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the popular card game’s collaboration with Avatar isn't set to become widely available before the end of the week, however after prerelease weekends recently, a low-cost green spell saw a sharp rise in value.

Throughout the spoiler season, Badgermole Cub garnered significant interest. This two-power, two-toughness that costs a single green and one generic mana, it has Earthbending 1 (possibly the strongest of the four bending abilities in the set). The real boon with this card is an additional effect: Each time a creature is tapped to produce mana, you gain one extra green mana.

Initially, the card could be purchased for $26.98. After the pre-release weekend, yet, the market price escalated to $49.66 including listings as high as $60. Why are we seeing premium pricing for this cute lil guy? Primarily because of the explosive mana ramping it enables.

When it arrives the battlefield, Badgermole Cub converts a terrain card into a creature granting it earthbend. And with that second ability, as long as it is not removed, those lands generates double mana — plus mana-producing creatures you have that produce resources.

The obvious go-to for maximum effect is Llanowar Elves, an inexpensive 1/1 which can be tapped for G mana. However many creatures that make mana available. This particular druid costs a bit more with stats 1/3 at a two-mana value instead.

By playing lands, mana-producing creatures, and Badgermole Cub, it's simple to summon a massive high-cost threat on the board early in the game. And things just keep spiraling rapidly with continued aggression from there.

By incorporating a secondary color using this method, options such as Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid work perfectly that generate all five colors. Additionally, this powerful dryad allows you to put another terrain every round plus transforms all of your lands providing all land types. You can also consider something like a card called A Realm Reborn, costing six mana provides each permanent you control the ability to tap and generate any color mana — which covers each creature in play.

The cub could be too strong regarding boosting mana production, however what closes out the game in such a strategy? One obvious and popular answer already is this legendary creature. Its power and toughness are set by how many lands you have, and it makes each creature you own to be Forests as well as their original types. This means, all your creatures in play can produce double green if used for mana.

Harmonious Grovestrider is a costly, large threat that thrives with lots of lands (like Ashaya, its stats are equal to the number of lands you control).

Nissa works perfectly as a go-to Planeswalker. One of her abilities causes every Forest generate an additional green mana. (If you have the cub, that means all earthbend forests produce triple green.) Her main ability functions like an early earthbend, putting +1/+1 counters on a land, handy but it isn't redundant with earthbend. Her ultimate, though, makes each land you control immune to destruction and lets you search for all the remaining forests in your deck. Once you trigger that ability, it almost certainly you win.

Badgermole Cub is a must-have for all decks using green and Avatar that use Earthbending. If you dip into Gruul colors, you can use Bumi. He has level 4 earthbending, plus if damage is dealt to a player, land creatures become untapped and may attack once more. Although this card has become a popular Commander choice, the cute little Badgermole Cub is definitely going to remain among the top, possibly the sought-after card from this expansion.