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the popular card game’s Avatar crossover set will not become widely available in the coming days, but due to prerelease weekends over the last few days, one cheap green card experienced a surge in value.

Throughout the spoiler season, the earthbending cub drew widespread focus. This two-power, two-toughness requiring one green and one colorless mana, the card includes Earthbending 1 (arguably the most effective among the set’s four “bending” mechanics). Its key advantage in its design is another power: If a creature is tapped to produce mana, it provides bonus green mana.

At its cheapest, this card was available below $30. Following the early events, however, its value escalated to $49.66 including listings as high as $60. Why are we seeing premium pricing for this little creature? Mainly because of the rapid resource generation it provides.

Upon entering play, Badgermole Cub transforms a land into a creature with earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, if it stays in play, each affected land yields two mana instead of one — in addition to mana-producing creatures in your control that produce resources.

The obvious go-to for maximum effect is this one-mana elf, a low-cost creature that produces one green mana. Yet numerous other mana generation creatures in the game. This particular druid costs a bit more a 1/3 creature for two mana instead.

Using land cards, mana-producing creatures, plus the cub, you may quickly play an enormous and very expensive creature on the board early in the game. Momentum builds exponentially if you keep the pressure on from that point.

If you dip into an additional hue using this method, options such as Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are all great options that can make all five colors. Another card, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove lets you play another terrain each turn as well as turns your entire land base providing all land types. Another possibility is something like the enchantment A Realm Reborn, which for six mana gives each permanent you control the power to tap and generate one mana of any color — even any creature you have on the board.

This card might seem overpowered regarding accelerating your resources, but what’s the endgame finisher in such a strategy? One obvious and popular answer already is this legendary creature. Its power and toughness are both equal to the number of lands you control, and it changes all of your nontoken creatures to be Forests in addition to other subtypes. In other words, each creature you control is able to generate two green mana by tapping.

Another creature provides a high-cost, powerful body that benefits from a high land count (like Ashaya, its stats match how many lands you have).

This Planeswalker fits really well in this deck. One of her abilities causes Forest lands produce extra green. (Combined with earthbend, that means each one produce triple green.) Her plus ability functions like an early earthbend, putting +1/+1 counters to a noncreature land, handy though it doesn't stack with earthbending. The minus ability, however, renders all of your lands unbreakable enabling you to put onto the battlefield every Forest left from your library. If you can actually activate the ultimate, it’s pretty much game over.

The cub is a must-have for any kind of decks using green and Avatar focusing on the earthbend mechanic. By including Gruul colors, you can use this legendary card. He has level 4 earthbending, plus if it hits a player in combat, land creatures become untapped for another attack. While that version has emerged as a popular Commander choice, the cute little Badgermole Cub will surely stay among the top, possibly the popular pick in the Avatar set.