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MTG’s collaboration with Avatar won’t hit the general market in the coming days, but due to early access events this past weekend, an affordable green creature experienced a surge in price.

Throughout the spoiler season, this small creature garnered significant interest. A 2/2 priced at G and 1 mana, Badgermole Cub includes level 1 earthbending (arguably the most effective among the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The major perk in its design comes from its second ability: If you tap a creature for mana, add an additional green mana.

Initially, Badgermole Cub was available at around $27. After the pre-release weekend, yet, its value has shot up to $49.66 with at least one listed as high as $60. The reason for such high costs for this cute lil guy? Mostly thanks to the rapid resource generation it enables.

When it arrives the battlefield, the cub turns a terrain card so it becomes a creature granting it earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, while it remains on the board, each affected land yields two mana instead of one — plus mana-producing creatures on your side that generate mana.

A clear choice for synergy would be this one-mana elf, a low-cost creature that produces G mana. However numerous creatures that make mana out there. This particular druid costs a bit more that’s a 1/3 costing two mana in comparison.

Using land cards, mana-producing creatures, alongside this card, you can easily get a very big pricey monster on the board within a few turns. The situation escalates rapidly if you keep the pressure on after that.

By incorporating an additional hue using this method, cards like versatile mana producers work perfectly that generate any color of mana. And something like this powerful dryad lets you play one extra land per turn plus makes your entire land base providing all land types. Another possibility is something like this six-mana enchantment, costing six mana provides all of your permanents the capacity to tap and generate one mana of any color — even any creature under your control.

Badgermole Cub might seem overpowered in terms of ramping up your mana generation, but what’s the endgame finisher with this archetype? An often-seen solution is this legendary creature. Power and toughness are both equal to your land count, plus it turns each creature you own Forests in addition to their other types. In other words, each creature in play can produce double green when tapped.

Another creature provides a high-cost, powerful body that benefits from a high land count (similar to Ashaya, its stats are equal to how many lands you have).

Nissa is an excellent fit as a go-to Planeswalker. Her passive ability makes Forest lands generate an additional green mana. (Combined with earthbend, so all earthbend forests generate three green mana.) Her main ability functions like a form of land animation, adding counters on terrain, which is great but it isn't redundant with earthbending. Her -8 ability, on the other hand, grants each land you control indestructible and lets you draw out your remaining Forests in the deck. If you can actually activate this power, this typically means you win.

Badgermole Cub is pretty much essential in any green Avatar deck built around earthbend. By including red-green, consider Bumi. It possesses earthbend 4, and when he deals combat damage to an opponent, land creatures are ready again for another attack. While that version has become a popular Commander choice, the cute little Badgermole Cub is set to be one of, if not the most desired card from this expansion.