One of Avatar's cutest MTG cards proves to be a powerful compact powerhouse.

Magic: The Gathering’s Avatar crossover set will not become widely available until later this week, yet following early access events recently, a low-cost green spell experienced a surge in price.

Throughout the spoiler season, this small creature attracted widespread focus. A 2/2 requiring one green and one colorless mana, Badgermole Cub has Earthbending 1 (arguably the best within the elemental mechanics available). The major perk here comes from its second ability: Whenever mana is generated by tapping a creature, it provides bonus green mana.

When first listed, the card sold for $26.98. Post-prerelease, yet, the market price has shot up to nearly $50 including listings priced at sixty dollars. What explains Vivi prices for this cute lil guy? Primarily due to the rapid resource generation it enables.

Upon entering the board, Badgermole Cub transforms a land into a creature that has earthbending. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, as long as it stays in play, each affected land produces twice the mana — in addition to other creatures on your side that produce resources.

The obvious go-to to combine with includes this one-mana elf, a cheap 1/1 which can be tapped for G mana. Yet there are plenty of alternative mana dorks in the game. Another option is a more expensive alternative with stats 1/3 at a two-mana value instead.

Deploying terrain, mana-producing creatures, alongside this card, you can easily get a massive pricey monster on the battlefield by round three or four. Momentum builds exponentially if you keep the pressure on after that.

If you dip into a secondary color using this method, cards like versatile mana producers work perfectly that can make any mana color. And something like Dryad of the Ilysian Grove enables playing another terrain each turn plus turns every land you control providing all land types. You can also consider for example a card called A Realm Reborn, at a six-mana investment grants every card you own the capacity to be tapped for any color mana — which covers each creature you have on the board.

Badgermole Cub may be OP regarding ramping up your mana generation, yet what’s the endgame finisher with this archetype? One obvious and popular answer has been Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Its power and toughness are set by how many lands you have, and it changes each creature you own into Forests along with their original types. This means, each creature in play can generate two green mana when tapped.

This additional option provides a high-cost, powerful body that thrives with many terrain cards (similar to Ashaya, P/T match your land total).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World works perfectly in this deck. Her static effect causes all Forests produce extra green. (With a Badgermole Cub, that means each one produce triple green.) Her plus ability is essentially a proto-earthbend, putting +1/+1 counters to a noncreature land, a useful effect but does not overlap with the cub's ability. Her ultimate, though, renders all of your lands indestructible and allows you to put onto the battlefield every Forest left from your library. If you can actually activate this power, it almost certainly the game ends.

The cub is pretty much essential in any green Avatar deck that use Earthbending. By including Gruul colors, you can use this legendary card. It possesses earthbend 4, and when it hits a player to a player, all land creatures are ready again for another attack. Even though Bumi has emerged as a fan favorite Commander, the cute little Badgermole Cub will surely stay one of the most, maybe the desired card in the collaboration.