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Magic: The Gathering’s special Avatar expansion won’t hit the general market until later this week, however following prerelease weekends over the last few days, an affordable green creature saw a sharp rise in market worth.

Even during previews, this small creature attracted widespread focus. A 2/2 that costs a single green and one generic mana, it includes Earthbending 1 (perhaps the strongest among the four bending abilities in the set). The major perk in its design lies in its second ability: Each time you tap a creature for mana, add an additional green mana.

Initially, this card was available below $30. After the pre-release weekend, though, its value jumped to $49.66 with at least one listed for sale at $60.00. What explains Vivi prices for this little creature? Mainly thanks to the incredible mana acceleration it provides.

As it hits the battlefield, this creature turns a terrain card so it becomes a creature with earthbend. Alongside its mana-doubling effect, while it stays in play, each affected land produces twice the mana — in addition to mana-producing creatures on your side that generate mana.

The obvious go-to for maximum effect would be Llanowar Elves, a cheap 1/1 which can be tapped for one green mana. However there are plenty of alternative mana dorks available. Druid of the Cowl costs a bit more that’s a 1/3 costing two mana as an alternative.

Deploying terrain, mana-producing creatures, alongside this card, it's simple to summon a massive and very expensive creature on the board within a few turns. The situation escalates rapidly with continued aggression from that point.

When adding another color with this approach, options such as Fuel Tank Feaster, Ilysian Caryatid, and Paradise Druid are excellent picks that generate all five colors. Another card, a useful enchantment creature allows you to put an additional land per turn AND turns every land you control into every basic land type. It's also worth trying for example the enchantment A Realm Reborn, costing six mana grants all of your permanents the ability to be tapped for a mana of any type — even any creature you have on the board.

The cub may be OP in terms of accelerating your resources, yet what’s the endgame finisher with this archetype? One obvious and popular answer has been Ashaya, Soul of the Wild. Its power and toughness match the number of lands you control, and it makes each creature you own to be Forests along with their original types. Essentially, each creature on your board is able to tap for two G when tapped.

Another creature is another expensive, beefy creature that thrives with lots of lands (like Ashaya, P/T match the number of lands you control).

Nissa works perfectly as a go-to Planeswalker. Her static effect allows Forest lands produce extra green. (Combined with earthbend, this results in all earthbend forests produce triple green.) Her plus ability functions like an early earthbend, placing counters on terrain, handy though it doesn't stack with earthbend. The minus ability, on the other hand, makes each land you control immune to destruction enabling you to put onto the battlefield your remaining Forests in the deck. Should you manage to use that ability, it’s pretty much you win.

The cub is a must-have for all decks using green and Avatar that use the earthbend mechanic. If you dip into Gruul colors, consider this legendary card. This card features earthbend 4, plus if damage is dealt in combat, land creatures untap for another attack. While that version has become a beloved leader, this small creature is definitely going to remain one of the most, maybe the desired card from this expansion.