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Magic: The Gathering’s collaboration with Avatar won’t become widely available before the end of the week, however due to early access events over the last few days, a low-cost green spell has already exploded in value.

Even during previews, the earthbending cub attracted a lot of attention. A 2/2 priced at G and 1 mana, the card has level 1 earthbending (possibly the most effective among the four bending abilities in the set). The major perk here lies in an additional effect: If you tap a creature for mana, it provides bonus green mana.

At its cheapest, Badgermole Cub sold below $30. After the pre-release weekend, however, its value jumped above $45 and one seller offering priced at sixty dollars. What explains such high costs on this adorable card? Primarily because of the explosive mana ramping it can produce.

As it hits the battlefield, the cub converts one land into a creature that has earthbending. And with that second ability, if it is not removed, each affected land produces twice the mana — plus any creatures on your side which tap for mana.

A clear choice for synergy would be the classic Llanowar Elves, a low-cost creature which can be tapped for one green mana. But numerous creatures that make mana available. This particular druid is a more expensive alternative that’s a 1/3 at a two-mana value instead.

Deploying terrain, creatures that tap for mana, and Badgermole Cub, it's simple to summon a massive high-cost creature on the board by round three or four. The situation escalates rapidly if you keep the pressure on after that.

By incorporating an additional hue using this method, options such as Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are all great options which produce any color of mana. And something like this powerful dryad enables playing another terrain every round as well as makes all of your lands providing all land types. It's also worth trying something like the enchantment A Realm Reborn, costing six mana grants every card you own the ability to tap and generate any color mana — which covers each creature under your control.

This card could be too strong in terms of accelerating your resources, however what’s the endgame finisher in such a strategy? An often-seen solution has been Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Its power and toughness are both equal to your land count, and it makes all of your nontoken creatures Forests in addition to other subtypes. In other words, each creature in play is able to generate two green mana if used for mana.

This additional option is a costly, large threat which gains from lots of lands (as with the previous card, P/T are equal to how many lands you have).

This Planeswalker is an excellent fit as a staple. Her static effect causes every Forest produce extra green. (If you have the cub, so all earthbend forests yield three G.) One loyalty ability is essentially a form of land animation, putting +1/+1 counters to a noncreature land, which is great but does not overlap with earthbend. Her -8 ability, however, grants all of your lands unbreakable and lets you draw out every Forest left from your library. Should you manage to use that ability, this typically means you win.

The cub is pretty much essential in any decks using green and Avatar focusing on the earthbend mechanic. If you dip into Gruul colors, you can use Bumi Unleashed. He has earthbend 4, and when it hits a player in combat, each animated land become untapped and can attack again. Although this card has become a popular Commander choice, the cute little Badgermole Cub is definitely going to remain one of the most, maybe the popular pick from this expansion.