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MTG’s special Avatar expansion will not get a wider release before the end of the week, yet after prerelease weekends recently, one cheap green card saw a sharp rise in value.

Even during previews, the earthbending cub drew widespread focus. A 2/2 requiring a single green and one generic mana, it has level 1 earthbending (possibly the strongest among the four bending abilities in the set). The real boon in its design comes from another power: Whenever you tap a creature for mana, it provides bonus green mana.

Initially, the card sold at around $27. Post-prerelease, yet, the market price escalated to $49.66 and one seller offering as high as $60. What explains Vivi prices on this adorable card? Primarily due to the rapid resource generation it can produce.

As it hits the board, this creature converts one land to a creature land with earthbend. And with that second ability, as long as it is not removed, every earthbent land generates double mana — in addition to any creatures on your side which tap for mana.

An ideal partner for synergy is Llanowar Elves, a low-cost creature that produces a green resource. But numerous other mana generation creatures out there. Another option is a higher-cost choice with stats 1/3 costing two mana instead.

Using land cards, dorks that generate resources, alongside this card, you can easily get a massive high-cost creature on the board within a few turns. The situation escalates exponentially if you keep the pressure on from there.

If you dip into a secondary color in this strategy, options such as Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid work perfectly that generate all five colors. And something like Dryad of the Ilysian Grove enables playing an additional land per turn plus makes your entire land base providing all land types. It's also worth trying something like this six-mana enchantment, at a six-mana investment grants every card you own the power to be tapped for a mana of any type — which covers any creature you have on the board.

Badgermole Cub may be OP in terms of accelerating your resources, yet what closes out the game in such a strategy? One obvious and popular answer already is Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Power and toughness are both equal to the number of lands you control, plus it turns your non-token creatures into Forests in addition to other subtypes. Essentially, every single creature in play is able to generate two green mana if used for mana.

Another creature is another expensive, beefy creature which gains from a high land count (like Ashaya, P/T match your land total).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World works perfectly as a go-to Planeswalker. Her passive ability allows every Forest generate an additional green mana. (With a Badgermole Cub, so all earthbend forests produce triple green.) Her plus ability acts as an early earthbend, placing counters to a noncreature land, which is great though it doesn't stack with the cub's ability. Her ultimate, on the other hand, grants your entire land base immune to destruction enabling you to put onto the battlefield your remaining Forests in your deck. If you can actually activate the ultimate, it almost certainly game over.

Badgermole Cub is pretty much essential for all decks using green and Avatar focusing on the earthbend mechanic. When branching into red and green, there’s this legendary card. He has earthbend 4, plus if it hits a player to an opponent, all land creatures untap for another attack. Although this card has become a fan favorite Commander, this small creature will surely stay one of, if not the most desired card in the Avatar set.