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the popular card game’s collaboration with Avatar isn't set to become widely available until later this week, but following pre-releases this past weekend, a low-cost green spell experienced a surge in price.

Even during previews, Badgermole Cub attracted significant interest. This two-power, two-toughness requiring G and 1 mana, Badgermole Cub includes the Earthbend 1 ability (possibly the most effective of the four bending abilities in the set). The major perk in its design lies in an additional effect: Whenever a creature is tapped to produce mana, you gain one extra green mana.

At its cheapest, the card was available at around $27. Post-prerelease, though, its value jumped above $45 with at least one listed as high as $60. The reason for such high costs for this little creature? Mainly because of the incredible mana acceleration it provides.

When it arrives the board, this creature converts a terrain card so it becomes a creature granting it earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, if it stays in play, every earthbent land produces twice the mana — plus other creatures in your control that produce resources.

The obvious go-to for maximum effect includes this one-mana elf, a low-cost creature that produces one green mana. However many creatures that make mana in the game. Another option is a more expensive alternative that’s a 1/3 for two mana in comparison.

Deploying terrain, mana-producing creatures, and Badgermole Cub, you may quickly play a massive high-cost monster into play within a few turns. The situation escalates exponentially with continued aggression from there.

If you dip into a secondary color in this strategy, cards like versatile mana producers work perfectly which produce all five colors. And something like a useful enchantment creature allows you to put another terrain per turn plus transforms every land you control so they count as all basics. Another possibility is such as a card called A Realm Reborn, costing six mana grants all of your permanents the power to tap and generate one mana of any color — even all creatures you have on the board.

Badgermole Cub might seem overpowered when it comes to accelerating your resources, however what closes out the game for a deck like this? One obvious and popular answer is Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Its power and toughness are both equal to the number of lands you control, and it makes each creature you own to be Forests as well as other subtypes. This means, each creature on your board may produce double green by tapping.

Harmonious Grovestrider is another expensive, beefy creature that benefits from lots of lands (like Ashaya, its power and toughness match your land total).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World is an excellent fit as a go-to Planeswalker. Her passive ability allows Forest lands generate an additional green mana. (If you have the cub, this results in all earthbend forests generate three green mana.) One loyalty ability acts as a form of land animation, adding counters on a land, which is great but does not overlap with the cub's ability. Her ultimate, though, makes all of your lands indestructible enabling you to draw out all the remaining forests from your library. Should you manage to use this power, this typically means the game ends.

Badgermole Cub is a must-have for all green-based Avatar strategies focusing on earthbend. When branching into Gruul colors, you can use Bumi Unleashed. He has level 4 earthbending, and if damage is dealt to a player, all land creatures are ready again and can attack again. While that version has become a beloved leader, the cub is set to be one of, if not the most popular pick in the collaboration.