One of Avatar's most charming MTG cards is a nasty small contender.

the popular card game’s Avatar crossover set isn't set to become widely available in the coming days, but after early access events this past weekend, an affordable green creature saw a sharp rise in market worth.

From the initial reveals, the earthbending cub drew widespread focus. A 2/2 that costs G and 1 mana, the card features level 1 earthbending (perhaps the best within the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The major perk in its design comes from an additional effect: Each time a creature is tapped to produce mana, add an additional green mana.

Initially, this card sold for $26.98. Post-prerelease, yet, the going rate has shot up above $45 and one seller offering as high as $60. What explains such high costs for this cute lil guy? Mostly due to the rapid resource generation it provides.

When it arrives the board, Badgermole Cub transforms a land into a creature with earthbend. And with that second ability, if it remains on the board, each affected land produces twice the mana — plus other creatures on your side which tap for mana.

A clear choice to combine with includes the classic Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 that taps to generate G mana. However there are plenty of other mana generation creatures out there. Druid of the Cowl is a higher-cost choice that’s a 1/3 at a two-mana value instead.

Using land cards, creatures that tap for mana, plus the cub, you may quickly play a very big pricey creature on the board early in the game. The situation escalates exponentially if you keep the pressure on from there.

If you dip into another color using this method, cards like Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are all great options which produce any color of mana. And something like a useful enchantment creature allows you to put one extra land every round AND transforms every land you control providing all land types. It's also worth trying such as the enchantment A Realm Reborn, at a six-mana investment gives every card you own the power to be tapped for a mana of any type — which covers any creature in play.

The cub may be OP in terms of boosting mana production, however how do you win for a deck like this? An often-seen solution already is Ashaya. Its stats match the number of lands you control, and it changes your non-token creatures Forests in addition to their other types. This means, every single creature in play can tap for two G when tapped.

Harmonious Grovestrider provides a high-cost, powerful body that thrives with many terrain cards (as with the previous card, P/T are based on your land total).

Nissa fits really well in this deck. Her passive ability makes every Forest produce extra green. (Combined with earthbend, this results in each one generate three green mana.) Her main ability is essentially a form of land animation, placing counters on terrain, a useful effect but it isn't redundant with earthbend. Her ultimate, however, makes each land you control immune to destruction and allows you to put onto the battlefield all the remaining forests in the deck. Once you trigger that ability, it almost certainly game over.

This card is a must-have for any kind of green Avatar deck focusing on Earthbending. If you dip into red-green, there’s this legendary card. It possesses earthbend 4, plus if damage is dealt to a player, each animated land are ready again for another attack. Although this card has emerged as a beloved leader, this small creature is set to be among the top, possibly the popular pick from this expansion.