Frightful Delusion
Instant
Counter target spell unless its controller pays 
. That player discards a card.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- U
- Rarity
- common
- Set
- Innistrad
- Price
- $0.05
- EDHREC rank
- #25553
Frightful Delusion counters a spell and makes the opponent discard a card — but only if you paid the lure cost, which means holding up three mana for an effect that better counterspells achieve without the condition. It's a Limited card that never made the jump to Constructed.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Frightful Delusion is unplayed in every Constructed format where it's legal, and for good reason — Legacy, Vintage, and Modern all have access to hard countermagic that costs less and demands nothing from the opponent. In Commander, the conditional discard rider rarely matters at a table where everyone has seven cards and card advantage is abundant, and three mana is too much to leave up for a counterspell that can whiff on the lure. Pauper is the one format where budget constraints tighten the card pool, but even there Counterspell and Exclude outclass it cleanly.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.05 bulk tier
At $0.05, Frightful Delusion sits firmly in bulk territory. There's no trajectory that changes that — no competitive demand, no Commander niche, nothing to push it off the bulk table.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.