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MTG’s special Avatar expansion will not get a wider release before the end of the week, but due to pre-releases this past weekend, a low-cost green spell saw a sharp rise in market worth.

From the initial reveals, Badgermole Cub garnered significant interest. This two-power, two-toughness that costs G and 1 mana, it features level 1 earthbending (perhaps the most effective within the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The major perk here comes from another power: Whenever a creature is tapped to produce mana, you gain one extra green mana.

When first listed, Badgermole Cub was available at around $27. After the pre-release weekend, though, the going rate escalated to $49.66 and one seller offering for sale at $60.00. What explains Vivi prices for this little creature? Primarily because of the incredible mana acceleration it provides.

As it hits the battlefield, this creature converts a land to a creature land that has earthbending. And with that second ability, if it stays in play, every earthbent land yields two mana instead of one — plus mana-producing creatures in your control that generate mana.

A clear choice for synergy includes this one-mana elf, an inexpensive 1/1 that taps to generate a green resource. However many creatures that make mana available. Druid of the Cowl is a higher-cost choice that’s a 1/3 at a two-mana value instead.

By playing lands, mana-producing creatures, and Badgermole Cub, it's simple to summon an enormous and very expensive monster on the board early in the game. And things just keep spiraling out of control with continued aggression after that.

When adding an additional hue in this strategy, cards like these mana-fixing creatures work perfectly that generate any mana color. Another card, this powerful dryad allows you to put an additional land each turn as well as makes all of your lands so they count as all basics. Another possibility is something like this six-mana enchantment, which for six mana grants all of your permanents the ability to be tapped for one mana of any color — including all creatures in play.

Badgermole Cub may be OP in terms of accelerating your resources, but what closes out the game with this archetype? An often-seen solution already is this legendary creature. Its stats are set by the number of lands you control, plus it turns your non-token creatures into Forests as well as their original types. Essentially, all your creatures on your board may generate two green mana if used for mana.

This additional option provides a high-cost, powerful body which gains from lots of lands (like Ashaya, its power and toughness match your land total).

This Planeswalker fits really well in this deck. Her static effect allows Forest lands tap for one more G. (If you have the cub, that means all earthbend forests produce triple green.) One loyalty ability is essentially a form of land animation, placing counters on a land, a useful effect but it isn't redundant with earthbending. The minus ability, though, renders all of your lands immune to destruction and allows you to search for every Forest left from your library. Should you manage to use this power, it’s pretty much game over.

This card is nearly mandatory for all green-based Avatar strategies that use Earthbending. By including Gruul colors, there’s Bumi. This card features earthbend 4, plus if it hits a player to an opponent, land creatures untap and may attack once more. Although this card has emerged as a popular Commander choice, the cub is definitely going to remain one of the most, maybe the popular pick from this expansion.