One of Avatar's cutest Magic cards turns out to be a formidable little force.

MTG’s special Avatar expansion will not become widely available until later this week, yet following prerelease weekends this past weekend, one cheap green card has already exploded in market worth.

From the initial reveals, Badgermole Cub drew widespread focus. A 2/2 requiring G and 1 mana, it features Earthbending 1 (possibly the strongest of the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The major perk with this card comes from an additional effect: If a creature is tapped to produce mana, it provides bonus green mana.

At its cheapest, the card could be purchased at around $27. Following the early events, yet, the market price escalated to nearly $50 including listings as high as $60. Why are we seeing such high costs for this little creature? Primarily because of the explosive mana ramping it provides.

As it hits the board, the cub converts a terrain card into a creature that has earthbending. And with that second ability, as long as it is not removed, those lands produces twice the mana — plus other creatures you have that produce resources.

An ideal partner to combine with would be the classic Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 that taps to generate one green mana. However numerous creatures that make mana in the game. Another option costs a bit more with stats 1/3 for two mana instead.

Using land cards, dorks that generate resources, plus the cub, it's simple to summon an enormous high-cost creature into play within a few turns. Momentum builds rapidly by maintaining dominance after that.

If you dip into another color with this approach, options such as versatile mana producers work perfectly that generate any color of mana. Another card, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove enables playing another terrain every round AND makes your entire land base into every basic land type. It's also worth trying something like a card called A Realm Reborn, costing six mana grants each permanent you control the ability to tap and generate one mana of any color — including any creature in play.

Badgermole Cub may be OP when it comes to accelerating your resources, yet what’s the endgame finisher in such a strategy? One obvious and popular answer has been Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Its power and toughness are set by the number of lands you control, and it makes your non-token creatures to be Forests in addition to their other types. This means, every single creature in play may produce double green when tapped.

Another creature provides a high-cost, powerful body which gains from lots of lands (like Ashaya, its power and toughness are based on the number of lands you control).

Nissa is an excellent fit as a staple. Her static effect allows every Forest generate an additional green mana. (If you have the cub, so those lands generate three green mana.) Her main ability is essentially a form of land animation, adding counters on terrain, which is great but does not overlap with earthbending. The minus ability, on the other hand, makes each land you control indestructible enabling you to draw out all the remaining forests in your deck. Once you trigger that ability, this typically means game over.

This card is pretty much essential for any kind of green-based Avatar strategies focusing on earthbend. By including Gruul colors, you can use Bumi Unleashed. He has level 4 earthbending, plus if it hits a player to an opponent, land creatures become untapped and may attack once more. While that version has emerged as a beloved leader, the cub is definitely going to remain among the top, possibly the popular pick in the collaboration.