One of Avatar's most adorable Magic cards is a nasty compact force.

Magic: The Gathering’s special Avatar expansion won’t become widely available until later this week, yet following pre-releases recently, a low-cost green spell has already exploded in value.

Throughout the spoiler season, Badgermole Cub drew a lot of attention. A creature with stats 2/2 that costs G and 1 mana, it has Earthbending 1 (possibly the strongest within the set’s four “bending” mechanics). Its key advantage in its design is an additional effect: Each time you tap a creature for mana, you gain one extra green mana.

When first listed, Badgermole Cub sold below $30. Following the early events, though, its value has shot up above $45 and one seller offering for sale at $60.00. The reason for premium pricing for this cute lil guy? Mainly because of the rapid resource generation it provides.

Upon entering the battlefield, the cub turns one land to a creature land that has earthbending. Combined with its other power, while it is not removed, each affected land generates double mana — plus mana-producing creatures in your control that produce resources.

A clear choice for maximum effect is Llanowar Elves, an inexpensive 1/1 which can be tapped for one green mana. Yet there are plenty of other mana generation creatures in the game. Druid of the Cowl costs a bit more a 1/3 creature costing two mana in comparison.

Deploying terrain, mana-producing creatures, plus the cub, you may quickly play a massive pricey threat on the board within a few turns. Momentum builds exponentially if you keep the pressure on from there.

By incorporating a secondary color in this strategy, cards like Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are all great options that can make any color of mana. Another card, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove lets you play an additional land every round AND makes every land you control into every basic land type. It's also worth trying something like a card called A Realm Reborn, at a six-mana investment gives every card you own the capacity to produce one mana of any color — including any creature you have on the board.

This card could be too strong regarding ramping up your mana generation, however what closes out the game in such a strategy? A common and powerful choice already is this legendary creature. Power and toughness are set by how many lands you have, and it makes all of your nontoken creatures to be Forests in addition to their original types. In other words, every single creature in play is able to produce double green when tapped.

Harmonious Grovestrider is another expensive, beefy creature which gains from lots of lands (as with the previous card, its stats are equal to how many lands you have).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World is an excellent fit in this deck. One of her abilities makes Forest lands produce extra green. (With a Badgermole Cub, so those lands yield three G.) Her plus ability acts as a form of land animation, placing counters to a noncreature land, a useful effect but does not overlap with earthbend. Her ultimate, though, makes each land you control unbreakable and lets you draw out all the remaining forests from your library. Should you manage to use that ability, it’s pretty much the game ends.

The cub is a must-have for any kind of green-based Avatar strategies focusing on Earthbending. If you dip into red and green, there’s this legendary card. This card features earthbend 4, and when he deals combat damage to a player, land creatures become untapped and may attack once more. Although this card has emerged as a fan favorite Commander, the cute little Badgermole Cub will surely stay among the top, possibly the popular pick in the Avatar set.