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the popular card game’s special Avatar expansion won’t become widely available before the end of the week, but following pre-releases over the last few days, one cheap green card has already exploded in price.

From the initial reveals, the earthbending cub drew significant interest. This two-power, two-toughness that costs a single green and one generic mana, it has the Earthbend 1 ability (arguably the best among the elemental mechanics available). The major perk here lies in its second ability: Each time you tap a creature for mana, add an additional green mana.

Initially, Badgermole Cub was available at around $27. After the pre-release weekend, however, the market price escalated above $45 with at least one listed for sale at $60.00. The reason for premium pricing for this little creature? Mostly due to the rapid resource generation it provides.

When it arrives play, Badgermole Cub transforms one land into a creature with earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, as long as it is not removed, every earthbent land generates double mana — in addition to other creatures in your control that generate mana.

An ideal partner for maximum effect would be the classic Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 that taps to generate one green mana. But many creatures that make mana in the game. Druid of the Cowl costs a bit more a 1/3 creature for two mana in comparison.

By playing lands, dorks that generate resources, and Badgermole Cub, you can easily get an enormous pricey creature on the board within a few turns. The situation escalates rapidly if you keep the pressure on from there.

If you dip into another color in this strategy, options such as versatile mana producers work perfectly which produce any color of mana. Another card, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove enables playing one extra land per turn AND makes all of your lands into every basic land type. Another possibility is such as this six-mana enchantment, which for six mana grants every card you own the power to produce a mana of any type — which covers all creatures under your control.

Badgermole Cub could be too strong when it comes to ramping up your mana generation, however what closes out the game in such a strategy? One obvious and popular answer is Ashaya. Its power and toughness are both equal to the number of lands you control, plus it turns all of your nontoken creatures into Forests in addition to their other types. In other words, every single creature you control can produce double green when tapped.

Another creature is another expensive, beefy creature which gains from a high land count (like Ashaya, P/T match your land total).

This Planeswalker fits really well as a staple. Her static effect makes every Forest produce extra green. (With a Badgermole Cub, so each one generate three green mana.) Her main ability functions like a form of land animation, putting +1/+1 counters to a noncreature land, a useful effect though it doesn't stack with the cub's ability. Her ultimate, however, renders your entire land base immune to destruction and lets you put onto the battlefield all the remaining forests in the deck. Once you trigger that ability, it almost certainly game over.

This card is pretty much essential for any kind of green Avatar deck built around earthbend. By including red and green, you can use Bumi Unleashed. It possesses earthbend 4, and if he deals combat damage to an opponent, each animated land untap for another attack. While that version is a popular Commander choice, the cute little Badgermole Cub is definitely going to remain one of the most, maybe the popular pick from this expansion.