Among Avatar's most adorable MTG cards proves to be a formidable compact contender.

Magic: The Gathering’s Avatar crossover set won’t hit the general market before the end of the week, but due to prerelease weekends over the last few days, one cheap green card experienced a surge in price.

From the initial reveals, Badgermole Cub attracted significant interest. A creature with stats 2/2 that costs one green and one colorless mana, it includes the Earthbend 1 ability (perhaps the most effective among the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The real boon in its design comes from another power: Whenever a creature is tapped to produce mana, it provides bonus green mana.

At its cheapest, Badgermole Cub could be purchased for $26.98. Following the early events, however, the going rate escalated to nearly $50 with at least one listed priced at sixty dollars. What explains such high costs on this adorable card? Mainly because of the incredible mana acceleration it can produce.

When it arrives play, Badgermole Cub converts a land to a creature land with earthbend. Combined with its other power, as long as it stays in play, those lands yields two mana instead of one — along with any creatures you have that produce resources.

An ideal partner to combine with would be the classic Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 that taps to generate one green mana. However numerous other mana generation creatures out there. This particular druid is a higher-cost choice that’s a 1/3 for two mana in comparison.

By playing lands, mana-producing creatures, alongside this card, it's simple to summon an enormous and very expensive monster on the board by round three or four. And things just keep spiraling out of control with continued aggression from there.

By incorporating another color using this method, options such as these mana-fixing creatures work perfectly that can make any color of mana. Another card, a useful enchantment creature allows you to put one extra land per turn AND turns your entire land base so they count as all basics. You can also consider for example this six-mana enchantment, costing six mana provides every card you own the capacity to be tapped for a mana of any type — even any creature under your control.

This card could be too strong when it comes to boosting mana production, but what’s the endgame finisher with this archetype? One obvious and popular answer already is Ashaya. Power and toughness are both equal to your land count, and it changes your non-token creatures Forests as well as their other types. Essentially, each creature you control is able to tap for two G when tapped.

Another creature is a costly, large threat that thrives with a high land count (as with the previous card, P/T are based on how many lands you have).

Nissa fits really well as a staple. Her passive ability makes Forest lands produce extra green. (Combined with earthbend, so those lands yield three G.) One loyalty ability is essentially an early earthbend, placing counters to a noncreature land, handy but it isn't redundant with earthbend. Her ultimate, however, renders your entire land base unbreakable and allows you to search for your remaining Forests from your library. If you can actually activate the ultimate, this typically means game over.

The cub is nearly mandatory in any decks using green and Avatar focusing on Earthbending. When branching into red-green, consider Bumi. It possesses level 4 earthbending, and if he deals combat damage in combat, all land creatures untap and can attack again. Even though Bumi is a popular Commander choice, this small creature is definitely going to remain among the top, possibly the desired card in the Avatar set.