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MTG’s special Avatar expansion isn't set to become widely available until later this week, but due to prerelease weekends over the last few days, one cheap green card saw a sharp rise in value.

Even during previews, Badgermole Cub attracted a lot of attention. This two-power, two-toughness that costs one green and one colorless mana, Badgermole Cub features level 1 earthbending (perhaps the strongest of the four bending abilities in the set). The real boon in its design comes from its second ability: If a creature is tapped to produce mana, add an additional green mana.

At its cheapest, this card could be purchased below $30. Following the early events, though, the going rate jumped to $49.66 including listings for sale at $60.00. The reason for such high costs for this little creature? Primarily because of the explosive mana ramping it can produce.

As it hits the board, this creature turns a land into a creature that has earthbending. And with that second ability, if it is not removed, every earthbent land produces twice the mana — in addition to any creatures in your control which tap for mana.

The obvious go-to for maximum effect includes this one-mana elf, an inexpensive 1/1 that produces G mana. However there are plenty of other mana generation creatures out there. This particular druid is a higher-cost choice a 1/3 creature costing two mana in comparison.

Using land cards, creatures that tap for mana, alongside this card, you may quickly play a very big high-cost threat on the battlefield by round three or four. The situation escalates rapidly by maintaining dominance from there.

When adding an additional hue using this method, cards like versatile mana producers work perfectly that generate any color of mana. Another card, this powerful dryad allows you to put an additional land each turn as well as turns every land you control providing all land types. Another possibility is something like a card called A Realm Reborn, costing six mana gives each permanent you control the power to produce one mana of any color — including any creature under your control.

Badgermole Cub could be too strong when it comes to accelerating your resources, yet what closes out the game in such a strategy? An often-seen solution is Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Its power and toughness are set by how many lands you have, plus it turns all of your nontoken creatures Forests as well as their original types. In other words, every single creature in play can generate two green mana if used for mana.

Harmonious Grovestrider provides a high-cost, powerful body that thrives with many terrain cards (as with the previous card, its stats are based on your land total).

This Planeswalker is an excellent fit as a go-to Planeswalker. One of her abilities makes Forest lands tap for one more G. (Combined with earthbend, that means those lands yield three G.) One loyalty ability functions like a form of land animation, putting +1/+1 counters on terrain, a useful effect but does not overlap with earthbending. Her ultimate, on the other hand, makes each land you control immune to destruction and lets you search for all the remaining forests in the deck. Should you manage to use that ability, this typically means game over.

The cub is pretty much essential in any decks using green and Avatar that use the earthbend mechanic. By including red and green, there’s Bumi. It possesses earthbend 4, plus if it hits a player in combat, land creatures become untapped for another attack. Although this card has become a fan favorite Commander, this small creature will surely stay one of the most, maybe the popular pick from this expansion.