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the popular card game’s collaboration with Avatar isn't set to become widely available before the end of the week, but following prerelease weekends recently, a low-cost green spell experienced a surge in price.

Even during previews, this small creature attracted a lot of attention. This two-power, two-toughness priced at G and 1 mana, it includes Earthbending 1 (possibly the best within the set’s four “bending” mechanics). Its key advantage with this card lies in its second ability: Whenever you tap a creature for mana, you gain one extra green mana.

At its cheapest, this card sold for $26.98. Following the early events, yet, its value has shot up above $45 including listings as high as $60. What explains such high costs for this little creature? Primarily thanks to the explosive mana ramping it can produce.

As it hits play, the cub turns a terrain card to a creature land with earthbend. Combined with its other power, as long as it remains on the board, those lands yields two mana instead of one — along with any creatures you have that generate mana.

The obvious go-to to combine with is this one-mana elf, a low-cost creature which can be tapped for a green resource. However many alternative mana dorks in the game. Another option is a higher-cost choice with stats 1/3 for two mana in comparison.

Using land cards, creatures that tap for mana, plus the cub, you may quickly play a very big and very expensive threat on the board within a few turns. And things just keep spiraling rapidly if you keep the pressure on from there.

When adding an additional hue in this strategy, examples including versatile mana producers are excellent picks which produce any mana color. Additionally, a useful enchantment creature allows you to put an additional land per turn plus turns your entire land base providing all land types. You can also consider such as this six-mana enchantment, costing six mana gives all of your permanents the power to be tapped for one mana of any color — including any creature you have on the board.

The cub may be OP when it comes to accelerating your resources, however how do you win in such a strategy? One obvious and popular answer already is Ashaya. Its stats are both equal to your land count, and it changes your non-token creatures Forests in addition to their other types. This means, all your creatures you control may produce double green if used for mana.

Harmonious Grovestrider provides a high-cost, powerful body that benefits from lots of lands (like Ashaya, P/T are based on the number of lands you control).

This Planeswalker fits really well as a go-to Planeswalker. Her passive ability causes all Forests generate an additional green mana. (With a Badgermole Cub, this results in all earthbend forests yield three G.) Her main ability acts as a form of land animation, adding counters on terrain, a useful effect but does not overlap with the cub's ability. The minus ability, on the other hand, renders all of your lands immune to destruction enabling you to search for all the remaining forests in your deck. If you can actually activate that ability, it almost certainly the game ends.

The cub is a must-have for all decks using green and Avatar that use Earthbending. By including red and green, consider Bumi. It possesses earthbend 4, and if damage is dealt to a player, land creatures untap and can attack again. Even though Bumi is a fan favorite Commander, the cub is definitely going to remain among the top, possibly the popular pick in the Avatar set.