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Magic: The Gathering’s special Avatar expansion won’t hit the general market until later this week, but following early access events this past weekend, one cheap green card saw a sharp rise in market worth.

From the initial reveals, the earthbending cub attracted widespread focus. A creature with stats 2/2 that costs one green and one colorless mana, it has Earthbending 1 (possibly the best of the elemental mechanics available). The real boon here is another power: Each time a creature is tapped to produce mana, add an additional green mana.

Initially, this card sold at around $27. After the pre-release weekend, yet, the going rate jumped to $49.66 and one seller offering as high as $60. Why are we seeing premium pricing for this little creature? Primarily due to the incredible mana acceleration it enables.

As it hits play, the cub converts a terrain card to a creature land granting it earthbend. Combined with its other power, as long as it remains on the board, those lands generates double mana — in addition to mana-producing creatures on your side which tap for mana.

The obvious go-to for maximum effect would be Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 that produces a green resource. Yet there are plenty of alternative mana dorks out there. Druid of the Cowl is a higher-cost choice with stats 1/3 at a two-mana value as an alternative.

Deploying terrain, creatures that tap for mana, alongside this card, you can easily get a massive high-cost monster on the battlefield within a few turns. Momentum builds exponentially with continued aggression from that point.

When adding another color using this method, cards like versatile mana producers are excellent picks that can make any color of mana. And something like a useful enchantment creature allows you to put another terrain each turn plus makes all of your lands into every basic land type. Another possibility is something like the enchantment A Realm Reborn, at a six-mana investment provides each permanent you control the capacity to produce one mana of any color — even all creatures under your control.

The cub might seem overpowered regarding boosting mana production, yet how do you win in such a strategy? An often-seen solution is Ashaya. Its power and toughness are set by how many lands you have, and it makes all of your nontoken creatures to be Forests along with other subtypes. In other words, all your creatures on your board may generate two green mana when tapped.

Harmonious Grovestrider provides a high-cost, powerful body which gains from many terrain cards (similar to Ashaya, its power and toughness match how many lands you have).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World works perfectly as a go-to Planeswalker. One of her abilities makes Forest lands produce extra green. (Combined with earthbend, so those lands generate three green mana.) Her plus ability functions like an early earthbend, adding counters on a land, handy but does not overlap with the cub's ability. Her ultimate, however, grants each land you control indestructible and allows you to draw out all the remaining forests in the deck. If you can actually activate this power, this typically means game over.

Badgermole Cub is nearly mandatory in any green-based Avatar strategies focusing on Earthbending. If you dip into red and green, there’s Bumi. It possesses earthbend 4, plus if damage is dealt in combat, land creatures become untapped and can attack again. Although this card is a popular Commander choice, the cub is definitely going to remain one of, if not the most desired card in the collaboration.