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the popular card game’s Avatar crossover set won’t hit the general market until later this week, yet after pre-releases this past weekend, a low-cost green spell has already exploded in value.

Even during previews, this small creature garnered significant interest. This two-power, two-toughness that costs one green and one colorless mana, Badgermole Cub features the Earthbend 1 ability (arguably the strongest of the set’s four “bending” mechanics). Its key advantage in its design lies in another power: Each time mana is generated by tapping a creature, it provides bonus green mana.

At its cheapest, the card was available below $30. Following the early events, yet, its value escalated to nearly $50 and one seller offering as high as $60. Why are we seeing premium pricing on this adorable card? Mainly thanks to the rapid resource generation it provides.

Upon entering the board, this creature transforms one land to a creature land with earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, as long as it is not removed, those lands yields two mana instead of one — in addition to other creatures on your side that produce resources.

The obvious go-to for synergy includes Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 that taps to generate a green resource. Yet there are plenty of other mana generation creatures out there. Another option is a more expensive alternative a 1/3 creature for two mana as an alternative.

Using land cards, creatures that tap for mana, and Badgermole Cub, it's simple to summon a massive high-cost threat on the battlefield by round three or four. And things just keep spiraling exponentially with continued aggression after that.

When adding a secondary color with this approach, options such as versatile mana producers are all great options which produce all five colors. Additionally, this powerful dryad lets you play another terrain per turn as well as makes every land you control into every basic land type. It's also worth trying such as the enchantment A Realm Reborn, which for six mana gives all of your permanents the capacity to produce one mana of any color — even any creature in play.

Badgermole Cub might seem overpowered regarding accelerating your resources, but what closes out the game for a deck like this? An often-seen solution has been Ashaya. Its stats are both equal to the number of lands you control, and it changes your non-token creatures Forests along with other subtypes. In other words, every single creature you control may produce double green by tapping.

Another creature is another expensive, beefy creature that thrives with a high land count (similar to Ashaya, its stats are based on how many lands you have).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World fits really well as a staple. Her passive ability causes all Forests produce extra green. (With a Badgermole Cub, this results in each one yield three G.) Her main ability is essentially a form of land animation, placing counters on terrain, a useful effect but does not overlap with earthbending. Her -8 ability, however, makes all of your lands immune to destruction and allows you to search for your remaining Forests in the deck. If you can actually activate that ability, it almost certainly game over.

The cub is pretty much essential for all green Avatar deck built around Earthbending. If you dip into Gruul colors, you can use this legendary card. He has earthbend 4, and if it hits a player to a player, each animated land are ready again for another attack. Even though Bumi is a popular Commander choice, this small creature is set to be among the top, possibly the popular pick in the collaboration.