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the popular card game’s special Avatar expansion isn't set to hit the general market before the end of the week, but following pre-releases this past weekend, an affordable green creature has already exploded in price.

Even during previews, the earthbending cub attracted widespread focus. A creature with stats 2/2 that costs one green and one colorless mana, it features the Earthbend 1 ability (possibly the strongest within the elemental mechanics available). The real boon here is an additional effect: Whenever you tap a creature for mana, you gain one extra green mana.

Initially, Badgermole Cub was available at around $27. After the pre-release weekend, however, the going rate has shot up above $45 including listings priced at sixty dollars. The reason for such high costs for this cute lil guy? Mainly because of the explosive mana ramping it can produce.

When it arrives the battlefield, the cub transforms a terrain card into a creature granting it earthbend. And with that second ability, if it remains on the board, those lands produces twice the mana — in addition to any creatures on your side that produce resources.

An ideal partner for maximum effect would be Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 that taps to generate G mana. However many other mana generation creatures available. Another option is a higher-cost choice with stats 1/3 costing two mana as an alternative.

Using land cards, mana-producing creatures, plus the cub, you can easily get a very big and very expensive monster on the board within a few turns. The situation escalates rapidly by maintaining dominance after that.

When adding another color with this approach, cards like these mana-fixing creatures are excellent picks which produce all five colors. And something like a useful enchantment creature enables playing an additional land per turn as well as transforms every land you control into every basic land type. It's also worth trying something like a card called A Realm Reborn, which for six mana grants every card you own the power to be tapped for one mana of any color — including each creature in play.

The cub might seem overpowered regarding boosting mana production, but how do you win for a deck like this? A common and powerful choice already is Ashaya. Power and toughness are set by the number of lands you control, plus it turns your non-token creatures into Forests as well as other subtypes. Essentially, every single creature in play can generate two green mana by tapping.

This additional option is a costly, large threat which gains from many terrain cards (similar to Ashaya, P/T are based on the number of lands you control).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World is an excellent fit as a staple. Her static effect makes Forest lands generate an additional green mana. (With a Badgermole Cub, that means those lands produce triple green.) One loyalty ability functions like a form of land animation, placing counters to a noncreature land, which is great though it doesn't stack with earthbend. Her -8 ability, on the other hand, renders each land you control immune to destruction and lets you put onto the battlefield all the remaining forests from your library. Once you trigger that ability, this typically means you win.

This card is pretty much essential for all decks using green and Avatar focusing on earthbend. When branching into red and green, you can use Bumi. He has earthbend 4, and when damage is dealt to a player, all land creatures become untapped and may attack once more. Although this card is a popular Commander choice, the cub is set to be one of the most, maybe the desired card from this expansion.