One of the Avatar-themed most charming Magic cards turns out to be a powerful small powerhouse.

the popular card game’s collaboration with Avatar will not get a wider release before the end of the week, however after pre-releases recently, one cheap green card saw a sharp rise in price.

From the initial reveals, Badgermole Cub attracted significant interest. This two-power, two-toughness requiring one green and one colorless mana, the card features the Earthbend 1 ability (possibly the most effective of the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The major perk in its design comes from another power: Whenever you tap a creature for mana, add an additional green mana.

At its cheapest, Badgermole Cub was available for $26.98. Post-prerelease, yet, the going rate has shot up to nearly $50 and one seller offering priced at sixty dollars. The reason for such high costs for this cute lil guy? Primarily because of the explosive mana ramping it provides.

As it hits the board, Badgermole Cub transforms a land to a creature land granting it earthbend. And with that second ability, as long as it is not removed, every earthbent land yields two mana instead of one — plus any creatures on your side that produce resources.

An ideal partner for synergy would be the classic Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 which can be tapped for one green mana. Yet many creatures that make mana in the game. Another option is a more expensive alternative with stats 1/3 costing two mana in comparison.

Using land cards, mana-producing creatures, and Badgermole Cub, you can easily get a very big and very expensive monster into play by round three or four. The situation escalates out of control with continued aggression from that point.

When adding another color in this strategy, cards like these mana-fixing creatures work perfectly that generate any mana color. And something like a useful enchantment creature enables playing one extra land per turn plus turns every land you control so they count as all basics. It's also worth trying for example the enchantment A Realm Reborn, at a six-mana investment provides all of your permanents the power to produce any color mana — even all creatures you have on the board.

Badgermole Cub could be too strong in terms of ramping up your mana generation, however how do you win with this archetype? An often-seen solution is Ashaya. Its power and toughness are both equal to the number of lands you control, and it changes your non-token creatures into Forests as well as other subtypes. Essentially, each creature you control may tap for two G by tapping.

This additional option is another expensive, beefy creature that thrives with lots of lands (similar to Ashaya, its power and toughness are based on your land total).

This Planeswalker works perfectly in this deck. Her static effect causes all Forests produce extra green. (With a Badgermole Cub, this results in each one yield three G.) Her plus ability functions like an early earthbend, placing counters on terrain, handy though it doesn't stack with earthbending. Her -8 ability, though, makes your entire land base unbreakable and allows you to put onto the battlefield your remaining Forests in your deck. If you can actually activate the ultimate, this typically means you win.

Badgermole Cub is a must-have in any decks using green and Avatar that use the earthbend mechanic. By including Gruul colors, consider this legendary card. This card features earthbend 4, and when damage is dealt to a player, each animated land are ready again and can attack again. Even though Bumi is a fan favorite Commander, the cute little Badgermole Cub is set to be one of the most, maybe the sought-after card in the Avatar set.