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Magic: The Gathering’s Avatar crossover set isn't set to hit the general market in the coming days, but following pre-releases recently, an affordable green creature has already exploded in price.

Throughout the spoiler season, this small creature garnered significant interest. A creature with stats 2/2 that costs a single green and one generic mana, the card has the Earthbend 1 ability (perhaps the best within the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The major perk here is its second ability: Each time mana is generated by tapping a creature, you gain one extra green mana.

When first listed, this card sold below $30. After the pre-release weekend, though, the going rate has shot up to $49.66 and one seller offering for sale at $60.00. The reason for such high costs on this adorable card? Mainly because of the incredible mana acceleration it enables.

Upon entering the board, Badgermole Cub turns a terrain card into a creature with earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, as long as it stays in play, those lands produces twice the mana — along with other creatures on your side that generate mana.

A clear choice for synergy would be the classic Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 that taps to generate a green resource. But many alternative mana dorks in the game. This particular druid is a higher-cost choice a 1/3 creature for two mana instead.

Using land cards, dorks that generate resources, and Badgermole Cub, it's simple to summon a massive high-cost creature on the battlefield by round three or four. And things just keep spiraling rapidly with continued aggression from that point.

By incorporating another color in this strategy, cards like Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are excellent picks that generate any color of mana. And something like Dryad of the Ilysian Grove enables playing another terrain every round as well as turns your entire land base providing all land types. You can also consider such as this six-mana enchantment, at a six-mana investment grants each permanent you control the ability to tap and generate a mana of any type — which covers each creature you have on the board.

This card may be OP regarding accelerating your resources, but what closes out the game in such a strategy? An often-seen solution has been this legendary creature. Its power and toughness are both equal to your land count, and it makes your non-token creatures into Forests in addition to their original types. In other words, every single creature on your board is able to generate two green mana by tapping.

This additional option provides a high-cost, powerful body which gains from lots of lands (as with the previous card, its power and toughness are equal to how many lands you have).

Nissa is an excellent fit as a staple. One of her abilities allows all Forests generate an additional green mana. (With a Badgermole Cub, this results in those lands generate three green mana.) Her main ability functions like a form of land animation, putting +1/+1 counters to a noncreature land, which is great but it isn't redundant with earthbend. Her -8 ability, however, makes your entire land base immune to destruction and lets you search for all the remaining forests in your deck. If you can actually activate this power, it’s pretty much you win.

This card is pretty much essential for any kind of decks using green and Avatar that use the earthbend mechanic. If you dip into red-green, you can use this legendary card. He has earthbend 4, and if he deals combat damage to a player, land creatures are ready again and may attack once more. While that version has become a beloved leader, the cub is set to be among the top, possibly the popular pick in the Avatar set.