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the popular card game’s collaboration with Avatar isn't set to become widely available until later this week, yet following pre-releases this past weekend, a low-cost green spell experienced a surge in market worth.

Throughout the spoiler season, Badgermole Cub attracted a lot of attention. A 2/2 requiring a single green and one generic mana, Badgermole Cub includes Earthbending 1 (perhaps the most effective within the elemental mechanics available). Its key advantage with this card comes from another power: Each time a creature is tapped to produce mana, you gain one extra green mana.

Initially, Badgermole Cub could be purchased at around $27. Following the early events, however, its value has shot up to $49.66 including listings as high as $60. Why are we seeing premium pricing for this cute lil guy? Mainly thanks to the explosive mana ramping it can produce.

Upon entering the battlefield, this creature transforms a land so it becomes a creature granting it earthbend. And with that second ability, while it stays in play, every earthbent land produces twice the mana — plus mana-producing creatures in your control which tap for mana.

The obvious go-to for synergy is the classic Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 that produces G mana. However many other mana generation creatures out there. Another option is a higher-cost choice with stats 1/3 at a two-mana value in comparison.

Deploying terrain, dorks that generate resources, plus the cub, you may quickly play an enormous and very expensive creature on the board early in the game. The situation escalates rapidly by maintaining dominance from that point.

By incorporating a secondary color with this approach, options such as Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are excellent picks that generate any mana color. And something like Dryad of the Ilysian Grove enables playing one extra land every round as well as makes all of your lands so they count as all basics. Another possibility is for example a card called A Realm Reborn, at a six-mana investment provides every card you own the ability to produce one mana of any color — which covers any creature in play.

This card may be OP in terms of accelerating your resources, but how do you win with this archetype? An often-seen solution is Ashaya. Power and toughness are set by the number of lands you control, plus it turns all of your nontoken creatures into Forests as well as their original types. Essentially, all your creatures on your board can produce double green if used for mana.

This additional option is a costly, large threat that benefits from a high land count (like Ashaya, P/T are based on the number of lands you control).

This Planeswalker works perfectly as a staple. Her static effect causes all Forests generate an additional green mana. (Combined with earthbend, that means each one generate three green mana.) One loyalty ability functions like a form of land animation, adding counters on terrain, a useful effect but does not overlap with the cub's ability. The minus ability, on the other hand, makes each land you control indestructible enabling you to search for all the remaining forests from your library. Should you manage to use this power, it almost certainly the game ends.

The cub is pretty much essential for any kind of green Avatar deck that use Earthbending. When branching into red-green, there’s Bumi. This card features level 4 earthbending, and if it hits a player to an opponent, land creatures are ready again and can attack again. Even though Bumi has emerged as a beloved leader, this small creature is set to be one of, if not the most popular pick from this expansion.