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Magic: The Gathering’s Avatar crossover set won’t get a wider release until later this week, but following pre-releases recently, a low-cost green spell saw a sharp rise in price.

Even during previews, this small creature drew a lot of attention. A creature with stats 2/2 requiring G and 1 mana, Badgermole Cub has Earthbending 1 (perhaps the most effective among the four bending abilities in the set). The real boon in its design lies in its second ability: Whenever mana is generated by tapping a creature, it provides bonus green mana.

Initially, the card sold at around $27. Following the early events, yet, the going rate has shot up to $49.66 including listings priced at sixty dollars. The reason for premium pricing on this adorable card? Mostly thanks to the incredible mana acceleration it can produce.

Upon entering the board, this creature turns a terrain card into a creature with earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, as long as it remains on the board, those lands generates double mana — along with other creatures in your control that generate mana.

A clear choice for synergy would be Llanowar Elves, an inexpensive 1/1 that taps to generate G mana. But many other mana generation creatures available. Another option costs a bit more with stats 1/3 costing two mana as an alternative.

By playing lands, mana-producing creatures, plus the cub, it's simple to summon a massive and very expensive threat on the battlefield by round three or four. And things just keep spiraling out of control if you keep the pressure on from there.

If you dip into an additional hue using this method, cards like Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid work perfectly which produce any color of mana. And something like this powerful dryad lets you play another terrain per turn plus makes your entire land base providing all land types. It's also worth trying such as the enchantment A Realm Reborn, which for six mana provides all of your permanents the power to produce one mana of any color — even each creature in play.

The cub might seem overpowered in terms of boosting mana production, however what’s the endgame finisher in such a strategy? One obvious and popular answer has been Ashaya. Its power and toughness match your land count, and it makes each creature you own to be Forests in addition to other subtypes. Essentially, each creature you control may tap for two G by tapping.

Harmonious Grovestrider is a costly, large threat which gains from lots of lands (as with the previous card, its power and toughness match your land total).

This Planeswalker fits really well as a go-to Planeswalker. Her static effect causes all Forests tap for one more G. (Combined with earthbend, that means each one yield three G.) Her plus ability acts as a proto-earthbend, putting +1/+1 counters on terrain, a useful effect but does not overlap with earthbending. Her -8 ability, however, grants your entire land base indestructible and allows you to draw out all the remaining forests in the deck. If you can actually activate that ability, it’s pretty much the game ends.

Badgermole Cub is pretty much essential in any decks using green and Avatar built around the earthbend mechanic. When branching into red and green, consider this legendary card. This card features earthbend 4, and when it hits a player in combat, land creatures become untapped for another attack. Although this card has emerged as a fan favorite Commander, this small creature will surely stay one of, if not the most sought-after card in the collaboration.