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Magic: The Gathering’s collaboration with Avatar will not become widely available in the coming days, however after pre-releases over the last few days, one cheap green card experienced a surge in value.

Throughout the spoiler season, Badgermole Cub drew widespread focus. A 2/2 that costs a single green and one generic mana, the card includes the Earthbend 1 ability (perhaps the strongest among the four bending abilities in the set). The real boon here comes from its second ability: If mana is generated by tapping a creature, you gain one extra green mana.

Initially, Badgermole Cub could be purchased for $26.98. After the pre-release weekend, though, the going rate escalated above $45 and one seller offering for sale at $60.00. The reason for Vivi prices for this cute lil guy? Primarily thanks to the explosive mana ramping it provides.

As it hits the battlefield, this creature converts a land so it becomes a creature that has earthbending. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, if it remains on the board, each affected land yields two mana instead of one — in addition to other creatures you have that produce resources.

A clear choice for maximum effect is this one-mana elf, an inexpensive 1/1 which can be tapped for a green resource. But numerous creatures that make mana available. This particular druid costs a bit more that’s a 1/3 costing two mana instead.

Deploying terrain, mana-producing creatures, plus the cub, it's simple to summon a very big high-cost creature on the board within a few turns. Momentum builds rapidly with continued aggression from there.

If you dip into a secondary color with this approach, examples including these mana-fixing creatures are all great options that can make any color of mana. And something like Dryad of the Ilysian Grove lets you play an additional land each turn plus transforms every land you control so they count as all basics. You can also consider something like the enchantment A Realm Reborn, at a six-mana investment grants each permanent you control the power to be tapped for one mana of any color — even any creature under your control.

This card could be too strong when it comes to accelerating your resources, yet what closes out the game in such a strategy? One obvious and popular answer already is this legendary creature. Its power and toughness match the number of lands you control, and it makes each creature you own to be Forests as well as their other types. In other words, each creature in play can generate two green mana when tapped.

Another creature is another expensive, beefy creature that benefits from many terrain cards (like Ashaya, its stats are based on how many lands you have).

Nissa fits really well in this deck. Her passive ability allows all Forests produce extra green. (Combined with earthbend, this results in those lands yield three G.) Her main ability acts as a form of land animation, placing counters on a land, handy but it isn't redundant with the cub's ability. The minus ability, on the other hand, renders your entire land base indestructible enabling you to draw out your remaining Forests in the deck. Once you trigger that ability, this typically means you win.

Badgermole Cub is a must-have for any kind of decks using green and Avatar built around earthbend. By including Gruul colors, consider Bumi Unleashed. He has earthbend 4, plus if it hits a player in combat, all land creatures are ready again and may attack once more. Even though Bumi is a fan favorite Commander, the cub is definitely going to remain among the top, possibly the desired card from this expansion.