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MTG’s collaboration with Avatar won’t become widely available until later this week, however following prerelease weekends over the last few days, an affordable green creature has already exploded in price.

Even during previews, the earthbending cub garnered a lot of attention. A 2/2 that costs G and 1 mana, Badgermole Cub includes level 1 earthbending (perhaps the most effective within the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The real boon with this card comes from its second ability: If a creature is tapped to produce mana, add an additional green mana.

At its cheapest, this card was available for $26.98. After the pre-release weekend, though, its value escalated to $49.66 with at least one listed for sale at $60.00. What explains such high costs for this cute lil guy? Mainly because of the rapid resource generation it can produce.

Upon entering play, the cub turns a land to a creature land that has earthbending. Combined with its other power, if it is not removed, every earthbent land generates double mana — along with other creatures on your side that generate mana.

A clear choice for synergy would be this one-mana elf, a low-cost creature that produces G mana. But numerous other mana generation creatures in the game. This particular druid is a higher-cost choice with stats 1/3 costing two mana as an alternative.

Using land cards, dorks that generate resources, and Badgermole Cub, you may quickly play a very big high-cost threat into play within a few turns. Momentum builds rapidly with continued aggression from that point.

When adding another color in this strategy, options such as versatile mana producers are all great options that can make any color of mana. Another card, this powerful dryad allows you to put an additional land every round plus transforms your entire land base providing all land types. Another possibility is something like a card called A Realm Reborn, which for six mana grants every card you own the capacity to tap and generate any color mana — including any creature under your control.

Badgermole Cub may be OP in terms of accelerating your resources, however how do you win in such a strategy? An often-seen solution already is this legendary creature. Its power and toughness are both equal to the number of lands you control, and it makes all of your nontoken creatures Forests in addition to other subtypes. This means, every single creature on your board is able to tap for two G by tapping.

This additional option is another expensive, beefy creature that thrives with many terrain cards (similar to Ashaya, its stats are equal to how many lands you have).

Nissa is an excellent fit as a staple. One of her abilities allows all Forests produce extra green. (If you have the cub, so those lands generate three green mana.) Her plus ability acts as a proto-earthbend, placing counters to a noncreature land, a useful effect but it isn't redundant with the cub's ability. Her ultimate, on the other hand, makes all of your lands unbreakable enabling you to draw out your remaining Forests from your library. Once you trigger that ability, it’s pretty much game over.

Badgermole Cub is pretty much essential for any kind of green-based Avatar strategies built around Earthbending. By including Gruul colors, there’s Bumi. This card features earthbend 4, plus if he deals combat damage to an opponent, land creatures become untapped and can attack again. While that version is a fan favorite Commander, the cute little Badgermole Cub will surely stay one of the most, maybe the sought-after card from this expansion.