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the popular card game’s collaboration with Avatar isn't set to become widely available in the coming days, but due to early access events over the last few days, a low-cost green spell experienced a surge in price.

From the initial reveals, Badgermole Cub drew a lot of attention. A 2/2 that costs a single green and one generic mana, it features the Earthbend 1 ability (possibly the best of the elemental mechanics available). The major perk with this card is its second ability: Each time mana is generated by tapping a creature, add an additional green mana.

When first listed, the card sold below $30. Following the early events, however, its value has shot up above $45 with at least one listed for sale at $60.00. Why are we seeing such high costs for this little creature? Mainly because of the explosive mana ramping it enables.

Upon entering the battlefield, this creature transforms a terrain card so it becomes a creature with earthbend. And with that second ability, while it remains on the board, those lands generates double mana — plus other creatures on your side that generate mana.

The obvious go-to to combine with includes this one-mana elf, an inexpensive 1/1 that taps to generate a green resource. But numerous other mana generation creatures out there. Another option is a more expensive alternative with stats 1/3 for two mana as an alternative.

Deploying terrain, dorks that generate resources, and Badgermole Cub, you may quickly play a very big pricey threat into play within a few turns. And things just keep spiraling rapidly if you keep the pressure on from there.

When adding another color with this approach, options such as Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are all great options that can make any mana color. Another card, a useful enchantment creature allows you to put one extra land per turn plus makes every land you control into every basic land type. It's also worth trying something like a card called A Realm Reborn, costing six mana gives each permanent you control the ability to produce one mana of any color — which covers any creature you have on the board.

The cub might seem overpowered in terms of accelerating your resources, yet how do you win in such a strategy? One obvious and popular answer has been Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Its power and toughness are set by the number of lands you control, and it makes all of your nontoken creatures to be Forests along with other subtypes. Essentially, every single creature on your board may generate two green mana when tapped.

This additional option is a costly, large threat which gains from lots of lands (similar to Ashaya, its power and toughness are based on how many lands you have).

This Planeswalker works perfectly as a go-to Planeswalker. Her static effect makes all Forests tap for one more G. (Combined with earthbend, so all earthbend forests generate three green mana.) Her main ability is essentially a form of land animation, placing counters to a noncreature land, a useful effect but it isn't redundant with the cub's ability. Her -8 ability, on the other hand, renders each land you control unbreakable enabling you to search for all the remaining forests in your deck. If you can actually activate this power, it almost certainly you win.

This card is a must-have for any kind of green Avatar deck focusing on the earthbend mechanic. When branching into red and green, consider this legendary card. This card features earthbend 4, and when damage is dealt to an opponent, land creatures become untapped and may attack once more. While that version has become a popular Commander choice, the cub is definitely going to remain one of, if not the most desired card in the collaboration.