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Magic: The Gathering’s Avatar crossover set isn't set to hit the general market before the end of the week, yet due to pre-releases over the last few days, one cheap green card experienced a surge in value.

Even during previews, this small creature drew widespread focus. This two-power, two-toughness that costs G and 1 mana, Badgermole Cub includes Earthbending 1 (arguably the strongest among the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The major perk with this card lies in another power: If mana is generated by tapping a creature, add an additional green mana.

At its cheapest, Badgermole Cub could be purchased at around $27. Post-prerelease, however, the market price escalated above $45 including listings priced at sixty dollars. What explains premium pricing for this cute lil guy? Mostly thanks to the explosive mana ramping it provides.

When it arrives the battlefield, the cub turns a land to a creature land granting it earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, if it is not removed, each affected land produces twice the mana — in addition to mana-producing creatures on your side that produce resources.

A clear choice for synergy would be the classic Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 that taps to generate G mana. But many other mana generation creatures available. Druid of the Cowl is a higher-cost choice with stats 1/3 costing two mana instead.

Using land cards, dorks that generate resources, and Badgermole Cub, you can easily get an enormous and very expensive creature on the battlefield by round three or four. And things just keep spiraling out of control by maintaining dominance from that point.

By incorporating another color in this strategy, options such as these mana-fixing creatures are all great options that can make any color of mana. And something like a useful enchantment creature lets you play an additional land per turn plus turns your entire land base providing all land types. It's also worth trying such as this six-mana enchantment, which for six mana grants each permanent you control the ability to tap and generate a mana of any type — which covers each creature in play.

This card may be OP regarding boosting mana production, but how do you win in such a strategy? One obvious and popular answer is Ashaya. Power and toughness are both equal to the number of lands you control, plus it turns each creature you own to be Forests in addition to their other types. In other words, every single creature in play can generate two green mana when tapped.

Another creature is another expensive, beefy creature that thrives with many terrain cards (like Ashaya, its stats match how many lands you have).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World fits really well as a go-to Planeswalker. Her static effect causes Forest lands generate an additional green mana. (With a Badgermole Cub, this results in all earthbend forests yield three G.) Her plus ability functions like a form of land animation, placing counters on terrain, handy but does not overlap with earthbend. The minus ability, however, grants each land you control immune to destruction and lets you put onto the battlefield all the remaining forests in the deck. If you can actually activate this power, it’s pretty much game over.

This card is nearly mandatory for any kind of green Avatar deck that use the earthbend mechanic. When branching into red and green, consider Bumi. It possesses level 4 earthbending, plus if damage is dealt in combat, land creatures are ready again and may attack once more. While that version has emerged as a fan favorite Commander, the cub will surely stay among the top, possibly the popular pick in the Avatar set.