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MTG’s special Avatar expansion isn't set to become widely available until later this week, but due to prerelease weekends recently, one cheap green card saw a sharp rise in market worth.

Even during previews, Badgermole Cub attracted widespread focus. A creature with stats 2/2 priced at G and 1 mana, the card includes level 1 earthbending (perhaps the strongest of the elemental mechanics available). The real boon with this card comes from another power: Whenever a creature is tapped to produce mana, it provides bonus green mana.

When first listed, the card sold below $30. After the pre-release weekend, yet, the market price has shot up to $49.66 with at least one listed as high as $60. Why are we seeing such high costs on this adorable card? Primarily because of the explosive mana ramping it enables.

As it hits play, the cub transforms a land so it becomes a creature with earthbend. Combined with its other power, as long as it is not removed, those lands generates double mana — plus any creatures in your control that produce resources.

A clear choice for synergy includes this one-mana elf, a low-cost creature which can be tapped for G mana. However numerous alternative mana dorks in the game. This particular druid is a more expensive alternative a 1/3 creature costing two mana instead.

Using land cards, mana-producing creatures, plus the cub, you can easily get a very big and very expensive creature on the board early in the game. The situation escalates rapidly by maintaining dominance after that.

When adding an additional hue with this approach, cards like these mana-fixing creatures work perfectly that can make any color of mana. Additionally, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove lets you play an additional land every round as well as makes every land you control into every basic land type. It's also worth trying such as a card called A Realm Reborn, which for six mana provides every card you own the ability to be tapped for a mana of any type — even all creatures you have on the board.

The cub could be too strong regarding ramping up your mana generation, however what closes out the game in such a strategy? An often-seen solution already is this legendary creature. Its stats are set by the number of lands you control, and it makes your non-token creatures into Forests along with their original types. In other words, every single creature you control can generate two green mana when tapped.

Another creature provides a high-cost, powerful body that benefits from many terrain cards (as with the previous card, its power and toughness are based on your land total).

Nissa works perfectly as a staple. Her passive ability makes Forest lands produce extra green. (With a Badgermole Cub, so those lands yield three G.) One loyalty ability is essentially a form of land animation, placing counters on a land, which is great but does not overlap with the cub's ability. Her ultimate, on the other hand, grants your entire land base unbreakable enabling you to draw out every Forest left in the deck. Should you manage to use the ultimate, this typically means the game ends.

This card is a must-have in any green Avatar deck built around earthbend. When branching into red and green, you can use Bumi Unleashed. It possesses earthbend 4, and when it hits a player to a player, each animated land are ready again and may attack once more. Even though Bumi has emerged as a beloved leader, the cub is definitely going to remain among the top, possibly the popular pick in the Avatar set.