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the popular card game’s special Avatar expansion isn't set to get a wider release until later this week, yet following prerelease weekends over the last few days, one cheap green card experienced a surge in price.

From the initial reveals, this small creature garnered a lot of attention. A 2/2 priced at one green and one colorless mana, it includes Earthbending 1 (possibly the most effective within the elemental mechanics available). Its key advantage in its design comes from another power: If a creature is tapped to produce mana, you gain one extra green mana.

At its cheapest, this card sold for $26.98. Post-prerelease, though, its value has shot up to $49.66 including listings for sale at $60.00. The reason for premium pricing for this cute lil guy? Mostly because of the explosive mana ramping it enables.

When it arrives play, this creature converts a land into a creature with earthbend. Combined with its other power, while it remains on the board, those lands yields two mana instead of one — in addition to any creatures on your side that generate mana.

The obvious go-to to combine with is this one-mana elf, a cheap 1/1 that taps to generate G mana. But numerous other mana generation creatures in the game. This particular druid is a more expensive alternative with stats 1/3 at a two-mana value in comparison.

By playing lands, mana-producing creatures, alongside this card, you can easily get a very big pricey creature on the board within a few turns. Momentum builds rapidly if you keep the pressure on after that.

By incorporating another color using this method, cards like these mana-fixing creatures are all great options which produce any color of mana. Additionally, this powerful dryad enables playing another terrain per turn AND transforms all of your lands into every basic land type. You can also consider such as a card called A Realm Reborn, which for six mana gives all of your permanents the ability to tap and generate any color mana — which covers any creature under your control.

This card may be OP regarding accelerating your resources, but how do you win with this archetype? A common and powerful choice already is this legendary creature. Its power and toughness are both equal to your land count, plus it turns each creature you own Forests as well as their original types. This means, each creature you control can tap for two G by tapping.

Another creature is a costly, large threat that thrives with many terrain cards (like Ashaya, P/T are equal to the number of lands you control).

Nissa, Who Shakes the World fits really well as a staple. One of her abilities makes every Forest tap for one more G. (With a Badgermole Cub, that means each one yield three G.) One loyalty ability acts as a form of land animation, placing counters on terrain, which is great but it isn't redundant with earthbending. Her -8 ability, however, renders each land you control indestructible and allows you to put onto the battlefield your remaining Forests from your library. If you can actually activate the ultimate, it’s pretty much you win.

The cub is nearly mandatory in any green-based Avatar strategies built around the earthbend mechanic. If you dip into red and green, consider Bumi. This card features earthbend 4, plus if damage is dealt to a player, each animated land become untapped for another attack. Even though Bumi has emerged as a popular Commander choice, the cute little Badgermole Cub is set to be among the top, possibly the popular pick from this expansion.