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the popular card game’s collaboration with Avatar won’t hit the general market in the coming days, yet following prerelease weekends this past weekend, a low-cost green spell has already exploded in market worth.

Even during previews, Badgermole Cub drew significant interest. A 2/2 requiring G and 1 mana, the card has the Earthbend 1 ability (possibly the most effective of the set’s four “bending” mechanics). Its key advantage in its design lies in another power: Whenever a creature is tapped to produce mana, it provides bonus green mana.

At its cheapest, Badgermole Cub was available for $26.98. Post-prerelease, though, the going rate jumped to $49.66 including listings for sale at $60.00. The reason for Vivi prices for this little creature? Mostly because of the rapid resource generation it can produce.

As it hits the board, the cub converts a land to a creature land granting it earthbend. And with that second ability, while it remains on the board, every earthbent land generates double mana — along with mana-producing creatures in your control that produce resources.

The obvious go-to for synergy is this one-mana elf, a cheap 1/1 that taps to generate a green resource. Yet there are plenty of creatures that make mana in the game. Druid of the Cowl costs a bit more a 1/3 creature for two mana in comparison.

Deploying terrain, mana-producing creatures, alongside this card, you may quickly play a massive high-cost threat on the board by round three or four. And things just keep spiraling out of control if you keep the pressure on after that.

By incorporating an additional hue using this method, options such as these mana-fixing creatures are all great options that generate all five colors. And something like Dryad of the Ilysian Grove enables playing another terrain per turn as well as transforms every land you control into every basic land type. Another possibility is for example a card called A Realm Reborn, costing six mana provides each permanent you control the capacity to produce one mana of any color — which covers each creature under your control.

The cub might seem overpowered when it comes to accelerating your resources, but how do you win with this archetype? An often-seen solution already is this legendary creature. Power and toughness are set by the number of lands you control, plus it turns your non-token creatures to be Forests along with their original types. In other words, all your creatures in play is able to tap for two G when tapped.

Harmonious Grovestrider is a costly, large threat that benefits from many terrain cards (similar to Ashaya, its power and toughness match how many lands you have).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World is an excellent fit in this deck. One of her abilities makes every Forest generate an additional green mana. (If you have the cub, this results in all earthbend forests produce triple green.) Her main ability is essentially a proto-earthbend, placing counters on a land, handy but it isn't redundant with earthbending. Her ultimate, though, makes your entire land base immune to destruction 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 for any kind of green Avatar deck built around earthbend. By including red-green, consider Bumi. This card features earthbend 4, and if damage is dealt in combat, each animated land become untapped and can attack again. Although this card has become a popular Commander choice, this small creature is definitely going to remain one of, if not the most popular pick from this expansion.