Paranoid Delusions
~$0.16 low · ~$0.41 high
Multicolor. Sorcery
Gatecrash #186 · Illustrated by Christopher Moeller
Gatecrash #186 · Illustrated by Christopher MoellerWhat is Paranoid Delusions worth?
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TCGplayer market prices in USD, updated October 14, 2026. Each price is for one printing and one finish.
Oracle text
Target player mills three cards.
Cipher (Then you may exile this spell card encoded on a creature you control. Whenever that creature deals combat damage to a player, its controller may cast a copy of the encoded card without paying its mana cost.)
Format legality
The only printing of Paranoid Delusions
| Printing | Rarity | Non-foil | Foil | Cardmarket (EUR) | My collection |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Gatecrash gtc #186· 2013common· Cardmarket €0.14 · €0.43 foil | common | $0.16 | $0.41 | €0.14€0.43 foil |
Prices are TCGplayer market prices in USD for each printing and finish, via Scryfall. They are a guide, not an appraisal.
Where to buy Paranoid Delusions
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Card details
- First printed
- 2013
- Printings
- 1
- Mana value
- 2
- EDHREC rank
- #16,595 on EDHREC (Commander popularity)
- Keywords
- Mill, Cipher
- Artist
- Christopher Moeller
What the codes mean
The small print at the bottom of the Gatecrash card (#186).
186
- 186Collector number: this card's place in the set list. Main-set cards print it over the set's card count.
Cards from 1998 to mid-2014 print the collector number over the set's card count (like 90/383) next to the copyright line. They have no rarity letter, set code or language code: the set symbol and its colour show the set and rarity.
How to read a Magic card: every part and code, on real cards.
Card breakdown
The parts of Paranoid Delusions, read from the Gatecrash printing. How to read any Magic card.
- Name
- Paranoid Delusions. Rules use the English name in every language.
- Mana cost
- Mana value 2: the total mana in the cost, colors ignored.
- Type line
- Sorcery is the card type.
- Text box
- What the card does. Italic text in brackets is reminder text: it explains a rule and has no effect on the game.
- Illustration
- By Christopher Moeller. The art has no effect on the game.
- Set symbol
- Gatecrash. Black or white means common.
- Collector number
- 186 = collector number: this card's place in the set list. Main-set cards print it over the set's card count.
- Artist
- Christopher Moeller, after the paintbrush.
- Copyright
- Wizards of the Coast's copyright notice, with the year.
Keywords
- MillCR 701.17
- Put cards from the top of a library into the graveyard.
- CipherCR 702.99
- Defined in the Comprehensive Rules at the rule above.
Rule numbers from the Magic Comprehensive Rules, version of September 25, 2026.
Rulings (11)
2013-04-15
If you choose not to cast the copy, or you can’t cast it (perhaps because there are no legal targets available), the copy will cease to exist the next time state-based actions are performed. You won’t get a chance to cast the copy at a later time.
2013-04-15
You cast the copy of the card with cipher during the resolution of the triggered ability. Ignore timing restrictions based on the card’s type.
2013-04-15
The exiled card with cipher grants a triggered ability to the creature it’s encoded on. If that creature loses that ability and subsequently deals combat damage to a player, the triggered ability won’t trigger. However, the exiled card will continue to be encoded on that creature.
2013-04-15
If a creature with an encoded card deals combat damage to more than one player simultaneously (perhaps because some of the combat damage was redirected), the triggered ability will trigger once for each player it deals combat damage to. Each ability will create a copy of the exiled card and allow you to cast it.
2013-04-15
You choose the creature as the spell resolves. The cipher ability doesn’t target that creature, although the spell with cipher may target that creature (or a different creature) because of its other abilities.
2013-04-15
If the creature leaves the battlefield, the exiled card will no longer be encoded on any creature. It will stay exiled.
2013-04-15
If another player gains control of the creature, that player will control the triggered ability. That player will create a copy of the encoded card and may cast it.
2013-04-15
The copy of the card with cipher is created in and cast from exile.
2013-04-15
If the spell with cipher doesn’t resolve, none of its effects will happen, including cipher. The card will go to its owner’s graveyard and won’t be encoded on a creature.
2013-04-15
The spell with cipher is encoded on the creature as part of that spell’s resolution, just after the spell’s other effects. That card goes directly from the stack to exile. It never goes to the graveyard.
2013-04-15
If you want to encode the card with cipher onto a noncreature permanent such as a Keyrune that can turn into a creature, that permanent has to be a creature before the spell with cipher starts resolving. You can choose only a creature to encode the card onto.
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