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the popular card game’s special Avatar expansion will not get a wider release until later this week, however due to early access events recently, an affordable green creature has already exploded in market worth.

From the initial reveals, Badgermole Cub drew widespread focus. A 2/2 priced at a single green and one generic mana, the card has the Earthbend 1 ability (possibly the best within the four bending abilities in the set). The major perk with this card lies in another power: Whenever mana is generated by tapping a creature, it provides bonus green mana.

When first listed, Badgermole Cub sold below $30. Following the early events, though, the market price jumped above $45 with at least one listed priced at sixty dollars. What explains Vivi prices for this little creature? Mostly because of the incredible mana acceleration it can produce.

As it hits the battlefield, Badgermole Cub turns a terrain card so it becomes a creature that has earthbending. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, while it is not removed, every earthbent land produces twice the mana — in addition to mana-producing creatures on your side which tap for mana.

The obvious go-to for maximum effect would be this one-mana elf, a cheap 1/1 that taps to generate one green mana. Yet many other mana generation creatures out there. Another option is a more expensive alternative that’s a 1/3 at a two-mana value as an alternative.

Using land cards, mana-producing creatures, and Badgermole Cub, you can easily get a very big and very expensive monster on the board by round three or four. And things just keep spiraling rapidly with continued aggression from there.

When adding an additional hue in this strategy, examples including Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are excellent picks which produce all five colors. And something like a useful enchantment creature lets you play an additional land every round as well as transforms every land you control into every basic land type. It's also worth trying for example a card called A Realm Reborn, costing six mana provides every card you own the capacity to produce one mana of any color — including any creature in play.

Badgermole Cub might seem overpowered when it comes to accelerating your resources, however how do you win for a deck like this? One obvious and popular answer has been this legendary creature. Its stats match your land count, and it makes each creature you own Forests along with their original types. Essentially, each creature in play may generate two green mana if used for mana.

Another creature provides a high-cost, powerful body which gains from many terrain cards (similar to Ashaya, P/T match the number of lands you control).

Nissa is an excellent fit as a go-to Planeswalker. Her static effect causes all Forests tap for one more G. (If you have the cub, that means those lands produce triple green.) Her plus ability is essentially a form of land animation, placing counters to a noncreature land, which is great but does not overlap with earthbending. Her -8 ability, though, grants all of your lands indestructible enabling you to put onto the battlefield every Forest left from your library. Once you trigger that ability, it almost certainly game over.

The cub is a must-have for all green Avatar deck built around the earthbend mechanic. By including red and green, you can use Bumi Unleashed. It possesses level 4 earthbending, and if it hits a player to an opponent, each animated land are ready again for another attack. Although this card has become a popular Commander choice, the cub will surely stay among the top, possibly the desired card in the Avatar set.