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Magic: The Gathering’s special Avatar expansion won’t get a wider release in the coming days, however following pre-releases over the last few days, an affordable green creature has already exploded in market worth.

From the initial reveals, Badgermole Cub attracted widespread focus. This two-power, two-toughness that costs a single green and one generic mana, Badgermole Cub has level 1 earthbending (possibly the strongest of the elemental mechanics available). The real boon with this card lies in another power: Whenever mana is generated by tapping a creature, it provides bonus green mana.

At its cheapest, Badgermole Cub sold at around $27. Post-prerelease, however, its value has shot up to nearly $50 with at least one listed priced at sixty dollars. Why are we seeing premium pricing for this little creature? Mainly because of the explosive mana ramping it provides.

When it arrives play, this creature turns a land so it becomes a creature granting it earthbend. Combined with its other power, if it stays in play, every earthbent land produces twice the mana — in addition to mana-producing creatures on your side that generate mana.

The obvious go-to to combine with is this one-mana elf, an inexpensive 1/1 which can be tapped for a green resource. Yet many creatures that make mana available. Another option is a more expensive alternative that’s a 1/3 at a two-mana value as an alternative.

By playing lands, mana-producing creatures, plus the cub, it's simple to summon a very big and very expensive threat on the board by round three or four. The situation escalates exponentially by maintaining dominance from that point.

By incorporating an additional hue in this strategy, cards like these mana-fixing creatures work perfectly that can make any mana color. Additionally, this powerful dryad enables playing another terrain each turn AND turns every land you control so they count as all basics. You can also consider such as this six-mana enchantment, at a six-mana investment provides all of your permanents the power to be tapped for one mana of any color — even each creature you have on the board.

The cub might seem overpowered when it comes to boosting mana production, but how do you win with this archetype? One obvious and popular answer is this legendary creature. Its power and toughness are set by the number of lands you control, plus it turns each creature you own Forests in addition to their other types. In other words, each creature in play is able to produce double green when tapped.

This additional option is a costly, large threat that benefits from many terrain cards (like Ashaya, its power and toughness are based on the number of lands you control).

Nissa is an excellent fit in this deck. Her static effect makes all Forests generate an additional green mana. (If you have the cub, this results in those lands produce triple green.) One loyalty ability acts as an early earthbend, putting +1/+1 counters to a noncreature land, a useful effect though it doesn't stack with earthbend. Her -8 ability, on the other hand, makes all of your lands immune to destruction and lets you draw out your remaining Forests in your deck. Once you trigger the ultimate, it’s pretty much the game ends.

This card is pretty much essential for any kind of decks using green and Avatar built around the earthbend mechanic. When branching into red and green, consider this legendary card. This card features earthbend 4, plus if he deals combat damage to a player, land creatures become untapped for another attack. While that version is a popular Commander choice, the cute little Badgermole Cub will surely stay one of the most, maybe the popular pick in the Avatar set.