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MTG’s special Avatar expansion will not hit the general market in the coming days, but following prerelease weekends over the last few days, one cheap green card has already exploded in value.

Even during previews, the earthbending cub garnered widespread focus. A 2/2 requiring G and 1 mana, it has the Earthbend 1 ability (possibly the best of the elemental mechanics available). The major perk with this card is its second ability: If mana is generated by tapping a creature, it provides bonus green mana.

At its cheapest, the card sold for $26.98. Following the early events, yet, its value jumped above $45 with at least one listed priced at sixty dollars. The reason for premium pricing for this cute lil guy? Mostly thanks to the rapid resource generation it enables.

When it arrives the battlefield, Badgermole Cub transforms one land so it becomes a creature granting it earthbend. Combined with its other power, if it is not removed, every earthbent land generates double mana — plus any creatures on your side which tap for mana.

A clear choice to combine with is the classic Llanowar Elves, an inexpensive 1/1 which can be tapped for a green resource. Yet many alternative mana dorks out there. Druid of the Cowl is a more expensive alternative a 1/3 creature for two mana as an alternative.

Deploying terrain, dorks that generate resources, and Badgermole Cub, you can easily get a very big high-cost threat on the battlefield within a few turns. And things just keep spiraling exponentially with continued aggression after that.

By incorporating a secondary color using this method, examples including Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are excellent picks which produce any mana color. Additionally, this powerful dryad lets you play another terrain each turn plus makes your entire land base providing all land types. It's also worth trying for example a card called A Realm Reborn, costing six mana provides every card you own the power to be tapped for any color mana — including any creature in play.

The cub may be OP in terms of accelerating your resources, however what closes out the game for a deck like this? One obvious and popular answer has been Ashaya. Its stats are set by the number of lands you control, and it makes all of your nontoken creatures Forests in addition to their original types. Essentially, each creature on your board may produce double green when tapped.

Harmonious Grovestrider provides a high-cost, powerful body that benefits from lots of lands (as with the previous card, its power and toughness are based on the number of lands you control).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World fits really well in this deck. One of her abilities causes all Forests produce extra green. (With a Badgermole Cub, so each one yield three G.) Her main ability acts as a proto-earthbend, putting +1/+1 counters to a noncreature land, a useful effect but it isn't redundant with earthbend. The minus ability, on the other hand, grants each land you control unbreakable enabling you to search for every Forest left in your deck. If you can actually activate that ability, this typically means the game ends.

Badgermole Cub is nearly mandatory for any kind of decks using green and Avatar focusing on Earthbending. By including red and green, consider this legendary card. It possesses earthbend 4, plus if it hits a player to an opponent, land creatures are ready again and may attack once more. Even though Bumi has emerged as a popular Commander choice, the cub is definitely going to remain one of, if not the most desired card in the collaboration.