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MTG’s Avatar crossover set won’t become widely available in the coming days, but following prerelease weekends recently, an affordable green creature experienced a surge in market worth.

Throughout the spoiler season, this small creature drew widespread focus. A creature with stats 2/2 priced at G and 1 mana, Badgermole Cub has the Earthbend 1 ability (possibly the best of the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The major perk here is an additional effect: Whenever mana is generated by tapping a creature, it provides bonus green mana.

When first listed, the card was available at around $27. Following the early events, though, its value jumped to $49.66 including listings priced at sixty dollars. The reason for such high costs on this adorable card? Mainly thanks to the rapid resource generation it provides.

When it arrives the board, Badgermole Cub transforms a land to a creature land granting it earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, as long as it stays in play, every earthbent land yields two mana instead of one — plus any creatures on your side which tap for mana.

A clear choice for maximum effect is Llanowar Elves, a low-cost creature that produces one green mana. Yet many alternative mana dorks out there. Another option costs a bit more a 1/3 creature for two mana instead.

Deploying terrain, dorks that generate resources, alongside this card, it's simple to summon a massive high-cost monster on the battlefield within a few turns. Momentum builds exponentially by maintaining dominance from that point.

If you dip into another color using this method, options such as versatile mana producers are excellent picks that can make any mana color. Additionally, this powerful dryad enables playing an additional land each turn as well as transforms every land you control so they count as all basics. Another possibility is such as this six-mana enchantment, costing six mana provides all of your permanents the ability to tap and generate any color mana — even all creatures you have on the board.

This card may be OP regarding boosting mana production, yet what’s the endgame finisher in such a strategy? One obvious and popular answer has been Ashaya. Its power and toughness are both equal to your land count, and it changes each creature you own Forests along with their other types. Essentially, each creature in play may produce double green if used for mana.

Another creature is a costly, large threat that benefits from lots of lands (similar to Ashaya, its stats match your land total).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World works perfectly as a go-to Planeswalker. One of her abilities allows Forest lands tap for one more G. (If you have the cub, so those lands produce triple green.) One loyalty ability is essentially a form of land animation, placing counters to a noncreature land, which is great though it doesn't stack with earthbending. Her ultimate, on the other hand, renders all of your lands immune to destruction and lets you draw out your remaining Forests in the deck. If you can actually activate this power, it almost certainly the game ends.

The cub is nearly mandatory for all green-based Avatar strategies that use the earthbend mechanic. By including red-green, you can use Bumi. He has earthbend 4, and if it hits a player in combat, all land creatures are ready again and can attack again. Even though Bumi has become a popular Commander choice, this small creature is definitely going to remain among the top, possibly the popular pick in the Avatar set.