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Magic: The Gathering’s collaboration with Avatar isn't set to get a wider release before the end of the week, yet following prerelease weekends recently, an affordable green creature has already exploded in market worth.

Throughout the spoiler season, Badgermole Cub garnered widespread focus. A creature with stats 2/2 requiring G and 1 mana, Badgermole Cub includes Earthbending 1 (possibly the strongest among the four bending abilities in the set). Its key advantage with this card is another power: Whenever mana is generated by tapping a creature, add an additional green mana.

Initially, Badgermole Cub was available for $26.98. Post-prerelease, however, its value has shot up to $49.66 and one seller offering for sale at $60.00. Why are we seeing premium pricing for this cute lil guy? Mostly thanks to the incredible mana acceleration it provides.

When it arrives the board, Badgermole Cub converts one land into a creature with earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, as long as it stays in play, each affected land produces twice the mana — plus any creatures in your control which tap for mana.

An ideal partner for maximum effect is this one-mana elf, a low-cost creature which can be tapped for one green mana. However numerous creatures that make mana in the game. Druid of the Cowl is a more expensive alternative with stats 1/3 at a two-mana value in comparison.

Using land cards, creatures that tap for mana, and Badgermole Cub, you can easily get a very big high-cost threat into play within a few turns. And things just keep spiraling out of control with continued aggression from that point.

By incorporating another color in this strategy, cards like these mana-fixing creatures are excellent picks that can make any color of mana. Another card, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove enables playing another terrain every round as well as transforms all of your lands so they count as all basics. It's also worth trying something like the enchantment A Realm Reborn, costing six mana provides all of your permanents the power to be tapped for any color mana — even all creatures you have on the board.

Badgermole Cub might seem overpowered in terms of ramping up your mana generation, yet what’s the endgame finisher in such a strategy? An often-seen solution has been this legendary creature. Power and toughness match your land count, and it makes all of your nontoken creatures into Forests along with their other types. This means, all your creatures on your board is able to tap for two G when tapped.

This additional option provides a high-cost, powerful body which gains from lots of lands (as with the previous card, its power and toughness are based on your land total).

Nissa works perfectly in this deck. Her passive ability causes every Forest generate an additional green mana. (With a Badgermole Cub, so those lands yield three G.) One loyalty ability is essentially a proto-earthbend, adding counters to a noncreature land, handy though it doesn't stack with earthbend. Her ultimate, though, grants your entire land base immune to destruction and allows you to search for your remaining Forests from your library. If you can actually activate this power, it’s pretty much you win.

Badgermole Cub is nearly mandatory in any green-based Avatar strategies focusing on Earthbending. By including red-green, you can use this legendary card. It possesses level 4 earthbending, and if he deals combat damage to an opponent, land creatures are ready again for another attack. Although this card is a fan favorite Commander, the cute little Badgermole Cub will surely stay one of, if not the most sought-after card in the Avatar set.