A standout from Avatar's most adorable collectible cards turns out to be a nasty compact contender.

MTG’s Avatar crossover set won’t become widely available in the coming days, however after early access events this past weekend, one cheap green card experienced a surge in market worth.

From the initial reveals, this small creature drew a lot of attention. A creature with stats 2/2 requiring one green and one colorless mana, the card has level 1 earthbending (possibly the most effective within the four bending abilities in the set). The real boon with this card comes from an additional effect: Whenever you tap a creature for mana, add an additional green mana.

Initially, Badgermole Cub sold for $26.98. Post-prerelease, though, its value has shot up to $49.66 with at least one listed for sale at $60.00. What explains Vivi prices on this adorable card? Mostly because of the incredible mana acceleration it enables.

Upon entering the board, this creature converts a terrain card so it becomes a creature that has earthbending. And with that second ability, while it is not removed, those lands generates double mana — in addition to any creatures on your side that generate mana.

An ideal partner to combine with would be the classic Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 that taps to generate one green mana. However many other mana generation creatures available. Druid of the Cowl is a more expensive alternative that’s a 1/3 for two mana as an alternative.

Using land cards, creatures that tap for mana, alongside this card, it's simple to summon an enormous and very expensive threat on the battlefield early in the game. Momentum builds rapidly if you keep the pressure on from that point.

If you dip into a secondary color with this approach, cards like versatile mana producers work perfectly which produce any color of mana. Additionally, a useful enchantment creature enables playing another terrain per turn as well as makes every land you control into every basic land type. It's also worth trying something like this six-mana enchantment, costing six mana provides each permanent you control the power to tap and generate a mana of any type — even each creature in play.

Badgermole Cub may be OP regarding accelerating your resources, yet what closes out the game in such a strategy? A common and powerful choice already is Ashaya. Its power and toughness are both equal to the number of lands you control, and it changes each creature you own into Forests as well as their original types. In other words, every single creature you control is able to generate two green mana when tapped.

This additional option is a costly, large threat that benefits from many terrain cards (similar to Ashaya, its stats match your land total).

This Planeswalker is an excellent fit as a go-to Planeswalker. One of her abilities causes every Forest tap for one more G. (If you have the cub, that means those lands produce triple green.) Her main ability functions like an early earthbend, adding counters to a noncreature land, a useful effect though it doesn't stack with earthbend. Her ultimate, however, makes each land you control indestructible and lets you put onto the battlefield all the remaining forests from your library. Should you manage to use that ability, it almost certainly you win.

Badgermole Cub is pretty much essential for all green-based Avatar strategies focusing on earthbend. If you dip into Gruul colors, consider this legendary card. He has earthbend 4, plus if damage is dealt in combat, all land creatures become untapped for another attack. Although this card is a fan favorite Commander, the cub is set to be one of, if not the most sought-after card in the Avatar set.