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the popular card game’s collaboration with Avatar won’t become widely available before the end of the week, yet due to early access events over the last few days, an affordable green creature has already exploded in market worth.

Even during previews, the earthbending cub attracted significant interest. A 2/2 requiring G and 1 mana, the card has the Earthbend 1 ability (arguably the most effective among the elemental mechanics available). Its key advantage with this card comes from its second ability: Whenever a creature is tapped to produce mana, it provides bonus green mana.

When first listed, Badgermole Cub could be purchased at around $27. After the pre-release weekend, yet, the market price escalated to nearly $50 and one seller offering priced at sixty dollars. The reason for such high costs for this little creature? Primarily thanks to the rapid resource generation it can produce.

When it arrives the battlefield, Badgermole Cub converts a terrain card so it becomes a creature with earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, if it stays in play, every earthbent land yields two mana instead of one — plus other creatures in your control that generate mana.

The obvious go-to to combine with would be the classic Llanowar Elves, an inexpensive 1/1 which can be tapped for a green resource. Yet many creatures that make mana in the game. Druid of the Cowl costs a bit more with stats 1/3 for two mana as an alternative.

By playing lands, dorks that generate resources, alongside this card, you can easily get a massive and very expensive threat into play early in the game. And things just keep spiraling rapidly by maintaining dominance after that.

When adding a secondary color with this approach, options such as these mana-fixing creatures are excellent picks that generate all five colors. Additionally, a useful enchantment creature allows you to put one extra land per turn plus turns every land you control into every basic land type. It's also worth trying for example this six-mana enchantment, which for six mana grants all of your permanents the capacity to be tapped for one mana of any color — including each creature in play.

Badgermole Cub might seem overpowered when it comes to boosting mana production, however what closes out the game with this archetype? An often-seen solution already is Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Power and toughness are set by how many lands you have, and it makes all of your nontoken creatures to be Forests as well as their other types. This means, every single creature in play may tap for two G when tapped.

Harmonious Grovestrider is another expensive, beefy creature that thrives with many terrain cards (like Ashaya, P/T are based on how many lands you have).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World works perfectly as a staple. One of her abilities causes all Forests produce extra green. (Combined with earthbend, so each one produce triple green.) Her plus ability is essentially a form of land animation, placing counters on terrain, a useful effect but does not overlap with earthbending. Her -8 ability, however, makes each land you control immune to destruction enabling you to put onto the battlefield your remaining Forests from your library. Once you trigger this power, it almost certainly game over.

The cub is pretty much essential for any kind of green-based Avatar strategies built around the earthbend mechanic. If you dip into red-green, you can use Bumi Unleashed. This card features earthbend 4, plus if he deals combat damage in combat, land creatures are ready again for another attack. While that version has emerged as a fan favorite Commander, the cute little Badgermole Cub is set to be among the top, possibly the desired card in the Avatar set.