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MTG’s special Avatar expansion won’t get a wider release before the end of the week, however after pre-releases over the last few days, one cheap green card has already exploded in value.

Throughout the spoiler season, the earthbending cub garnered significant interest. This two-power, two-toughness priced at a single green and one generic mana, the card includes level 1 earthbending (arguably the best among the four bending abilities in the set). The major perk in its design is an additional effect: If you tap a creature for mana, add an additional green mana.

At its cheapest, Badgermole Cub sold for $26.98. Following the early events, though, its value escalated to nearly $50 including listings priced at sixty dollars. What explains such high costs for this little creature? Mainly due to the explosive mana ramping it provides.

When it arrives play, Badgermole Cub turns a land so it becomes a creature granting it earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, as long as it remains on the board, every earthbent land generates double mana — plus other creatures in your control that produce resources.

The obvious go-to for synergy would be Llanowar Elves, a low-cost creature that taps to generate a green resource. Yet there are plenty of creatures that make mana out there. Druid of the Cowl is a higher-cost choice that’s a 1/3 costing two mana in comparison.

Deploying terrain, creatures that tap for mana, and Badgermole Cub, you can easily get a very big pricey monster on the battlefield by round three or four. And things just keep spiraling exponentially with continued aggression from that point.

By incorporating a secondary color with this approach, examples including versatile mana producers are all great options that can make all five colors. And something like this powerful dryad enables playing one extra land each turn as well as transforms your entire land base into every basic land type. You can also consider something like a card called A Realm Reborn, which for six mana gives every card you own the capacity to produce one mana of any color — including all creatures you have on the board.

This card could be too strong when it comes to accelerating your resources, but what closes out the game with this archetype? An often-seen solution has been Ashaya. Its power and toughness are both equal to how many lands you have, and it makes each creature you own Forests in addition to their other types. Essentially, each creature on your board may generate two green mana if used for mana.

Harmonious Grovestrider is a costly, large threat that thrives with lots of lands (as with the previous card, its stats are equal to how many lands you have).

Nissa works perfectly in this deck. Her static effect allows every Forest generate an additional green mana. (Combined with earthbend, this results in those lands yield three G.) Her main ability acts as an early earthbend, placing counters on terrain, a useful effect but it isn't redundant with the cub's ability. Her -8 ability, on the other hand, renders your entire land base indestructible and lets you put onto the battlefield your remaining Forests from your library. Once you trigger the ultimate, it’s pretty much you win.

This card is nearly mandatory in any green Avatar deck focusing on Earthbending. When branching into red-green, consider Bumi. He has earthbend 4, and when it hits a player to an opponent, all land creatures are ready again and may attack once more. Although this card is a popular Commander choice, the cub is definitely going to remain one of the most, maybe the sought-after card in the Avatar set.