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the popular card game’s special Avatar expansion will not hit the general market before the end of the week, but following prerelease weekends recently, one cheap green card has already exploded in market worth.

Even during previews, the earthbending cub attracted a lot of attention. A creature with stats 2/2 that costs G and 1 mana, it features the Earthbend 1 ability (perhaps the strongest within the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The real boon with this card comes from an additional effect: Each time a creature is tapped to produce mana, add an additional green mana.

At its cheapest, this card sold at around $27. Post-prerelease, however, the market price has shot up to $49.66 and one seller offering for sale at $60.00. What explains premium pricing for this little creature? Primarily due to the explosive mana ramping it enables.

As it hits play, the cub converts one land to a creature land that has earthbending. And with that second ability, as long as it stays in play, every earthbent land yields two mana instead of one — plus any creatures you have that generate mana.

A clear choice for maximum effect would be Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 that produces G mana. However there are plenty of other mana generation creatures out there. This particular druid costs a bit more that’s a 1/3 for two mana as an alternative.

Using land cards, dorks that generate resources, alongside this card, you may quickly play an enormous pricey monster on the board within a few turns. The situation escalates rapidly if you keep the pressure on from there.

If you dip into a secondary color with this approach, examples including versatile mana producers are excellent picks that can make any mana color. Additionally, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove lets you play another terrain each turn AND turns all of your lands so they count as all basics. Another possibility is for example a card called A Realm Reborn, which for six mana gives all of your permanents the capacity to produce a mana of any type — even all creatures under your control.

This card might seem overpowered when it comes to boosting mana production, but how do you win with this archetype? A common and powerful choice is Ashaya. Its power and toughness match 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, every single creature you control may tap for two G when tapped.

Harmonious Grovestrider provides a high-cost, powerful body that thrives with lots of lands (similar to Ashaya, its stats match the number of lands you control).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World works perfectly as a staple. One of her abilities makes Forest lands generate an additional green mana. (If you have the cub, so each one yield three G.) Her plus ability acts as a form of land animation, putting +1/+1 counters on terrain, which is great but does not overlap with the cub's ability. Her ultimate, though, makes your entire land base unbreakable enabling you to put onto the battlefield all the remaining forests in the deck. Once you trigger that ability, it almost certainly you win.

Badgermole Cub is pretty much essential for any kind of decks using green and Avatar built around the earthbend mechanic. When branching into red and green, consider Bumi Unleashed. It possesses earthbend 4, plus if it hits a player to a player, each animated land become untapped and may attack once more. Even though Bumi is a fan favorite Commander, the cute little Badgermole Cub is set to be among the top, possibly the popular pick in the collaboration.