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the popular card game’s special Avatar expansion isn't set to get a wider release in the coming days, yet due to early access events this past weekend, one cheap green card experienced a surge in price.

Even during previews, the earthbending cub garnered significant interest. A creature with stats 2/2 requiring G and 1 mana, it has Earthbending 1 (arguably the strongest of the elemental mechanics available). The major perk in its design comes from another power: If mana is generated by tapping a creature, you gain one extra green mana.

Initially, this card sold for $26.98. After the pre-release weekend, yet, its value jumped above $45 with at least one listed as high as $60. What explains such high costs for this cute lil guy? Mostly thanks to the incredible mana acceleration it provides.

As it hits the board, Badgermole Cub transforms a land so it becomes a creature with earthbend. And with that second ability, while it remains on the board, every earthbent land generates double mana — along with mana-producing creatures you have that generate mana.

An ideal partner for maximum effect is the classic Llanowar Elves, a low-cost creature which can be tapped for a green resource. However many other mana generation creatures available. This particular druid is a more expensive alternative a 1/3 creature costing two mana instead.

By playing lands, dorks that generate resources, and Badgermole Cub, you can easily get a massive high-cost monster on the battlefield by round three or four. And things just keep spiraling out of control with continued aggression after that.

By incorporating an additional hue with this approach, options such as these mana-fixing creatures are all great options that can make any mana color. And something like Dryad of the Ilysian Grove lets you play an additional land per turn AND transforms all of your lands so they count as all basics. You can also consider for example this six-mana enchantment, costing six mana gives every card you own the ability to tap and generate one mana of any color — including each creature you have on the board.

This card might seem overpowered regarding ramping up your mana generation, however how do you win in such a strategy? A common and powerful choice is Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Its stats are set by the number of lands you control, plus it turns each creature you own into Forests as well as their other types. This means, every single creature on your board can produce double green when tapped.

Another creature provides a high-cost, powerful body that benefits from many terrain cards (like Ashaya, P/T are equal to the number of lands you control).

Nissa works perfectly as a staple. Her passive ability causes every Forest tap for one more G. (If you have the cub, that means all earthbend forests yield three G.) Her plus ability acts as a proto-earthbend, putting +1/+1 counters to a noncreature land, a useful effect but does not overlap with earthbending. The minus ability, however, renders all of your lands unbreakable and allows you to put onto the battlefield every Forest left in the deck. If you can actually activate that ability, it almost certainly the game ends.

Badgermole Cub is nearly mandatory for all green Avatar deck built around Earthbending. If you dip into red-green, consider this legendary card. This card features earthbend 4, plus if it hits a player in combat, each animated land untap for another attack. Although this card has emerged as a popular Commander choice, this small creature is set to be one of, if not the most desired card from this expansion.