This weekend, the first MTG Spotlight Series of 2025 is taking place. These events give players a great opportunity to compete at a high level, giving off some Grand Prix vibes from the good old days. In addition to the multi-day main event, there are plenty of side events for players to participate in.
For instance, on Friday, there were a bunch of Regional Championship Qualifiers going on, giving players the chance to punch their ticket to the corresponding Regional Championship. In one of these events, one person managed to qualify boasting an undefeated record in Modern with a sweet Gruul Delirium deck.
This shell takes ideas from the more typical Rakdos Delirium strategy and adds a spicy Eldrazi ramp element that can completely take over games. Let’s break down what this deck is trying to accomplish and what makes it unique.
Delirium Aggro Starts
- Mana Value: 1R
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 2/3
- Card Type: Enchantment Creature- Nightmare
- MTG Sets: Duskmourn
- Card Text: When Fear of Missing Out enters, discard a card, then draw a card. Delirium – Whenever Fear of Missing Out attacks for the first time each turn, if there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard, untap target creature. After this phase, there is an additional combat phase.
Delirium strategies are nothing new to Modern. Just like the more traditional Rakdos builds, this deck is capable of rather aggressive starts. Anytime you can lead with Dragon’s Rage Channeler or quickly enable Fear of Missing Out, your opponent will end up on the backfoot in short order.
Both of these cards are elite not just because of their efficiency, but because they also help you get cards into your graveyard to get you closer to Delirium. Fear of Missing Out naturally lets you rummage when it enters, and Dragon’s Rage Channeler has its Surveil ability that combines nicely with spells. Dragon’s Rage Channeler and Mishra’s Bauble are particularly strong together.
This deck has plenty of different card types mixed in, so getting Delirium online isn’t difficult. Fetchlands, Mishra’s Bauble, Tarfire, and Faithless Looting all help the cause. Once you have Delirium, all your cards get better. Even turning Unholy Heat into a six-damage burn spell is a huge boon given how popular high-toughness threats like Primeval Titan and Yawgmoth, Thran Physician are in Modern.
Going All In
- Mana Value: 13
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Stats: 13/13
- Card Type: Legendary Creature- Eldrazi
- MTG Sets: Eldritch Moon, Innistrad Remastered
- Card Text: This spell costs 1 less to cast for each card type among cards in your graveyard. When you cast this spell, you gain control of target opponent during that player’s next turn. After that turn, that player takes an extra turn. Flying, trample, protection from instants.
Where this deck starts to differentiate itself from typical Delirium decks, however, is with its unusual haymakers. Delirium shells are generally aggressive all the way through. Beyond Dragon’s Rage Channeler and Fear of Missing Out, creatures such as Nethergoyf and Detective’s Phoenix further reward you for fueling your graveyard.
Well, those cards don’t make an appearance here. Instead, this deck goes much deeper. With seven different card types present in the deck (no battles or Planeswalkers), it’s surprisingly realistic in grindy matchups to cast Emrakul, the Promised End. Utopia Sprawl gets you closer to casting it, as do Eldrazi Spawn tokens from Malevolent Rumble and Treasures from Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer.
Malevolent Rumble simultaneously lets you dig for Emrakul and puts a bunch of cards into your graveyard. With Delirium online, Traverse the Ulvenwald lets you tutor for Emrakul, as well as impactful one-ofs like Endurance.
In some matchups, casting Emrakul may still be a bit dubious. Luckily, you can always discard Emrakul to Faithless Looting or Fear of Missing Out when necessary.
This can even set up some monstrous attacks via Shifting Woodland. Shifting Woodland is really the glue that holds this deck together. Playing it does come at a cost, since it doesn’t help you cast your red beaters on turn one, but it makes up for this by being a game-wrecker in its own right.
Copying Emrakul, the Promised End isn’t as exciting as copying Emrakul, the Aeons Torn. However, Emrakul, the Promised End stays in your graveyard ready to be copied at any point. As a 13/13 with Flying and Trample, getting one attack in is still absolutely devastating. Because it has Protection from instants, you usually don’t have to worry about getting it removed after investing mana into copying Emrakul.
Versatility Versus Consistency
- Mana Value: 2BB
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Type: Enchantment
- MTG Sets: Guildpact, M11, Core Set 2020, Time Spiral Remastered, Wilds of Eldraine Enchanting Tales, Mystery Booster 2, Duskmourn
- Card Text: If Leyline of the Void is in your opening hand, you may begin the game with it on the battlefield. If a card would be put into an opponent’s graveyard from anywhere, exile it instead.
What’s nice about this strategy overall is that you can win the game in a variety of ways. Dragon’s Rage Channeler and Fear of Missing Out put a lot of pressure on the opponent. If left unchecked, they can end the game on their own.
Meanwhile, against decks like Jeskai control that have access to a lot of cheap removal, the Emrakul/Shifting Woodland end of the spectrum can help you close games. This is a luxury that Rakdos Delirium doesn’t have.
This does come at the cost of keeping the deck more streamlined, though. Against combo decks, keeping your curve lower certainly has its benefits. So does being able to sideboard in Thoughtseize and other premium disruptive elements.
This archetype is also extremely vulnerable to graveyard hate. You don’t have a good backup plan like playing a bunch of copies of Hollow One early. If your opponent slams Leyline of the Void and you can’t remove it, you’re in a world of trouble.
The deck’s 5-0 record at the qualifier event is impressive, nonetheless. If players aren’t prepared with graveyard hate, you can easily cruise to victory in style. Casting Emrakul at a huge discount is a cool way to win games, so if you’re a fan of taking your opponents’ turns, this could be the deck for you.
