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the popular card game’s Avatar crossover set will not become widely available before the end of the week, however due to prerelease weekends over the last few days, a low-cost green spell has already exploded in value.

Even during previews, this small creature garnered widespread focus. This two-power, two-toughness that costs G and 1 mana, the card features level 1 earthbending (perhaps the strongest among the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The real boon in its design comes from its second ability: Each time mana is generated by tapping a creature, add an additional green mana.

At its cheapest, this card was available below $30. Post-prerelease, though, the market price escalated to $49.66 with at least one listed as high as $60. Why are we seeing Vivi prices for this little creature? Mostly because of the explosive mana ramping it can produce.

When it arrives the board, Badgermole Cub converts one land into a creature with earthbend. Combined with its other power, as long as it remains on the board, each affected land produces twice the mana — in addition to other creatures in your control which tap for mana.

An ideal partner for maximum effect includes this one-mana elf, a cheap 1/1 that produces a green resource. But numerous alternative mana dorks out there. This particular druid is a higher-cost choice a 1/3 creature at a two-mana value as an alternative.

Using land cards, mana-producing creatures, alongside this card, you may quickly play an enormous pricey threat on the battlefield within a few turns. The situation escalates exponentially by maintaining dominance from there.

If you dip into another color with this approach, cards like Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are all great options which produce any mana color. Another card, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove lets you play an additional land each turn as well as turns every land you control so they count as all basics. It's also worth trying for example the enchantment A Realm Reborn, which for six mana grants all of your permanents the power to produce a mana of any type — including all creatures under your control.

The cub might seem overpowered in terms of accelerating your resources, yet what closes out the game for a deck like this? One obvious and popular answer is this legendary creature. Its power and toughness match the number of lands you control, and it makes your non-token creatures to be Forests as well as their original types. This means, each creature in play is able to tap for two G if used for mana.

Harmonious Grovestrider is another expensive, beefy creature which gains from lots of lands (like Ashaya, its power and toughness are based on how many lands you have).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World is an excellent fit as a go-to Planeswalker. Her static effect causes Forest lands generate an additional green mana. (If you have the cub, this results in each one produce triple green.) Her main ability functions like an early earthbend, placing counters to a noncreature land, which is great but does not overlap with earthbend. Her -8 ability, on the other hand, grants each land you control unbreakable and lets you search for every Forest left in the deck. If you can actually activate the ultimate, it’s pretty much the game ends.

Badgermole Cub is pretty much essential in any green Avatar deck focusing on Earthbending. When branching into red and green, consider Bumi Unleashed. This card features earthbend 4, and when damage is dealt to a player, all land creatures untap and can attack again. Even though Bumi is a beloved leader, the cute little Badgermole Cub is set to be one of the most, maybe the popular pick in the collaboration.