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Magic: The Gathering’s special Avatar expansion will not become widely available until later this week, but after prerelease weekends this past weekend, one cheap green card saw a sharp rise in value.

Even during previews, this small creature drew significant interest. A creature with stats 2/2 priced at G and 1 mana, Badgermole Cub features Earthbending 1 (arguably the most effective among the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The major perk here comes from its second ability: Whenever you tap a creature for mana, you gain one extra green mana.

When first listed, this card was available at around $27. After the pre-release weekend, though, its value escalated above $45 with at least one listed priced at sixty dollars. Why are we seeing premium pricing on this adorable card? Primarily thanks to the incredible mana acceleration it can produce.

As it hits the battlefield, the cub converts a terrain card to a creature land with earthbend. And with that second ability, while it remains on the board, every earthbent land generates double mana — plus other creatures in your control that produce resources.

The obvious go-to for synergy includes Llanowar Elves, a low-cost creature that produces G mana. Yet numerous alternative mana dorks out there. Druid of the Cowl costs a bit more a 1/3 creature for two mana as an alternative.

Using land cards, creatures that tap for mana, and Badgermole Cub, you may quickly play a massive and very expensive threat into play early in the game. The situation escalates out of control by maintaining dominance from there.

By incorporating an additional hue with this approach, examples including these mana-fixing creatures are all great options that generate all five colors. Additionally, this powerful dryad enables playing one extra land per turn as well as turns all of your lands into every basic land type. Another possibility is such as a card called A Realm Reborn, at a six-mana investment gives each permanent you control the power to produce one mana of any color — which covers any creature under your control.

This card may be OP regarding accelerating your resources, however how do you win for a deck like this? One obvious and popular answer already is Ashaya. Its stats match your land count, and it makes your non-token creatures to be Forests along with other subtypes. Essentially, every single creature on your board may tap for two G if used for mana.

Another creature provides a high-cost, powerful body that thrives with lots of lands (as with the previous card, P/T are equal to your land total).

This Planeswalker is an excellent fit as a staple. One of her abilities causes Forest lands generate an additional green mana. (With a Badgermole Cub, that means each one produce triple green.) Her plus ability is essentially a proto-earthbend, placing counters to a noncreature land, handy though it doesn't stack with the cub's ability. Her ultimate, on the other hand, grants all of your lands immune to destruction and lets you draw out your remaining Forests from your library. If you can actually activate the ultimate, this typically means the game ends.

The cub is pretty much essential in any green-based Avatar strategies focusing on the earthbend mechanic. If you dip into red-green, there’s this legendary card. This card features earthbend 4, and if he deals combat damage to a player, each animated land become untapped for another attack. Even though Bumi is a fan favorite Commander, this small creature will surely stay one of the most, maybe the desired card in the Avatar set.