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MTG’s collaboration with Avatar won’t get a wider release until later this week, however due to prerelease weekends over the last few days, a low-cost green spell has already exploded in price.

From the initial reveals, the earthbending cub garnered widespread focus. A 2/2 that costs a single green and one generic mana, it has Earthbending 1 (possibly the best within the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The real boon here lies in an additional effect: Whenever mana is generated by tapping a creature, you gain one extra green mana.

When first listed, this card sold below $30. After the pre-release weekend, however, its value has shot up above $45 with at least one listed as high as $60. What explains such high costs for this little creature? Primarily due to the explosive mana ramping it provides.

Upon entering play, Badgermole Cub converts one land so it becomes a creature granting it earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, as long as it remains on the board, every earthbent land produces twice the mana — along with other creatures on your side that generate mana.

The obvious go-to for maximum effect would be Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 that taps to generate a green resource. But numerous creatures that make mana available. Druid of the Cowl is a more expensive alternative a 1/3 creature for two mana in comparison.

Deploying terrain, mana-producing creatures, alongside this card, it's simple to summon an enormous pricey monster on the battlefield early in the game. Momentum builds exponentially with continued aggression from that point.

By incorporating an additional hue using this method, options such as versatile mana producers are excellent picks that generate all five colors. And something like a useful enchantment creature lets you play an additional land each turn plus turns all of your lands providing all land types. Another possibility is such as a card called A Realm Reborn, at a six-mana investment gives every card you own the capacity to tap and generate one mana of any color — even any creature in play.

This card may be OP in terms of accelerating your resources, yet how do you win in such a strategy? An often-seen solution already is this legendary creature. Its power and toughness are set by how many lands you have, plus it turns all of your nontoken creatures Forests along with their original types. Essentially, all your creatures on your board can produce double green if used for mana.

Harmonious Grovestrider is another expensive, beefy creature that benefits from a high land count (as with the previous card, its power and toughness match your land total).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World works perfectly in this deck. Her passive ability allows every Forest tap for one more G. (Combined with earthbend, that means each one yield three G.) Her plus ability is essentially a form of land animation, placing counters on terrain, which is great but it isn't redundant with earthbend. Her -8 ability, however, makes your entire land base immune to destruction and allows you to draw out your remaining Forests from your library. Should you manage to use that ability, it’s pretty much game over.

Badgermole Cub is nearly mandatory in any green-based Avatar strategies focusing on the earthbend mechanic. By including red-green, you can use Bumi Unleashed. It possesses earthbend 4, plus if it hits a player to an opponent, all land creatures become untapped for another attack. Even though Bumi has emerged as a popular Commander choice, the cub is definitely going to remain one of the most, maybe the popular pick from this expansion.