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the popular card game’s special Avatar expansion will not get a wider release in the coming days, but after prerelease weekends recently, an affordable green creature saw a sharp rise in market worth.

Even during previews, this small creature drew significant interest. A 2/2 priced at a single green and one generic mana, it includes level 1 earthbending (possibly the best within the elemental mechanics available). Its key advantage here comes from an additional effect: Each time you tap a creature for mana, you gain one extra green mana.

At its cheapest, this card was available below $30. After the pre-release weekend, yet, the going rate has shot up above $45 and one seller offering priced at sixty dollars. The reason for Vivi prices on this adorable card? Mainly because of the explosive mana ramping it can produce.

Upon entering the battlefield, Badgermole Cub transforms one land so it becomes a creature granting it earthbend. Combined with its other power, while it remains on the board, those lands generates double mana — along with mana-producing creatures in your control that produce resources.

A clear choice to combine with includes the classic Llanowar Elves, an inexpensive 1/1 which can be tapped for one green mana. But many other mana generation creatures available. Druid of the Cowl is a more expensive alternative a 1/3 creature for two mana in comparison.

Deploying terrain, mana-producing creatures, and Badgermole Cub, you can easily get a massive and very expensive threat on the board early in the game. Momentum builds rapidly with continued aggression from that point.

If you dip into an additional hue with this approach, options such as Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are excellent picks that generate any mana color. And something like a useful enchantment creature enables playing one extra land each turn AND transforms all of your lands so they count as all basics. Another possibility is such as a card called A Realm Reborn, at a six-mana investment gives every card you own the ability to produce any color mana — even all creatures in play.

The cub could be too strong in terms of ramping up your mana generation, but what’s the endgame finisher with this archetype? One obvious and popular answer already is this legendary creature. Its power and toughness are both equal to how many lands you have, and it makes all of your nontoken creatures into Forests along with their original types. Essentially, every single creature on your board can produce double green by tapping.

Another creature is a costly, large threat that benefits from a high land count (as with the previous card, its stats match your land total).

Nissa fits really well in this deck. Her static effect makes every Forest generate an additional green mana. (If you have the cub, that means all earthbend forests produce triple green.) Her main ability acts as a form of land animation, placing counters on terrain, handy but it isn't redundant with earthbend. The minus ability, however, makes all of your lands indestructible and allows you to search for your remaining Forests from your library. If you can actually activate that ability, it’s pretty much game over.

Badgermole Cub is nearly mandatory in any green-based Avatar strategies focusing on the earthbend mechanic. By including red and green, consider Bumi. He has earthbend 4, and when damage is dealt to an opponent, each animated land untap and can attack again. While that version is a popular Commander choice, the cute little Badgermole Cub will surely stay one of, if not the most desired card in the collaboration.