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MTG’s special Avatar expansion won’t become widely available in the coming days, yet following prerelease weekends recently, one cheap green card saw a sharp rise in market worth.

Even during previews, the earthbending cub garnered significant interest. A 2/2 requiring a single green and one generic mana, the card features Earthbending 1 (arguably the best of the four bending abilities in the set). The real boon in its design is an additional effect: Each time a creature is tapped to produce mana, add an additional green mana.

Initially, Badgermole Cub could be purchased at around $27. After the pre-release weekend, though, its value has shot up to nearly $50 and one seller offering for sale at $60.00. Why are we seeing Vivi prices on this adorable card? Primarily due to the rapid resource generation it enables.

As it hits play, Badgermole Cub turns a terrain card into a creature granting it earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, as long as it stays in play, every earthbent land yields two mana instead of one — in addition to mana-producing creatures on your side which tap for mana.

A clear choice for maximum effect would be this one-mana elf, an inexpensive 1/1 that produces one green mana. Yet numerous other mana generation creatures out there. Another option is a more expensive alternative that’s a 1/3 at a two-mana value as an alternative.

Using land cards, dorks that generate resources, plus the cub, it's simple to summon an enormous and very expensive threat on the battlefield early in the game. The situation escalates exponentially if you keep the pressure on from that point.

By incorporating a secondary color using this method, options such as versatile mana producers work perfectly that generate any color of mana. Another card, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove lets you play one extra land each turn AND makes all of your lands into every basic land type. You can also consider such as this six-mana enchantment, at a six-mana investment gives each permanent you control the capacity to produce a mana of any type — including all creatures in play.

The cub may be OP when it comes to accelerating your resources, but what’s the endgame finisher in such a strategy? A common and powerful choice is Ashaya. Its stats match your land count, plus it turns your non-token creatures into Forests along with their original types. Essentially, all your creatures you control can produce double green when tapped.

This additional option is another expensive, beefy creature which gains from many terrain cards (like Ashaya, its stats are equal to your land total).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World is an excellent fit as a go-to Planeswalker. Her static effect allows all Forests tap for one more G. (Combined with earthbend, so those lands produce triple green.) Her main ability acts as a form of land animation, putting +1/+1 counters on terrain, handy though it doesn't stack with earthbend. Her ultimate, on the other hand, grants each land you control unbreakable enabling you to search for every Forest left in your deck. Should you manage to use that ability, it almost certainly the game ends.

Badgermole Cub is pretty much essential in any green Avatar deck built around earthbend. By including red and green, consider this legendary card. He has earthbend 4, plus if damage is dealt in combat, each animated land are ready again for another attack. Although this card is a popular Commander choice, the cub is set to be one of the most, maybe the sought-after card from this expansion.