Delay

Card text

Counter target spell. If the spell is countered this way, exile it with three time counters on it instead of putting it into its owner's graveyard. If it doesn't have suspend, it gains suspend. (At the beginning of its owner's upkeep, they remove a time counter. When the last is removed, they may play it without paying its mana cost. If it's a creature, it has haste.)

Market price

Latest aggregated market price for the normal finish of this printing: $2.73 (as of 2026-11-03).

The figure covers this printing only; other printings carry their own price on their own page.

Format legality

Legality of Delay by format. Formats in which it is not legal are not listed.

Other printings of Delay

Delay has been printed in 4 sets. The other printings are listed newest first, with the rarity and release year of each.

Official rulings

The 8 most recent official rulings for Delay, newest first.

• 2024-02-02 If the card has {X} in its mana cost, you must choose 0 as the value of X when casting it without paying its mana cost.
• 2024-02-02 If the spell requires any targets, those targets are chosen when the spell is finally cast, not when it's exiled.
• 2024-02-02 If an effect refers to a "suspended card," that means a card that (1) has suspend, (2) is in exile, and (3) has one or more time counters on it.
• 2024-02-02 Due to a recent rules change to suspend, you are no longer required to cast the suspended card as the second triggered ability of suspend resolves. Instead, as the second triggered ability resolves, you may cast the card. Timing permissions based on the card's type are ignored. If you don't cast the card, it remains exiled with no time counters on it, and it's no longer suspended.
• 2024-02-02 Suspend is a keyword that represents three abilities. The first is a static ability that allows you to exile the card from your hand with the specified number of time counters (the number before the dash) on it by paying its suspend cost (listed after the dash). The second is a triggered ability that removes a time counter from the suspended card at the beginning of each of your upkeeps. The third is a triggered ability that gives you the option to cast the card when the last time counter is removed.
• 2024-02-02 If the first triggered ability of suspend (the one that removes time counters) is countered, no time counter is removed. The ability will trigger again at the beginning of the card's owner's next upkeep.
• 2024-02-02 If you cast a card "without paying its mana cost," such as with suspend, you can't choose to cast it for any alternative costs. You can, however, pay additional costs. If the card has any mandatory additional costs, you must pay those if you want to cast the card.
• 2024-02-02 When the last time counter is removed, the second triggered ability of suspend (the one that lets you cast the card) triggers. It doesn't matter why the last time counter was removed or what effect removed it.

Similar cards

Other instant cards with a blue colour identity, ranked by how often they appear in Commander decks.

• Counterspell