🔗 Share this article Among the Avatar-themed most charming Magic cards is a powerful compact powerhouse. the popular card game’s Avatar crossover set will not become widely available before the end of the week, but after early access events over the last few days, one cheap green card saw a sharp rise in value. Even during previews, this small creature attracted widespread focus. This two-power, two-toughness priced at one green and one colorless mana, Badgermole Cub includes level 1 earthbending (perhaps the strongest among the set’s four “bending” mechanics). Its key advantage with this card comes from an additional effect: If a creature is tapped to produce mana, you gain one extra green mana. When first listed, the card could be purchased below $30. Post-prerelease, however, its value jumped to $49.66 and one seller offering as high as $60. What explains Vivi prices for this little creature? Mostly thanks to the rapid resource generation it can produce. Upon entering play, Badgermole Cub transforms a land into a creature granting it earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, if it stays in play, each affected land yields two mana instead of one — along with any creatures in your control which tap for mana. The obvious go-to for synergy would be Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 that taps to generate a green resource. Yet numerous other mana generation creatures out there. This particular druid is a higher-cost choice that’s a 1/3 costing two mana in comparison. Deploying terrain, mana-producing creatures, alongside this card, it's simple to summon a massive and very expensive threat on the battlefield within a few turns. The situation escalates exponentially if you keep the pressure on from there. When adding another color in this strategy, examples including these mana-fixing creatures are excellent picks which produce all five colors. Another card, this powerful dryad enables playing another terrain every round AND makes your entire land base so they count as all basics. Another possibility is for example a card called A Realm Reborn, costing six mana gives every card you own the power to tap and generate one mana of any color — including each creature you have on the board. This card may be OP when it comes to accelerating your resources, however how do you win in such a strategy? One obvious and popular answer is this legendary creature. Its power and toughness match your land count, and it makes each creature you own to be Forests along with their original types. This means, each creature you control can generate two green mana by tapping. This additional option is another expensive, beefy creature which gains from a high land count (similar to Ashaya, its power and toughness match your land total). Nissa, Who Shakes the World is an excellent fit as a go-to Planeswalker. Her passive ability allows every Forest produce extra green. (With a Badgermole Cub, that means each one yield three G.) Her plus ability is essentially an early earthbend, adding counters on a land, handy but it isn't redundant with the cub's ability. Her ultimate, on the other hand, makes your entire land base unbreakable and lets you search for all the remaining forests in the deck. Should you manage to use that ability, this typically means game over. Badgermole Cub is pretty much essential in any decks using green and Avatar built around earthbend. By including red and green, there’s Bumi. This card features level 4 earthbending, plus if he deals combat damage in combat, each animated land are ready again and may attack once more. While that version has become a fan favorite Commander, the cub is set to be one of the most, maybe the desired card in the Avatar set.