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MTG’s special Avatar expansion won’t get a wider release in the coming days, however following early access events recently, one cheap green card experienced a surge in price.

Even during previews, Badgermole Cub drew widespread focus. A 2/2 that costs one green and one colorless mana, Badgermole Cub includes level 1 earthbending (possibly the most effective within the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The real boon with this card comes from its second ability: If you tap a creature for mana, you gain one extra green mana.

When first listed, this card could be purchased at around $27. After the pre-release weekend, though, its value escalated above $45 including listings for sale at $60.00. Why are we seeing such high costs for this cute lil guy? Primarily because of the explosive mana ramping it can produce.

When it arrives the battlefield, Badgermole Cub turns one land to a creature land granting it earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, as long as it stays in play, those lands generates double mana — along with any creatures in your control which tap for mana.

An ideal partner to combine with includes this one-mana elf, a cheap 1/1 that produces one green mana. Yet numerous creatures that make mana out there. This particular druid costs a bit more with stats 1/3 at a two-mana value as an alternative.

Using land cards, dorks that generate resources, plus the cub, you can easily get a massive high-cost creature into play by round three or four. And things just keep spiraling rapidly with continued aggression from there.

By incorporating an additional hue in this strategy, options such as versatile mana producers work perfectly that can make any color of mana. Additionally, a useful enchantment creature allows you to put another terrain each turn as well as turns all of your lands into every basic land type. It's also worth trying for example a card called A Realm Reborn, at a six-mana investment gives each permanent you control the power to produce a mana of any type — even all creatures you have on the board.

Badgermole Cub could be too strong regarding accelerating your resources, but how do you win in such a strategy? A common and powerful choice already is Ashaya. Its power and toughness are both equal to how many lands you have, and it changes your non-token creatures Forests as well as their original types. This means, each creature in play may produce double green when tapped.

Another creature is another expensive, beefy creature which gains from a high land count (as with the previous card, its stats match your land total).

This Planeswalker works perfectly in this deck. One of her abilities causes Forest lands generate an additional green mana. (If you have the cub, so all earthbend forests produce triple green.) Her plus ability is essentially a form of land animation, putting +1/+1 counters on terrain, handy but it isn't redundant with earthbending. Her ultimate, on the other hand, renders each land you control unbreakable and allows you to search for your remaining Forests in your deck. Once you trigger this power, this typically means the game ends.

This card is a must-have for any kind of green Avatar deck that use the earthbend mechanic. When branching into Gruul colors, you can use Bumi. He has earthbend 4, and when damage is dealt in combat, land creatures untap for another attack. While that version has become a popular Commander choice, the cub is set to be one of, if not the most popular pick in the Avatar set.