Delirium in MTG: Rules, History, and FAQ - Draftsim (2024)

Last updated on September 26, 2024

Dragon's Rage Channeler | Illustration by Martina Fackova

We witnessed first-hand the way that Emrakul’s influence affected and destroyed the minds of Innistrad’s inhabitants back during Shadows Over Innistrad. I’ve talked about how this was represented with the madness mechanic, but that wasn’t the only thing that helped give shape to the horrors brought on by the Eldrazi titan.

Today I’m talking about delirium. No, not Delirium the card, delirium the ability. Which does feel pretty close to madness name-wise, but it doesn’t really work like it.

So let’s take a look at it, its history, and how it works!

How Does Delirium Work?

Ishkanah, Grafwidow | Illustration by Christine Choi

Delirium is an ability word that makes a creature or spell “better” if you have four or more card types in your graveyard. This can mean extra abilities, triggered abilities, or even activated abilities.

The History of Delirium in MTG

Delirium first appeared in Magic during the Shadows over Innistrad block in 2016. It was a representation of Emrakul’s influence on the psyche of the plane’s inhabitants, and the overall horrors of the plane.

Delirium is printed on cards in Duskmourn, a land in Modern Horizons 3, and several in Modern Horizons 2 on top of Shadows over Innistrad and Eldritch Moon. There's a decent amount of delirium cards and it’s an arguably small-midsize mechanic. It’s also not evergreen.

Delirium is represented in each color with a skew toward black, red, and green, though really tied more to the set's theme or character of a card rather than a color.

What Card Types Count for Delirium?

Descend upon the Sinful | Illustration by Tyler Jacobson

Delirium checks for artifacts, battles, creatures, enchantments, instants, lands, planeswalkers, sorceries, and tribal/kindred. Your delirium abilities will be active as long as there are four or more of these in your graveyard.

Does a Card with Delirium Count Itself?

Yes, a card with delirium would absolutely count itself if it was in the graveyard and had an effect that cared while it was in the graveyard. That said, there aren't any delirium cards with an effect that activates while the card itself is in the graveyard.

How Easy is it to Get Delirium? Does it Happen Naturally?

It's not quite easy to get delirium. Naturally getting four different card types in your graveyard can happen, but it’s not particularly common. Instants and sorceries are the easiest to get in there, followed by creatures. But it gets a bit harder when it comes to things like artifacts, enchantments, lands, or planeswalkers if you’re not actively trying to get them in there.

While delirium can be achieved naturally with relative ease, it’s very sensible to have several cards that allow you to throw things into your own graveyard, or cards that can sacrifice themselves (Haywire Mite, Omen of the Sea, and Terramorphic Expanse come to mind) if you play a deck with a focus on the mechanic. If your deck isn’t delirium-focused but plays a few delirium cards, know that you’ll likely play them without their delirium effect more than once. It’s a drawback that needs to be considered when playing this mechanic.

Does “Legendary” Count as a Card Type for Delirium?

Legendary does not count as a type for delirium. Legendary is what’s called a supertype, which makes it not technically a type. Other supertypes include basic, snow, world, and ongoing.

Delirium doesn’t count subtypes either. Things like artifact types like clue or thopter, creature types like warlock, avatar or beast, and land types like Urza lands aren’t considered for delirium.

How Many Card Types is an Artifact Creature for Delirium?

An artifact creature represents two card types towards delirium.

Can I Have Delirium With Less Than 4 Cards?

Yes, if a card has multiple types on it, delirium can be enabled with fewer than four cards. If Dryad Arbor and Crib Swap make their way to your graveyard, you're in business.

Does the Backside of a Double-Faced Card Count Towards Delirium?

No, in zones other than the battlefield, only the front face of the card counts for delirium. As in Stump Stomp and Search for Azcanta are not lands in the graveyard.

What Happens if I Exile My Opponent's Graveyard With Delirium Active?

If you apply some graveyard hate, you can shut off your opponent's delirium. The delirium ability checks its owner's graveyard, and if there are no cards in it, then delirium is off the table.

Do Token Creatures Count Toward Delirium?

No, while token creatures do die and go to the graveyard, they get exiled immediately, and will not count as a card type toward delirium.

Does Kindred Count for Delirium?

Yes, kindred counts as a card type for delirium.

Do Adventures Count Towards Delirium?

No, adventure cards count as their main spell when in the graveyard.

Does a Snow Card Count Towards Delirium?

No, snow is a supertype, not a card type. You may be able to put 10+ Snow-Covered Wastes in your deck, since it's a basic land, but one in your graveyard only counts as one land for delirium. For the record, “Basic” is not a card type either.

Delirium vs. Threshold

Traverse the Ulvenwald | Illustration by Vincent Proce

Delirium is considered an alteration on the threshold mechanic, which first appeared in Odyssey back in 2001. They’re very similar mechanics with pretty much the only difference being that delirium cares about card types, while threshold cares about the number of cards in your graveyard. It’s quite literally a quality versus quantity thing.

I prefer threshold over delirium since it’s easier to get. And both tend to have very similar effects so it’s not like one is particularly stronger than the other.

It’s probably wise to at least consider adding cards from both mechanics if you’re looking to build a deck around delirium or threshold. There's some overlap as you fill up your own graveyard.

What Are Some Tips for Building a Deck Around Delirium?

Unholy Heat | Illustration by Käri Christensen

Play a reasonable number of fodder cards along with some sacrifice outlets. This makes it easier to fill your graveyard with different card types, and you also get to take advantage of the effects of the cards you’re sacrificing and the cards you’re sacrificing them with if you’re playing it right.

I think you should also play threshold cards in a delirium deck. The mechanics are very similar and it’s gonna be pretty easy to just add three more to get threshold once you have four in your graveyard to get delirium. You’re already looking to fill up your own graveyard, so why not take full advantage of that?

It should go without saying that these should be graveyard-focused decks. Golgari () and Sultai () colors are ideal for this. You can also aim for a more Rakdos () style of play that isn’t focused on the graveyard but on sacrifice. Jund () also sees a fair share of graveyard synergies. Self-mill, discarding, and sacrificing your own permanents will fill your graveyard all the same, and delirium doesn’t really care why or how you’re getting the cards in there.

How Can You Beat Delirium Decks and Strategies?

Delirium isn’t a particularly strong mechanic. It can give you some advantages and it makes the cards that have it better to play, but it’s not game-breakingly good. Not yet at least. Regular removal and counterspells take care of almost any cards that play the mechanic.

If you’re looking to make a delirium deck pretty much useless, you want graveyard hate cards. Think things like Tormod's Crypt, Planar Void, Rest in Peace, Bojuka Bog, and Rakdos Charm. There are a ton of cards you can use for this, and you get the added bonus that they’re great against Sultai () and Golgari () decks because you also ruin their strategies.

Notable Delirium Cards

I must mention Dragon's Rage Channeler among the best delirium cards. A must-have for any graveyard/delirium deck. Having a 3/3 flying creature that attacks each turn with surveil 1 for is absolutely incredible. You can pair it with Gnarlwood Dryad which plays in a very similar way.

If you find DRC on Arena (outside of Timeless), it'll be the rebalanced version with less toughness.

Ishkanah, Grafwidow is a pretty solid card by itself, but what makes it noteworthy is that it’s the a spider commander.

Unholy Heat is a lot of heat for six damage to come from a single , so much that the version for Arena's Historic and Brawl is legal for 4 instead of 6 damage.

Bonus Trivia: Descend upon the Sinful

Fun fact: there was a small typo when Descend upon the Sinful was translated into French. The correct translation for ”sinful” is “pécheur,” but “pêcheur” was the word used, which translates to “fishermen.” This means that the French version of the card isn’t Descend upon the Sinful but Descend Upon the Fishermen. No one knows why French Avacyn hates fishermen so much, but she did go crazy thanks to Emrakul during Shadows over Innistrad.

Wrap Up

Grim Flayer | Illustration by Mathias Kollros

I find delirium to be a pretty fun ability. It has some good cards and it’s the kind of ability that I like a lot; the ones that make you think of less conventional or straightforward strategies for your deck. It’s always nice to have some mechanics that make formats drift away from the more common playstyles.

How do you feel about delirium? Do you like it included in a Standard's rotation? Would you play it in Commander or Modern now? Feel free to let me know what you think down in the comments or through our Discord.

That’s all from me for now. Have a good one, and I’ll see you next time!