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Magic: The Gathering’s collaboration with Avatar won’t hit the general market in the coming days, but after early access events over the last few days, a low-cost green spell experienced a surge in market worth.

Throughout the spoiler season, the earthbending cub attracted significant interest. This two-power, two-toughness priced at a single green and one generic mana, Badgermole Cub has the Earthbend 1 ability (perhaps the best of the set’s four “bending” mechanics). Its key advantage in its design is its second ability: If a creature is tapped to produce mana, it provides bonus green mana.

Initially, this card sold for $26.98. Post-prerelease, yet, the market price escalated to nearly $50 with at least one listed priced at sixty dollars. The reason for such high costs for this cute lil guy? Primarily thanks to the explosive mana ramping it enables.

As it hits the battlefield, the cub turns one land into a creature with earthbend. Combined with its other power, while it is not removed, each affected land produces twice the mana — in addition to any creatures you have that produce resources.

An ideal partner for synergy includes Llanowar Elves, a low-cost creature which can be tapped for G mana. However numerous creatures that make mana out there. Another option is a higher-cost choice that’s a 1/3 at a two-mana value in comparison.

Using land cards, mana-producing creatures, alongside this card, you can easily get an enormous high-cost monster on the battlefield within a few turns. Momentum builds exponentially by maintaining dominance from there.

If you dip into an additional hue using this method, cards like Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are excellent picks which produce any mana color. And something like a useful enchantment creature allows you to put an additional land per turn plus makes every land you control so they count as all basics. It's also worth trying for example the enchantment A Realm Reborn, which for six mana grants each permanent you control the power to be tapped for one mana of any color — even any creature you have on the board.

The cub might seem overpowered regarding boosting mana production, yet what closes out the game for a deck like this? An often-seen solution is Ashaya. Power and toughness match the number of lands you control, and it makes all of your nontoken creatures Forests in addition to their original types. In other words, every single creature you control may produce double green by tapping.

Harmonious Grovestrider is another expensive, beefy creature that benefits from many terrain cards (similar to Ashaya, P/T are based on how many lands you have).

This Planeswalker fits really well as a go-to Planeswalker. One of her abilities causes all Forests produce extra green. (Combined with earthbend, that means each one produce triple green.) One loyalty ability is essentially an early earthbend, putting +1/+1 counters to a noncreature land, handy though it doesn't stack with earthbending. Her ultimate, though, grants each land you control indestructible and lets you draw out all the remaining forests from your library. Once you trigger the ultimate, it’s pretty much the game ends.

The cub is pretty much essential in any decks using green and Avatar focusing on earthbend. If you dip into Gruul colors, there’s Bumi Unleashed. He has level 4 earthbending, and if it hits a player in combat, land creatures untap for another attack. Although this card has emerged as a beloved leader, this small creature is definitely going to remain one of the most, maybe the desired card from this expansion.