A standout from Avatar's cutest Magic cards is a powerful small powerhouse.

MTG’s Avatar crossover set won’t hit the general market before the end of the week, yet following pre-releases recently, an affordable green creature has already exploded in price.

Even during previews, Badgermole Cub garnered a lot of attention. This two-power, two-toughness requiring one green and one colorless mana, Badgermole Cub has the Earthbend 1 ability (perhaps the best among the elemental mechanics available). The major perk in its design is its second ability: If you tap a creature for mana, you gain one extra green mana.

When first listed, this card was available for $26.98. Following the early events, yet, the going rate jumped to $49.66 including listings priced at sixty dollars. The reason for such high costs on this adorable card? Mainly because of the explosive mana ramping it can produce.

Upon entering play, the cub transforms one land to a creature land with earthbend. And with that second ability, while it is not removed, each affected land yields two mana instead of one — along with mana-producing creatures you have that generate mana.

The obvious go-to for maximum effect includes Llanowar Elves, a low-cost creature that taps to generate a green resource. But there are plenty of other mana generation creatures out there. Another option costs a bit more that’s a 1/3 at a two-mana value instead.

Using land cards, mana-producing creatures, plus the cub, you can easily get a massive pricey threat into play early in the game. Momentum builds exponentially if you keep the pressure on from that point.

If you dip into another color using this method, examples including Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are excellent picks that can make any mana color. And something like a useful enchantment creature lets you play an additional land every round plus makes all of your lands providing all land types. You can also consider something like this six-mana enchantment, costing six mana gives all of your permanents the capacity to be tapped for any color mana — including any creature in play.

Badgermole Cub might seem overpowered regarding ramping up your mana generation, yet what closes out the game in such a strategy? A common and powerful choice is Ashaya. Power and toughness are set by how many lands you have, and it changes all of your nontoken creatures Forests as well as their other types. This means, every single creature on your board can produce double green when tapped.

This additional option provides a high-cost, powerful body that benefits from many terrain cards (like Ashaya, P/T are equal to your land total).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World is an excellent fit in this deck. Her passive ability makes every Forest produce extra green. (If you have the cub, so each one produce triple green.) One loyalty ability functions like a form of land animation, placing counters on a land, a useful effect but does not overlap with earthbending. The minus ability, on the other hand, renders your entire land base unbreakable and lets you put onto the battlefield your remaining Forests in your deck. Once you trigger this power, it’s pretty much you win.

Badgermole Cub is a must-have for all green Avatar deck that use earthbend. If you dip into Gruul colors, consider Bumi Unleashed. It possesses earthbend 4, and when damage is dealt to an opponent, all land creatures are ready again and may attack once more. While that version has emerged as a fan favorite Commander, this small creature will surely stay one of, if not the most popular pick from this expansion.