Ubuntu - Error: Failed to create the SD card
Solution 1:
So I found the problem. I was using a 64-bit Linux install, which did not have the ia32-libs package installed by default. The mksdcard utility will not run without this package. After installing it, I was able to build the AVD without a problem using the AVD manager.
Solution 2:
On Ubuntu 16.04 LTS x64, using Android Studio 2.1 (also tested on 2.3.3), run from a terminal:
sudo apt-get install lib32stdc++6