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Magic: The Gathering’s Avatar crossover set isn't set to get a wider release before the end of the week, yet following prerelease weekends recently, a low-cost green spell experienced a surge in market worth.

From the initial reveals, the earthbending cub drew a lot of attention. A creature with stats 2/2 requiring one green and one colorless mana, it has the Earthbend 1 ability (perhaps the most effective of the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The major perk here lies in its second ability: If a creature is tapped to produce mana, you gain one extra green mana.

At its cheapest, the card sold at around $27. After the pre-release weekend, however, the going rate escalated to $49.66 with at least one listed for sale at $60.00. What explains Vivi prices for this little creature? Mostly thanks to the incredible mana acceleration it provides.

When it arrives play, this creature transforms a land so it becomes a creature granting it earthbend. Combined with its other power, if it remains on the board, every earthbent land produces twice the mana — in addition to mana-producing creatures in your control that generate mana.

The obvious go-to for synergy includes Llanowar Elves, a low-cost creature that produces G mana. But numerous other mana generation creatures out there. This particular druid is a more expensive alternative that’s a 1/3 at a two-mana value as an alternative.

By playing lands, dorks that generate resources, alongside this card, it's simple to summon an enormous pricey monster into play by round three or four. And things just keep spiraling rapidly by maintaining dominance from there.

If you dip into an additional hue using this method, options such as versatile mana producers are all great options that can make all five colors. Additionally, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove enables playing an additional land each turn plus makes all of your lands so they count as all basics. Another possibility is for example this six-mana enchantment, costing six mana gives every card you own the power to tap and generate a mana of any type — which covers all creatures in play.

The cub may be OP regarding boosting mana production, yet what’s the endgame finisher in such a strategy? One obvious and popular answer already is Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Power and toughness are both equal to your land count, and it makes all of your nontoken creatures Forests as well as their other types. This means, each creature you control may tap for two G by tapping.

Another creature is a costly, large threat that thrives with many terrain cards (similar to Ashaya, its stats are based on the number of lands you control).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World is an excellent fit in this deck. Her passive ability allows every Forest produce extra green. (Combined with earthbend, this results in each one produce triple green.) Her main ability is essentially an early earthbend, placing counters on terrain, which is great but does not overlap with the cub's ability. Her -8 ability, however, renders all of your lands indestructible enabling you to put onto the battlefield every Forest left in your deck. Once you trigger the ultimate, this typically means game over.

The cub is nearly mandatory for all green-based Avatar strategies built around earthbend. If you dip into red-green, there’s Bumi Unleashed. He has earthbend 4, plus if damage is dealt to a player, each animated land untap and may attack once more. Although this card is a popular Commander choice, the cute little Badgermole Cub will surely stay among the top, possibly the sought-after card in the collaboration.