Expend in MTG: Rules, History, and Best Cards

Last updated on August 6, 2025

Byway Barterer | Illustration by Ryan Pancoast

As cute as all the Bloomburrow creatures may be, raccoons are the coolest bunch by far, and you'll find no disagreement about that objective, irrefutable fact.

As it turns out, Bloomburrow‘s raccoons are by and large the only critters in this Magic set that have stumbled upon the mechanic: expend.

With one exception, all the expend cards are tied to raccoons, and they all care about when you spend the mana you've hoarded. Let's take a look at this Bloomburrow mechanic and share some ideas on where these awesome trash pandas may fit in the current Standard rotation!

How Does Expend Work?

Bark-Knuckle Boxer | Illustration by Filip Burburan

Expend is a rules term that cares about how much mana you've spent casting spells each turn. Some cards have triggered abilities that fire off when you spend your Nth mana each turn.

Many expend cards have expend 4, while a couple has expend 8, and one has expend 6. Future expend cards could have other values.

For example, Muerra, Trash Tactician has two triggered abilities related to expend. One triggers the moment that you spend your fourth mana casting spells, while the other triggers once you spend your eighth mana.

Notice that this is mana you spend casting spells; it doesn't track other ways to spend mana.

And this is the Nth mana, rather than “every N you spend.” If your deck can generate and spend infinite mana, each of Muerra, Trash Tactician‘s abilities still only trigger once per turn each.

You don't need to spend exactly N mana, though. If Muerra is on the board and the first spell you cast is Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, both of Muerra's expend abilities trigger.

The History of Expend in MTG

The expend rules term was introduced in Bloomburrow in August 2024.

At least in Bloomburrow, expend is tightly connected with the raccoon creature type, and the Gruul () color identity.

It shows no signs of becoming an evergreen mechanic, and could quickly become complicated to track if you had different amounts to worry about. Unlike other mechanics from Bloomburrow (mostly offspring), expend is flavor-neutral, so any card from any setting could have abilities triggered by expend.

Do Cards With Expend Need to See the Mana Get Spent?

Yes, cards with expends need to be on the battlefield in order to trigger when that mana is spent.

They only need to see the Nth mana being spent, but they have to bear witness to you spending it.

If you play Muerra, Trash Tactician and then you Shock your foe, Muerra's expend 4 ability triggers since Muerra sees you spending the fourth mana that turn.

It won't work in reverse, though. If you burn your opponent with Shock first and play Muerra later, Muerra won't be on the board as you spend your fourth mana, and its expend 4 ability won't trigger that turn. You could still trigger it's expend 8 ability if you can spend 4 more mana that same turn, though.

As another example, Junkblade Bruiser won't trigger itself, so to speak. If you cast Junkblade Bruiser, it won't see you spend your fourth mana (unless you've somehow reduced its cost below 4 and play another spell), so it won't trigger its own expend 4 ability that turn.

What if the Spell Doesn’t Resolve?

The expend ability triggers even if the spell that triggered it doesn’t resolve. It's only the spending that counts to trigger expend abilities. What happens to the spell on the stack and afterward doesn't matter for expend.

Raccoons aren’t result-oriented – they just want you to splurge!

Does Expend Count as a Cast Trigger?

No, expend is not a cast trigger. However, the mana you spent as you cast a spell is what can trigger the expend ability on a card.

Can Expend Trigger Multiple Times Per Turn?

Each single expend ability can only trigger once per turn. Different expend abilities, with different expend values, can each trigger once per turn.

If you cast spells for 8 mana with Muerra, Trash Tactician on the board, each of Muerra's expend abilities triggers once (the lifegain ability triggers as you spend your fourth mana, then the exile two ability triggers when you spend your eighth mana).

Each ability only triggers once per turn, though. Even if you generate and spend 800 mana that same turn, Muerra won't trigger again.

Do Additional Costs Count Towards Expend?

They do!

These expending raccoons only care about you spending mana on spells – how you spend it is irrelevant to them. Plenty of abilities like offspring, multikicker, and X spells come into play here.

Do Alternatives like Convoke Count for Expend?

No, alternatives like phyrexian mana, improvise, and convoke do not count toward expend because they are not spent mana.

Gallery and List of Expend Cards

• Bakersbane Duo
• Bark-Knuckle Boxer
• Brambleguard Veteran
• Byway Barterer
• Hoarder's Overflow
• Junkblade Bruiser
• Muerra, Trash Tactician
• Pyreswipe Hawk
• Roughshod Duo
• Teapot Slinger
• Trailtracker Scout
• Wandertale Mentor

Best Expend Cards

#3. Muerra, Trash Tactician

Muerra, Trash Tactician is the main one with free mana, and impulse draw through your next turn. What's that they said about ramp and card draw in commander? Don't answer that right now just know that the more raccoons you can gather the better.

#2. Pyreswipe Hawk

Pyreswipe Hawk makes especially good use of your spent mana with a Steal Artifact, just for spending 6 mana, but wait there's more, the power boost is a lot of damage, even if you pick up a 3-mana rock.

#1. Teapot Slinger

Teapot Slinger throws shock-powered teapots to the dome and is one of the better payoffs to trigger on both yours and your opponent's turns.

None of the expend cards are too strong in Constructed formats, and Gruul decks have had powerful showings from time to time in Standard, but right now, they'd need more help to compete. Bello, Bard of the Brambles can be strong in Commander, especially with any artifact tokens, vehicles or spacecraft.

Decklist: “Dino Might” Raccoon Upgrade

Teapot Slinger | Illustration by Wisnu Tan

The “Dino Might” deck is an old featured deck from the Starter Deck Duel on MTG Arena and full of big, angry dinos that take over the game once they’re on the board.

The two problems with the deck are that it doesn't have good ways to ramp, and too few 2-drops, so the above list cleans some of that up with a few light upgrades.

Raccoons happen to be in the same colors as (), and some expend raccoons are ready to lend these dinos a hand!

• Wandertale Mentor and Muerra, Trash Tactician provide extra mana and are glad to help further once you start spending that mana.
• Byway Barterer can be card selection for the late-game and help you handle awkward hands in the mid-game.
• Brazen Collector doesn't have expend, but it can help you generate extra mana either by attacking on its own or with Muerra, Trash Tactician.
• Teapot Slinger helps you reach your opponent's life total.

This upgraded Arena Starter Deck runs smoother, and sacrifices little in terms of late game power.

Wrap Up

Junkblade Bruiser | Illustration by Omar Rayyan

And that's the brief story of expend thus far, folks! They say the lower the cost (on things like instants and sorceries) the more players spend, and the same goes for cheap auras. Just avoid those free spells since you need to spend mana for expend to work.

I hope you've enjoyed this mechanical deep dive, and if you have comments, questions, or concerns about your mana spending habits, please drop a comment, or stop by the Draftsim Discord for a chat.

I'm spent, so good luck out there!