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the popular card game’s collaboration with Avatar won’t become widely available before the end of the week, however following prerelease weekends this past weekend, a low-cost green spell has already exploded in value.

Throughout the spoiler season, Badgermole Cub garnered widespread focus. A 2/2 priced at a single green and one generic mana, the card features the Earthbend 1 ability (arguably the strongest within the elemental mechanics available). The major perk with this card is its second ability: Whenever you tap a creature for mana, it provides bonus green mana.

Initially, the card was available at around $27. After the pre-release weekend, though, the market price jumped to $49.66 with at least one listed for sale at $60.00. What explains such high costs for this little creature? Mainly due to the incredible mana acceleration it can produce.

Upon entering play, this creature turns a terrain card so it becomes a creature granting it earthbend. And with that second ability, as long as it remains on the board, those lands yields two mana instead of one — plus mana-producing creatures in your control that produce resources.

The obvious go-to to combine with would be Llanowar Elves, a low-cost creature that taps to generate a green resource. However there are plenty of other mana generation creatures in the game. This particular druid costs a bit more with stats 1/3 for two mana instead.

Using land cards, creatures that tap for mana, alongside this card, you can easily get a massive high-cost threat on the board early in the game. And things just keep spiraling out of control by maintaining dominance from that point.

If you dip into a secondary color with this approach, cards like versatile mana producers work perfectly that generate all five colors. Another card, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove lets you play another terrain each turn as well as makes all of your lands into every basic land type. You can also consider for example a card called A Realm Reborn, costing six mana provides all of your permanents the power to produce a mana of any type — even any creature under your control.

The cub could be too strong in terms of ramping up your mana generation, but what closes out the game with this archetype? An often-seen solution is this legendary creature. Its stats match the number of lands you control, and it changes your non-token creatures Forests in addition to their other types. Essentially, every single creature you control may produce double green by tapping.

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

This Planeswalker fits really well in this deck. Her static effect makes all Forests produce extra green. (With a Badgermole Cub, so all earthbend forests produce triple green.) One loyalty ability is essentially a form of land animation, putting +1/+1 counters on terrain, which is great but it isn't redundant with the cub's ability. Her -8 ability, though, grants each land you control unbreakable enabling you to draw out all the remaining forests from your library. Should you manage to use that ability, it’s pretty much the game ends.

This card is pretty much essential for all decks using green and Avatar that use Earthbending. If you dip into red-green, consider Bumi. It possesses earthbend 4, and when damage is dealt in combat, land creatures are ready again for another attack. While that version has become a beloved leader, the cub will surely stay one of, if not the most sought-after card from this expansion.