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Magic: The Gathering’s special Avatar expansion isn't set to hit the general market until later this week, but after prerelease weekends over the last few days, an affordable green creature has already exploded in market worth.

From the initial reveals, Badgermole Cub garnered a lot of attention. This two-power, two-toughness priced at a single green and one generic mana, the card features the Earthbend 1 ability (possibly the strongest among the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The major perk in its design comes from an additional effect: If a creature is tapped to produce mana, it provides bonus green mana.

At its cheapest, Badgermole Cub sold at around $27. Following the early events, yet, the going rate escalated to $49.66 with at least one listed priced at sixty dollars. The reason for such high costs for this little creature? Mainly because of the incredible mana acceleration it enables.

As it hits the board, the cub converts one land to a creature land granting it earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, if it stays in play, 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 synergy includes the classic Llanowar Elves, an inexpensive 1/1 that produces G mana. However numerous creatures that make mana in the game. This particular druid is a more expensive alternative a 1/3 creature costing two mana as an alternative.

Deploying terrain, dorks that generate resources, plus the cub, you may quickly play an enormous high-cost creature on the board within a few turns. And things just keep spiraling out of control with continued aggression from there.

When adding a secondary color with this approach, cards like versatile mana producers work perfectly which produce any mana color. And something like a useful enchantment creature lets you play another terrain every round AND transforms every land you control so they count as all basics. You can also consider something like a card called A Realm Reborn, at a six-mana investment grants every card you own the ability to tap and generate any color mana — even any creature you have on the board.

This card might seem overpowered regarding ramping up your mana generation, however how do you win with this archetype? One obvious and popular answer already is Ashaya. Its stats match how many lands you have, plus it turns all of your nontoken creatures into Forests along with other subtypes. Essentially, every single creature you control can produce double green by tapping.

This additional option is a costly, large threat which gains from a high land count (similar to Ashaya, its power and toughness are based on how many lands you have).

Nissa fits really well as a go-to Planeswalker. Her passive ability makes Forest lands tap for one more G. (Combined with earthbend, this results in all earthbend forests produce triple green.) Her main ability functions like an early earthbend, adding counters to a noncreature land, handy but does not overlap with earthbend. Her ultimate, on the other hand, makes each land you control indestructible and allows you to search for all the remaining forests in your deck. If you can actually activate that ability, it almost certainly game over.

The cub is pretty much essential in any decks using green and Avatar built around the earthbend mechanic. By including red and green, consider Bumi Unleashed. He has earthbend 4, and when it hits a player to an opponent, land creatures are ready again for another attack. Even though Bumi has become a fan favorite Commander, the cute little Badgermole Cub is set to be one of the most, maybe the desired card from this expansion.