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Magic: The Gathering’s special Avatar expansion will not get a wider release until later this week, but following prerelease weekends this past weekend, one cheap green card experienced a surge in value.

From the initial reveals, this small creature attracted significant interest. A creature with stats 2/2 requiring G and 1 mana, Badgermole Cub includes level 1 earthbending (perhaps the strongest of the elemental mechanics available). Its key advantage in its design is another power: Whenever a creature is tapped to produce mana, it provides bonus green mana.

At its cheapest, Badgermole Cub was available below $30. After the pre-release weekend, though, its value has shot up to $49.66 and one seller offering for sale at $60.00. What explains premium pricing on this adorable card? Mostly thanks to the explosive mana ramping it can produce.

Upon entering the board, this creature transforms one land to a creature land with earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, if it stays in play, each affected land generates double mana — plus mana-producing creatures on your side that generate mana.

A clear choice to combine with includes the classic Llanowar Elves, an inexpensive 1/1 that produces G mana. But numerous creatures that make mana available. Another option is a more expensive alternative a 1/3 creature for two mana as an alternative.

By playing lands, dorks that generate resources, and Badgermole Cub, it's simple to summon an enormous high-cost creature on the board early in the game. And things just keep spiraling rapidly if you keep the pressure on from there.

If you dip into another color in this strategy, options such as Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are all great options which produce any color of mana. Additionally, a useful enchantment creature enables playing an additional land per turn as well as makes your entire land base so they count as all basics. Another possibility is for example the enchantment A Realm Reborn, at a six-mana investment gives all of your permanents the capacity to produce one mana of any color — including each creature you have on the board.

This card could be too strong in terms of accelerating your resources, however what closes out the game with this archetype? One obvious and popular answer is Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Its stats match how many lands you have, and it makes each creature you own into Forests along with other subtypes. In other words, every single creature on your board can generate two green mana when tapped.

Another creature is another expensive, beefy creature which gains from a high land count (like Ashaya, P/T are equal to how many lands you have).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World works perfectly in this deck. Her static effect causes every Forest tap for one more G. (Combined with earthbend, that means each one produce triple green.) Her plus ability acts as a form of land animation, putting +1/+1 counters on a land, handy but it isn't redundant with the cub's ability. Her ultimate, though, makes all of your lands immune to destruction and allows you to search for all the remaining forests in your deck. Should you manage to use that ability, this typically means game over.

This card is nearly mandatory in any decks using green and Avatar focusing on the earthbend mechanic. When branching into red and green, you can use Bumi Unleashed. He has earthbend 4, and when damage is dealt to an opponent, each animated land untap and may attack once more. While that version has become a beloved leader, this small creature will surely stay among the top, possibly the popular pick from this expansion.