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MTG’s Avatar crossover set won’t become widely available until later this week, however following prerelease weekends recently, a low-cost green spell experienced a surge in market worth.

From the initial reveals, the earthbending cub drew a lot of attention. A creature with stats 2/2 that costs G and 1 mana, the card has the Earthbend 1 ability (arguably the strongest within the elemental mechanics available). The major perk with this card comes from an additional effect: Whenever a creature is tapped to produce mana, you gain one extra green mana.

At its cheapest, Badgermole Cub was available for $26.98. Post-prerelease, however, its value jumped to nearly $50 including listings for sale at $60.00. Why are we seeing Vivi prices on this adorable card? Mostly due to the rapid resource generation it can produce.

As it hits the board, Badgermole Cub turns one land to a creature land granting it earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, if it stays in play, every earthbent land generates double mana — plus mana-producing creatures on your side that produce resources.

An ideal partner for maximum effect is this one-mana elf, a cheap 1/1 that taps to generate a green resource. But many other mana generation creatures in the game. Another option costs a bit more that’s a 1/3 for two mana instead.

Deploying terrain, mana-producing creatures, alongside this card, it's simple to summon a very big and very expensive monster on the battlefield early in the game. Momentum builds rapidly if you keep the pressure on from there.

If you dip into another color using this method, cards like these mana-fixing creatures are all great options that can make any mana color. Another card, a useful enchantment creature enables playing an additional land each turn plus transforms every land you control into every basic land type. It's also worth trying such as a card called A Realm Reborn, costing six mana gives all of your permanents the ability to tap and generate any color mana — including all creatures under your control.

The cub might seem overpowered when it comes to boosting mana production, however what closes out the game for a deck like this? One obvious and popular answer is Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Its stats are set by how many lands you have, and it makes your non-token creatures into Forests along with their original types. This means, all your creatures in play may produce double green if used for mana.

This additional option is a costly, large threat that thrives with many terrain cards (as with the previous card, its stats match your land total).

Nissa fits really well as a go-to Planeswalker. Her passive ability causes every Forest generate an additional green mana. (With a Badgermole Cub, this results in those lands produce triple green.) Her main ability functions like an early earthbend, placing counters on terrain, a useful effect though it doesn't stack with the cub's ability. Her -8 ability, however, grants your entire land base indestructible and lets you draw out all the remaining forests from your library. If you can actually activate this power, it almost certainly game over.

Badgermole Cub is pretty much essential in any decks using green and Avatar built around earthbend. When branching into red-green, consider Bumi Unleashed. It possesses earthbend 4, plus if damage is dealt in combat, land creatures untap and may attack once more. Even though Bumi has become a beloved leader, the cute little Badgermole Cub is set to be one of the most, maybe the sought-after card from this expansion.