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MTG’s Avatar crossover set won’t get a wider release until later this week, but due to pre-releases this past weekend, an affordable green creature experienced a surge in price.

Throughout the spoiler season, this small creature drew a lot of attention. A creature with stats 2/2 priced at G and 1 mana, it has the Earthbend 1 ability (possibly the most effective within the four bending abilities in the set). The major perk with this card comes from its second ability: Whenever you tap a creature for mana, you gain one extra green mana.

Initially, Badgermole Cub was available for $26.98. Post-prerelease, though, the market price escalated above $45 with at least one listed for sale at $60.00. Why are we seeing premium pricing on this adorable card? Primarily because of the explosive mana ramping it enables.

When it arrives play, Badgermole Cub converts a land to a creature land granting it earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, while it stays in play, every earthbent land yields two mana instead of one — plus other creatures in your control that generate mana.

A clear choice for synergy includes this one-mana elf, a low-cost creature that produces a green resource. But numerous alternative mana dorks in the game. Druid of the Cowl is a more expensive alternative that’s a 1/3 at a two-mana value instead.

Using land cards, mana-producing creatures, alongside this card, you can easily get a massive pricey threat into play early in the game. Momentum builds exponentially with continued aggression from that point.

By incorporating a secondary color with this approach, cards like versatile mana producers are all great options that can make all five colors. And something like Dryad of the Ilysian Grove enables playing another terrain each turn AND turns your entire land base providing all land types. You can also consider such as the enchantment A Realm Reborn, costing six mana provides all of your permanents the capacity to be tapped for one mana of any color — including any creature in play.

This card may be OP in terms of boosting mana production, however what’s the endgame finisher for a deck like this? An often-seen solution is Ashaya. Its stats are set by how many lands you have, plus it turns all of your nontoken creatures into Forests in addition to other subtypes. Essentially, all your creatures on your board can tap for two G if used for mana.

Another creature is another expensive, beefy creature which gains from many terrain cards (as with the previous card, its power and toughness are equal to how many lands you have).

Nissa is an excellent fit as a staple. Her passive ability allows every Forest generate an additional green mana. (With a Badgermole Cub, this results in all earthbend forests produce triple green.) Her main ability is essentially a form of land animation, adding counters to a noncreature land, a useful effect but does not overlap with earthbend. Her -8 ability, however, makes all of your lands immune to destruction and allows you to draw out your remaining Forests in the deck. Once you trigger this power, it almost certainly you win.

The cub is a must-have for any kind of green-based Avatar strategies focusing on the earthbend mechanic. If you dip into red-green, there’s Bumi. It possesses earthbend 4, and if it hits a player to a player, all land creatures are ready again and can attack again. While that version is a beloved leader, the cute little Badgermole Cub is definitely going to remain one of the most, maybe the sought-after card in the collaboration.