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Magic: The Gathering’s special Avatar expansion won’t hit the general market before the end of the week, but following prerelease weekends recently, one cheap green card experienced a surge in market worth.

From the initial reveals, this small creature garnered widespread focus. This two-power, two-toughness that costs a single green and one generic mana, Badgermole Cub features the Earthbend 1 ability (arguably the best among the elemental mechanics available). The major perk here lies in its second ability: Each time you tap a creature for mana, you gain one extra green mana.

At its cheapest, Badgermole Cub sold below $30. Following the early events, however, the going rate escalated to $49.66 and one seller offering as high as $60. The reason for Vivi prices for this cute lil guy? Primarily because of the rapid resource generation it can produce.

Upon entering the battlefield, Badgermole Cub transforms a land so it becomes a creature that has earthbending. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, if it stays in play, those lands generates double mana — along with other creatures you have which tap for mana.

The obvious go-to for synergy is this one-mana elf, a cheap 1/1 which can be tapped for a green resource. But there are plenty of alternative mana dorks in the game. Druid of the Cowl is a higher-cost choice that’s a 1/3 at a two-mana value instead.

Deploying terrain, mana-producing creatures, alongside this card, you may quickly play a massive pricey creature into play by round three or four. And things just keep spiraling out of control if you keep the pressure on from that point.

By incorporating another color using this method, cards like versatile mana producers work perfectly which produce any mana color. Additionally, a useful enchantment creature lets you play one extra land per turn AND turns every land you control into every basic land type. You can also consider such as the enchantment A Realm Reborn, at a six-mana investment provides each permanent you control the ability to be tapped for any color mana — even all creatures in play.

This card could be too strong regarding boosting mana production, but what’s the endgame finisher with this archetype? An often-seen solution has been Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Power and toughness are both equal to the number of lands you control, and it makes your non-token creatures to be Forests in addition to their other types. This means, all your creatures in play may tap for two G when tapped.

Another creature is another expensive, beefy creature which gains from a high land count (similar to Ashaya, its stats are based on your land total).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World fits really well as a staple. Her static effect makes all Forests tap for one more G. (If you have the cub, that means all earthbend forests generate three green mana.) Her plus ability is essentially a proto-earthbend, adding counters on terrain, which is great but does not overlap with the cub's ability. Her -8 ability, though, makes your entire land base indestructible and lets you search for every Forest left in your deck. Should you manage to use that ability, this typically means game over.

The cub is a must-have for all green Avatar deck focusing on Earthbending. By including red-green, consider Bumi. This card features earthbend 4, and when damage is dealt in combat, all land creatures become untapped and may attack once more. Even though Bumi is a beloved leader, this small creature is set to be among the top, possibly the desired card from this expansion.