badgermole Cubs, especially with copy effects, can generate enough mana to cast your entire hand by turn four. This isn’t just ramp—it’s a complete rewrite of what’s possible in Standard’s early game.
Fetchland Frenzy: Breaking Modern’s Mana Base
If you thought Badgermole Cub was just a Standard powerhouse, wait until you see what it does in formats with access to fetchlands. This interaction might just be the most efficient mana play you’ve ever seen, and it’s completely legal in multiple formats.
Here’s how it works: Badgermole Cub’s Earthbending 1 ability triggers when it enters the battlefield, letting you turn any land into a 1/1 creature with haste that still taps for mana. When you combine this with fetchlands like Misty Rainforest or Windswept Heath, you create a sequence that generates absurd amounts of mana in the first few turns.
The optimal play sequence looks something like this:
- Turn one: Play a fetchland, crack it for a basic Forest
- Turn two: Play another fetchland, crack it, then cast Badgermole Cub
- Turn three: Play a third fetchland, crack it, and now you have three lands that can each tap for two mana (thanks to Badgermole Cub’s ability)
That’s six mana available on turn three—without any other mana dorks or acceleration. This kind of early-game explosiveness can let you cast game-ending threats far earlier than your opponent expects, essentially time-walking them while you develop an insurmountable board position.
What makes this play particularly devastating is how it interacts with other mana-producing elements. If you add even a single Birds of Paradise or Noble Hierarch to the mix, your mana output becomes truly ridiculous. Suddenly, you’re looking at turn three plays that normally require turn five or six mana, completely warping the tempo of the game around your advantage.
This strategy has already started making waves in Modern, showing up in Yawgmoth decks where the additional mana and sacrifice outlets create even more complex combo lines. The ability to generate this much mana so quickly while also developing board presence makes Badgermole Cub a multi-format threat that demands respect from deckbuilders across the competitive spectrum.
The Infinite Engine: Commander’s Worst Nightmare
Commander players, brace yourselves—Badgermole Cub enables one of the most elegant yet devastating infinite combos we’ve seen in recent memory. While many infinite combos require multiple pieces and convoluted setup, this one uses just three cards (two of which are Commander staples) to create unlimited mana and life.
The combo revolves around three key pieces: Badgermole Cub, Ashaya, Soul of the Wild, and Zuran Orb. Here’s how it plays out:
- With Ashaya on the battlefield, all your lands become creatures in addition to their other types
- When Badgermole Cub enters, its Earthbending 1 ability triggers, and since it’s now a Forest (thanks to Ashaya), it can target itself
- You now have Badgermole Cub as both a creature and a land that can tap for mana
- Activate Zuran Orb by sacrificing Badgermole Cub, gaining 2 life (1 for the land, 1 because it’s also a creature)
- Badgermole Cub returns to the battlefield tapped because of the Earthbending clause
- Its enters-the-battlefield trigger goes off again, targeting itself once more
- Repeat this loop infinitely
What makes this combo particularly brutal is its efficiency. Each iteration nets you 2 life, and since the loop is repeatable as many times as you want, you can gain infinite life. But that’s not all—with access to infinite mana through this loop, you can fuel any number of win conditions, from Exsanguinate to Walking Ballista to Aetherflux Reservoir.
The beauty of this combo lies in how naturally the pieces fit together. Ashaya, Soul of the Wild and Zuran Orb are already Commander staples in green decks, often included for their individual value. Adding Badgermole Cub doesn’t require you to play bad cards—it just gives you an additional outlet that happens to go infinite with your existing package.
This has made Badgermole Cub an auto-include in many Commander decks that were already running these pieces, and it’s created new archetypes specifically built around maximizing this interaction. The fact that it works in multiple Commander variants—from cEDH to casual pods—speaks to the card’s versatility and power level.
Land Destruction Reinvented: Legacy’s New Toy
Legacy players love their efficient interaction, and Badgermole Cub has found a home in one of the format’s most established archetypes: Cradle Control. But it’s not just fitting in—it’s actively redefining how these decks operate, particularly in their approach to land destruction and mana generation.
The key interaction here is with Wasteland, one of Legacy’s most iconic cards. Normally, Wasteland represents a one-time disruption piece that can destroy an opponent’s land at the cost of your own. But with Badgermole Cub in play, this dynamic changes completely.
Here’s the sequence that’s making waves in Legacy:
- Play Badgermole Cub and use its Earthbending ability on one of your lands
- Use Wasteland to destroy an opponent’s land
- When your Earthbent land dies (to Wasteland or any other removal), it returns to the battlefield tapped thanks to the Earthbending clause
- Now you have your land back, and your opponent doesn’t
This effectively turns Wasteland into a repeatable land destruction spell that doesn’t cost you card advantage. But the real magic happens when you combine this with Gaea’s Cradle, the engine that powers these decks.
With Badgermole Cub and Gaea’s Cradle, you can create sequences that generate astronomical amounts of mana. Earthbend the Cradle, and it becomes a creature that taps for mana while also counting itself toward its own mana production. Add in cards like Quirion Ranger to untap your lands, and suddenly you’re generating enough mana to cast Craterhoof Behemoth or other game-ending threats multiple turns ahead of schedule.
What’s particularly impressive about this application is how it solves multiple problems for Legacy decks simultaneously. It provides protection against opposing Wastelands (since your key lands can just come back), it amplifies your mana production to explosive levels, and it gives you additional ways to interact with opponents who rely on specific lands for their strategies.
This has led to Badgermole Cub seeing play as a four-of in some Legacy lists, a rare honor for any Standard-legal card in the format. The fact that it can compete with Legacy’s most efficient cards speaks volumes about its power level and versatility.
The Board Wipe Paradox: Standard’s One-Sided Reset
Perhaps the most clever and underappreciated application of Badgermole Cub is its synergy with board wipes in Standard formats. This interaction creates what feels like a one-sided reset button, leaving you with resources while your opponent starts from scratch.
The key to this strategy is understanding how Earthbending works with board clearance effects like Day of Judgment or other mass removal spells. When your Earthbent lands die to a board wipe, they don’t go to the graveyard—they return to the battlefield tapped, ready to be used again.
Here’s the devastating sequence that’s catching Standard players off guard:
- Develop a board with several Earthbent lands and Badgermole Cub
- Your opponent builds up their board, feeling safe behind their creature presence
- You cast Day of Judgment or another board wipe
- All creatures die, including your Badgermole Cub
- Your Earthbent lands return to the battlefield tapped, still able to produce mana
- Your opponent starts their next turn with no board and no mana acceleration, while you have a full grip of mana available
This creates a massive tempo swing that’s difficult to recover from. You’re essentially trading your board position for complete mana dominance, leaving your opponent unable to develop their game plan while you’re free to cast whatever you want.
What makes this play particularly effective is how it changes the calculus around board wipes in Standard. Normally, casting a board wipe when you’re behind on board is a desperate move that buys you time but doesn’t necessarily advance your position. With Badgermole Cub and Earthbending, it becomes an aggressive play that actively advances your game plan while setting your opponent back multiple turns.
This strategy has started showing up in Naya (Red-Green-White) control decks that leverage Toph, the First Metalbender as a way to generate Earthbent lands consistently. Toph’s ability to Earthbend 2 at the beginning of your end step means you’re always building up your board of animated lands, making the eventual board wipe even more devastating when it finally resolves.
The psychological impact of this play cannot be overstated. Opponents who see you developing a board of Earthbent lands often feel pressured to overcommit, fearing that you’ll generate too much advantage if left unchecked. Then, when you wipe the board, they’re left realizing they walked right into your trap.
Why Badgermole Cub Stands Above the Rest?
After exploring these five absurdly efficient plays, it’s clear that Badgermole Cub delivers landslide value across virtually every format it’s legal in. But what really sets it apart from other powerful cards is how naturally it fits into existing strategies while simultaneously enabling entirely new archetypes.
Unlike many mythic rares that demand you build around them, Badgermole Cub enhances whatever you’re already doing. If you’re playing mana dorks, it makes them better. If you’re playing land destruction, it makes it more efficient. If you’re playing combo, it provides another piece. If you’re playing control, it gives you a way to generate advantage while clearing the board.
This versatility, combined with its reasonable mana cost and immediate impact on the game, makes Badgermole Cub exactly the kind of card that can define formats for years to come. Whether you’re a competitive grinder looking for an edge in tournaments or a casual player who loves discovering powerful interactions, this little earthbender has something to offer.
As the Avatar: The Last Airbender set continues to settle into the various Magic formats, one thing is certain: Badgermole Cub isn’t just another good card—it’s a multi-format threat that will be shaping deckbuilding decisions for the foreseeable future. The five plays we’ve explored here are just the beginning; as players continue to experiment, we’re likely to discover even more ways this card can break the rules of what’s possible in Magic: The Gathering.