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Magic: The Gathering’s Avatar crossover set will not become widely available until later this week, however following pre-releases over the last few days, a low-cost green spell experienced a surge in price.

From the initial reveals, the earthbending cub garnered widespread focus. A 2/2 that costs G and 1 mana, it includes Earthbending 1 (perhaps the best of the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The real boon with this card comes from another power: Each time a creature is tapped to produce mana, you gain one extra green mana.

Initially, the card could be purchased at around $27. After the pre-release weekend, though, the going rate has shot up to nearly $50 with at least one listed priced at sixty dollars. The reason for premium pricing on this adorable card? Mostly due to the incredible mana acceleration it enables.

Upon entering the battlefield, Badgermole Cub converts a land so it becomes a creature that has earthbending. Combined with its other power, while it stays in play, those lands generates double mana — along with mana-producing creatures in your control that produce resources.

The obvious go-to for maximum effect includes Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 that produces a green resource. But many other mana generation creatures available. This particular druid is a higher-cost choice with stats 1/3 at a two-mana value as an alternative.

By playing lands, creatures that tap for mana, plus the cub, you can easily get a massive and very expensive creature into play early in the game. The situation escalates rapidly with continued aggression from there.

By incorporating another color in this strategy, examples including Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are all great options that generate all five colors. Additionally, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove lets you play one extra land each turn plus makes every land you control providing all land types. Another possibility is for example the enchantment A Realm Reborn, at a six-mana investment gives all of your permanents the capacity to tap and generate one mana of any color — even each creature under your control.

Badgermole Cub may be OP regarding boosting mana production, but how do you win for a deck like this? An often-seen solution has been Ashaya. Power and toughness are set by how many lands you have, and it changes your non-token creatures into Forests in addition to their other types. Essentially, all your creatures on your board may generate two green mana by tapping.

Harmonious Grovestrider provides a high-cost, powerful body that benefits from many terrain cards (similar to Ashaya, P/T are equal to your land total).

This Planeswalker fits really well in this deck. Her passive ability causes Forest lands tap for one more G. (Combined with earthbend, this results in all earthbend forests generate three green mana.) Her main ability is essentially an early earthbend, putting +1/+1 counters to a noncreature land, a useful effect but it isn't redundant with earthbending. Her -8 ability, though, renders each land you control immune to destruction enabling you to search for your remaining Forests in your deck. If you can actually activate that ability, it almost certainly game over.

Badgermole Cub is nearly mandatory for any kind of decks using green and Avatar that use Earthbending. If you dip into red-green, you can use Bumi. He has level 4 earthbending, and if it hits a player in combat, land creatures become untapped and can attack again. Although this card has become a popular Commander choice, the cub is set to be one of the most, maybe the desired card from this expansion.