Mayhem in MTG: Rules, History, and Best Cards

Scarlet Spider, Kaine | Illustration by Forrest Imel

Discard first, then break stuff: That’s the promise behind mayhem, the villain-flavored twist on graveyard casting from the MTG Spider-Man crossover.

The mechanic's flavor is tied to the baddies, and above all Green Goblin. Mayhem shows up on different card types, and it hooks into discard, looting, and cost reducers. A mad scientist's dream!

Let's take a look at what sort of mayhem and mischief Spidey's adversaries are up to.

How Does Mayhem Work?

Ultimate Green Goblin | Illustration by Jesper Ejsing

Mayhem is an alternative casting cost that lets you cast a spell from your graveyard as long as you have discarded it that same turn. For example, if you discard Carnage, Crimson Chaos, you may cast it from your graveyard for the remainder of the turn by paying just rather than the normal cost.

Every other timing rule for casting spells still applies: If the mayhem card is an instant, you can cast it any time you have priority that turn, but if it's a creature you can only cast it at sorcery speed (unless another effect gives it flash). It doesn't matter what effect makes you discard: Whether you just played a self-discard effect like Faithless Looting or your opponent played a Windfall is irrelevant for mayhem. All that matters is that you discard the mayhem card.

Other than that, mayhem is a pretty straightforward effect: You cast it from the graveyard (rather than your hand), and only if you discarded it the same turn.

The History of Mayhem in MTG

Mayhem is an original mechanic from the Spider-Man Universes Beyond set, released in September 2025. Its similarity with the madness mechanic is no coincidence, and the first mayhem iterations started as madness cards.

The problem with madness in a Spider-Man set was the flavor. “While we could maybe say exactly Norman Osborn was mad, it's actually pretty awkward to imply that another company's characters are insane,” writes Eric Engelhard, one of Spider-Man‘s designers, in their Marvel's Spider-Man: Swinging Into Design article. “We did like the gameplay feeling of madness and thought it fit well for the Goblins. So, we eventually asked our Creative team if they could give it a new name that'd be easier to put on a variety of cards.”

They landed on a name that sounds fairly close to the original (“Madness” vs. “Mayhem”) and that has a clear connection with Spidey's arch-enemies. But they also wanted to make madness' interactions a bit simpler.

“[Mayhem] no longer lets you cast every spell at instant speed,” writes Engelhard, “but that allows us to make cooler cards at better rates.”

It’s too soon to know if mayhem will become evergreen. Madness is a very popular mechanic, so mayhem starts on the right foot for MTG players to welcome it. The flavor is generic enough that it would fit pretty much in any MTG set (either in-universe or Universes Beyond) that has some chaos-loving baddies, and since “mayhem” is in no way tied to any Marvel IP (or trademarked by Disney…), Wizards of the Coast should be free to use it whenever and wherever they want.

Plus, there will be several Marvel crossovers, and Magic's Head Designer Mark Rosewater has confirmed that Spider-Man Commander precons aren’t off the table in the future. It wouldn't be too much of a surprise to see mayhem return alongside Spidey's enemies.

Can You Mayhem at Instant Speed?

Yes, you can, but only if you could normally cast the card itself at instant speed.

There's no instant card with mayhem, but there's one mayhem creature with flash: Swarm, Being of Bees.

As such, you can cast Swarm, Being of Bees as soon as it lands in your graveyard, and you have priority. Other mayhem cards need flash enablers to allow you to cast them at instant speed, or you can use Green Goblin (the backside of Norman Osborn), to give mayhem to every card in your graveyard, including other instants or flash creatures.

What’s the Mana Value of a Mayhem Spell?

The mana value (MV) of any spell (mayhem spells included) is always the cost printed in the upper-right corner. A card's mana value doesn’t change if you cast it with alternative or additional costs.

For example, Raging Goblinoids’s MV is always 5 whether you cast it normally or for its mayhem cost.

Can You Counter a Mayhem Spell?

Yes, absolutely! Even if your opponent casts it from the graveyard with an alternative cost, they still cast it, and it goes on the stack where it can be targeted by counterspells.

Does It Matter Who Made You Discard the Mayhem Card?

No, it doesn't matter which effect made you discard the mayhem card or who controls that effect.

Mayhem vs. Madness

Mayhem was inspired by madness, and broadly speaking they’re fairly similar. If you discard a mayhem or madness card, you can cast it for its mayhem or madness cost.

There are a couple of very important differences, though!

The first is from which zone you cast the cards: You cast mayhem cards from the graveyard, but you cast madness cards from exile. Cards like Rocco, Street Chef are very picky about such provenance!

The other (and arguably much bigger) difference is your window of opportunity. When you discard a madness card, you have to cast it right at that moment, or else it ends up in the graveyard and you've missed your chance.

Mayhem cards, on the other hand, give you all the rest of the turn to cast them.

There's a caveat that favors madness over mayhem: Madness cards don't need to follow usual timing rules. Any madness card can be played right after it was discarded, so if you discard a madness creature at instant speed (and even during your opponent's turn), you can play it on the spot.

Gallery and List of Mayhem Cards

• Carnage, Crimson Chaos
• Chameleon, Master of Disguise
• Electro's Bolt
• Norman Osborn / Green Goblin
• Oscorp Industries
• Prison Break
• Raging Goblinoids
• Rocket-Powered Goblin Glider
• Sandman's Quicksand
• Scarlet Spider, Kaine
• Spider-Islanders
• Swarm, Being of Bees
• Ultimate Green Goblin

Best Mayhem Cards

Norman Osborn / Green Goblin

Norman Osborn / Green Goblin is a very strong card. For starters, it's the first of a new kind that debuts with Spider-Man: modal double-faced cards that can transform. Up until now, MDFCs couldn’t transform, but the game rules have been changed to allow this. You can play any side you want.

Oscorp Industries

Well, welcome to Madness Land! And power creep, too: Oscorp Industries is a Crumbling Necropolis that you can also mayhem into play after you discard it. It has lots of synergy with self-discard shells, in particular with another madness and mayhem lover from Final Fantasy: Kefka, Court Mage.

Oscorp Industries won't dislodge Xander's Lounge from the #1 spot of best Grixis lands () (having three different basic land types is really hard to beat), but it has a very good shot at becoming the second best.

Ultimate Green Goblin

It may be simple, but this is what good card design looks like: Ultimate Green Goblin isn’t only a mayhem card, but a Standard-playable engine for mayhem cards. And a 5/4 that you can play on turn 3, no strings attached, is nothing to scoff at. The non-optional discard makes it hard to play in midrange shells, but low-to-the-ground aggro decks may not have a problem playing nearly hellbent by that point.

Commander players that love graveyard shenanigans will also go ultimately crazy here.

Wrap Up (in Webs)

Spider-Islanders | Illustration by Helge C. Balzer

And that's all about Spider-Man‘s mayhem mechanic! Cast your mayhem spells from the graveyard after you discard them, during the same turn, and without any mad shenanigans about casting timing.

I hope you've enjoyed this mechanical deep dive about Magic's mayhem ability, and if you have comments or questions please drop them below or stop by the Draftsim Discord for a chat.

And good luck out there!