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the popular card game’s Avatar crossover set will not become widely available until later this week, yet after early access events this past weekend, a low-cost green spell experienced a surge in value.

Even during previews, Badgermole Cub drew a lot of attention. A 2/2 priced at G and 1 mana, the card has Earthbending 1 (possibly the strongest within the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The real boon in its design lies in another power: Each time mana is generated by tapping a creature, add an additional green mana.

When first listed, this card sold below $30. Post-prerelease, however, the market price escalated above $45 with at least one listed as high as $60. What explains premium pricing on this adorable card? Primarily due to the rapid resource generation it enables.

As it hits the battlefield, the cub turns a terrain card to a creature land granting it earthbend. Combined with its other power, if it stays in play, each affected land yields two mana instead of one — along with other creatures on your side that generate mana.

A clear choice for synergy includes Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 that taps to generate one green mana. However there are plenty of other mana generation creatures out there. Another option costs a bit more with stats 1/3 for two mana in comparison.

Deploying terrain, mana-producing creatures, plus the cub, it's simple to summon an enormous and very expensive threat into play by round three or four. The situation escalates rapidly with continued aggression after that.

If you dip into an additional hue in this strategy, options such as versatile mana producers are excellent picks that can make all five colors. Additionally, a useful enchantment creature allows you to put an additional land every round AND makes your entire land base so they count as all basics. Another possibility is for example this six-mana enchantment, at a six-mana investment gives all of your permanents the ability to produce a mana of any type — including each creature in play.

This card could be too strong in terms of boosting mana production, but what’s the endgame finisher in such a strategy? A common and powerful choice has been this legendary creature. Power and toughness are both equal to how many lands you have, and it makes all of your nontoken creatures into Forests in addition to their other types. In other words, every single creature on your board can tap for two G if used for mana.

Harmonious Grovestrider is a costly, large threat which gains from a high land count (as with the previous card, its power and toughness are based on the number of lands you control).

Nissa fits really well as a go-to Planeswalker. Her static effect causes Forest lands produce extra green. (If you have the cub, this results in those lands generate three green mana.) Her plus ability functions like a proto-earthbend, putting +1/+1 counters to a noncreature land, which is great but it isn't redundant with earthbending. The minus ability, on the other hand, grants each land you control immune to destruction enabling you to draw out all the remaining forests in the deck. Should you manage to use this power, this typically means game over.

Badgermole Cub is pretty much essential for any kind of green-based Avatar strategies that use the earthbend mechanic. By including red and green, consider Bumi Unleashed. This card features level 4 earthbending, and if he deals combat damage to an opponent, each animated land become untapped and may attack once more. Even though Bumi has become a popular Commander choice, the cub is definitely going to remain one of, if not the most desired card from this expansion.