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MTG’s collaboration with Avatar will not become widely available before the end of the week, however following pre-releases over the last few days, an affordable green creature saw a sharp rise in value.

From the initial reveals, this small creature attracted widespread focus. A creature with stats 2/2 that costs G and 1 mana, Badgermole Cub has level 1 earthbending (arguably the strongest among the four bending abilities in the set). The major perk in its design lies in another power: If a creature is tapped to produce mana, add an additional green mana.

Initially, Badgermole Cub could be purchased for $26.98. Post-prerelease, though, the market price escalated above $45 including listings for sale at $60.00. The reason for Vivi prices for this cute lil guy? Primarily due to the explosive mana ramping it provides.

Upon entering play, Badgermole Cub transforms a terrain card into a creature with earthbend. Combined with its other power, while it remains on the board, each affected land generates double mana — in addition to any creatures you have that produce resources.

The obvious go-to to combine with would be Llanowar Elves, an inexpensive 1/1 that taps to generate a green resource. Yet numerous alternative mana dorks out there. Druid of the Cowl is a more expensive alternative with stats 1/3 costing two mana as an alternative.

Using land cards, creatures that tap for mana, plus the cub, you may quickly play a massive pricey creature on the battlefield by round three or four. Momentum builds rapidly if you keep the pressure on from that point.

When adding another color using this method, options such as Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are excellent picks that can make all five colors. Another card, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove allows you to put another terrain each turn AND makes your entire land base into every basic land type. Another possibility is something like a card called A Realm Reborn, costing six mana gives every card you own the ability to produce one mana of any color — including each creature you have on the board.

The cub might seem overpowered regarding ramping up your mana generation, but how do you win with this archetype? An often-seen solution already is Ashaya. Its power and toughness match your land count, plus it turns all of your nontoken creatures Forests in addition to their original types. This means, all your creatures on your board may produce double green when tapped.

This additional option is a costly, large threat that thrives with many terrain cards (like Ashaya, its power and toughness match your land total).

This Planeswalker fits really well in this deck. Her passive ability causes Forest lands tap for one more G. (With a Badgermole Cub, that means each one produce triple green.) Her plus ability acts as a proto-earthbend, adding counters on terrain, a useful effect though it doesn't stack with earthbend. The minus ability, however, grants all of your lands unbreakable and lets you draw out all the remaining forests in your deck. Once you trigger this power, it’s pretty much the game ends.

Badgermole Cub is nearly mandatory in any green Avatar deck that use Earthbending. If you dip into red and green, consider Bumi. This card features earthbend 4, and if he deals combat damage in combat, land creatures are ready again for another attack. While that version has emerged as a beloved leader, the cub is definitely going to remain among the top, possibly the popular pick from this expansion.