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Magic: The Gathering’s collaboration with Avatar will not hit the general market in the coming days, but following early access events recently, one cheap green card saw a sharp rise in market worth.

From the initial reveals, the earthbending cub drew significant interest. A 2/2 priced at a single green and one generic mana, the card features the Earthbend 1 ability (arguably the best of the set’s four “bending” mechanics). Its key advantage here is another power: Each time mana is generated by tapping a creature, it provides bonus green mana.

At its cheapest, this card was available for $26.98. Following the early events, however, the going rate jumped above $45 and one seller offering as high as $60. The reason for premium pricing for this little creature? Mainly because of the rapid resource generation it can produce.

When it arrives the battlefield, the cub turns a land into a creature that has earthbending. And with that second ability, as long as it remains on the board, each affected land generates double mana — along with other creatures in your control which tap for mana.

The obvious go-to for maximum effect would be this one-mana elf, a low-cost creature which can be tapped for a green resource. But numerous alternative mana dorks out there. Druid of the Cowl is a more expensive alternative a 1/3 creature for two mana as an alternative.

Deploying terrain, creatures that tap for mana, alongside this card, you can easily get a very big pricey monster on the battlefield by round three or four. The situation escalates exponentially by maintaining dominance from there.

When adding an additional hue using this method, cards like these mana-fixing creatures work perfectly that generate any mana color. Additionally, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove lets you play an additional land each turn plus makes your entire land base so they count as all basics. You can also consider for example a card called A Realm Reborn, at a six-mana investment gives every card you own the ability to produce a mana of any type — even any creature under your control.

The cub might seem overpowered when it comes to ramping up your mana generation, but what’s the endgame finisher with this archetype? A common and powerful choice has been Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Its stats are set by the number of lands you control, and it makes all of your nontoken creatures to be Forests along with their original types. In other words, all your creatures in play can tap for two G if used for mana.

Another creature is another expensive, beefy creature that thrives with many terrain cards (similar to Ashaya, P/T are equal to your land total).

This Planeswalker is an excellent fit as a staple. Her passive ability causes Forest lands tap for one more G. (With a Badgermole Cub, that means each one produce triple green.) One loyalty ability acts as a proto-earthbend, placing counters on a land, handy but does not overlap with the cub's ability. Her -8 ability, though, renders each land you control unbreakable and lets you draw out every Forest left from your library. Should you manage to use this power, it almost certainly you win.

Badgermole Cub is a must-have for any kind of decks using green and Avatar focusing on the earthbend mechanic. If you dip into red and green, there’s this legendary card. He has earthbend 4, plus if it hits a player in combat, all land creatures become untapped and may attack once more. Although this card is a beloved leader, the cute little Badgermole Cub will surely stay one of, if not the most desired card from this expansion.