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Magic: The Gathering’s collaboration with Avatar isn't set to become widely available until later this week, but after early access events recently, a low-cost green spell saw a sharp rise in price.

From the initial reveals, Badgermole Cub attracted widespread focus. A 2/2 requiring a single green and one generic mana, Badgermole Cub features the Earthbend 1 ability (perhaps the best within the four bending abilities in the set). The real boon in its design lies in another power: Whenever you tap a creature for mana, it provides bonus green mana.

When first listed, Badgermole Cub could be purchased at around $27. After the pre-release weekend, though, its value escalated to nearly $50 with at least one listed priced at sixty dollars. Why are we seeing such high costs for this little creature? Mostly because of the explosive mana ramping it provides.

When it arrives the battlefield, this creature turns a land to a creature land granting it earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, while it is not removed, every earthbent land yields two mana instead of one — in addition to mana-producing creatures on your side which tap for mana.

The obvious go-to for maximum effect includes the classic Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 which can be tapped for a green resource. But numerous creatures that make mana in the game. Another option is a higher-cost choice with stats 1/3 costing two mana instead.

Using land cards, dorks that generate resources, and Badgermole Cub, it's simple to summon an enormous high-cost monster into play within a few turns. Momentum builds exponentially by maintaining dominance from that point.

By incorporating an additional hue with this approach, options such as these mana-fixing creatures are excellent picks that can make any mana color. Additionally, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove lets you play an additional land per turn as well as turns your entire land base providing all land types. You can also consider for example the enchantment A Realm Reborn, at a six-mana investment grants all of your permanents the capacity to tap and generate one mana of any color — which covers all creatures in play.

Badgermole Cub may be OP regarding accelerating your resources, but what closes out the game in such a strategy? An often-seen solution has been Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Power and toughness are set by your land count, and it changes each creature you own to be Forests along with their original types. In other words, all your creatures in play can tap for two G by tapping.

This additional option is a costly, large threat that benefits from lots of lands (like Ashaya, its stats are equal to your land total).

This Planeswalker works perfectly as a go-to Planeswalker. Her passive ability causes Forest lands tap for one more G. (If you have the cub, so all earthbend forests yield three G.) Her main ability is essentially a form of land animation, adding counters to a noncreature land, which is great though it doesn't stack with earthbend. Her -8 ability, however, makes all of your lands immune to destruction and lets you draw out every Forest left in your deck. Once you trigger that ability, this typically means game over.

Badgermole Cub is nearly mandatory for any kind of green Avatar deck that use earthbend. By including red and green, there’s this legendary card. He has earthbend 4, and when he deals combat damage in combat, each animated land become untapped and can attack again. While that version has emerged as a popular Commander choice, the cub will surely stay among the top, possibly the desired card in the collaboration.