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Magic: The Gathering’s Avatar crossover set isn't set to become widely available in the coming days, yet due to prerelease weekends this past weekend, a low-cost green spell experienced a surge in value.

Throughout the spoiler season, Badgermole Cub garnered significant interest. A creature with stats 2/2 that costs G and 1 mana, it features level 1 earthbending (possibly the strongest within the four bending abilities in the set). The real boon here comes from its second ability: Whenever 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 has shot up above $45 including listings priced at sixty dollars. What explains premium pricing for this little creature? Mostly due to the incredible mana acceleration it can produce.

When it arrives the battlefield, the cub transforms a land to a creature land with earthbend. Combined with its other power, as long as it stays in play, each affected land produces twice the mana — in addition to any creatures on your side which tap for mana.

The obvious go-to for maximum effect includes this one-mana elf, a cheap 1/1 that produces a green resource. However many alternative mana dorks out there. This particular druid costs a bit more a 1/3 creature costing two mana instead.

Using land cards, dorks that generate resources, alongside this card, you may quickly play an enormous pricey monster on the battlefield early in the game. Momentum builds rapidly by maintaining dominance after that.

If you dip into another color using this method, cards like Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are excellent picks that generate any mana color. Another card, a useful enchantment creature lets you play one extra land every round plus turns all of your lands into every basic land type. Another possibility is such as the enchantment A Realm Reborn, costing six mana gives each permanent you control the power to tap and generate any color mana — which covers any creature under your control.

Badgermole Cub may be OP when it comes to accelerating your resources, however what closes out the game with this archetype? One obvious and popular answer already is Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Its stats are set by your land count, and it makes all of your nontoken creatures Forests in addition to their other types. This means, all your creatures you control can tap for two G by tapping.

Another creature is another expensive, beefy creature that benefits from a high land count (as with the previous card, its stats match your land total).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World fits really well as a staple. Her static effect causes every Forest generate an additional green mana. (With a Badgermole Cub, so each one generate three green mana.) Her plus ability acts as a proto-earthbend, putting +1/+1 counters on a land, which is great though it doesn't stack with earthbend. Her -8 ability, however, grants each land you control unbreakable enabling you to search for your remaining Forests from your library. Once you trigger that ability, it’s pretty much you win.

The cub is a must-have for any kind of decks using green and Avatar that use earthbend. By including red-green, you can use Bumi Unleashed. He has earthbend 4, plus if he deals combat damage to a player, each animated land are ready again and may attack once more. While that version has become a popular Commander choice, the cub will surely stay one of, if not the most desired card in the collaboration.