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the popular card game’s special Avatar expansion won’t hit the general market before the end of the week, yet due to prerelease weekends this past weekend, one cheap green card saw a sharp rise in price.

Even during previews, Badgermole Cub garnered widespread focus. A 2/2 requiring G and 1 mana, Badgermole Cub has level 1 earthbending (possibly the strongest within the elemental mechanics available). The major perk here lies in its second ability: Whenever mana is generated by tapping a creature, add an additional green mana.

When first listed, this card could be purchased below $30. Post-prerelease, however, the going rate has shot up to nearly $50 including listings as high as $60. Why are we seeing such high costs on this adorable card? Mainly because of the explosive mana ramping it can produce.

As it hits the board, this creature converts a terrain card so it becomes a creature with earthbend. And with that second ability, as long as it remains on the board, every earthbent land yields two mana instead of one — plus any creatures you have that produce resources.

An ideal partner to combine with is the classic Llanowar Elves, an inexpensive 1/1 which can be tapped for G mana. But there are plenty of alternative mana dorks out there. Druid of the Cowl is a higher-cost choice a 1/3 creature at a two-mana value as an alternative.

By playing lands, mana-producing creatures, alongside this card, you can easily get a massive and very expensive monster on the battlefield early in the game. And things just keep spiraling out of control by maintaining dominance from that point.

When adding a secondary color in this strategy, options such as Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are excellent picks which produce any mana color. Another card, this powerful dryad lets you play an additional land every round as well as turns all of your lands into every basic land type. It's also worth trying for example a card called A Realm Reborn, at a six-mana investment grants every card you own the ability to produce any color mana — including any creature you have on the board.

Badgermole Cub may be OP regarding accelerating your resources, yet what’s the endgame finisher for a deck like this? One obvious and popular answer is Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Its stats match your land count, and it makes each creature you own to be Forests along with their other types. In other words, all your creatures you control can produce double green when tapped.

Harmonious Grovestrider is another expensive, beefy creature that benefits from a high land count (as with the previous card, its power and toughness are based on the number of lands you control).

Nissa works perfectly as a staple. One of her abilities allows every Forest generate an additional green mana. (If you have the cub, that means each one yield three G.) One loyalty ability functions like an early earthbend, adding counters on terrain, handy though it doesn't stack with earthbending. Her ultimate, though, makes your entire land base indestructible enabling you to search for your remaining Forests from your library. If you can actually activate this power, it almost certainly you win.

This card is pretty much essential for all green-based Avatar strategies focusing on earthbend. If you dip into red-green, consider Bumi Unleashed. He has earthbend 4, and if he deals combat damage to an opponent, land creatures are ready again and may attack once more. Even though Bumi has become a fan favorite Commander, the cub is set to be among the top, possibly the popular pick in the Avatar set.