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the popular card game’s special Avatar expansion isn't set to get a wider release before the end of the week, yet due to prerelease weekends recently, an affordable green creature has already exploded in value.

Throughout the spoiler season, this small creature drew significant interest. A 2/2 that costs G and 1 mana, it features the Earthbend 1 ability (perhaps the strongest among the four bending abilities in the set). The major perk here lies in its second ability: If you tap a creature for mana, it provides bonus green mana.

At its cheapest, Badgermole Cub was available below $30. Following the early events, yet, its value jumped to $49.66 with at least one listed as high as $60. What explains such high costs on this adorable card? Mainly due to the incredible mana acceleration it enables.

Upon entering play, the cub transforms one land into a creature with earthbend. Combined with its other power, if it is not removed, those lands yields two mana instead of one — along with other creatures on your side that generate mana.

A clear choice to combine with would be Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 that taps to generate one green mana. Yet there are plenty of creatures that make mana in the game. This particular druid costs a bit more that’s a 1/3 costing two mana in comparison.

By playing lands, dorks that generate resources, alongside this card, you can easily get an enormous high-cost creature on the battlefield by round three or four. Momentum builds out of control if you keep the pressure on from that point.

By incorporating a secondary color using this method, options such as Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are excellent picks which produce all five colors. Additionally, a useful enchantment creature allows you to put another terrain each turn plus makes all of your lands so they count as all basics. Another possibility is such as this six-mana enchantment, which for six mana grants all of your permanents the power to produce any color mana — which covers any creature under your control.

This card might seem overpowered in terms of ramping up your mana generation, but how do you win with this archetype? One obvious and popular answer has been Ashaya. Its stats are set by your land count, and it changes your non-token creatures to be Forests as well as other subtypes. Essentially, all your creatures in play may produce double green by tapping.

Another creature is a costly, large threat that benefits from a high land count (similar to Ashaya, its stats are based on your land total).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World fits really well as a go-to Planeswalker. One of her abilities causes Forest lands produce extra green. (If you have the cub, that means those lands generate three green mana.) Her plus ability acts as an early earthbend, adding counters on terrain, a useful effect but does not overlap with earthbending. The minus ability, however, renders each land you control indestructible and lets you search for all the remaining forests in your deck. Should you manage to use this power, it’s pretty much you win.

This card is pretty much essential for all green-based Avatar strategies built around the earthbend mechanic. When branching into red-green, consider Bumi. He has level 4 earthbending, and if damage is dealt to a player, all land creatures become untapped for another attack. While that version has emerged as a popular Commander choice, this small creature is definitely going to remain one of, if not the most popular pick from this expansion.