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the popular card game’s collaboration with Avatar will not hit the general market until later this week, but after early access events this past weekend, an affordable green creature has already exploded in value.

Throughout the spoiler season, this small creature drew a lot of attention. A creature with stats 2/2 priced at a single green and one generic mana, the card features Earthbending 1 (possibly the strongest among the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The major perk with this card comes from its second ability: Each time mana is generated by tapping a creature, add an additional green mana.

At its cheapest, Badgermole Cub was available at around $27. Post-prerelease, yet, the going rate has shot up to $49.66 including listings for sale at $60.00. The reason for such high costs for this little creature? Primarily thanks to the rapid resource generation it enables.

When it arrives the board, the cub transforms a terrain card so it becomes a creature granting it earthbend. Combined with its other power, as long as it is not removed, those lands generates double mana — plus mana-producing creatures in your control that produce resources.

The obvious go-to to combine with is Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 which can be tapped for one green mana. However many alternative mana dorks out there. Druid of the Cowl is a more expensive alternative with stats 1/3 at a two-mana value as an alternative.

Using land cards, creatures that tap for mana, and Badgermole Cub, you may quickly play a very big pricey creature on the board within a few turns. The situation escalates exponentially with continued aggression after that.

When adding an additional hue with this approach, options such as these mana-fixing creatures work perfectly that generate all five colors. And something like a useful enchantment creature lets you play another terrain per turn plus turns every land you control providing all land types. You can also consider such as the enchantment A Realm Reborn, at a six-mana investment grants each permanent you control the power to tap and generate a mana of any type — including any creature you have on the board.

The cub might seem overpowered regarding boosting mana production, yet what closes out the game with this archetype? A common and powerful choice has been Ashaya. Its stats are set by the number of lands you control, and it changes all of your nontoken creatures to be Forests as well as their other types. In other words, every single creature in play is able to produce double green when tapped.

This additional option is a costly, large threat which gains from lots of lands (as with the previous card, P/T are based on your land total).

Nissa works perfectly in this deck. Her static effect makes Forest lands produce extra green. (Combined with earthbend, that means all earthbend forests yield three G.) Her plus ability is essentially a proto-earthbend, putting +1/+1 counters on a land, handy though it doesn't stack with the cub's ability. Her ultimate, though, renders each land you control unbreakable enabling you to put onto the battlefield every Forest left in the deck. Should you manage to use that ability, it’s pretty much the game ends.

The cub is nearly mandatory in any decks using green and Avatar built around earthbend. When branching into Gruul colors, you can use Bumi Unleashed. This card features earthbend 4, and when it hits a player to an opponent, each animated land untap and can attack again. Although this card has become a fan favorite Commander, the cute little Badgermole Cub will surely stay one of the most, maybe the sought-after card from this expansion.