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MTG’s Avatar crossover set will not become widely available before the end of the week, however following pre-releases this past weekend, an affordable green creature saw a sharp rise in value.

Throughout the spoiler season, the earthbending cub attracted a lot of attention. This two-power, two-toughness priced at G and 1 mana, Badgermole Cub has the Earthbend 1 ability (arguably the most effective among the four bending abilities in the set). The real boon here lies in another power: Whenever a creature is tapped to produce mana, you gain one extra green mana.

When first listed, the card was available below $30. Post-prerelease, though, the going rate has shot up above $45 including listings priced at sixty dollars. The reason for Vivi prices for this little creature? Mainly thanks to the rapid resource generation it provides.

When it arrives the battlefield, this creature transforms one land to a creature land with earthbend. And with that second ability, while it stays in play, those lands yields two mana instead of one — along with any creatures on your side that generate mana.

The obvious go-to for maximum effect is this one-mana elf, an inexpensive 1/1 that taps to generate G mana. Yet many alternative mana dorks in the game. Another option costs a bit more with stats 1/3 at a two-mana value as an alternative.

By playing lands, mana-producing creatures, alongside this card, it's simple to summon an enormous high-cost threat on the battlefield early in the game. The situation escalates out of control with continued aggression after that.

By incorporating an additional hue in this strategy, examples including these mana-fixing creatures are all great options that generate any mana color. Another card, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove lets you play one extra land each turn AND makes your entire land base providing all land types. You can also consider such as the enchantment A Realm Reborn, costing six mana provides each permanent you control the capacity to be tapped for one mana of any color — even any creature you have on the board.

Badgermole Cub may be OP when it comes to accelerating your resources, but what closes out the game with this archetype? One obvious and popular answer has been Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Its stats match your land count, and it changes your non-token creatures to be Forests in addition to their other types. Essentially, each creature you control can produce double green if used for mana.

Harmonious Grovestrider is another expensive, beefy creature that benefits from lots of lands (similar to Ashaya, its power and toughness are equal to the number of lands you control).

Nissa fits really well as a go-to Planeswalker. One of her abilities causes every Forest generate an additional green mana. (Combined with earthbend, so all earthbend forests generate three green mana.) Her plus ability is essentially a form of land animation, putting +1/+1 counters on a land, a useful effect though it doesn't stack with earthbend. The minus ability, however, grants all of your lands unbreakable and allows you to search for your remaining Forests from your library. Once you trigger the ultimate, this typically means game over.

This card is a must-have for any kind of decks using green and Avatar that use Earthbending. When branching into red and green, consider Bumi Unleashed. He has level 4 earthbending, and when it hits a player in combat, each animated land are ready again and can attack again. While that version has become a beloved leader, the cute little Badgermole Cub is definitely going to remain among the top, possibly the desired card in the collaboration.