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MTG’s special Avatar expansion won’t hit the general market in the coming days, yet following early access events this past weekend, an affordable green creature has already exploded in value.

Throughout the spoiler season, the earthbending cub drew a lot of attention. A 2/2 priced at G and 1 mana, Badgermole Cub includes Earthbending 1 (possibly the strongest among the elemental mechanics available). The real boon here lies in its second ability: If you tap a creature for mana, it provides bonus green mana.

Initially, the card sold at around $27. Post-prerelease, yet, the going rate jumped to $49.66 including listings priced at sixty dollars. What explains premium pricing for this little creature? Primarily due to the incredible mana acceleration it provides.

As it hits the board, the cub converts a land to a creature land granting it earthbend. And with that second ability, as long as it remains on the board, each affected land yields two mana instead of one — in addition to any creatures in your control which tap for mana.

A clear choice to combine with is this one-mana elf, a cheap 1/1 that produces a green resource. However many other mana generation creatures out there. This particular druid costs a bit more a 1/3 creature at a two-mana value instead.

By playing lands, creatures that tap for mana, and Badgermole Cub, it's simple to summon an enormous and very expensive creature on the board within a few turns. Momentum builds out of control by maintaining dominance from that point.

If you dip into another color using this method, options such as these mana-fixing creatures work perfectly that generate any mana color. Additionally, this powerful dryad allows you to put an additional land each turn plus turns every land you control providing all land types. It's also worth trying such as a card called A Realm Reborn, at a six-mana investment provides every card you own the ability to be tapped for one mana of any color — which covers any creature you have on the board.

Badgermole Cub may be OP when it comes to ramping up your mana generation, but what’s the endgame finisher with this archetype? An often-seen solution already is Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Its stats are both equal to the number of lands you control, plus it turns each creature you own into Forests in addition to their other types. Essentially, each creature you control is able to produce double green when tapped.

Another creature is another expensive, beefy creature that benefits from lots of lands (as with the previous card, its power and toughness are based on how many lands you have).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World is an excellent fit as a go-to Planeswalker. Her static effect causes Forest lands produce extra green. (If you have the cub, this results in each one generate three green mana.) Her plus ability is essentially a proto-earthbend, putting +1/+1 counters on terrain, which is great but does not overlap with the cub's ability. Her ultimate, on the other hand, renders all of your lands immune to destruction and allows you to search for every Forest left in your deck. Should you manage to use that ability, it almost certainly you win.

This card is pretty much essential in any green Avatar deck built around Earthbending. If you dip into red and green, there’s Bumi Unleashed. It possesses earthbend 4, and if damage is dealt to a player, all land creatures untap and can attack again. Even though Bumi has become a popular Commander choice, the cub is definitely going to remain among the top, possibly the desired card from this expansion.