Among the Avatar-themed most charming collectible cards is a nasty compact powerhouse.

the popular card game’s collaboration with Avatar isn't set to become widely available until later this week, but following early access events over the last few days, a low-cost green spell saw a sharp rise in price.

Even during previews, the earthbending cub drew a lot of attention. This two-power, two-toughness that costs one green and one colorless mana, the card features the Earthbend 1 ability (perhaps the strongest of the set’s four “bending” mechanics). The major perk in its design lies in another power: If you tap a creature for mana, you gain one extra green mana.

When first listed, this card could be purchased at around $27. After the pre-release weekend, though, its value escalated to $49.66 and one seller offering priced at sixty dollars. Why are we seeing such high costs for this little creature? Mostly thanks to the rapid resource generation it enables.

As it hits the battlefield, Badgermole Cub transforms a land to a creature land with earthbend. And with that second ability, if it is not removed, each affected land produces twice the mana — along with other creatures on your side which tap for mana.

An ideal partner for synergy is this one-mana elf, an inexpensive 1/1 which can be tapped for a green resource. However numerous alternative mana dorks in the game. Druid of the Cowl costs a bit more with stats 1/3 costing two mana as an alternative.

By playing lands, dorks that generate resources, and Badgermole Cub, it's simple to summon a very big pricey threat on the board by round three or four. Momentum builds out of control if you keep the pressure on after that.

By incorporating another color with this approach, options such as Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are excellent picks which produce any color of mana. Another card, a useful enchantment creature lets you play one extra land per turn AND turns your entire land base providing all land types. You can also consider something like the enchantment A Realm Reborn, which for six mana provides all of your permanents the power to produce a mana of any type — including each creature you have on the board.

The cub may be OP in terms of ramping up your mana generation, but how do you win for a deck like this? A common and powerful choice is this legendary creature. Its stats are both equal to the number of lands you control, and it changes each creature you own into Forests as well as their other types. This means, each creature in play is able to generate two green mana when tapped.

Harmonious Grovestrider is a costly, large threat that thrives with lots of lands (as with the previous card, its power and toughness match how many lands you have).

This Planeswalker works perfectly as a staple. One of her abilities causes Forest lands tap for one more G. (With a Badgermole Cub, that means all earthbend forests yield three G.) Her plus ability functions like a form of land animation, adding counters on a land, handy but it isn't redundant with earthbending. The minus ability, however, grants all of your lands immune to destruction and lets you put onto the battlefield all the remaining forests from your library. Once you trigger this power, it’s pretty much you win.

The cub is pretty much essential for all decks using green and Avatar that use earthbend. If you dip into Gruul colors, consider Bumi. He has earthbend 4, plus if it hits a player to an opponent, all land creatures untap for another attack. Although this card has emerged as a beloved leader, this small creature will surely stay one of, if not the most sought-after card in the Avatar set.