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

Even during previews, this small creature drew significant interest. This two-power, two-toughness requiring a single green and one generic mana, the card includes level 1 earthbending (perhaps the best within the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The major perk with this card comes from another power: Whenever you tap a creature for mana, it provides bonus green mana.

At its cheapest, this card was available at around $27. Post-prerelease, though, the market price has shot up above $45 and one seller offering priced at sixty dollars. What explains premium pricing on this adorable card? Primarily thanks to the incredible mana acceleration it enables.

As it hits play, the cub converts one land so it becomes a creature that has earthbending. And with that second ability, if it is not removed, those lands yields two mana instead of one — plus mana-producing creatures in your control which tap for mana.

A clear choice for synergy is this one-mana elf, a low-cost creature that taps to generate one green mana. Yet numerous other mana generation creatures available. This particular druid is a more expensive alternative that’s a 1/3 costing two mana instead.

Deploying terrain, mana-producing creatures, alongside this card, you may quickly play a very big and very expensive monster on the board within a few turns. And things just keep spiraling out of control if you keep the pressure on from that point.

By incorporating another color with this approach, cards like these mana-fixing creatures work perfectly that can make any color of mana. Another card, this powerful dryad enables playing an additional land every round as well as makes every land you control into every basic land type. Another possibility is for example this six-mana enchantment, which for six mana provides all of your permanents the ability to be tapped for any color mana — even any creature in play.

Badgermole Cub may be OP when it comes to boosting mana production, yet how do you win with this archetype? One obvious and popular answer already is Ashaya. Power and toughness match the number of lands you control, plus it turns each creature you own into Forests along with their other types. Essentially, each creature on your board is able to generate two green mana by tapping.

Harmonious Grovestrider is a costly, large threat that thrives with many terrain cards (similar to Ashaya, its power and toughness are equal to your land total).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World fits really well as a staple. One of her abilities causes all Forests produce extra green. (If you have the cub, this results in each one produce triple green.) One loyalty ability is essentially a proto-earthbend, putting +1/+1 counters on a land, a useful effect but does not overlap with earthbend. Her ultimate, though, grants each land you control immune to destruction and lets you put onto the battlefield all the remaining forests in your deck. Should you manage to use that ability, this typically means you win.

Badgermole Cub is nearly mandatory for all green-based Avatar strategies that use the earthbend mechanic. If you dip into Gruul colors, you can use this legendary card. This card features level 4 earthbending, and when it hits a player in combat, all land creatures are ready again and may attack once more. While that version is a beloved leader, the cub is definitely going to remain one of the most, maybe the desired card in the collaboration.