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the popular card game’s Avatar crossover set will not become widely available in the coming days, however after prerelease weekends recently, one cheap green card experienced a surge in value.

From the initial reveals, Badgermole Cub drew widespread focus. A creature with stats 2/2 priced at G and 1 mana, Badgermole Cub includes Earthbending 1 (possibly the strongest within the elemental mechanics available). The major perk with this card is another power: Whenever mana is generated by tapping a creature, add an additional green mana.

When first listed, Badgermole Cub could be purchased for $26.98. Following the early events, though, the going rate escalated to $49.66 and one seller offering priced at sixty dollars. Why are we seeing Vivi prices on this adorable card? Primarily due to the explosive mana ramping it provides.

When it arrives the battlefield, this creature converts one land into a creature with earthbend. Combined with its other power, as long as it is not removed, each affected land generates double mana — in addition to other creatures on your side that generate mana.

An ideal partner for maximum effect would be this one-mana elf, an inexpensive 1/1 that produces one green mana. But many other mana generation creatures out there. This particular druid is a more expensive alternative that’s a 1/3 costing two mana instead.

Deploying terrain, dorks that generate resources, plus the cub, you can easily get a massive and very expensive threat on the battlefield early in the game. The situation escalates out of control with continued aggression after that.

By incorporating another color in this strategy, options such as versatile mana producers work perfectly which produce any mana color. Another card, this powerful dryad lets you play one extra land per turn plus turns all of your lands providing all land types. You can also consider something like a card called A Realm Reborn, at a six-mana investment provides each permanent you control the capacity to tap and generate any color mana — even all creatures under your control.

Badgermole Cub could be too strong when it comes to ramping up your mana generation, however what closes out the game for a deck like this? A common and powerful choice has been this legendary creature. Power and toughness are both equal to your land count, plus it turns your non-token creatures Forests as well as their original types. Essentially, each creature in play is able to produce double green by tapping.

Another creature is another expensive, beefy creature which gains from a high land count (similar to Ashaya, its power and toughness are equal to your land total).

Nissa works perfectly in this deck. Her passive ability causes every Forest produce extra green. (Combined with earthbend, that means all earthbend forests yield three G.) Her plus ability acts as a form of land animation, putting +1/+1 counters to a noncreature land, handy though it doesn't stack with the cub's ability. The minus ability, though, renders your entire land base indestructible and lets you put onto the battlefield all the remaining forests in your deck. Should you manage to use the ultimate, this typically means game over.

The cub is pretty much essential for any kind of green-based Avatar strategies built around earthbend. If you dip into Gruul colors, consider this legendary card. It possesses earthbend 4, and if it hits a player to a player, all land creatures untap and may attack once more. Even though Bumi is a popular Commander choice, the cute little Badgermole Cub is definitely going to remain one of, if not the most sought-after card in the Avatar set.