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Magic: The Gathering’s special Avatar expansion isn't set to become widely available until later this week, however due to early access events this past weekend, a low-cost green spell has already exploded in price.

Even during previews, the earthbending cub drew widespread focus. A 2/2 priced at G and 1 mana, Badgermole Cub has the Earthbend 1 ability (possibly the strongest among the four bending abilities in the set). The real boon with this card is its second ability: If mana is generated by tapping a creature, add an additional green mana.

At its cheapest, this card could be purchased below $30. Following the early events, however, the market price jumped to $49.66 with at least one listed for sale at $60.00. Why are we seeing premium pricing for this little creature? Mostly thanks to the incredible mana acceleration it can produce.

Upon entering the battlefield, this creature converts a land so it becomes a creature with earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, if it stays in play, those lands generates double mana — plus any creatures you have that produce resources.

A clear choice to combine with is this one-mana elf, an inexpensive 1/1 that produces one green mana. Yet there are plenty of alternative mana dorks available. Another option costs a bit more that’s a 1/3 at a two-mana value as an alternative.

Using land cards, dorks that generate resources, and Badgermole Cub, it's simple to summon a very big and very expensive creature into play early in the game. Momentum builds exponentially by maintaining dominance from that point.

When adding another color in this strategy, cards like these mana-fixing creatures are excellent picks that can make all five colors. Another card, this powerful dryad enables playing an additional land every round as well as makes all of your lands providing all land types. It's also worth trying such as a card called A Realm Reborn, costing six mana grants every card you own the ability to produce one mana of any color — even each creature in play.

The cub may be OP when it comes to boosting mana production, however what’s the endgame finisher for a deck like this? A common and powerful choice is this legendary creature. Its power and toughness are set by your land count, plus it turns all of your nontoken creatures Forests as well as other subtypes. Essentially, each creature in play may generate two green mana by tapping.

This additional option provides a high-cost, powerful body that thrives with lots of lands (like Ashaya, its power and toughness match your land total).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World works perfectly as a go-to Planeswalker. Her static effect makes all Forests generate an additional green mana. (If you have the cub, that means those lands yield three G.) One loyalty ability functions like a proto-earthbend, putting +1/+1 counters to a noncreature land, which is great but it isn't redundant with earthbend. Her -8 ability, however, grants your entire land base indestructible and allows you to search for all the remaining forests in the deck. Should you manage to use this power, this typically means game over.

Badgermole Cub is pretty much essential for all green-based Avatar strategies built around Earthbending. When branching into Gruul colors, you can use Bumi Unleashed. He has earthbend 4, plus if damage is dealt in combat, land creatures untap for another attack. Although this card has emerged as a fan favorite Commander, the cub will surely stay among the top, possibly the popular pick from this expansion.