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the popular card game’s special Avatar expansion will not become widely available before the end of the week, yet due to prerelease weekends this past weekend, a low-cost green spell has already exploded in market worth.

From the initial reveals, the earthbending cub attracted significant interest. A creature with stats 2/2 that costs one green and one colorless mana, Badgermole Cub has Earthbending 1 (perhaps the most effective of the elemental mechanics available). Its key advantage here comes from its second ability: If a creature is tapped to produce mana, add an additional green mana.

At its cheapest, this card could be purchased below $30. Following the early events, yet, its value jumped above $45 with at least one listed for sale at $60.00. What explains such high costs for this little creature? Mainly thanks to the explosive mana ramping it enables.

As it hits the battlefield, this creature converts a terrain card into a creature with earthbend. And with that second ability, if it is not removed, those lands yields two mana instead of one — along with other creatures in your control which tap for mana.

A clear choice to combine with is this one-mana elf, a cheap 1/1 which can be tapped for G mana. However there are plenty of other mana generation creatures out there. This particular druid is a more expensive alternative with stats 1/3 at a two-mana value instead.

Deploying terrain, creatures that tap for mana, alongside this card, it's simple to summon a massive high-cost monster on the battlefield within a few turns. The situation escalates out of control by maintaining dominance from there.

If you dip into a secondary color with this approach, cards like Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid work perfectly that generate any color of mana. Another card, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove lets you play one extra land each turn AND makes every land you control so they count as all basics. It's also worth trying for example a card called A Realm Reborn, costing six mana gives each permanent you control the ability to be tapped for a mana of any type — including any creature you have on the board.

This card may be OP regarding accelerating your resources, yet how do you win with this archetype? A common and powerful choice is Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Its stats are both equal to the number of lands you control, and it changes each creature you own into Forests along with their other types. Essentially, every single creature you control is able to tap for two G by tapping.

This additional option is another expensive, beefy creature that thrives with lots of lands (as with the previous card, its stats are equal to how many lands you have).

Nissa fits really well as a go-to Planeswalker. Her static effect makes every Forest tap for one more G. (With a Badgermole Cub, that means all earthbend forests generate three green mana.) One loyalty ability functions like an early earthbend, placing counters on terrain, which is great but it isn't redundant with earthbending. Her ultimate, however, renders all of your lands indestructible enabling you to draw out every Forest left in the deck. If you can actually activate the ultimate, this typically means the game ends.

Badgermole Cub is pretty much essential in any green-based Avatar strategies built around earthbend. By including Gruul colors, consider Bumi Unleashed. This card features earthbend 4, and if it hits a player in combat, land creatures untap for another attack. Even though Bumi is a beloved leader, the cub will surely stay among the top, possibly the sought-after card in the collaboration.