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MTG’s collaboration with Avatar will not hit the general market until later this week, but after prerelease weekends recently, an affordable green creature experienced a surge in value.

Even during previews, Badgermole Cub drew widespread focus. A creature with stats 2/2 requiring G and 1 mana, the card includes the Earthbend 1 ability (perhaps the strongest of the four bending abilities in the set). The major perk here is another power: Whenever you tap a creature for mana, it provides bonus green mana.

When first listed, the card could be purchased for $26.98. Post-prerelease, yet, the going rate escalated to $49.66 including listings as high as $60. What explains Vivi prices on this adorable card? Mainly due to the rapid resource generation it can produce.

As it hits the board, Badgermole Cub transforms a terrain card so it becomes a creature that has earthbending. Combined with its other power, if it remains on the board, those lands yields two mana instead of one — plus other creatures on your side that generate mana.

An ideal partner for maximum effect is Llanowar Elves, an inexpensive 1/1 that taps to generate a green resource. However there are plenty of other mana generation creatures in the game. Druid of the Cowl is a more expensive alternative that’s a 1/3 costing two mana as an alternative.

Using land cards, dorks that generate resources, plus the cub, you may quickly play an enormous high-cost monster into play early in the game. The situation escalates out of control if you keep the pressure on after that.

When adding another color using this method, cards like Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are excellent picks which produce any mana color. And something like a useful enchantment creature allows you to put another terrain each turn plus makes your entire land base into every basic land type. You can also consider something like this six-mana enchantment, costing six mana grants each permanent you control the capacity to be tapped for any color mana — even all creatures you have on the board.

Badgermole Cub might seem overpowered regarding accelerating your resources, but what’s the endgame finisher with this archetype? A common and powerful choice has been this legendary creature. Its stats match the number of lands you control, plus it turns each creature you own to be Forests along with other subtypes. Essentially, each creature you control may tap for two G by tapping.

Another creature is a costly, large threat that thrives with lots of lands (similar to Ashaya, its stats match the number of lands you control).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World fits really well as a staple. One of her abilities allows every Forest produce extra green. (With a Badgermole Cub, so each one produce triple green.) Her plus ability functions like a proto-earthbend, putting +1/+1 counters on a land, a useful effect though it doesn't stack with the cub's ability. The minus ability, though, grants all of your lands indestructible and lets you search for all the remaining forests in your deck. Once you trigger that ability, it almost certainly the game ends.

Badgermole Cub is a must-have in any green Avatar deck focusing on earthbend. By including Gruul colors, consider this legendary card. This card features earthbend 4, and when it hits a player in combat, each animated land untap and may attack once more. Although this card has become a fan favorite Commander, the cute little Badgermole Cub is set to be one of the most, maybe the sought-after card in the Avatar set.