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the popular card game’s Avatar crossover set isn't set to become widely available before the end of the week, but following early access events over the last few days, one cheap green card saw a sharp rise in value.

Even during previews, this small creature attracted significant interest. A creature with stats 2/2 priced at one green and one colorless mana, it includes the Earthbend 1 ability (perhaps the strongest within the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The real boon with this card lies in its second ability: If mana is generated by tapping a creature, add an additional green mana.

Initially, this card was available below $30. After the pre-release weekend, though, its value escalated to $49.66 with at least one listed priced at sixty dollars. The reason for such high costs for this cute lil guy? Primarily thanks to the incredible mana acceleration it can produce.

Upon entering play, Badgermole Cub turns a land into a creature that has earthbending. And with that second ability, if it is not removed, each affected land generates double mana — in addition to any creatures in your control that produce resources.

The obvious go-to for maximum effect includes the classic Llanowar Elves, a low-cost creature which can be tapped for a green resource. Yet numerous other mana generation creatures out there. This particular druid costs a bit more that’s a 1/3 at a two-mana value instead.

Deploying terrain, creatures that tap for mana, plus the cub, it's simple to summon a very big and very expensive threat on the battlefield within a few turns. And things just keep spiraling exponentially with continued aggression from there.

When adding an additional hue in this strategy, options such as these mana-fixing creatures work perfectly that can make all five colors. Another card, Dryad of the Ilysian Grove allows you to put one extra land each turn plus makes all of your lands so they count as all basics. You can also consider such as a card called A Realm Reborn, costing six mana gives each permanent you control the capacity to be tapped for one mana of any color — even each creature in play.

Badgermole Cub may be OP in terms of ramping up your mana generation, but what closes out the game for a deck like this? One obvious and popular answer is Ashaya. Its power and toughness are both equal to the number of lands you control, and it makes each creature you own into Forests as well as their original types. In other words, all your creatures in play may produce double green by tapping.

This additional option is a costly, large threat that thrives with lots of lands (as with the previous card, its power and toughness are based on how many lands you have).

This Planeswalker is an excellent fit in this deck. Her passive ability allows all Forests produce extra green. (If you have the cub, this results in all earthbend forests yield three G.) One loyalty ability acts as an early earthbend, putting +1/+1 counters on a land, a useful effect but does not overlap with the cub's ability. The minus ability, though, grants your entire land base unbreakable and allows you to search for your remaining Forests in your deck. Should you manage to use this power, this typically means game over.

This card is nearly mandatory for any kind of decks using green and Avatar that use the earthbend mechanic. If you dip into red-green, consider Bumi. He has earthbend 4, and when he deals combat damage to an opponent, all land creatures become untapped and can attack again. Even though Bumi has emerged as a beloved leader, this small creature will surely stay one of, if not the most popular pick from this expansion.